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[starstreak]

From Lego.com on the Crane tuck:

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When you need to move the biggest and heaviest loads, it’s time to call on the mighty crane truck! This massive, realistic vehicle includes a Power Functions control box that you can use to unfold, raise and lower its powerful, motorized crane arm, and to extend the outriggers to stabilize your cargo. Includes instructions for rebuilding into a Duty Wrecker!

• An exciting and challenging building experience with this 2-in-1 real world model!
  
• Try the functionalities with the included Power Functions XL Motor, Power Functions Battery box, and Power Functions Control Switch!
  
• Power Functions powers the crane arm and extendable outriggers!
  
• Crane unfolds , raises and lowers and swivels 360°!
  
• Cab opens to reveal interior details and V8 engine with movable pistons!
  
• Rebuilds into Duty Wrecker!
  
• Crane measures 20.9 inches (53cm) x 22 inches (56cm)!

Set Name: 8258 Crane Truck
Theme: Technic
Released: 2009
Pieces: 1877
Price: $149.99/$106.35EUR/91.57GBP
Here are some quicklinks Lego.com, Brickset


Wanna see some pictures? Let's start with the normal box arts and manuals!

Box art front

While Bionicle boxes have great background, Technics have great visuals for the vehicles. This, I think is the largest Technic set for this year.


Box art Back

Many people like the alternate build. The truck actually looks very well done. Unlike other Technic sets, the truck actually has panels. The instructions are downloadable from a website. The four manuals are all for one build.


Box art inside

All my pictures normally have links to view larger versions. Click on it to see all the different things the Crane truck can do! Again, Lego likes to over-color the red. It's not as vibrant or glossy as i the pictures.


Sticker sheet

Many stickers. Looks like Lego went all out to help this Technic set have the "look" of the real thing.


Instruction manuals

Four books big. And it's ALL for this one build. All the covers look the same as the 1st.


Bags of parts

Now this is a proper Technic set. No numbered packages. Heh. This actually hindered me. Since I build at work, I have two plastic drawers I can put these in. Top drawer holds the smaller parts. I keep it on a "flat pillow" as to keep the noise down. The bottom drawer holds larger pieces but no "pillow" to keep the noise down. If you look carefully, you'll see a lot of the bags are dups. Like for the blue and black pins. And just the sheer number of small parts. It was hard in trying to determine what I should put into each drawer.

Extras

Here's whats left after I finished the build. I'm thinking maybe I have too much... Nah.

The Build


Ok. Four books. 1800+ pieces. Yes, I really took over a HUNDRED photos. I figured most people won't look at each photo on a contact sheet that big, so I decided to try my hand with doing a slideshow. It moves quick. About 1 second for each photo. Make sure the "HD" is red colored. Video is viewed best in "high-def", which can be view on the youtube site itself. Although not shown here in HD, it's still pretty sharp.

Problem part

See those two "Yellow Technic Engine Crankshaft" that attach to the extender arm? If you rotate it 180 deg, it's like not even 1/8 of an inch difference, but it's enough to stop the top arm from folding all the way closed.


I guess since I saved a bunch of space in combining the photo-build, I'll upload a bunch of final photos for you to enjoy! All pictures are clickable to view in a larger photo too big for most monitors.

Final build pictures

Side view. Plain, but you get to see the profile. I wish I had something next to it to show you the size. It's pretty long.


Front view. This is a nice clear shot to show you the front profile. Nice use of stickers. At first I thought I thought I would have issues with with the stickers because of curved surfaces. But it's fine. I do like how Lego used the blue pieces behind the lower fog lights. It gives it a modern look to it. The sticker has different yellow names that you can use. Not sure why. Maybe they had extra space on the sheet?


Rear view. Not much to see here. There is a trailer hitch or whatever thats called, but so far no trailer set to hook up to it. :)


V8 engine view. As you can see, the whole cab flips forward for viewing of the engine. Like other Technic sets, the pistons move up and down when the truck rolls.


Closeup of the crane. Reminds me of those robotic arms you see at an assembly plant. This is the reason why I wanted this set. From this view, you can also see where the battery pack is stored. Where normally the crew cab storage area would be.


Front top view. Here you can see the horns on the top of the cab. Not sure if those "radar" dishes was the best choice. It looks too flat and not like a horn. Also on the top, you can see the wind deflector. Did you know those wind deflectors on these big trucks can actually save 10-15% in gas?


Here is a view with the crane arm extended. Those "Light Bluish Gray Technic Linear Actuator with Dark Bluish Gray Ends" that is used 2x to operate the crane arms is NOT pneumatic. On one end, a shaft is rotated and in turn slowly pushes the actuator pin in and out depending which way the end is being rotated. The top arm is all MANUAL. The black extender moves by rotating the black wheel on the back joint of that extender. Also the line is MANUAL to extend/retract the hook. I thought it was powered too when I bought it. Guess there would be no easy way to do that without making the crane ugly with gears.


