XTM Baja Blade & Outlaw trucks

[StevePond]

Thread started for Old Phart.

[old phart]

Thank you Steve! :)

[old phart]

OK guys, who has Baja's and Outlaw's? I have a Baja. It is a very well made truck. I have run it alot and nothing has fallen off except one grub screw for the brake. It is a handful in the dirt, being only 2WD. It is hard to get going in a straight line. I imagine the Outlaw with its 4WD is much better in the dirt.

Well I converted my tires and wheels over to street. I lowered the body and now it is a street ripper! Doing drifting out front of my house. It is much more fun this way. I may convert it to 4WD so I can also drive it in the dirt better as well as have a 4WD street terror. :D

Let's hear your stories and what you've got! :)

Here is a pic of mine when it was brand new with high body and dirt tires:

http://www.fototime.com/CD29496E22A9526/standard.jpg

[old phart]

So, has anyone got the newest Outlaw with the XTM .18 engine? Supposed to have 1.3BHP! I'm thinking I will get the .18 for a retrofit into my Baja. Just gonna wait till it goes on a sale at Hobby People. ;)

[tallcracker]

pretty clean looking truck!!
these caught my eye when RC car did the review on them. they appear to be of pretty good quality. how is the engine holding up and how many tanks do you have through it?

[old phart]

tallcracker: I estimate about 20 tanks through it. The engine is still solid. Right from the very beginning I noticed the engine was very user friendly. It holds an idle so well. Once broken in it is very easy to start. Just a quick prime, a couple pulls and it lights off. I'm using Powermaster 15%. It idles like a dream while I take my time putting the body on and clips. Then I drive it around and it has only flamed out on me once. Didn't figure that one out as it started right up again, still had a 1/2 tank. So far I am extremely impressed with all the various XTM products I have purchased at Hobby People, and this truck is one darned good value especially if you get it on one of their sales! :)

[tallcracker]

ive been kinda keeping an eye out for my brother. he is looking for a nitro rc, he thinks he is ready to step out of his electric and wants a lil more power. i am going to get it for him with my tax return $. these look like durable user friendly trucks and i am def going to keep them as an option. would you sugest the 4wd as a must or with the right tires does the 2 wd get enough traction? he would be using this for atleast part of the time at the track while i am practicing. so i need for it to be able to get decent traction and not frustrate him.

[old phart]

Well, my experience is that it has too much power for 2WD on the dirt. I found it near impossible to get it going straight with anything more than 1/4 throttle. It would just start torque looping. If I carefully, easily, smoothly accelerated I could get it opened up, but then any type of bumps would get it sideways and then the thing would be hard to control again. However, on asphalt none of that applies. It tracks straight, from a start, even under full throttle.

So I would think if it is going to be used on the dirt a 4WD would be a much better choice.

[tallcracker]

thanks old
have you seen the 4wd? i think almost all the parts are the same. infact the 2wd uses the 4wd diff case and even has the out drive openings if i am correct. if you wanted to you could probably change to 4wd pretty cheaply

[old phart]

Yes, the Baja 2WD is easily converted to the Outlaw 4WD with a few parts. The Baja is ready to accept the diff and driveline and outdrives and then that's it I think. Right now I'm having loads of fun with it on the street in 2WD trim. I'll get some new pics of it with the street tires and lowered body and post them. :)

[old phart]

Here are some pics of it with the body lowered down on the chassis and street tires. The rims are RPM, "Talonz" I think. The tires are Pro-Line "Speed Hawgs". Enjoy :)
http://www.fototime.com/4F5CD91A1D14D6F/standard.jpg
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http://www.fototime.com/55B0A7693DCFD10/standard.jpg
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http://www.fototime.com/87B441796DF452A/standard.jpg
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http://www.fototime.com/E6A2DAE730CFFC8/standard.jpg

[old phart]

I discovered something interesting. On the front of the Baja it has a bumper plate, and on it is molded the logo "Carson Modellsport"

So I did a little searching tomight and found out that Carson Modelsport is a German company that makes all sorts of r/c products. Cars, tools, ESC's, etc.

