Hillbilly's barrage upgrade bible!

[boldfin]

It fits but a little notchy. Look in the losi mini crawler section there and a few fixes for the notchyness.

I remember doing the OD mod to my old MRC. It was a tad notchy but I didn't do anything and it worked fine. But that is a little different diff.

I have fit one in a stock barrage axle but never ran it or try to see if any fixes would work or shimmed it. That's the reason I never put it in the Bible.

Would love to have someone play around with it and give us feed back.

I'm a fan of overdrive. Always wanted to add it to my Barrage. But I just swapped RGT Bowler axles on to my Barrage, which have universals, so you get a lot better steering just by swapping to them.

But having overdrive to boot would be very cool. I may give the TRA7079 gears a try. I assume the internals on the Bowler axles are pretty much the same as the Barrage. Do I just need to change out the pinion, or both R&P?

 

[aiwaloki]

I think it's just the pinion. I saw the threads for the Losi crawler and was wondering if this would be of any help to me. The axles upgrade looks expensive, but would solve some issues. I have not upgraded the locker or purchased the aluminum steering. The M2 screw seems to give with the plastic when pressure is placed on the steering. How much was your axle set? Thanks.

 

[hillbillyrc]

Yes just the pinion gear.

Also I forgot to mention you will have to come up with a spacer since the pinion shaft is 4mm and the drive shaft is for 5mm. Off the top of my head I can't remember. But there is a combo of Traxxas rustler? Driveline that you can mate together which will have 4mm/5mm or pinion side and trans side.

 

[boldfin]

I think it's just the pinion. I saw the threads for the Losi crawler and was wondering if this would be of any help to me. The axles upgrade looks expensive, but would solve some issues. I have not upgraded the locker or purchased the aluminum steering. The M2 screw seems to give with the plastic when pressure is placed on the steering. How much was your axle set? Thanks.

I didn't buy the axles separately. I bought a complete RTR RGT Bowler on eBay for $119 shipped. I ran the Bowler a couple of times, but decided I preferred the Barrage wheelbase and just started cannibalizing the Bowler for parts. They share a lot of parts in common. Swapping the Bowler axles and links over was a pretty straightforward affair. I now have lots of spares and a Barrage that turns a lot better.

Thanks Hillbilly... I'll keep looking into that Traxxas pinion swap.

 

[hillbillyrc]

Here are the part numbers to build the Traxxas 4mm to 5mm driveshafts to correspond with doing the Traxxas overdrive pinion.

halfshafts TRA1951
yokes TRA4628R for 5mm outputs
yokes TRA1539R for 4mm outputs


Hope this helps someone trying this mod out again it might need some tweaking to be right.

Once it's proved to work I'll add it to the Bible.

 

[boldfin]

TRA1539R seems to be discontinued/out of stock. Will try to find an alternative.

 

[aiwaloki]

Can't wait to see your results. Try eBay for the part. They have everything.

 

[hillbillyrc]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/352785478165

 

[Toyotarc]

Well I landed a very good deal on GMADE R1 portals that I couldn't pass up and for now I will be putting them on my barrage. The stock barrage axle ratio is 2.75:1 and the R1s are 2.14:1 so not sure how that would end up being on the 380/390 motor since I'm swapping to a 540 motor.


Here's a shot of the comparison between the two axles, the gmade is BEEFY!

Stock width axles installed

Gmade R1's installed

Here's a shot of the underside, reused most of the stock hardware from the barrage without any issues. I think I had to grab two extra screws and nuts but that was it.

It's quite a large difference. Overall width roughly of stock ECX barrage axles are 7" and the Gmades are 9" so it's a width increase of 1" per side! Now some people obviously won't like the added width but I'm planning on putting 2.2's on this and the extra width is needed because of the very wide tire's I'm going to install. Defiantly isn't much of a scale truck anymore lol.

