[MOC] 1995 Ford F-150

[2GodBDGlory]

This model featured a few unusual functions, such as its joystick-controlled, RC, 5+R manual gearbox, its Twin Traction Beam front suspension, and its full complement of working controls in the cab. It was designed to look like the kind of truck a rural, American(or Canadian) teenage hooligan might drive, and thus had a number of mismatched body panels, oversized tires, and a lift.

Functions:

-Twin Traction Beam front suspension

-Floating-axle rear suspension

-Opening doors, hood, and tailgate

-Drive with two buggy motors and a V8 piston engine

-Working gas pedal with a PF Servo motor linked to the drive motors

-Steering with a PF L-motor and a working wheel

-5+R manual gearbox with working lever, controlled by two PF Servo motors

-2H/4H/4L transfer case with working lever, controlled by PF L-motor

-Pneumatic brakes (disc/drum) with working pedal

-Clutch with working pedal, controlled by PF M-motor

-Parking brake (rear drums) with working pedal

-RC pneumatic compressor with PF M motor

You may note that this model actually uses ten independent IR channels, which is not possible with original Lego. My little secret is that I used a knock-off receiver and remote, which happen to operate on different channels than Lego ones do.

Here are some more details:

Aesthetic:

I was fairly pleased with the aesthetic, though it could surely use some polishing. Thankfully, the boxy design of these old trucks makes bodywork relatively easy. One little feature I liked was that the entire bed could be lifted off after disconnecting the battery on/off switch and four pins.

Spoiler

By the way, the V8 in the bed is for this particular hooligan's next project, a 1983 Ford Mustang with a blown V6. Once he gets the engine swapped in, I may be able to share it with you...

 

Opening stuff:

Spoiler

 

 

Suspension:

The front suspension was the Twin Traction Beam design used on Ford/Mazda light trucks in the 80s and 90s. It is similar to a swingarm (Tatra) design in that wheels are attached by only one pivot, and thus undergo camber change, but rather than having the differential between the swingarms, it is housed on one of them, allowing the suspension pivots to be placed further from their wheels, minimizing camber change.

This image from a Ford Ranger (taken from this website: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/ford-ranger-dana-44-ttb-conversion-faqs/) demonstrates the principle fairly well. Note the universal joint between the two swingarms.

My design worked fairly well, and was sprung with one 6.5L hard shock per side.

Spoiler

 

 

 

The rear suspension was a much more conventional live axle design, sprung by flex axles simulating leaf springs.

Spoiler

 

Drive:

Two coupled buggy motors drove the truck, along with a V8 piston engine. Each motor had to have its own battery, so I used my Lego rechargeable box and my camera battery. A Servo motor was coupled with the drive motors to move the gas pedal. In the end, performance was awful, with the truck only driving grudgingly in 4L, second gear.

Spoiler

 

Steering:

Steering was done with a PF L-motor, which ran a worm gear to a 24T gear, which moved a beam left and right, which steered the wheels. The top of the worm gear drove some 8T gears, which drove the steering wheel.

Spoiler

 

Gearbox:

The gearbox was somewhat similar to a design Sariel displayed years ago, in which two PF Servo motors would control a six-speed gearbox. My design used instead a 5+R transmission I designed, with the reverse gear placed after fifth. One Servo motor ran some bevel gears to rotate the axle the shifter was on, and the other moved a 6L link left and right to slide the lever. This could be controlled with a two-way joystick on a PF remote, and was a very cool, very authentic, way to shift the gears, and it was especially cool to see the stick in the cab move realistically.

Spoiler

 

 

Transfer Case:

 A PF L-motor ran a small linear actuator, which moved a 2L beam, which rotated an axle, which pulled (with a rubber band) a selector into 4WD, and then shifted the truck into low range. It is quite a complicated mechanism to describe, but it merely functioned to shift the truck sequentially through 2H, 4H, N, and 4L. There was also a lever in the cab that moved a bit as the case shifted.

Spoiler

 

 

Brakes:

The front wheels had basic disc brakes, with one small pneumatic cylinder for each. These brakes weren't especially strong, but were much stronger than any huge-backlash mechanical solution I could have come up with. The rear axle, being a straight axle, was much easier to brake, and also much stronger. It used a long, skinny pneumatic cylinder to press 2L rubber axle joiners against drums. Drum brakes were new for me! A small pneumatic cylinder on the same circuit moved the brake pedal. A PF M-motor flipped two pneumatic valves to engage this function (Two valves were needed, because the rear brake had to be on a separate circuit in order for the regular brake and the parking brake to both work).

Spoiler

 

Clutch:

The clutch was a simple affair with a transmission driving ring, controlled by a PF M-motor through a complicated linkage. The clutch pedal moved, thanks to semi-rigid tubes and string.

Spoiler

The clutch was fairly buried, so I can't show you much, but the M-motor on the right controlled it.

The tan bevel gears are part of the drivetrain for the clutch; the LBG half beam on the right is connected to the motor, and the vertical axle with the bevel gear moves the catch to engage or disengage the clutch.

 

Parking Brake:

An additional M-motor flipped a single pneumatic switch to engage only the rear drum brake as a parking brake. A setup of string and semi-rigid hoses worked the foot parking brake.

Spoiler

 

 

Compressor:

A PF M-motor ran a compressor to power the brakes, but it proved totally inadequate (Not that the truck needed any help stopping...)

Spoiler

 

Controller:

The controller was massive!

Spoiler

 

 

Overall, I was quite pleased with the truck, except for its disinclination to drive. It packed a lot of interesting functions into a mid-sized model, and it had a lot of character, too! My favorite feature was the simulated manual gearbox, which was deserving of a more driveable car (said more drivable car is finished and on my desk right now.)

Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1995-ford-f-150

Imagine this die-hard Ford fan's chagrin if he were to ever discover the Chrysler references hidden in his grille!

Edited January 29, 2021 by 2GodBDGlory

[Maaboo the Witch]

Cool stuff! 

[iLego]

Wow, amazing number of functions !! In fact the number of functions implemented is more than I would have ever been able to imagine 

Also, the rate at which you are coming out with MOCs is phenomenal !

[weavil]

Great job on the build! Lots of great functions!

Don't worry about the looks, cause I love how it has that "Redneck" look. Nothing says "it's paid off" better then DIY body work!

[2GodBDGlory]

15 hours ago, iLego said:

Wow, amazing number of functions !! In fact the number of functions implemented is more than I would have ever been able to imagine 

Also, the rate at which you are coming out with MOCs is phenomenal !

Thanks! I'm not actually building MOCs quite that quickly as it looks, though, because I have been catching up on all the backlog of models I made before I joined Eurobricks. I'm finally done that job, though!

14 hours ago, weavil said:

Great job on the build! Lots of great functions!

Don't worry about the looks, cause I love how it has that "Redneck" look. Nothing says "it's paid off" better then DIY body work!

Thanks! I liked the character those panels have it, and I always like seeing rainbow-colored trucks on the road.