[not entirely MOC] Very short diary of a half-failed tow truck

[suffocation]

Just finished my first almost-Moc - a clumsy attempt at making a tow truck. The cabin is a complete rip-off of the Arocs - by the time I got to that building stage I was drained and just wanted to get it done. Furthermore, by mounting the Arocs cabin I was able to assess how half-baked the rest of the truck looks in comparison. I also stole some ideas from D3K but didn't pull them off even half as well.

Please forgive the atrocious pics - it's the best I can get out of my lousy phone.

http://bricksafe.com...ds/my-first-moc

Features:

- 8x4

- pendular suspension on all axles

- proportional steering on front axles

- side and back outriggers

- tow fork

- tilting cabin

- 360° rotating crane

- fake engine (straight 6)

- pole reverser

The truck is driven by 2 XL motors, with 1 M motor for steering. The other functions are driven by 1 L motor; six are activated via three selectors near the back, whereas the crane is controlled via another two selectors on the crane itself.

I didn't have the foresight to include an anti-roll bar - hence, whenever the truck negotiates a curve it tilts and jams. Lesson learnt - I'll rebuild the whole thing once I figure out how to work the anti-roll bar into the very limited available space. I also need to rework the geartrain, since a few of the functions are a tad too fast.

Any tips on pendular axles with anti-roll bars and on how to make the truck look less like a bubble truck would be greatly appreciated =)

Cheers!

P.S.: Massive props to D3K - I hope you read this, mate, because your work was a huge inspiration and really kept me going even when I was about to give up.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Alasdair Ryan

[Alasdair Ryan]

I think it is a good first attempt.

[frankvanderboom]

Dude! I would be so freaking proud if this would be my first MOC. I am still figuring out this new studless LEGO, after coming out of my dark ages half a year ago, and I haven't even come close to building a working chassis of anything. Don't put yourself down and do not ever compare yourself to the creme de la creme of MOC'ers that reside on this forum or anywhere else on the internet.

Reading your post I miss how it felt when I was building 25 years ago, where the only comparison was my friend across the street and the LEGO catalogus from the toy store.

[Victor Imaginator]

Oh... i remember my first MOC. Suffocation, it's very complex cool looking truck. I like it, really cool)

[Lipko]

That's pretty awesome for a first MOC!

After designing some MOCs, I still wouldn't undertake a project like this. I straggle with a simple telehandler for 3 years now.

[Leonardo da Bricki]

Holy smokes! that is your first attempt?!!?! My first attempt didnt even have HOG steering! Well done man!

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

This is indeed a great "first attempt", very promising what you will present us in the future!

[JJ2]

If you think this is failed you are WRONG! this is awesome for a first try even you used pits and bobs from other MOCs or sets. My first creation was laughable.

[Sylvian]

Not failed, imo,..

[suffocation]

Wow. Thanks for the support, lads - quite unexpected and humbling.

The main reason I've dubbed this tow-truck a half-failure is that I didn't include an anti-roll bar of some sort (and I'm not sure I could have, since everything around the axles is pretty tightly packed). Hence, the truck works fairly well when it's in place but when I drive it around it tends to tilt to either side, especially when negotiating a curve, and fails to straighten up thereafter.

Does anyone have any idea how I can work around this problem while still using pendular suspension? I used eight soft shock absorbers - would switching to hard ones be enough? The model weighs around 4 kg and is rather top-heavy, even though all the motors have been mounted as low as possible.

[Lipko]

If all are pendular suspensions, then maybe you could just make one axle fixed for example the second, steered one.

EDIT: okay, that is a bit stupid idea. Anyway, I don't see the details of the suspension, but yup, use extra hard absorbers. 4 kg is quite heavy.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Lipko

[agrof]

Agree with others, this is indeed a very very good and amazingly complex first attempt. :thumbup:

Any chance for demo video?

[suffocation]

Thanks again for the feedback, guys. I'm rebuilding the truck from scratch with quite a few changes in the pipeline, especially the suspension (thanks for the tip, Lipko!) and the crane's geartrain (the functions are waaay too fast now). Anyway, here's a short video of the truck at work: