Lego Pick up Truck 9395

[tommywonka]

Hello,

This is our first time to post here at eurobricks to ask a question and if it has been answered, maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

My son,who is 7, attends a lego school in japan and we've built the lego pick up truck (9395) but he would like to try and put some RC steering into it.

We have looked at some of the steering systems and for someone who is a newbie (that's me) it can seem daunting when looking at everyones creations,

but we are prepared to give it a go.

I was thinking of trying sariels steering system, as seen on you tube or trying this rack system.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3043430

However I would like to ask for some advice on which one to try for a first time? and if anyone has any tips regarding this kit.

E.G should i take the engine and seats out from the kit to make space for the motor?

Thank you for you help in advance.

Edited May 16, 2012 by tommywonka

[DLuders]

@ tommywonka: That "Return-to-Center Steering" design (which you found on Brickshelf) is definitely one that has been used in many Lego Technic vehicles. The (orange) x928cx1 "Hockey Spring" part ("Technic, Axle Connector Rectangular Triple Spring-Loaded") is getting a bit rare and expensive:

One could perhaps mount the Power Functions Medium motor VERTICALLY (instead of horizontally), and use a bevel-gear setup to go 90 degrees. You may be able to save some interior room that way.

Do you want to "motorize" your Lego Technic 9395 Pickup exactly like carzzzz9999 did on this

, or just motorize the steering?

Edited May 16, 2012 by DLuders

[tommywonka]

@ tommywonka: That "Return-to-Center Steering" design (which you found on Brickshelf) is definitely one that has been used in many Lego Technic vehicles. The (orange) "Hockey Spring" (part see post above) ("Technic, Axle Connector Rectangular Triple Spring-Loaded") is getting a bit rare and expensive.

One could perhaps mount the Power Functions Medium motor VERTICALLY (instead of horizontally), and use a bevel-gear setup to go 90 degrees. You may be able to save some interior room that way.

Do you want to "motorize" your Lego Technic 9395 Pickup exactly like carzzzz9999 did on this (see above post for video) or just motorize the steering?

Thank you for letting me know about that spring part, and for suggesting using the Medium motor and putting it in vertically. I wondered what that orange part was and i would hate to be put off by searching for a rare,expensive piece.

We have the power functions set as per carzzzz9999 youtube video(see above) and we would just like to put in some steering at first and after that, put in a motor to make it move forward and back.

So any advice on how to go about this would be welcome.

Does anyone think i should strip the whole kit down again and start from scratch?

Thankyou in advance.

Edited May 16, 2012 by tommywonka

[Alasdair Ryan]

For the steering i would take a look under the bonet to see what room there is there,you will need 8 studs in length to fit the design above,however if it has a knob at the turn to steer it you could mount the motor here.

For drive i would mount the motor directly above the back wheels and have gearing to the wheels,I can't really help you to much as i do not have the set.

Edited May 16, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[chorlton]

There's a link here to some different ideas.

I've used the type 1 model recently.

Once I had the basics, I've ripped it out and rebuilt it a couple of times already. I added another elastic band so that it was more balanced. Speaking as a beginner (although slightly older than 7) it's dead easy to start reworking things once it's in front of you and in your hands so no fear!

Edited May 16, 2012 by chorlton

[Hedgie]

My son,who is 7, attends a lego school in japan

Whoa, a lego school?! That sounds awesome!

How does that work? Does the school have an endless supply of Lego and all kids do there is play with it all day? And after, do you go to Lego high school and Legoversity where all the subjects are tought using Lego?

I would love to know more about it

[chorlton]

Whoa, a lego school?! That sounds awesome!

How does that work? Does the school have an endless supply of Lego and all kids do there is play with it all day? And after, do you go to Lego high school and Legoversity where all the subjects are tought using Lego?

I would love to know more about it

It's actually made out of Lego, and his son is very, very small.

[Alasdair Ryan]

It's actually made out of Lego, and his son is very, very small.

And plastic.

[fourlord]

You can try this

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=473371

instructions are in lxf file for Lego DIgital Designer,

it is simple and small.

[tommywonka]

Thank you for your ideas. I have taken the cab off just to see what space there is and we might just go with mounting this vertically,as someone suggested as a first try but we will probably change the cogs.

Japan loves it's clubs, and the lego class seemed to be something he really enjoyed, sadly isn't made from real lego bricks ( would be cool if it was),but they use the lego education boxes/WeDo sets,where kids learn how to make simple machines, and learn how to use gears pulleys, cogs,robotics etc etc. (It's all way above my head)

They start off really easy and they when they get old enough they can do the lego mindstorm. Each kid buys their own box and leaves it at the club,which makes sense as i can just imagine kids loosing parts or forgetting to bring the box

It's more of a club for kids where they go for an hour once a week and learn something,but the kids don't actually know that.As far as they know it's just having fun with lego.To tell the truth i wana join. :laugh:

I wish there was this kind of thing when i was kid.cough cough Many years ago cough cough.

http://education.lego.com/en-us/

Edited May 19, 2012 by tommywonka

[DLuders]

@ tommywonka: If you want to join the club , do you have copies of Yoshihito Isogawa's three Lego books from No Starch Press? Perhaps the Japanese camp got their project ideas from them:

[tommywonka]

@ tommywonka: If you want to join the club , do you have copies of Yoshihito Isogawa's three Lego books from No Starch Press? Perhaps the Japanese camp got their project ideas from them:

I actually thought the same as you but ,The Lego group itself has curriculum ,and there is a license agreement . The CD rom is full of lessons,and instructions.

http://education.lego.com/en-us/lego-education-product-database/wedo/2000097-lego-education-wedo-software-1-2-and-activity-pack/

And there is a monthly student sheet the teacher fills out and they give it to the parents.I think it's a great idea by TLG.

Edited May 20, 2012 by tommywonka

[tommywonka]

Thank you for all your ideas. We liked the way chorlton attached his motor to the steering.

So We have made a start and we took the front of the truck apart and made the return to center steering which works fine.

However we have come across some problems ( as we do).

The main one seems to be how to keep the small motor from coming off the chassis while steering and i wondered if anyone has any ideas on how to secure the motor to the chassis

Also the front grey parts for the steering also seem to have a bit of wiggle room between the chassis frame,and i wondered if this is significant or is it ok to move forward.

Thanks again for advice

Edited May 28, 2012 by tommywonka