So it would seem that the XTM Baja Blade and Outlaw are indeed German made (or designed) Carson products! Kool :)

[tallcracker]

pretty clean old, ever run that thing :D
if you had to make a estimate of the top speed what do u think it is? and does the drive terrain seem to be pretty stout?

[old phart]

I estimate top speed to be around 30mph. Only a single speed though. Too bad there is not a 2-speed tranny for it.

Yes I run it! :D

I wipe the chassis; pipe; wheels; and tires down after each day and wash the body in the kitchen sink with soap and water. I do this to all my r/c's. I like clean machines! :D

The drive train is just OK. For example, the dogbones and drive cups are wearing already after about only 20 tankfuls. Nothing that can't be beefed up but they gotta cut costs to bring it in this low of a price. The throttle and brake linkages are somewhat cheap. Again a cost cutting matter that can easily be rectified. Most importantly the engine; clutch; spur gear; and diff seem to be fairly stout.

Just got a Hobby People sale flyer. The XTM Baja Outlaw 4WD version with the new powerhouse .18 engine will be on sale from Feb 21 to 25. Reduced $50 to $249.99 sale price.

[old phart]

OK, so I bought a new 4WD Baja Outlaw on Saturday. On sale right now at Hobby People for $249.99 That is a really good price for what you get.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/145608.asp

I was going to get an XTM .18 as an upgrade for my 2WD Baja Blade. That costs $109.99 and then the header kit I need for it cuz it's rear exhaust cost $34.99..................

So that's $145 for the engine and exhaust. Well then buying the Outlaw gets me the whole car, plus a complete 2 channel Hitec radio for $100! The radio costs $45 so that makes the whole car now for only $55 dollars! And it comes with the upgraded clutch bell and steel spur that costs $28 dollars. That means I end up with a rolling 4WD chassis for $27! Add in the body ($30) and decals ($9) and it looks like I got a lot of stuff for free, LOL! :)

This car is a real bargain folks. It is well made and a lot of fun. Well my Baja Blade is and I expect no less of this 4WD version. And this new version with the .18 motor should be a screamer. XTM rates this motor @ 1.3HP! Guy at the LHS said his buddy put the new XTM .18 in his Nitro TC3 and it is insanely fast.

I'll found out in a couple weeks what this baby runs like.

http://www.fototime.com/BF9233E8A377A3A/standard.jpg
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http://www.fototime.com/525BE0B5E7D2139/standard.jpg

[old phart]

CHeck out my new Baja Outlaw. Oops, make that Outlaw Rally! :D

http://www.fototime.com/80E04EA5BD64444/standard.jpg

[jkieffer72]

I have the Baja Blade. I wish I had known the Outlaw was out there for as little as $250, I would have spent the extra $$ for 4WD!!

I'm interested in converting to 4wd, but have not yet ordered all the pieces parts.

Looks like I'd need:
Dog Bone (drive Shaft)
Front Universal Joints
Differential
Drive gear for differential
output joint to drive shaft
ball bearings

did I miss anything??

I'm also curious to know if there are any other gearing options available? Will a clutch bell from another car fit the Baja?? I believe the stock gear is 14T, I'd like to play with other options.

I to have put on-road tires onto the truck. Just too much power to keep it going straight on dirt.

I'd like to go to 4WD and put some big tires on it, see what that does. I saw some tires that fit the standard 2.2 inch wheels, but were larger diameter than standard tires. (Monster Mashers or something they were called..)

Has anyone actually converted their truck to 4wd?

John

[old phart]

Hey John, I don't know exactly what it takes to convert to 4WD but your list is probably good to go. It doesn't look like it needs much.

I tried using regular 2.2 truck tires on my Baja Blade once and the gear ratio was so bad it hardly had any acceleration and could not hit max RPM. The tires have to stay about the same size as stock in overall diamter at least.

There is one option for gears from XTM. If you get the metal spur gear, you need to get the hardened clutch bell. Those will give you a different ratio. As for other mfg's I don't know, but maybe there are some that fit.

