NIB Blackfoot 3 build thread and mods

[-=Jeff=-]

I like the stance you have on that truck now.. I need to do that.. but I don't really want 4WS.. HMM

[mr crispy]

I'm even wondering about the gold panels now? Think I'll add the Tamiya tailgate decal and maybe the tribal bonnet, roof and flatbed cover decals.

Managed to get a few daylight photos between snow showers.

The servo saver spring on the rear was a white plastic item from the spares box and isn't really man enough for the job. I'm thinking to replace it with the Tamiya high torque set so that it'll be tuneable and comes with a choice of longer or shorter servo arms. I need the rear end to stay put and a few people have advised I might want less steering on the rear so that'll do the job nicely.

[bromvw]

I'm even wondering about the gold panels now? Think I'll add the Tamiya tailgate decal and maybe the tribal bonnet, roof and flatbed cover decals.

Managed to get a few daylight photos between snow showers.

The servo saver spring on the rear was a white plastic item from the spares box and isn't really man enough for the job. I'm thinking to replace it with the Tamiya high torque set so that it'll be tuneable and comes with a choice of longer or shorter servo arms. I need the rear end to stay put and a few people have advised I might want less steering on the rear so that'll do the job nicely.

i would'nt worry about reducing the amount of rear steering . I have found that having the same amount of turn on both ends works really well . So long as you dont give it full throttle in the turns it works fine with little chance of a roll over . i'd try it as is before makong any changes to steering ratio .

[mr crispy]

Y cable arrived so had a morning of 4ws insanity.







Your right bromvw, can't see limiting the rear will improve it much although I definitely need a stronger servo saver spring as it tends to get pushed off centre at higher speeds. Managed to take a quick video but its very tame as I had the TX in one hand, iPhone in the other and was worried about my paint work...

Still managed to run it into that plant pot but fortunately the tyres took the impact It now has a 3ft turning circle so I'm thinking a 35T motor is next on my shopping list.

[mr crispy]

Slight deviation from the thread but just dropped my 1/1 car off to the garage for servicing and then walked on to the parcel depot to collect yeaterdays missed drop off. I remembered there's a US vehicle seller on the industrial estate so went passed there for a quick squint at the usual Mustangs & Cadillacs (you don't see them much in the UK). Not only did they have a 79 Trans Am and what looked like a Plymouth Prowler hidden in the back but this little fella was packed up on the kerb and I thought "That looks rather familiar"

Not everyday you see a full size Blackfoot Extreme in Redhill

[mongoose1983]

Pardon me, are you using a Y cable so you could use two servos for the steering or is it that you're trying a Y cable to run two motors with a non-twin motor ESC?

[bromvw]

Y cable arrived so had a morning of 4ws insanity.

Your right bromvw, can't see limiting the rear will improve it much although I definitely need a stronger servo saver spring as it tends to get pushed off centre at higher speeds. Managed to take a quick video but its very tame as I had the TX in one hand, iPhone in the other and was worried about my paint work...

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Still managed to run it into that plant pot but fortunately the tyres took the impact thing now has a 3ft turning circle so I'm thinking a 35T motor is next on my shopping list.

Excellent - i told you 4ws was fun . Now go the whole hog and get a second motor fitted . 35T's is a good idea because as you've seen things go a bit too mental with anything faster and it becomes undriveable .

[mr crispy]

Yep mongoose, the Y lead is to run two steering servos to get the 4 wheel steering.

Edit: I should've made this clearer but I will also be making a simple Y harness to run two motors from a "single" ESC once I have the 2nd gearbox fitted. I'll post up picks when that's done and report on how its working.

As it happens bromvw, my missed package was another one of these 2wd chassis's I won on eBay for £20! Turned out its pretty much 95% complete and having just cleaned up the gearbox and replaced the bushes for bearings, its absolutely fine and running smooth. Bit of a bargin there considering a new prebuilt gearbox is also £20. Now I need a shed load of the standard Tamiya self tapping screws! My bits box is completely drained of them.

[bromvw]

Yep mongoose, the Y lead is to run two steering servos to get the 4 wheel steering.

As it happens bromvw, my missed package was another one of these 2wd chassis's I won on eBay for £20! Turned out its pretty much 95% complete and having just cleaned up the gearbox and replaced the bushes for bearings, its absolutely fine and running smooth. Bit of a bargin there considering a new prebuilt gearbox is also £20. Now I need a shed load of the standard Tamiya self tapping screws! My bits box is completely drained of them.

£20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow thats what i call a result . Looking forward to seeing another 4x4x4

[GregM]

Now that's a tight turning circle! O_O Nice job on the paint, turned out pretty and shiny. The video makes it look like the stock gearing has lots of torque even with the silvercan motor, hasn't it?

[mongoose1983]

Since 1985 and for about a decade I followed mud bog and monster truck racing (my father got me interested in 4x4s back then) and I have to say I don't remember anything on 48inch tires or more without four-wheel-steering mods to work properly, so I believe your work with this Black Foot Ford is really excellent!

By the way, I'm curious on the Y cable used for the ESC. Do you think that would work on a Clod Buster?

Also, I think I've seen on eBay some Chinese ESC for twin motors for about $17 shipped world-wide. I would have ordered one but I'm literally penniless nowadays

[bromvw]

Since 1985 and for about a decade I followed mud bog and monster truck racing (my father got me interested in 4x4s back then) and I have to say I don't remember anything on 48inch tires or more without four-wheel-steering mods to work properly, so I believe your work with this Black Foot Ford is really excellent!

By the way, I'm curious on the Y cable used for the ESC. Do you think that would work on a Clod Buster?

