TOPIC:

The 58058 Blackfoot from 1986 was the first of what I'd call the "Big Wheel" or monster trucks from Tamiya. Sure, the 58049 Bruiser had big wheels but that was a scale truck in a totally different class. The scale monster truck, the 58065 Clod Buster, wouldn't come until later. The 2WD Blackfoot didn't have much in common with a real monster truck. It didn't have a solid front axle, it didn't have 4WD, it didn't have 4 wheel steering. It was designed for pure fun, and fun it was. So fun, in fact, that Tamiya has had some version or another of the Blackfoot in pretty much continuous production ever since. My copy is the 58633 re-release from 2016. It has much in common with the original but has obviously lost the mechanical speed controller and resistor and is intended to be used with an ESC. Some changes have also been made to the rear axles to make them more robust, but the weak rear gearbox housing remains. The step sided F-150 hard body shell has lost any reference to Ford, presumably due to a lapse of the licensing agreement. In fact, a close look will reveal that this is not the original Ford Blackfoot grille but is actually from the much later 58110 Super Blackfoot which also lacked the Ford license. All of the sponsored logos from the stickers have also been replaced with generic companies.

In truth, the Blackfoot doesn't need 4WD. With those big tires, it cruises over grass and gravel with ease. With the long travel CVA oil shocks (the original used friction dampers) and fat balloon tires, it has no trouble soaking up big bumps and jumps. It will even occasionally pull the front wheels off the ground while accelerating off-road. As the oldest monster truck I didn't expect much from this in terms of performance, but I needn't have worried. It is actually incredibly fun to drive and I haven't had any significant problems with it despite bashing it pretty hard.

I've left this model completely stock apart from the addition of a set of ball bearings.

I didn't take many pictures of the build because it occurred to me that the chassis is the same as the Monster Beetle I've already built and therefore I've already documented it. That was a mistake. Turns out I didn't take many pictures of the Monster Beetle either.

The Blackfoot comes in a modest box with classic artwork. Inside there are no special inner boxes or blister packs, but everything is nicely organized and each parts tree is individually bagged as usual for Tamiya.
Once the parts are laid out on the table you can see that this is a pretty simple model. On the right you can see the unusual ORV (Off Road Vehicle) space frame chassis that comes from the Brat. Compared to that chassis, this has been modified to allow the use of long travel oil shocks but the frame is the same.
Here you can see the tall front shock tower, the electronics cover, and the notoriously weak rear gearbox. The re-re uses updated drive shafts without the hex drive of the original.
The rear suspension is cantilevered rather than using a shock tower. This keeps the rear end low to allow a pick-up body. The stickers are large and flat so pretty simple to apply.

It's no secret that the Blackfoot is a great looking truck, and that hasn't changed 30 years later. There's really nothing dated about the classic black paint or the red accents. Although the body is molded in black, I painted it anyway and put a gloss clear coat on the top. I've also hand painted black on the front grille and around the headlights.

Great looking truck.
I have one with a fair few mods and TLT wheels.
I painted it metallic blue, sort of wish id painted it black now though.

Graemevw77 wrote:

Great looking truck.
I have one with a fair few mods and TLT wheels.
I painted it metallic blue, sort of wish id painted it black now though.

Thanks. I am generally not a fan of using black since it tends to look a bit bland, but on this truck in combination with the stickers it looks great. I am a big fan of the metallic blue as well. It looks perfect on the Avante.

The rere BF as a better transmission than the original with dogbones. The front grill is known on a special.version of the explorer.
Like the pumpkins, tamiya won't pay for the ford licence.

stingray-63 wrote:

The rere BF as a better transmission than the original with dogbones. The front grill is known on a special.version of the explorer.
Like the pumpkins, tamiya won't pay for the ford licence.

Do they still sell the Ford Highlift? They must have a current Ford license somewhere, but I guess it doesn't apply to the older models.

This is mine, a sort of halfway house between the ranger and the blackfoot.

Yep hilift , mustang svt f150 svt and f150 baja. I think that they don't want spéculation on fake oldies