[toofast4u752]

Hey i just made a deal for a baja blade that has been converted to 4wd. i am getting this http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119760&highlight=baja+blade

well i have been wanting tyo get into off-road for a while now and i hope i like this. does anybody know where i can get hop ups for it? i havent been able to fined any

and do you think that it was a good deal buying it for 70 shipped?

[mpower7477]

Originally posted by jkieffer72
I have the Baja Blade. I wish I had known the Outlaw was out there for as little as $250, I would have spent the extra $$ for 4WD!!

I'm interested in converting to 4wd, but have not yet ordered all the pieces parts.

Looks like I'd need:
Dog Bone (drive Shaft)
Front Universal Joints
Differential
Drive gear for differential
output joint to drive shaft
ball bearings

did I miss anything??

I'm also curious to know if there are any other gearing options available? Will a clutch bell from another car fit the Baja?? I believe the stock gear is 14T, I'd like to play with other options.

I to have put on-road tires onto the truck. Just too much power to keep it going straight on dirt.

I'd like to go to 4WD and put some big tires on it, see what that does. I saw some tires that fit the standard 2.2 inch wheels, but were larger diameter than standard tires. (Monster Mashers or something they were called..)

Has anyone actually converted their truck to 4wd?

John
yeah all you need is
two packs of dogbones (all the dogbones are the same size in the whole car, nifty for reapiars ;))
input gear
drive outputs
bearings
differential

although the clutchbell I am 90% sure is 13t on the baja blade I bought. Cant check right now though as it is all packaged ready to be shipped to toofast4u752 ;).

[mpower7477]

Originally posted by old phart
CHeck out my new Baja Outlaw. Oops, make that Outlaw Rally! :D

http://www.fototime.com/80E04EA5BD64444/standard.jpg
man! thats almost exactly how mine was gonna look! hehe.

Oh yeah and there is a way you can put the duratrax overdrive st (i think thats the car) two speed tranny into a baja blade. I've seen a guy who had it done to his car at hobby people once. Although they don't sell those parts anywhere near me so I gave up on the two speed.

[toofast4u752]

Anybody know if they make cvds for blade or outlaw. So far i love this truck the only thing i didnt like was that when i raised the suspension all the way the dogbones dont stay in so thats why i was wondering if they made cvds. Another question I dont exactly like the shape of the body so does anybody know any other bodies that fit? like hpi nitro MT bodies?. Also does aybody have a link to the metal spur with the hardened clutchbell?

[mpower7477]

200mm hpi bodies will fit. My friend who has an Outlaw put an PI 200mm Suzuki Escudo body on his and it looks great.

[toofast4u752]

Well I used my blade this week and i can now say that there is another thing i dont like about the truck. THE ARMS ARE WEAK!!!
LOL I broke both front a-arms in 2 days so i guess im going to try to make some aluminum ones myself. and the other thing is that for some reason the engine doesnt seem to idle very well and after the running it for a couple of minutes it kinda turns off and then i cant start it untill it completly cools anybody know why?

[Greenshields]

We carry aluminum arms in both blue and polished natural as well as steel clutch bell and center gears for the Blade and Outlaw.

233401 Arm ft blue
233402 arm ft polish
233405 Arm Rr Blue
233406 Arm Rr Polish
233412 Steel gear
233418 Steel clutch bell

233414 graphite shock tower

For your engine, it sounds like one of the needles is too lean. Sometimes if one is set rich, then the other is sometimes set lean accidentally.

Try richening both needles 1 turn and then only lean then 1/4 turn at a time until the engine leans out.

-Mike Greenshields
XTM

[old phart]

I have run my Baja several times in dirt lots and and now on asphalt lots and never broken an arm. I have not tried jumping it though. My buddy has destroyed several arms because he tries to jump it like a T-Maxx and that ain't gonna cut it!

One of the things I loved about my Baja right off the bat was how sweet that XTM .15 engine is. It holds an idle sooo well and is easy as pie to tune and runs strong and cool if the HSN is adjusted properly.

