best option for 4x4 blackfoot?

[Kevin_Mc 411]

Having always been a Ford fan i loved the original Blackfoot and have an original shell mounted on a King Blackfoot chassis which keeps it RWD but the most usable fun. However, i fancy a matching Blackfoot with 4x4 drive, what are the best options for this? My thinking is

1. Buy a Blackfoot Xtreme WR01 kit, swap the body for the original Blackfoot and build a 2nd gearbox / motor combo.

2. Buy a Wild Dagger / Dual Hunter / Twin Detonator and swap the shell over.

3. Build a TL01B chassis and mount the original body and Xtreme wheels to it.

Any better ideas or can anyone comment on the best option out of those three? I'm not sure what the wheelbase of the Blackfoot shell is so the 257mm TL01B might not be a realistic option but i can't find any measurements online. If it fitted, and looked right, it would be my preferred option as the dual motor ideas are more expensive and require a new ESC.

[TWINSET 1793]

Are you sold on Tamiya?

MST's CFX or CMX chassis kits have been used with a BF shell

 

 

For Tamiya only, CC01?

 

 

[njmlondon 570]

The finest 4x4 Blackfoot I have ever seen is bjorklo's CR-01 based BF. To my eyes it looks awesome.

 

As Twinset suggests, the CFX from MST looks to be a perfect match. The MST CMX or CFX are designed to go with CC01 bodies I have just had this great looking chassis delivered from RCMart and plan on doing exactly this mix. It is a good looking chassis with some really good reviews. 

[Juggular 4964]

Blackfoot's wheelbase sounds like 247mm.  TL01B is designed for relatively smaller tires.  Putting larger tires may cause the motor to heat up.  But a brushless motor can solve that problem, which widens the search range.  

 

1) Crawler Class:  CR01 and MST CFX (or CMX).  CR01 Blackfoot looks awesome.  MST CFX has been on my list of "must get someday."  But CMX and CFX don't have differentials, as they are designed to be crawlers.  If you want yours be a crawler, CFX is a very good truck.  If you ran them at the speed of a stock Blackfoot or Wild Dagger, they would be unstable.  CR01 has differentials but expensive, and the top speed on the stock motor is about 6 miles per hour (10kmh).  Again, a brushless can solve the speed problem, but it would be tipsy.   (Wheelbase: CR01 - longest at 288mm but it works because front wheel's rear tip is inside the front wheel well and front tip is outside / CFX- adjustable: 245, 252, 267mm)

 

2) Rally/scale truck Class:  CC01, MF01 and XV01T Asterion.  These don't have the huge articulation of CR01 as they have shorter arms to mimic the real life trucks.  Their motors are either up front or at the tail end for unique driving experiences.  CC01 has a mid-ship motor, and there is a travel extension kit for the rear suspension.  (Wheelbase CC01-252mm / MF01X-adjustable 210, 225, 239mm / XV01T-255mm)

 

3) Buggy Class: TT02B can be made into a truck, as well as DF02 or DF03.  These have longer arms for long suspension travel like TL01B, and many pinion options.  DF03 could be a bit too fancy, so TT02B or DF02 could be a good for a basher.  (Wheelbase TT02B & DF02-266mm / DF03-272mm)

 

P.S. I have both Blackfoot and Wild Dagger.  I prefer Blackfoot.  It could be the limited suspension travel of Wild Dagger that I find lacking.  Easily remedied with taller shock towers though.  Also there is something unsettling about the dual motor setup.

 

[smirk-racing 253]

29 minutes ago, Juggular said:

P.S. I have both Blackfoot and Wild Dagger.  I prefer Blackfoot.  It could be the limited suspension travel of Wild Dagger that I find lacking.  Easily remedied with taller shock towers though.  Also there is something unsettling about the dual motor setup.

 

What is unsettling about it? Do you mean in terms of balance and handling?

[Juggular 4964]

It feels less harmonious than Hotshot, Gravel hound, Mad Bison, Terra Crusher, etc.  

Even if two motors run at the same speed, front and rear don't always stay on the ground at the same time.  You've probably seen a 4x4 landing on right two wheels or left two wheels.  It would lose the momentum, and when all 4 tires contact the ground, it would dart again.  It's like that, plus it does it front and back also.  

Imagine jumping a short distance and landing with the rear axle.  The rear axle was under load while going up the slope, and then under load again soon after, so the rear wheels turn slower.  The front wheels had a bit longer air time, so it would spin faster.  Then the front axle lands and bounces while flinging dirt wildly.  After a fraction of a second to harmonize front and rear, the truck would take off.  If four wheels were connected, when the rear slows down, front would too. There is less hesitation.  (Traction is like tug of war, you want to pull in harmony)  Two axles not matching up can be a bit funky like this. 

No real-life truck would work like this, that's probably why I find it out of sync from time to time.  It's like two people playing four legs of a horse, pulling and pushing.  But that's fun too.  I wonder how Clod drives... Still, you have to look for it to notice.  It's a basher, not exactly an F-1 car.  

Aside from that, twin motor feels light-footed for its size.  It just goes wherever you point it to go.  2WD Blackfoot plays with you, and I think that's fun. You have to anticipate some fishtailing with 2WD.  

 

[Aleblanc 57]

here's some of my Blackfoot bodied MST CMX crawler. Its not meant to be pretty, just fun.

 

the new MTX1 would be a good option too.

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[Mad Ax 9325]

Assuming it's a monster truck that you want, and not a crawler or rally truck, then your choice is fairly limited.

I personally love the WR01 chassis, altohugh it's been a long time since I had one in action.  They make great bashers - the dual motor setup is unique, they don't always handle exactly like you think a 4x4 should handle, but they work.  The big drawback for me is finding hot motors that work in both directions, but there are members in the Monster Truck forum who would help with that.  If you don't want to be silly then silver cans on 3s would do.

Not sure if it bothers you, but the WR01/WT01 wheelbase is way off for the Blackfoot body.  I'm sure someone on here has managed to shorten a WR01, although I don't know how.  Where there's a will, there's a way - so if you're happy to fabricate your own parts, the WR01 is probably a good starting point.

The TL01B is perhaps not a bad shout either.  As said above, you'd need to choose the right motor as the gearing is wrong for monster truck tyres.  Wheelbase is closer to the Blackfoot shell but still not perfect.  I have a TL01 chassis under a King Blackfoot body, and the TLT wheels don't quite line up with the arches - not a problem for me because the shell was wrecked anyway, I cut the arches out and added big flares made out of plasticard.  If you wanted a perfect wheelbase you could shorten the TL01 chassis - you just need to chop a section out between the battery and the rear gearbox, then use a choice (or combination) of home-made brackets, glue and fibreglass to get it back together again.  Propshaft is easy to shorten but it's not easy to drill the hole for the drive pin if you don't have a pillar drill.

I wonder if the MF01X could be made to work with wider arms and bigger wheels for a truggy look?  I don't know what arms it uses.

[njmlondon 570]

14 hours ago, Aleblanc said:

here's some of my Blackfoot bodied MST CMX crawler. Its not meant to be pretty, just fun.

 

Wow the Blackfoot looks small next to that Defender!

As an aside, are you enjoying the MST? 

[Aleblanc 57]

3 hours ago, njmlondon said:

Wow the Blackfoot looks small next to that Defender!

As an aside, are you enjoying the MST? 

bigtime - I've got three MST CMX's built, one MST CFX-W and also just picked up the MTX-1. MST product is very well built and the right scale for smaller bodies.