Here, you can see the crane fully raised up. Not that it could be used to lift like that since it's almost vertical. But you can see how high it really can go.


Here is one of the control door opened. This side, you can see the switch for positive or negative power. The lever is pointing to the left. It's supposed to be pointing upwards, but I found it easier to keep it to the left.


This is the other control panel open on the other side. Here, you can see that raising or lowering the TWO, three position switches, you can control the lower and upper crane arm with one switch. And the other switch controls the crane rotation and the stabilizer arms to go out or in.


A close up view of the lower part of the crane. I was hoping you could see more of the gears but the only one you can see is the dark grey gear that rotates the base of the crane.


Some outdoor shots










Since this is a "Power Function" set, I thought I would make a few videos showing some of the features. A note about videos. They are HD. But to view in HD, you need to open it on the youtube site to see it.

Truck stabilizer in action


Lower crane arm in action


Upper crane arm in action


Crane closing to a compact state



Comments
This build was pretty easy considering the 1800 pieces, and that I had to dump them all into a drawer without sorting.
There was a couple of this that I ran into. Some are problems, others are just things I didn't know.
1) The rotation of the crane. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't always rotate.
2) I pulled hairs trying to figure out why I couldn't make the crane fold into a compact state like in the final photo. It turned out that if you put these yellow pegs "Yellow Technic Engine Crankshaft" in wrong on the upper crane arm, it will actually stop it from folding completely. The instructions isn't too clear on the how the part is to be put on. See picture above.
3) I don't like the boxed in area for the crane. You can't 360 degree rotate the crane without bumping into the cage.
4) I mentioned before the crane line and final extension on the crane is manual. You need to use your hand to raise and lower the line and extend and retract the extender.
5) The stabilizers have manual legs on them. Once you extend the stabilizers, you need to lower the legs on each one by hand.

My rating:
Playability: 4/5. This set is very playable. A few minor bugs, but still fun. It won't lift anything heavy, but you can pretend. :)
Design: 4/5. Being the biggest Technic set of the year, they did a good job. But a few minor problems like the crane not being able to rotate 360 degree when folded, bothered me. Then again, maybe the real rig you could only compact it and not rotate it to save space.
Build experience: 5/5. Comparing it to other Technic sets, this is... harder. No bags are marked so everything is in one big pile. Just the way I like it. I want a challenge. But still, finding out that yellow piece was backwards was a pain. As I mentioned, it's not clear in the instructions.
Overall: 4/5. This set was over $140. Price per part is a good deal when compared to lets say a Star Wars set. And this set is very playable. If you don't like Technic line then it may not be for you, but the overall rating is based on if you were actually looking for this set.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
All photos are click able for larger, bigger-than-life picture sizes! You can see all photos used here, including the larger build pictures: 8258 Crane Truck.

[5150 Lego]

Finally, we get a review of the mighty flag ship for the 09 Techinc Fleet! Thank you Starstruck. You did a fine job. I really enjoyed the slide show as it showed the build process. Well done! A few questions...

I know you mentioned that the crane can not lift much, but about how much do you reckon it can pick up? Like maybe a standard City car? Or maybe the city bus?

How high is the 5Th wheel hitch from the ground ?(the 5Th wheel is technical term for the trailer hitch semi trucks use) I'm curious since i have trailers built for some of my present rigs and am curious if they will be compatible.

In you first pic of the truck in the gravel rocks, it appears that the rear axle is following the curve of the ground. Is that a suspension or is the rear axle on a "bogey" type rear suspension?

[CP5670]

The slideshow was my favorite part of the review too.

The gearbox is the highlight of the set for me, and I especially like how the gears are laid out in all three dimensions and rotate around different axes. It also uses two independent geartrains on a turntable, using the freely spinning dark gray gears. MOCers have been using this kind of mechanism for 15 years now, but this is the first time we have seen it in an official Technic set. I was initially not fond of the various H beams on the 2009 sets, but from what I'm seeing in the instructions they actually help make the build less tedious and closer to a studded build. They might also make it easier to modify the model.

I agree with your 4/5 (or 8/10 ) rating though. I think this could have potentially been a legendary model, but they have cut some obvious corners with it and it ends up being "merely" very good. The manual stabilizers are probably the biggest issue, and I would also add the lack of dual differentials in the back. This is a small thing, but they did it on 8265 this year and I think things like this are the difference between a good set and a truly great one.

