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Blakbird's 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme Build 4 years 4 months ago #57595

Remember in the 90's when you could make things sound cool by spelling them wrong and using words like "Xtreme"? Well, Tamiya was still doing it in 2003. They had come out with the WR-01 chassis in 1999 which featured dual motors, four wheel drive, independent suspension, and big monster truck tires. Then they decided to make a 2WD version called the WT-01. This chassis was only used for updates of old models like the Bush Devil and the Mud Blaster, but the first to use the chassis was the new 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme. So what makes this, the 4th incarnation of the classic Blackfoot, so extreme? It has a hood scoop. That's about it. There is nothing to set it apart from the rest of the Blackfoot line other than this minor body detail and some rather gaudy graphics. I decided to take mine a step further by performing the simple conversion to a WR-01 chassis so it would be 4WD. None of the Blackfeet have ever been 4WD, but if any of them should be the "Xtreme" seems like the right one. To power the dual motors I used the TEU-106BK dual motor controller. With the extra torque of two motors I was able to increase the pinion size from 18 to 20 to boost the speed without worry of too much heat.

With the addition of some CVA shocks, this truck is super fun to drive. Unlike its older cousins, it is easy to jump without worry of breaking anything. With the 4WD conversion off road performance is excellent. The differentials are still open so this is no crawler, but it plows through grass like it is not even there.

The Blackfoot Xtreme uses the WT-01 which I've already documented in detail for my Blackfoot III build. Please see that page for more build information.

I managed to get a nice clean copy of the Blackfoot Xtreme, new in an open box. Because the box was open I had to do quite a bit of inventory to make sure it was complete. All the parts were there but the ESC had been removed. The box uses a photograph instead of classic hand drawn art.
As you can see from this small layout of parts, this is a pretty simple chassis. The gearbox comes pre-assembled so there isn't much to do other than assemble the suspension.
The front and rear suspension assemblies share the same form factor and simply bolt between the two chassis halves. That's pretty much the end of the building process. The shocks are friction dampers.
The spiked tires are directional so you need to be sure to put them on the right way around. The body can then be test fit. The hood scoop clearly marks this body as unique to the Blackfoot Xtreme.
The following user(s) Liked this: stingray-63

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Blakbird's 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme Build 4 years 4 months ago #57596

The left hand picture shows the body accessories which must be added. The grille required quite a bit of masking to get only the required areas black. I was lucky enough to get a brand new sticker sheet in the box so those are original stickers you see on the right.
Here's the completed Blackfoot Xtreme by itself as well as in comparison to its older King Blackfoot brother. Both have a full width bed rather than the step-side of the original Blackfoot, but the grilles and headlights are quite different. The Xtreme also adds the hood scoop. The roll bars are the same except that the Xtreme is plated while the King is just molded in silver.
The first thing I change with virtually any kit that doesn't already have them is ball bearings. This kit came with the dreaded plastic bushings so they had to go. I also replaced the friction dampers with some black CVA oil shocks that I had left over from some other model. The main change, though, was a conversion to 4WD. This is remarkably simple since the WT-01 and WR-01 chassis are the same except that the WR-01 uses a second rear gearbox in the front. I had already been pilfering other parts from a Bush Devil kit for other builds, so there was an extra complete gearbox assembly available as shown on the left. I was able to reuse the suspension arms and steering knuckles from the Blackfoot. The only other parts I needed were the drive cups and drive shafts which I also took from the Bush Devil. The result is shown on the right. This model is now nicely symmetric with dual gearboxes, dual motors, and 4WD. It would be possible to also add rear steering but I didn't. I used Tamiya's dual motor ESC from a Super Clodbuster. I also had to replace the stock front bumper with a narrower rear bumper. Sometimes undriven front wheels contain bearings instead of hexes which wouldn't have worked, but luckily all four wheels on this model were the same.
The result is seen here. The chassis is almost indistinguishable from stock except that you can see the front motor protruding behind the front tires.
The following user(s) Liked this: stingray-63

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Blakbird's 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme Build 4 years 4 months ago #57597

I'm not normally the sort of person who is a big fan of pink lightning bolts, but on this truck I'd have to say they look pretty good. In fact, this is a great looking truck all around. The track width is a bit wide and it might look less cartoonish with chrome wheels, but it fits nicely as part of the Blackfoot line.

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Blakbird's 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme Build 4 years 4 months ago #57598

It's not quite a complete Blackfoot collection, but I'm pretty happy with this.






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Blakbird's 58312 Blackfoot Xtreme Build 4 years 4 months ago #57599

A lovely bf collection :y:

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