Trial Truck: DAC 16.550

[Sergiu]

Not being satisfied with the very poor on road and off-road performance of

, I decided to build a vehicle specifically for off-road, more exactly a Truck Trial with a design based on that of the romanian rally truck DAC 16.550 FAE.

(click on the photos for a larger version)

For the axles design I used Zblj's design for portal axles, but I modified them quite a lot to have pendular suspension with a completely mechanical and self balancing mechanism, which connects the front and rear axles together, for better stability on and off-road. The axles are very well supported on both sides by turntables so as to increase the overall efficiency of the transmmision and steering.

The truck is driven by two PF XL motors connected to the same battery box, each one driving its own axle through the two stage reduction, one near the motor and the second one at the wheels. The final ratio of the transmission is 5:1, a bit too small for the truck's weight. This is why the whole transmission is lubricated, which improves the performance a lot. Despite this, the truck still struggles on steep inclines, especially with the cab mounted.

The other features of the truck are the rack and pinion steering, driven by a PF Medium motor, the V10 engine with functional fan, driven by a PF Medium motor coupled to the drive motors, and the cab with openable doors. The cab has a very simple design so as to keep the weight as low as possible, but because I hurried to finish it, it is not very well fixed to the chassis.

I also participated with this truck at a physics competition, but unforutnately I wasn't so succesful with this MOC as I was with my previous one, 4x4 Tipper Truck, with which I won the first prize but at a different physics contest. The version with the spare wheel on the back is the version with which I participated in the contest.

Here you can see a video, highlightnig the truck's features and the very good off-road performance:

You can see more photos here: BrickShelf

For those interested I also made a 3D model, which can be downloaded here: .L3B File

I hope you like it and I am looking forward to your comments and criticism.

[Milan]

I like studded chassis.

The cabin also looks good for a TT.

Using turntables is a great idea, which we have seen on various truck trials.