Quote

The sticker has different yellow names that you can use. Not sure why. Maybe they had extra space on the sheet?

That must be TLG's entire Technic design team. Uwe Wabra is this set's designer, which is where the "UW Lifting Service" comes from.

[starstreak]

Lol. I think you meant Starstreak.
Hmm. That all depends. It could hold alot, but it would sag. All the parts for the crane has nothing that would "give" but would bend. Since the hook is on a line that you have to turn to raise or lower the hook, the motor wouldn't stress on lifting. I'll try and lift something with it.
As for how high the 5th wheel is, I'll measure it once I bring in the set from the car. At the moment it's hiding from my son. :)

I noticed that in the picture. It does look like suspension, but alas, nope. It just looks that way in the shot. The wheels don't have any suspension.

5150 Lego, on Aug 9 2009, 06:44 PM, said:

Finally, we get a review of the mighty flag ship for the 09 Techinc Fleet! Thank you Starstruck. You did a fine job. I really enjoyed the slide show as it showed the build process. Well done! A few questions...

I know you mentioned that the crane can not lift much, but about how much do you reckon it can pick up? Like maybe a standard City car? Or maybe the city bus?

How high is the 5Th wheel hitch from the ground ?(the 5Th wheel is technical term for the trailer hitch semi trucks use) I'm curious since i have trailers built for some of my present rigs and am curious if they will be compatible.

In you first pic of the truck in the gravel rocks, it appears that the rear axle is following the curve of the ground. Is that a suspension or is the rear axle on a "bogey" type rear suspension?

Thanks. Doing the slideshow was something new. I figured more people would watch it than skim over all the thumbnails of a build this big.

See, that whole thing you said about the gearbox went over my head. lol! I know what you said, but I doubt I could make and use it myself in my own project. hehe.
Ah that is neat. Being able to put your own names as part of a sticker sheet. That's one way to say you helped create the set. Good for them.

CP5670, on Aug 9 2009, 07:16 PM, said:

The slideshow was my favorite part of the review too.

The gearbox is the highlight of the set for me, and I especially like how the gears are laid out in all three dimensions and rotate around different axes. It also uses two independent geartrains on a turntable, using the freely spinning dark gray gears. MOCers have been using this kind of mechanism for 15 years now, but this is the first time we have seen it in an official Technic set. I was initially not fond of the various H beams on the 2009 sets, but from what I'm seeing in the instructions they actually help make the build less tedious and closer to a studded build. They might also make it easier to modify the model.

That must be TLG's entire Technic design team. Uwe Wabra is this set's designer, which is where the "UW Lifting Service" comes from.

[Smithy]

Great review - especially the high resolution photos. An amazing level of detail.

The crane arm does look fragile. Moving the arms whilst loaded would probably brake it. Rotate - probably. Lift using winch - yes. The stabaliser legs don't look like they'd take much preasure. I'd recon it could lift and move a mars bar but not much more.

I've bought most of the Technic cranes but I think I'll give this one a miss.

[tomacwhite]

Great review and photography, thanks very much.

I saw this set in the Lego shop in Milton Keynes yesterday (UK store), and whilst it looks totally awesome, I am going to go for the Bulldozer instead as its got more to it. I think if the drive was motorized and the winch too I would probably go for it. It's still ace though and your photos really showed it off well :)

[JunkstyleGio]

Great review, great pictures of a realy fantastic model. It makes the wait for my own set to arrive so much easier.
Thanks!

Can't wat for august the 18th.....

[Musikfreak]

Great review - thanks a lot for that! The pictures are very good and you explained the building quite nicely. (I personally would have liked one or two more pictures of the mechanism that makes 2 drifeshafts going through the turntable - although I can imagine it now)
The videos are great too - thank you for that. You can really see what the model is all about.

Now to the model itself: I waited for a indepth review of this to see if it's worth the money - well I'm not quite sure now. The manual lock on the outriggers doesn't really bother me that much - I could happily live with that. The manual operation on the crane-arm however is really bugging me. I think one "functioncomplex" like the crane should be operatable from the "outside" of this complex. The manual wheels on the middle of the arm itself are just wrong to me.
That made the good old 8868 Airtech Claw so amazing.
The gearbox itself really reminds me of the 8480 Shuttle. You also had to chose the function and then switch on the motor in one direction. However I still like the shuttlebox more because it was just one switch which you could slide to all the 4 positions. 2 switches are useful if you want to use 2 functions simultaneously but I don't think it makes sense on this model. (And the outmost function on the shuttle was done with a micromotor - just really neat compared to the handoperation on this model.)

