Technic General Discussion

[dr_spock]

Just come out of my dark Age. I've got a lot of studded lego (big sets are the Test Car and Air Claw Rig) and a very very small amount of studless (the small tracked cane).

I've just ordered an XL motor and a M motor along with remote etc in the hope of a - motorizing current sets and b - creating some MOCs. Since I intend to use the M motor for steering, I got a 24 tooth clutch gear (recommended from what I heard).

What problems might I run into using PF on old Technic sets?

Shouldn't be a problem. I use PF motors with my studded GBC builds. Come to think of it, I have studded and studless mixed in some of them. Sometimes, you gotta use what you have in stock.

[Gee]

True enough. It's going to be a steep learning curve methinks!

[Hrafn]

True enough. It's going to be a steep learning curve methinks!

Sariel's book helped me a lot when I came back to Technic and had to adapt to studless; he talks in the book about the strengths and weaknesses of each and how to combine them. It is a steep learning curve, but worth it since studless opens so many possibilities and can be used to build so compactly. A lot of studded parts are still quite useful even if you move to building mostly studless - the 4L differential works nicely as a longitudinal central diff, the studded beams can be used to stiffen up a frame, etc.

[Gee]

You can tell I'm new to all this, I have so many questions!

Sariel's stuff is awesome. There's so many blogs and things to read, I've been getting grief off the wife for being glued to my laptop for the last 12 hours!

I've been looking into PF steering. I ordered an M motor have seen some return to centre steering options, by Sheepo on his blog, which look pretty good. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using this system over a servo motor?

Edited December 10, 2013 by Gee

[Balrog]

Gee, you can really learn a lot from Sariel's book. It is truly worth it to get back into Lego Technic. He describes mostly every chapter you might want to know something about and also describes a lot of different mechanisms and has a lot of example builds for suspensions, drivetrains, linkages, PF use, studless vs. studful and so on.

[skriblez]

Lego stores have the pic a brick option for technic parts to? Going to AL to celebrate xmas this year and there is a Lego store not far from where i'm staying. Never been in a big proper one (Was in a sort of Lego store in Poland) so i am hoping it will be great :P

[peter_m]

(Was in a sort of Lego store in Poland)

Where? :)

[skriblez]

Szczecin :)

[Gee]

Thanks for the tip Balrog, I'll check it out for sure.

[Technyk32231]

I see nothing advanced on it.

Unless I'm mistaken, I see kingpin inclination.

Not sure I'd call it 'advanced'. It looks like axles often in pick-up/large trucks with solid front/rear axles, attached to the main body with multiple links (4 each). One typical american car that had a similar suspension was the Jeep Grand Cherokee pre-2000. With such solid axle suspension, such axle must be 'located' laterally with a link arm. Essentially, without it, the axle can 'float' side-to-side. The other difficulty with such design is that the shock absorbers must have spherical (not cylindrical) connections to both the chassis and axle.

I know that, I just thought the steering looked advanced for a typical lego crawler.

[JGW3000]

Spotted on the way to work (and its only a 20 minute drive) - usually only see box trucks. Shame I don't have a dashboard mounted camera, some great ideas for MOCs!

A 12 wheel flatbed with a "Euro" style flat cabin, oversized in terms of length, but not width. Looks like the first 3 axles all steer, the last three are fixed and are duellies, not sure which were driving.

A mobile crane very similar to the 42009, even in color scheme, but with only two steerable axles up front, and 2 drive axles in the rear - not flagged oversized, but clearly at least 40 foot long

Assorted smaller mobile cranes, some with 4 or 8 wheels, on two axles, some with tracks

Trash truck with side bin lifter (OK, not so unusual around here)

[Junpei]

Hey, does anyone have any experience with this part? I'm thinking about buying one, and they are quite cheap actually, and I would like to know if it has any kind of mounting point to combine with normal technic. Thanks!

[dr_spock]

Spotted on the way to work (and its only a 20 minute drive) - usually only see box trucks. Shame I don't have a dashboard mounted camera, some great ideas for MOCs!

A 12 wheel flatbed with a "Euro" style flat cabin, oversized in terms of length, but not width. Looks like the first 3 axles all steer, the last three are fixed and are duellies, not sure which were driving.

A mobile crane very similar to the 42009, even in color scheme, but with only two steerable axles up front, and 2 drive axles in the rear - not flagged oversized, but clearly at least 40 foot long

Assorted smaller mobile cranes, some with 4 or 8 wheels, on two axles, some with tracks

Trash truck with side bin lifter (OK, not so unusual around here)

Something like this?

