8081 - Extreme Cruiser - MODs and Improvements

[johnnym]

22 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

Looks great @johnnym.

Thanks! You made this an easy mod for me as I only had to change a few things.

22 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

I like the slant back version of your truck, but the heads of the rear seat occupants may be a little uncomfortable.

Indeed, especially when the car turns over. Maybe they should be removed for safety reasons.

[Maaboo the Witch]

7 hours ago, johnnym said:

Thanks! You made this an easy mod for me as I only had to change a few things.

Indeed, especially when the car turns over. Maybe they should be removed for safety reasons.

Or, the passengers could just wear helmets. 

[HorcikDesigns]

Hi, I created a topic of my vision of the 8081 MK2. 
 

 

[Maaboo the Witch]

Great stuff @HorcikDesigns! Looks awesome. Brings to mind a meld between 8081 and 8466. The metallic green from the latter would look great on this! 

[Seasider]

I resurrected my work on this last night using LDD. I may still come up with a modern version of this myself. 
 

it’ll take time though

[johnnym]

I made some shots to show off some tyre variations. I also made a colorful red version of the 8081 in light of @Madoca 1977's recent vintage monster truck with that cool color gradient.

So here we have Fischer Technik tyres on LEGO rims on the red 8081 and the same tyres as before but on different rims on my mod of @Thirdwigg's 4x4 mod of the 8081 (the idea is from @HorcikDesigns and the look from the side is great IMO):

The Fischer Technik tyres on LEGO rims also look cool on this one, they have good size and proportions:

[sirslayer]

Some more ideas to share with the Lego set 8081 suspension that I have designed and tested.. Its the same independent double wishbone setup with a limited Live axle support which the Lego 8081 uses but with wheel hubs to use the bigger tires and rims. The limited live axle is different from the Lego set 42099 4x4 Control+ which supports full live axle with independent on top of that. On the Lego 8081, when the front suspension hits max compression of the springs on the independent suspension, the axles then becomes a limited live axles that pushes the opposite wheel down or upward. On my set up I also converted the rear live axle to a full independent with limited live axle support and added AWD drive with 3 diffs. and a High/low gear to the fake engine. The transmission feels solid and very smooth to operate. i also have designs a removable rear shell so you can converts your SUV into a pickup truck.  Just like the old 1970's Chevy Blazer's and Ford Bronco's..  Here are some examples pictures to click on and a quick video of the setup. 

 

Lego technic 8081 Suspension Mod by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Lego technic 8081 Suspension Mod by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Lego technic 8081 Suspension Mod by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Lego technic 8081 Suspension Mod by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-deMEiNZl8

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by sirslayer

[1gor]

@sirslayer ,perhaps new 68.7 x 27 S tires from 1989 Batmobile would be perfect for this mod...

Regards

[Thirdwigg]

Just finished another MOD! After all the Defender talk a couple of months ago I finished a V-8 4x4 version after the Defender 110 pickup. I tired to keep the styling as close to 8081 as I could. Maybe someday I'll venture out a little more creativly. Enjoy.

Topic here.

 

[sirslayer]

@Thirdwigg That came out very nice..   It looks like a truck version of the 8081 set!!!.. Great MOD!!!      My is almost finish...  It is based from the previous build on this thread.   I wish I didn't have to work today :( !!! 

[johnnym]

Well, I wanted to try @Thirdwigg's front axle (from the 8081 110 Pickup) in my mod of his 4x4 mod of the 8081 for a while and found the time in February. I had to do some slight modifications to both (1) the panhard rod attachment so that it doesn't collide with the chassis when the shock absorbers are fully compressed and (2) the steering control mechanism, as the new front axle steers in the opposite direction than the original one with the original steering control mechanism. I'm still not satisfied, as the knob wheels from the steering control mechanism can still collide with the rear axle when its shock absorbers are fully compressed, but that's not worse than with the original mod. The new front axle works much better than the original one for me, but it sadly doesn't allow for balloon tyres, as the steering mechanism collides with the sides of these tyres - so one downside here.

I also changed the looks of the truck a little on the way: Granted, it now does no longer closely resemble the 8081 - maybe not even remotely as it looks more like a Bollinger or a Hummer now - but I still find it worth posting here. Hope you guys see it the same way.

It now also has a removable/openable rear cover and modified roll bar. And the front allows for attachments (winch maybe or bull bars for trial runs - sorry, I don't know how these is called in English, I mean those bull bars that prevent that a trial truck pulls over its front when going downhill or landing on its nose).

[sirslayer]

@johnnym, they're a few terms, like push bar and roll bars and guards ... push bars are built with strength in mind, provides protection from debris and the ability to  push a vehicle if your push bar is mounted from the frame of your truck and the tubular shape increase the strength and they are usual round tubes in length ( roll bars) .      . a bush guard is a roll bar also but its only mounted from the bumper of the vehicle so it only provides protection to lights and grille , its ( defensive ) towards FOD and since its not frame mounted , don't dare to push any vehicles.  so a proper roll bars setup would be frame mounted tubular shape setup over the front and rear cap of the vehicle. .. bumper mounted roll bars are mostly cosmetic .. and lacks authentic. 

[sirslayer]

and I got some more 8081 mods I would like to share.. various 8081 mods of the body shape and a new 2.0 version Black Widow chassis that is almost the same size of the 8081 chassis with AWD center diff , all independent suspension on a all new with 2 gear transmission,winch  and HOG steering on dash .. all original design by me !! .. a direct replacement!!    .... check them out!!  