Also one thing I'm missing is the great steering of the 8460. This model again has two lights but they are just functionless and they used the standard way in the middle and not even on the opening cabin (see 8436).
One last thing that's sad so see is that they continue to make the last axle functionless just like 8285 (again see 8868 with two differentials). I really like about e.g. 8421 that every axle has a function (steering / driving the engine).

On the other side what I really like on this model is the look. It just looks amazing - especially the cabin is one of the best ever done in technic. Also the hidden switches behind the panels are neat (like 8285). The outriggers (also maybe weaker) just look more realistic. The two LAs controlled by one motor through the turntable really is the key function of this model to me and quite brilliantly done.

I had a lot to nag but in the end this is a very nice model and well worth a flagship - but it has just that one, two bits missing which would make it outstanding.

This post has been edited by Musikfreak: 10 August 2009 - 11:35 AM

[ILikePi]

Great review, starstreak!

Your photos are good as usual, and your slideshow of the build was really in-depth.

I really like this set, but not enough for me to get it (since I don't like Technic).

The Power Functions features seem really cool (but slow ).

The alternate model looks promising, too. Perhaps you will do another review of it sometime?

I voted for "It's nice, but I'm not a Technic builder" and "Awesome! I always read your reviews!".

This post has been edited by ILikePi: 10 August 2009 - 04:37 PM

[MShiels]

Anyone from Canada will have to hunt around to find that one. it's not listed in our dealer catalog/price sheets at all. So Shop@home for sure, and then maybe one exclusive retailer. First time in a while they have made it hard to find a core TECHNIC set, will piss alot of people off for sure!!

[prateek]

Outstanding review starstreak! I think this is the biggest Technic set I've ever seen. I love the PF on this

[puddleglum]

Great review, and I really like the looks of this set. I'm sure I would really be fascinated by the gearbox construction, seeing how it all works and goes together. However, as others said when this set first got unveiled - it seemed like the perfect opportunity for LEGO to make a new "small" or "micro" Power Functions motor that would go on the end of the crane to raise/lower the cable itself. Overall the set seems really nice, but I think I'm going to go for the new Front Loader.

[starstreak]

Thanks for the comments on the review. It's really a nice set to look at.

For those wanting a better view of the gearbox, remember the slideshow? All photos are on my flickr site. Just click on the link at the bottom of the review. It'll take you there and you can view bigger pictures of all the photos in the slideshow.

ILikePi- Yup. It's slow. But I guess you really wouldn't want it whipping the arm up and down. It would make it hard to control.

Puddlegum- a micro motor? Hmm.. That would've been neat. But I guess with a large and small motor already, Lego probably doesn't want to make something smaller unless they had a whole lineup to use that. Either that, or it would've added $20-30 more to this set. And that would've really put people off on buying it. Considering it comes with power functions, the $140+ price isn't too bad.

[CP5670]

Quote

Now to the model itself: I waited for a indepth review of this to see if it's worth the money - well I'm not quite sure now. The manual lock on the outriggers doesn't really bother me that much - I could happily live with that. The manual operation on the crane-arm however is really bugging me. I think one "functioncomplex" like the crane should be operatable from the "outside" of this complex. The manual wheels on the middle of the arm itself are just wrong to me.
That made the good old 8868 Airtech Claw so amazing.

I'm a little more willing to overlook the manual functions on the crane arm, as those would be somewhat harder to motorize. The outriggers, on the other hand, could have been made fully automatic if a little more thought had been put into them. But all of these things are examples of where this model falls a little short.

I think it's still worth getting, and certainly miles better than last year's flagship. If the new construction style makes the model easier to modify and more like a studded model, that will be even better.

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Anyone from Canada will have to hunt around to find that one. it's not listed in our dealer catalog/price sheets at all. So Shop@home for sure, and then maybe one exclusive retailer. First time in a while they have made it hard to find a core TECHNIC set, will piss alot of people off for sure!!

In the 1990s it was actually not unusual for the flagship Technic sets to be only available through S@H and Lego brand stores. I know 8479 for example was like that. I haven't seen it since then though.

Quote

Puddlegum- a micro motor? Hmm.. That would've been neat. But I guess with a large and small motor already, Lego probably doesn't want to make something smaller unless they had a whole lineup to use that. Either that, or it would've added $20-30 more to this set. And that would've really put people off on buying it. Considering it comes with power functions, the $140+ price isn't too bad.

An M motor could probably be made to work if it's in the base of the turntable, and those are $7.50. I think if someone is buying a $150 set in the first place, they wouldn't mind spending $10-15 more to get a perfect model.

[Milan]

Excellent review, starstreak.
I like extensive use of youtube for showing functions, again, slideshow is greatly done.
Pictures are detailed and your opinion on this set seems to be realistic, you presented it with all the pros and cones,

Once again, great review!