A supersize concrete pumper could be an interesting MOC too.

[JGW3000]

The flat bed was like a 8109, but 3 steer axles in front, three drive axles in back. I think I might open my sealed box 8109 and use it as a starting point for a MOC. Sort of like this without the load, 3 axles evenly spaced in front. Unusual to see on back roads in Connecticut

http://juyuanguoji.en.made-in-china.com/product/YeLJpAiHJSrF/China-Hydraulic-Gooseneck-Steering-Axles-Wheels-Large-Tanker-Container-Transporter-Semi-Truck-Trailer-with-Multi-Axles-and-Draw-Bar-width-extendable-.html

Edited December 12, 2013 by JGW3000

[Gee]

What are your thoughts on batteries? I have done a little searching around; soe people like the Energiser Lithiums and other like Ni-Mh rechargeables.

I'd really like to use rechargeables to cut down on battery expenditure but don't want to compromise too much on performance.

[Alasdair Ryan]

You could buy the Lego rechargeable box and charger.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Alasdair Ryan

[Gee]

That is true, but I already bought the 6xAA battery box and also £60 for the battery box and charger seems a bit pricey. Not only that but mounting options for the battery are limited from what I can see and it's also 7.4V as opposed to 9V.

Happy to be corrected on any of the above as I'm still learning (hence the deluge of questions lately!).

[Alasdair Ryan]

I bought my battery for the zorex 220,that I had on display on Afol Con in 2012.

But really you will be buying battery's for ever more until you decide to buy a rechargeable battery of some kind.Some people modify a Lego AA box into a rechargeable one but that is not my thing.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Alasdair Ryan

[Gee]

Nah, I'm not into modifying LEGO either.

I'll probably have to get some rechargeable batteries sooner or later, but I figure I may just see how many batteries I burn through over the coming weeks. I'll only be powering an XL and M motor for the time being, and mainly in medium sized trucks and 4x4s.

[zux]

Hey, does anyone have any experience with this part? I'm thinking about buying one, and they are quite cheap actually, and I would like to know if it has any kind of mounting point to combine with normal technic. Thanks!

This part is only partially compatible with Technic part like liftarms, technic bricks and all sort of pins. Axles are like x3 times thicker than normal Technic ones, and whats more is that you need additional power and control unit and remote controller to opeerate it.

To be short this part has very limited use on its own, without wheels and power unit.

[Junpei]

Hmm, I wonder if the electric connection is compatible with any kind of Lego wires. Are the things on top of it studs?

I know Zblj has made a normal axle to large wheel adapter, but has anyone tried to adapt the superaxles to normal ones? I think it may be useful if it meets that criteria.

[zux]

I'm affraid electric/control connections are unique to this series. Control & power box has stud-like connectors. These aren't compatible with old 9V cables as studs are slightly larger. Connector from motor side has contacts on its sides, but these are too far from each other so again, 9V isn't good for these.

Well, I believe you can think of some way making an adapter with rubber coonectors. Problem here is not the adapter itself (something like 3x3 structure could be done), but making sure your adapter won't slide from super axle. Maybe two such parts per each side could be used.

[Junpei]

Ok. I see grooves on the axles, for the bushings I'm assuming? Also, I was actually talking about on the actual motor assembly, are the things in an L-shaped arrangement on top studs?

Just look at this video, and tell me you don't want a car with one of these.

The performance is even better than I thought!

Edited December 12, 2013 by TwentyLeggedHen

[zux]

Ok. I see grooves on the axles, for the bushings I'm assuming? Also, I was actually talking about on the actual motor assembly, are the things in an L-shaped arrangement on top studs?

Those groves are for rubber bushings.

There are holes on top, not studs. You can connect a Technic brick or liftarm there with basic Technic pins.

[Roeltjuh]

I recently received the 8110 Unimog. First thing I noticed was the difference in wheels compared to the box illustrations and practically all images on the internet.

The wheels that you see all around are these: http://www.brickset.com/parts/?part=4211845

What I got: http://www.brickset.com/parts/?part=6045310

On Brickset they are registered as a part of 8110, so apparently I'm not the only one.

I don't really care about what wheels I have, but I'm just wondering why this is as it is. Production problems for example?

Searching around here and there didn't give me an answer.

To continue on this topic more broadly, are more sets delivered with other parts over time and why?