Also, I think I've seen on eBay some Chinese ESC for twin motors for about $17 shipped world-wide. I would have ordered one but I'm literally penniless nowadays

i had one of those cheap chiniese ESC's fitted to my 4x4x4 Blackfoot originally . AVOID . They are a piece of junk . After only running for half a hour indoors with twin 35t rc4wd motors it gave the blue smoke of death . Checking online in forums it seems iam not alone . These really are rubbish . I replaced it with Sniper RV12 Asssult from Modelsport and simply made up my own Y harness's . So far its being 100% reliable .

[mongoose1983]

i had one of those cheap chiniese ESC's fitted to my 4x4x4 Blackfoot originally . AVOID . They are a piece of junk . After only running for half a hour indoors with twin 35t rc4wd motors it gave the blue smoke of death . Checking online in forums it seems iam not alone . These really are rubbish . I replaced it with Sniper RV12 Asssult from Modelsport and simply made up my own Y harness's . So far its being 100% reliable .

I appreciate your advice, bromvw! Think I'll try the Y cable later on this year!

[mr crispy]

I usually swap my electrics between chassis so I want to go the Y cable route should I need to use the ESC or servos in other chassis in the future.

I have a no turn limit ESC that is able to handle quite a bit of current so it should be fine running 2 standard silver cans or a pair of 35T motors. Maplins sell packs of male and female bullet connectors that match the standard Tamiya motor connectors. It should be pretty simple to have a connector that fits straight into the ESC lead, and solder 2 cables going out to the 2 motors. Do that for both positive and negative leads and you're sorted.

Then it should just be a case of reversing the polarity on the rear motor so they both turn in the same direction when the throttle is pushed forward.

[dyahipfakta]

Contrary to the above I have a Chinese duel esc in my wild dagger with twin silver cans. It's been fine for ages an I run it on 8.4 volts or lipos. It must be pot luck lol

[wolfdogstinkus]

i had one of those cheap chiniese ESC's fitted to my 4x4x4 Blackfoot originally . AVOID . They are a piece of junk . After only running for half a hour indoors with twin 35t rc4wd motors it gave the blue smoke of death . Checking online in forums it seems iam not alone . These really are rubbish . I replaced it with Sniper RV12 Asssult from Modelsport and simply made up my own Y harness's . So far its being 100% reliable .

I had a good read around when I saw how cheap they were and I found they were only really suited to one silver can, maybe a sports tuned, so even your twin 35T were pushing it, they might be ok as a replacement for a teu101bk? I can't say for sure as I didn't buy one.

Or it might be luck of the draw as it is with the 101bk, I run a 19T brushed motor with my 101bk but many others have tried and failed.

[bromvw]

I had a good read around when I saw how cheap they were and I found they were only really suited to one silver can, maybe a sports tuned, so even your twin 35T were pushing it, they might be ok as a replacement for a teu101bk? I can't say for sure as I didn't buy one.

Or it might be luck of the draw as it is with the 101bk, I run a 19T brushed motor with my 101bk but many others have tried and failed.

Could well be luck of the draw as you say but with that level of quality control - or the lack of it i'll stick to a quality UK made item thanks .

[mr crispy]

Hmmm... postie's just been but still no sign of the gold panel decals I'm kind of stuck until they arrive.

Been having a lot of fun driving around indoors chasing the kids. It turns out the 4ws BF3's turning circle is better than there's And I still haven't rolled it yet. Looks like the weather should be better over the weekend so I hope to take it out somewhere and open it up a little.

[bromvw]

I usually swap my electrics between chassis so I want to go the Y cable route should I need to use the ESC or servos in other chassis in the future.

I have a no turn limit ESC that is able to handle quite a bit of current so it should be fine running 2 standard silver cans or a pair of 35T motors. Maplins sell packs of male and female bullet connectors that match the standard Tamiya motor connectors. It should be pretty simple to have a connector that fits straight into the ESC lead, and solder 2 cables going out to the 2 motors. Do that for both positive and negative leads and you're sorted.

Then it should just be a case of reversing the polarity on the rear motor so they both turn in the same direction when the throttle is pushed forward.

Its as simple as you say - thats exactly how i made up my y harress's so i can swop the electronics about with ease .

[mr crispy]

Sooo I've been contacted by the eBay seller of the gold panel decals today. Seems our wonderful Royal Mail has managed to deliver the item back to him, and they've only taken a week to do that! It's not even a "return to sender" situation, I've had no missed delivery notes. Its just a classis RM F-up!

Fortunately for me the seller is a decent bloke and has resent them ASAP. Fingers crossed!

[mr crispy]

Decals arrived yesterday so got them fitted last night using the washing up liquid in water method followed by a blast from a hair dryer to fit the contours better. There was a very thin pin stripe edging that went around the large gold panels and I assumed it would be connected on clear vinyl but it was actually separate and for the life of me I couldn't get it to sit right so I've left it off. Still looks pretty good to me though.

I also used the number plate from the custom decals. I'll add the large Tamiya across the tailgate and the rear lights from the kit decal sheet but that might be all it needs. Oh also the fog light covers on the roll bar.

I also swapped the rear servo saver spring for a stronger one I had in an unused car. It will now hold a straight line on full power for the brief blasts I can do in the garden.

Just need to paint and glue in the rear window, laquer the body to seal in the decals, spray the bed cover satin black and paint up the driver.

[Percymon]

Looks good with the gold decals - nice contrast and highlights the shape of the bodywork

[GregM]

I like the gold! As discussed previously, feel free to leave me a PM if there are any leftover decals from the BFIII decal sheet.

[IBIFTKH]

Looks great with the gold panels, really gives it presence.

[Skottoman]

Great looking truck, and the 4ws is mega fun eh?!

Cheers,

Skottoman