[toofast4u752]

Well actualy the first arm i broke was when i hit a pole, hehe and then the second one was jumping it off of a 4inch ramp. um about the engine i think the low speed needle might be off what setting are you running? about the arms i think i have the capability to make them so i probably wont buy them. what really sucks though is that my lhs doesnt carry parts for it and niether does my not so local hobby shop. so the only place to get parts is only from hobby people.

[old phart]

OK toofast4u752, I did this just for you! :)

I measured my LSN and it is 3 1/4 turns out from bottom and looks like this:

[toofast4u752]

LOL THANKS A BUNCH!!!:) :D :) :D :) :D :p :p

[old phart]

I did a little more searching and have found exactly what the XTM Baja Blade is. It is a Carson of Germany "Stadium Fighter" and also known as "Stage Fighter". In Europe it comes with a 2.5cc Force engine. The 4WD version is called the "Nitro Bull". :cool:

[toofast4u752]

Well my truck is out of commision at the moment since i dont have the cash for the parts i need. but i was wondering if anybody had extras of these parts that would be willing to donate to me:)

well heres whats broke:
front arms
dogbone bent almost 90 degrees(dont ask how)
steering thingy under the upper deck that swing from side to side
spur and clutchbell is pretty used up

so if anybody would be nice enough to help me out i would really appreciate it:) toofast4u752@msn.com

and i have one question how do the hex adapters stay on the shaft without slipping one came off but its loose now and i cant get it to stay on like the others?

[toofast4u752]

I managed to get funds to order the parts to fix my truck they should arrive tommorow. im planning on going down to the beach and running it in the sand anybody done this? how did it perform? the thing im making for it is a gear box so that sand dont get into the gears and messing them up anything else i should do? the box is made out of cardboard(he he) but its only to keep the sand out hopefully it will work.

[toofast4u752]

Hers my problem:

the front dogbones come out whenever i steer the the truck.

when ever i steer the shaft thingy turns and then the dogbone has space to come out. I know this is probably the result of the conversion to 4wd(originally a blade)

can some1 tell me how the real outlaw version should be cause it probably doesnt have the same problem.

i took some pictures so you can see whats happening. if you have the outlaw can you please post some pics of how the dogbones go please!!!!

or if you know whats not right please tell me!!!

i have tried the little springs but it still happens

you gotta look closely at the pics and you can see that part of the dogbone doesnt stay in when i steer

[toofast4u752]

/\
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HELP ME!!!!! I WANT 4WD!!!!!!! BUT IT DOESNT WORK RIGHT!!!!!

[gs69350]

I have your answer...
I too am an XTM Outlaw owner... I have run it through its paces and have determined that it is a sore offroad vehicle but practically perfect for parking lot races at the LHS...

To cover a few things in this post... Reguarding the German made version, has anyone ever noticed that Megatech's 1/10 monster truck and their Razor street car are also VERY VERY similar to the XTM Outlaw/Blade? The most obvious differences are the a-arms, but a big difference that looks like a direct fit for the O/B is (hold on to your pants) a 2 speed tranny!!!!

Now, on to the problem with the front dogbones. My XTM Outlaw came with universals in the front instead of dogbones. They are $16.00 a pair at HobbyPeople. I have not really had a problem with them. The rear dogbones were a real headache though. I solved that by buying a set of front universals and sticking them in the rear, they fit well but I cannot raise the suspension much without them coming out of the diff.

This truck is awful at jumping, the front a-arms are very weak and I snapped 2 pairs in a very short period of time and opted for the XTM aluminum set, so far no problems. (well, I did hit something and bent a hinge pin, but the a-arm survived without a scratch).

The XTM .15 is a good engine, it does get a little hot though and when that happens I notice that fuel will vaporize in the tube the second it hits the carb, this makes it very difficult to start unless you literally flood the engine, the incoming fuel will help cool the inside of the carb and allow an easier re-start.

Glad I found this forum, for a while I thought I was the only fool who bought one of these.

I have a Losi XXX-NT Sport and a Nitro TC3 (got both after the Outlaw). I may consider selling mine as I have no idea what to do with it now.. I did put a 200mm BMW body on it that a friend gave me... He put the XTM body on his HPI Nitro MT and it looks much better there than it did on the Outlaw...

