[Review] 8109 Tow Truck

[efferman]

8109 Tow truck

Parts: 1115

new designed parts: no

Gears: 26

Panels: 20

Instruction booklets: 3, 3 for model A (92 steps), online for model B (not yet online)

Colours: Yellow, Red, Black, light grey

Stickers: 19

Age: 10-16

Difficulty: easy-medium

Building time: 5-6 hours

Price at S@H: 89,99€

i want not lost much words in the beginning, simply start with Pictures from the building process.

The 92 Steps in the building process make this beauty buildable for everyone. There are no techniques who are difficult to understand, altough some nice Ideas are available in the 8109. One of them is the mechanism of the towing fork at the rear end. The Fork will moved out by two 13L Gear racks, then a lever rotates the fork, during the complete fork moves out. before the motion comes to its end the fork is falling to the ground, till it a little bit later will lifted in the Air. Unfortunately the Power is not enough to lift up a bigger Vehicle like the 8071 Service truck

The flatbed doesnt have this limitation. A bent liftarm (3x7) let it tilt and slide on a subframe, which is connected with the rear axles. If the flatbed is sliding back, the axles wll lifted up and the whole end of the Truck is coming down to the ground. The mechanism has enough power to lift the 8071 without a problem in the transport position.

now some impressions of the whole truck

Final conclusion:

Ten years ago i had the 8109 Tow truck/lowloader declared as a Lego flagship of the year. Now iam only in love.

Buy it, build it and have a lot of fun.

more pics at Flickr and Brickshelf

Edited July 10, 2011 by efferman

[Anio]

The way the towing fork extends is absolutely EPIC !!!

Very, very impressive !

Edited July 8, 2011 by Anio

[Erik Leppen]

See! I was right that on one of the pictures, the two rear axles seemed to be on a different height than the front axle. Hah! :P

Anyhow, it looks like this is a much better set than we thought at first sight. It has only two electric functions but both of them have multiple "levels": the flatbed moves along with the wheels, and the fork has a double motion as well. So the design of this set looks really great! And all functionality has been packed in quite a small space, which is always a good thing.

The parts selection seems to be decent, but nothing really spectacular. Although there are quite many studded parts, and also quite many transparent parts :)

Also, the set is one of the better looking models Technic has had. I think I skip the 8053 and go for this one instead :D

[dr_spock]

Thanks for the review. It certainly made it more interesting to get. I like that rear fork.

[allanp]

WOW, this set looks amazing! I love the use of the gear racks to move the rear lift, and the wheels moving up and down is an excellent touch. Just called the Milton Keynes Lego store (in the UK) and they don't have any yet But I shall get it as soon as it's in the shops!

[efferman]

It seems that the lego group hit the bullseye with this set. does anyone know who does designed it?

[garson]

what might that white rubberband be for?

[efferman]

It pulls the lever back which rotates the part at the end of the fork

[JunkstyleGio]

@ Merman:

I've found the white plates!!!!!

[Corgi]

just wanna to see

If put the lego 8258 together

the scale is the same or not?

[efferman]

no, the 8258 is a bigger scale

[LEGOMAN132]

Thanks for the review.

This set looks great might be a great hauler for the 8041 Race Truck.

[efferman]

unfortunately is this the wrong scale

[trekman]

It pulls the lever back which rotates the part at the end of the fork

It is a nice model with functions nicely integrated. But could they not have added two bushes to the side of the fork, just between the two grey 90 connectors? It would have made the fork look a bit more complete. I suppose the designer has to keep the number of parts to a certain number.

[efferman]

you will laugh, there are two bushes contained in the spareparts

[LEGOMAN132]

unfortunately is this the wrong scale

Thats sad to hear not a deal breaker though.

[Splat]

Thanks for the review efferman

This is looking a lot better than I originally though it would, and seems to have quite a few more mechanisms than the 8052 Container Truck. I think that I'll probably have to get two of these, as the B-Model looks interesting, and I want all of those black panels!

Edited October 13, 2012 by Splat

[FelixTheCat]

13L Gear racks[/url], then a lever rotates the fork, during the complete fork moves out. before the motion comes to its end the fork is falling to the ground, till it a little bit later will lifted in the Air. Unfortunately the Power is not enough to lift up a bigger Vehicle like the 8071 Service truck

Can the mechanism be geared down at all?

Awesome set. On my shopping list for sure.

[efferman]

Can the mechanism be geared down at all?

It should be possible, but the main problem is the folding part. it is falling down under the weight. i think there is need some support

[P4trickvH]

Awesome set, i really like the functions of the flatbed. A must have i my collection.

[Alasdair Ryan]

i realy like this set i look forward to geting one

[AndroTech]

A bent liftarm (3x7) let it tilt and slide on a subframe, which is connected with the rear axles. If the flatbed is sliding back, the axles wll lifted up and the whole end of the Truck is coming down to the ground.

You all know what does this mean?

That motorizing the rear axle for driving, will be extremly hard, if not imposible. On the pictures ''efferman'' posted, we can see, that there is no room for transmision, and further more, both rear axles are movable, so PF remote drive is going to be a big challenge. ( maybe front wheel drive )

[dbostream]

I would appreciate it if you could post a part list like you did for the Service Truck.

[merman]

I Put it on BL today

[efferman]

You all know what does this mean?

That motorizing the rear axle for driving, will be extremly hard, if not imposible. On the pictures ''efferman'' posted, we can see, that there is no room for transmision, and further more, both rear axles are movable, so PF remote drive is going to be a big challenge. ( maybe front wheel drive )

to make it RC is really a challenge. well let me see.......

edit:

i think i have found a solution.

Edited July 10, 2011 by efferman