[reMOC] Tow truck with lots of functions

[suffocation]

This is a rebuild/upgrade of my first tow truck. Features are as follows:

- 8x4, powered by 2 L motors geared down 3:1

- proportional steering on 2 front axles using servo

- pendular suspension on rear axles; independent suspension on front axles

- side and rear outriggers

- tow fork

- tilting cabin

- fully functional, 360° rotating crane

- fake engine (straight 4)

The cab is a mod of the Arocs; the side outriggers are pretty much the same as 42070's. All the functions are driven by an L motor and 9 2-way selector switches (6 on the truck and 3 on the crane).

Here are some quick pics - will take better ones and shoot a video when decent lighting is available.

 

 

It's pretty heavy, so I had to use eight hard shock absorbers on the front wheels. In spite of the weight and the ridiculous amount of friction due to the old wheel hubs (8297), the servo still works smoothly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by suffocation

[1gor]

It looks massive,  but when compared to 42070 your MOC has decent color combination and chassis is not to colorful.  Despite that I found blue and white was nicer... I assume that you "spent" some 3000 parts in it (approximately).
 

[suffocation]

Hi I_Igor, thanks for the feedback Yeah, the white/blue livery was nice - in fact, I may change the bodywork back to those colours, although the red outriggers will stick out like a sore thumb. I wanted to get a feel for what a large red&black tow truck would look like for another project I'm working on.

The model weighs around 3200 g, so yes, I'd say 3000-4000 parts is a reasonable approximation, including a ridiculous amount of gears (the crane alone has more than 40 of them).

Here's a lousy front shot and a peek at the inner workings of the crane assembly:

 

[Aventador2004]

Why do mocs get no attention at all, even good ones! Great!

[IstakaCiti]

This is one very impressive model, will wait for the Video!

[suffocation]

On 16/07/2017 at 4:42 PM, Aventador2004 said:

Why do mocs get no attention at all, even good ones! Great!

Ha ha, thanks mate! Well, there are a lot of impressive tow trucks out there, so this one really pales in comparison.

I changed some of the gearing in the crane. Here are some outdoor pics (only got a cell phone - no camera yet). First at rest:

And then with everything deployed:

Still struggling to put a video together but it'll come through eventually.

 

[evortigosa]

Awesome!! 

Really good detailed. One of the best tow trucks I have ever seen.

:)

Edited July 19, 2017 by evortigosa

[Bostons Brick Closet]

5 hours ago, suffocation said:

I changed some of the gearing in the crane. Here are some outdoor pics (only got a cell phone - no camera yet).

...

Still struggling to put a video together but it'll come through eventually.

 

 

Check out this thread they have lots of cool videography tips!

Edited July 19, 2017 by Bostons Brick Closet
Not Photography

[Lakop]

Your latest images are great. I notice your outrigger set up is similar, if not identical, to 42070. It looks good on your truck. How stable is it when lifting?

H

[brickless_kiwi]

Simply gorgeous what a rotator truck should be and one of the best parts it looks to be user friendly to play with well done 

Edited July 20, 2017 by brickless_kiwi

[suffocation]

17 hours ago, evortigosa said:

Awesome!! 

Really good detailed. One of the best tow trucks I have ever seen.

:)

10 hours ago, LvdH said:

I'm not a truck person but... that is one nice tow truck!  

Thanks! Lots of credit goes to Herr Kossman's Arocs, though, since the cab is almost an exact replica. I tried a few designs of my own but they were all hideous.

 

13 hours ago, Bostons Brick Closet said:

Check out this thread they have lots of cool videography tips!

Thanks for the link - that's a real treasure trove of how-tos! I eventually managed to piece together a rubbish late-night vid using WMM but I'll definitely study that thread for my next video. Cheers mate

 

10 hours ago, Horace T said:

Your latest images are great. I notice your outrigger set up is similar, if not identical, to 42070. It looks good on your truck. How stable is it when lifting?

H

Thank you! Yep, it's pretty much the same - I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. It works pretty well - those mini LAs can handle a lot of pressure.

 

1 hour ago, brickless_kiwi said:

Simply gorgeous what a rotator truck should be and one of the best parts it looks to be user friendly to play with well done 

Thanks mate I knew my elder nephew would want to play around with it and he's a hands-on kind of guy, so I tried to stick to a certain logic in placing the nine switches: L-R on the truck are 1) rotate crane 2) tilt cab 3) side outriggers 4) & 5) tow fork 6) rear spade outriggers. Top to bottom on the crane are 1) winch 2) extend/retract boom 3) raise/lower boom. As an added bonus, you get to see lots of gears spinning away when operating the crane.

Here's a very lousy video I hacked together. Will learn to do better.