 

[JacktheRipper]

Hillbilly,


Well done, loads of effort to inform put forth by you "thumbsup""thumbsup"

Not a crawler I would build, but I see and must express. The dedication seen in the thread is outstanding. And wish to publicly recolonize you for that good work.

pep

 

[Natedog]

I was referring to turning radius clearance. Was looking at this for stronger turning.
https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?I=INTD1244

As Hillbilly said, that company is not known for good quality or durability, make your own or use some race buggy steel adjustable turnbuckles. "thumbsup"

Hillbilly,

Well done, loads of effort to inform put forth by you "thumbsup""thumbsup"

The dedication seen in the thread is outstanding. And wish to publicly recolonize you for that good work.

Yes, great resource for all things Barrage, thanks! "thumbsup"

 

[MUoffroader]

This is an incredible write up, thank you Hillbilly for putting it together. I recently purchased a Gen 2 and have done a few upgrades. After reading this thread in depth I have a few questions.
-There was a detailed write up of using universal front axleshafts and ditching the weak CVD. How do you slim a 5mm shaft to 4mm?
-For upgrade and availability reasoning, does the ECX Temper run same or similar axles as the Barrage?

 

[bugman72]

The writeup about using the AR44 universals was mine. In order to use the Axial universals, you have to obtain the ECX Barrage-to-AR44 C-hub adapter that I have available on Shapeways. In addition, you would need to obtain a pair of AR44 knuckles and the appropriate bearings. I have the parts required listed in the description on Shapeways. I'm not a starred member here, so I can't include the link to the parts, but you can PM me and I can let you know there.

 

[old man 52]

Hillbilly , awesome job , lots of great information , can i ask why the Axial 40t isn't a good option?

 

[Mitchh_1410]

Hey guys

I’ve recently brought a ECX Barrage Gen2 and I’m think about doing a few modifications to improve the driving experience and I was just wondering does anyone know the factory transmission gear tooth counts

Or does anyone know if a Axial SCX10 or SCX10II skid plate and transmission drops right into the Barrage Gen2 chassis

 

[Mitchh_1410]

Thanks for the heads up

I was planning on using the Barrage platform to build a 1/12th scale comp rig to moc a Suzuki Samurai I found, but if nothing is a true fit what chassis would you recommend to use with the Proline Racing Sumo Body shell

 

[edjo69]

Thanks for the heads up

I was planning on using the Barrage platform to build a 1/12th scale comp rig to moc a Suzuki Samurai I found, but if nothing is a true fit what chassis would you recommend to use with the Proline Racing Sumo Body shell

Maybe a short wheelbase RC4WD chassis like this one https://store.rc4wd.com/RC4WD-Trail-Finder-2-Truck-Kit-SWB_p_4347.html

 

[hillbillyrc]

Thanks for the heads up

I was planning on using the Barrage platform to build a 1/12th scale comp rig to moc a Suzuki Samurai I found, but if nothing is a true fit what chassis would you recommend to use with the Proline Racing Sumo Body shell

The rc4wd is a proven comp chassis and would be a great place to start. As the price is sorta high new they can be found cheap used. The price point between building the barrage and upgrading to comp vs rc4wd chassis and upgrading you'll have less money in the rc4wd and more capable. Barrage is a great trail rig but I wouldn't comp it unless it was a class 2 and axle swapped.

 

[hillbillyrc]

Thanks guys for the praise.
This was just made for everyone and an appreciation for the hobby and these tiny trucks. I figured it took me a while to find this info for my own research I would make it easier for everyone else. Also thank you for everyone that as added to this thread. Also if you clarification on anything or help I'm also around just PM me.

Not sure how many of you have seen mine or have looked a my build. But here is how it sit right now. It kinda on the back burner for the winter but will be finishing it before fall. Lol

 

[Mitchh_1410]

I've had a look at the RC4WD Trail Finder 2 SWB before I went ahead and brought the Barrage and there were a few things that turned me off that chassis, 1 as I live in Australia we almost pay double for anything made by RC4WD, 2 RC4WD don't have a 3 link front suspension kit available for the SWB chassis and the kit that is available for the standard and the LWB version wont 100% due the different skid plate that's what I have been told.

I've also been playing around with the Barrage today and I think I've found a way to do a axle swap from the stock axle to Axial SCX10 or similar