The next parking lot race is a week from Friday (may 9th), I may enter the Outlaw but I want to run the XXX-NT more, we'll see...

Dan

[old phart]

Did you ever mount a 2 speed in your Outlaw?

[gs69350]

Nope. Never did.

Ended up selling it to a co-worker...
He paint stripped the chassis and then painted it red (we work in an auto body shop). Looks pretty neat. He fragged the front diff and took out the front center shaft so its now 2 wheel drive.

Just no comparison to the Losi XXX-NT...

Dan

[old phart]

OK, was just wonderin'........

I still like my Baja/Outlaw and will add a 2 speed if I see somewhere a kit that looks like it drops in. :cool:

[boilermaker13]

I just bought the Baja Outlaw with the .18 engine. I spent nearly two hours trying to start it with no success. It ran for about 10 seconds and then quit. I started with the HSN at 3 turns and the LSN at 5 turns. When it ran for the 10 seconds there was not alot of smoke. I tried making the settings richer but that did not help. Any suggestions????

[old phart]

Post this question directly to the source:

http://globalservices.globalhobby.com/globalforum/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=d5ef096531cc282124c28cab20561a4c

[boilermaker13]

I took the Outlaw to my LHS and we got it running. Not sure what I was doing wrong but it starts right up now. What's the best way to keep the receiver dry? The truck came with the receiver in a plastic bag that was tie-wrapped at the end. If I drive through a small puddle the water still finds its way inside the bag. I tried double bagging and that was a little better. I've read about using ballons. Just wondering if there was anything better out there.

[The Failing boy]

What happened to the xtm baja outlaw/blade trucks? I searched and searched but nothing, what happened???

[boilermaker13]

The Blade and Outlaw are no longer made. They were replaced by the X-Cellerator 2WD stadium truck. You can still get spare parts for these trucks for a while at www.hobbypeople.net.

[boilermaker13]

It looks like you can still buy the Blade and Outlaw!

http://www.hobby-warehouse.com/xtmbablni2wd.html

http://www.hobby-warehouse.com/xtmbaou18se4.html

[yokodude2]

I bought a baja blade, A T-Maxx,Mine-z for $150 the max had been run and the blade the guy could not get going. I lit it up and have run my break-in sequence now I'm just try ing to get the motor running hard. For some reason it just seems so slow but I'm used to to running my XXXT and max 2.5 is it normal running gonna keep up or is it just not as race tune-able or am i crazy or what? o put some tiers i had on my rustler on it and lowered the body. It would be a grate toy to bash but the guy at the hobby shop sold it to my buddy saying that it would keep up with my NT but i just don't see that happen with the stock motor. no one else in my hometown bought one so i got no one to talk to about it. Insight would be nice,thinks.

[yokodude2]

Ya, nevermind my last post I sold that XTM for 150 by itssalf! :)

[Dave-S]

Just an FYI: I spoke to my LHS dealer today.... He's looking to dump his Blade/Outlaw parts stock CHEAP... If anyone is looking for parts, I can put you in touch with the shop/shop owner!

Later...
Dave

[bsammyfl]

Please let me know who the dealer is I need parts for my outlaw

[Kmot]

I just took my Baja Blade out of storage after a year and gave it a tune up and then took it to work for the lunchtime parking lot races. Running on 20% Powermaster it was really hauling the mail! Driving oval race style it was cool to watch the inside tire get a little loose and then grow like a big donut and stay that way through the whole turn, lol. Using Speed Hawgs.

This is a great little truck. I hope spare parts will be around for awhile.

Kmot (formerly old phart)

[Kmot]

I have added a Hard Bodyz cage to my Baja and made my own aluminum brackets. I am running a Ritter Cycle expansion chamber, left over from my T-Maxx. I converted the pull start to a Tiger Drive. And I am running Street Trac tires. It's a lot faster with this pipe and it is a lot of fun to oval race it. :)

http://www.fototime.com/D6141B394164B4C/orig.jpg