Lego Technic by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Lego Technic 8081 mod by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

blackwidow(tmc)doors_3 by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

8081boss_Copy by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Edited March 20, 2020 by sirslayer

[sirslayer]

and a free download link from Bricklink ..  my 2.0 Black widow chassis can be viewed in 3d from this link..  please let me know if Bricklink banned it from viewing because Im  using the 8081 number on my title...   the restrictions are lifted and I hope you can download the chassis for free.. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=122456

Edited March 20, 2020 by sirslayer

[Thirdwigg]

@johnnym I am glad my axle worked well for your MOD. The steering direction change worked OK for me as the rear axle moved back a little bit. This gave me the ability to change the direction on the HOG gearing. I designed the axle knowing the balloon tires would not work, as the Fischertechnik tires were planned from the beginning. The Batmobilie tires work great though.

I like the shape of your build, though it could use a different shape hood to keep in line with 8081 a little more. The doors looks sharp.

Also, I have a set of those Dark Red rims with the hope of using them on a MOC, but every time I do, the color always looks off. Same with this MOC. I’d go back to the LBG rims. 

[lmdesigner42]

@johnnym Your latest 8081 mod is looking really good, especially with the new Batmobile tires.  I can see them being used a lot in the future on SUV MOC's in this scale.

[johnnym]

On 3/21/2020 at 12:14 AM, sirslayer said:

@johnnym, they're a few terms, like push bar and roll bars and guards ... push bars are built with strength in mind, provides protection from debris and the ability to  push a vehicle if your push bar is mounted from the frame of your truck and the tubular shape increase the strength and they are usual round tubes in length ( roll bars) .      . a bush guard is a roll bar also but its only mounted from the bumper of the vehicle so it only provides protection to lights and grille , its ( defensive ) towards FOD and since its not frame mounted , don't dare to push any vehicles.  so a proper roll bars setup would be frame mounted tubular shape setup over the front and rear cap of the vehicle. .. bumper mounted roll bars are mostly cosmetic .. and lacks authentic. 

I see, thanks for the explanation. What I meant was what @rm8 is using on this truck here at the front (best seen in the video itself) - I figure these are then just named roll bars, too?

On 3/21/2020 at 11:30 PM, Thirdwigg said:

@johnnym I am glad my axle worked well for your MOD. The steering direction change worked OK for me as the rear axle moved back a little bit. This gave me the ability to change the direction on the HOG gearing.

You should have seen my face when I had attached it to the truck and drove around for the first time -  what the... something's wrong here. I should have noticed that from the start...

I thought about using bevel gears instead of the knob wheels, but haven't continued yet as I basically would have to take most of the chassis apart to attach the smaller gear reliably.

On 3/21/2020 at 11:30 PM, Thirdwigg said:

I designed the axle knowing the balloon tires would not work, as the Fischertechnik tires were planned from the beginning. The Batmobilie tires work great though.

Those Fischertechnik tyres are really useful, BTW, a little off-topic, but there are also smaller tractor tyres available in this set - maybe useful for your tractor builds. And indeed, the Batmobile ones have very good proportions.

On 3/21/2020 at 11:30 PM, Thirdwigg said:

I like the shape of your build, though it could use a different shape hood to keep in line with 8081 a little more. The doors looks sharp.

Thanks!  For the hood, what do you think of: something rounded like in the first version or maybe with tapered panels? Actually I'd like to keep the boxy look, although it's far from the original 8081. Doors: I thought about something like @rm8's FJ40 rock crawler, when I created the initial version, so I wanted to have see-through doors.

On 3/21/2020 at 11:30 PM, Thirdwigg said:

Also, I have a set of those Dark Red rims with the hope of using them on a MOC, but every time I do, the color always looks off. Same with this MOC. I’d go back to the LBG rims. 

I think they have some appeal, but I'll give LBG a try, I think I only used black rims instead of dark red rims so far.

On 3/23/2020 at 9:39 PM, lmdesigner42 said:

@johnnym Your latest 8081 mod is looking really good, especially with the new Batmobile tires.  I can see them being used a lot in the future on SUV MOC's in this scale.

Thank you. I fully agree, the new Batmobile tyres were very welcome, I only wonder why they didn't debut in a Technic set. At least LEGO is also selling them separately, not like the 30.4 x 20 mm Mustang rims which are only available through Bricklink or through buying a set.

On 3/21/2020 at 12:36 AM, sirslayer said:

and I got some more 8081 mods I would like to share.. various 8081 mods of the body shape and a new 2.0 version Black Widow chassis that is almost the same size of the 8081 chassis with AWD center diff , all independent suspension on a all new with 2 gear transmission,winch  and HOG steering on dash .. all original design by me !! .. a direct replacement!!    .... check them out!!8081boss_Copy by victormendoza_jr, on Flickr

Interesting builds, especially the blue one. For the black one, I think it builds a little too high for its width, but maybe that's just the perspective of the rendering.

On 3/21/2020 at 12:56 AM, sirslayer said:

and a free download link from Bricklink ..  my 2.0 Black widow chassis can be viewed in 3d from this link..  please let me know if Bricklink banned it from viewing because Im  using the 8081 number on my title...   the restrictions are lifted and I hope you can download the chassis for free.. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=122456

Works for me.

[sirslayer]

I guess you can say its a Exterior roll bars , it does protects you from a roll over!! ..  and thanks for checking!!