Redneck Muddin' Truck

[nerdsforprez]

The idea for this MOC came immediately when the Claas set was released. The tires were perfect.

Now, I should clarify, I truly do not mean the title of “Redneck Truck” disparagingly. Also, although I am in Texas, despite my truest desires, I cannot in good conscience consider myself one with this crowd. I have never attended one of the mud-fests you see below. That is not said in defense, rather, out of jealously. The idea for this truck and the ensuing video came from watching youtube videos such as the one below and I could not help but notice how fun I thought they looked.

 

 

Details of this build:

- Weight: 1492 grams                                                                                                                          

 - Length: 43 studs                  

 - Width: 15 studs                                                                                                                                          

 - Final drivetrain gear ratio: 7:1    (1.667:1 x 1.4:1 x 3:1)                                                                

 - Opening Hood, doors, tailgate                 

  - Working (fake) V10 engine                                                                                                                                             

 - Full Suspension                

Really not much more to say. Truck is driven by two XL Motors, direct-coupled together.  Powered by BuWizz. Steering is by one M motor. Steering motor and overall configuration are a little weird in that they are mounted very high. That was intentional. The purpose of the truck was to run in mud and water and since PF motors and electronics are not water proof they needed to be mounted high. The bodywork is a little bulky, but again, this was on purpose. I have noticed in my hours of wasting time (watching muddin’ videos) that these trucks are often older Chevy or Ford models that in real life have blockier, less-rounded bodies. So I tried to emulate that. Also, naturally, in a real-road worthy truck you would not have an engine halfway out, exposing cylinders, piston-heads, etc. Yet, Redneck Mudders aren’t really supposed to be logical or reflections of realism, so again that was all done on purpose.  The engine was inspired by @BusterHaus.    Fun build….. hope you enjoy the pics and video!

 

 

More pics and details @ http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/441915

 

Edited September 2, 2017 by nerdsforprez

[TechnicSummse]

Differentials in a mud racer? :D

You should have direct drive at all axles... maye a differential at the front, but direct power to rear wheels.

Edited September 2, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

Wow. Nicely done, certainly very redneck. Why are the tires on backwards?

[TechnicSummse]

35 minutes ago, BrickbyBrickTechnic said:

Wow. Nicely done, certainly very redneck. Why are the tires on backwards?

Not sure if he made it accidently, but this is usually done in mud-races. The inverted V-shape grabs much better in the mud. If you mount the tires the "right" way, the mud is pushed to the sides, like the v-profile on roads usually should push the water to the sides ... but in mud this causes the wheels easier to slip.

If you mount them inverted, the mud wil be catched within the v-profile, resulting in a lot more grip. It acts like a barb (hope i found the right word with the translater :D)

Edited September 2, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[nerdsforprez]

Clearly the tires were mounted incorrectly, and accidentally.  I wish I could say that is was purpose, but it was not (given away by the fact that the orientation is different for left and right sides) 

My embarrassment aside...... it was a fun build and even fun to film.  Got a little muddy myself. 

@TechnicSummse - The diffs. were actually on purpose.  I focused on authenticity for this build.... and at least in the videos I saw, there clearly were diffs on many trucks.  This was not a "mud-racer" - There are clear differences between the two.  My build focused on being similar to a truck you saw in the first posted video.  Mud racers like this are much different:

 

The other reason it was on purpose .... which I hope to write about and even test in the future, was about the U-joints.   I went through several of them.  Direct drive, with no slipping of tires, killed too many.  Lego was NOT meant for driving in the mud.   (which we already knew). I do think I figured a way to strengthen the end of joint that takes the axle, but the middle area still is too weak.  Adding diffs decreased my worn apart Ujoints by alot.....Even though the tires slipped at least it saved such important parts.... 

 

[TechnicSummse]

9 minutes ago, nerdsforprez said:

Clearly the tires were mounted incorrectly, and accidentally.  I wish I could say that is was purpose, but it was not (given away by the fact that the orientation is different for left and right sides) 

My embarrassment aside...... it was a fun build and even fun to film.  Got a little muddy myself. 

@TechnicSummse - The diffs. were actually on purpose.  I focused on authenticity for this build.... and at least in the videos I saw, there clearly were diffs on many trucks.  This was not a "mud-racer" - There are clear differences between the two.  My build focused on being similar to a truck you saw in the first posted video.  Mud racers like this are much different:

The other reason it was on purpose .... which I hope to write about and even test in the future, was about the U-joints.   I went through several of them.  Direct drive, with no slipping of tires, killed too many.  Lego was NOT meant for driving in the mud.   (which we already knew). I do think I figured a way to strengthen the end of joint that takes the axle, but the middle area still is too weak.  Adding diffs decreased my worn apart Ujoints by alot.....Even though the tires slipped at least it saved such important parts.... 

 

They use modified original axles... that's why you see diffs ;) But they usually are locked.

When driving in mud or loose terrain, you should not kill any parts with a locked rear axle. Locked front could bring some problems, thats right... but also just on harder, more grippy surfaces.

I just saw your wheels slipping alot in the video, and you could reach a much better performance, if you would lock the rear axle (remove the diff).

 

But still this is a nice car... and i like to see it is able to drive in the mud really ;)

Lego IS meant to use outdoors!

Edited September 2, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[Paknaloid]

I really love that little v10 hammering away through the hood  great project and it looks good in that mud

[BusterHaus]

What a fun build! I think the fear of losing a bunch of 12 tooth gears (from the diffs) in mud would have driven me to a solid axle - it's really fun to watch it with differentials, even though they don't perform too well. Great job keeping the electronics out of the mud and water. It usually increases the center of gravity, but I see the motors are nice and low. I played around with Lego vehicles in snow a few times and keeping electrical components dry is always a priority. 

By the way, thanks for the credit on the engine, I'm glad to see it was useful for you. 

[Leonardo da Bricki]

Awesome build! I may try making one of these, but a bit smaller maybe... Great looking model, performs decently. I would personally use a solid rear axle, but yours is good.

[Lox Lego]

Well that was different! Great work, and fun video 

[nerdsforprez]

On 9/2/2017 at 2:42 PM, TechnicSummse said:

They use modified original axles... that's why you see diffs ;) But they usually are locked.

When driving in mud or loose terrain, you should not kill any parts with a locked rear axle. Locked front could bring some problems, thats right... but also just on harder, more grippy surfaces.

I just saw your wheels slipping alot in the video, and you could reach a much better performance, if you would lock the rear axle (remove the diff).

 

But still this is a nice car... and i like to see it is able to drive in the mud really ;)

Lego IS meant to use outdoors!

This is the best part, IMO, in being a part of this forum.  With no technical training or experience whatsoever, there is so much to learn, and lessons come best from those with real-world experience and knowledge.  Thanks for this.  And yes, I agree that Lego IS meant for the outdoors!

On 9/2/2017 at 4:47 PM, Paknaloid said:

I really love that little v10 hammering away through the hood  great project and it looks good in that mud

I also really love the engine.  It ate a lot of the torque, as there is a lot of friction to it... but totally worth it. 

On 9/2/2017 at 4:48 PM, BusterHaus said:

What a fun build! I think the fear of losing a bunch of 12 tooth gears (from the diffs) in mud would have driven me to a solid axle - it's really fun to watch it with differentials, even though they don't perform too well. Great job keeping the electronics out of the mud and water. It usually increases the center of gravity, but I see the motors are nice and low. I played around with Lego vehicles in snow a few times and keeping electrical components dry is always a priority. 

By the way, thanks for the credit on the engine, I'm glad to see it was useful for you. 

I did not lose any gears.... but if I would have..... they would not have been found .  I don't even think that the phrase "needle in a haystack" does justice to the difficulty in trying to find one of those in my muddy pond.

On 9/3/2017 at 0:03 AM, Leonardo da Bricki said:

Awesome build! I may try making one of these, but a bit smaller maybe... Great looking model, performs decently. I would personally use a solid rear axle, but yours is good.

Smaller would be better.  In hindsight.... I scale more like @paave blue truck submitted a while ago would be better.  Although motors may have to be more like L size as opposed to XLs.  Also, I wanted the engine too much.... which resulted in the larger scale.  Perhaps putting a little V6 or something would be possible with the smaller scale.

20 hours ago, Lox Lego said:

Well that was different! Great work, and fun video 

THanks!

 

[1gor]

I feel sorry for tires full of mud 

[nerdsforprez]

Actually no water got in.  The seals between Lego tires and rims is not bad.  Unlike trying to mate some third-party tires with Lego rims.   Well, not even rims actually

 

 

[kbalage]

Wow, really cool vehicle and clever positioning of the electronic parts :) I still wouldn't do that, water and mud is waaay to close to the valuable parts for my taste :)

[1gor]

16 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

Actually no water got in.  The seals between Lego tires and rims is not bad.  Unlike trying to mate some third-party tires with Lego rims.   Well, not even rims actually

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

On 9/2/2017 at 1:47 PM, TechnicSummse said:

If you mount them inverted, the mud wil be catched within the v-profile, resulting in a lot more grip. It acts like a barb (hope i found the right word with the translater :D)

Really? I didn't know that, interesting!

[TechnicSummse]

3 minutes ago, BrickbyBrickTechnic said:

Really? I didn't know that, interesting!

Well it's what we did in mud-races :D

The idea is, that it more acts like a propeller, then a tire whithin the mud. Because you do not really hit the ground... you are more like swimming at some point.

I'm not sure if it really helped... but we won a few races... and many (not all) also mounted the tractor-profile-tires inverted.

But at the end... it felt good doing so :P

Edited September 9, 2017 by TechnicSummse