[MOC] Chevrolet CK1500 (SnowRunner Ep1) [instructions available]

[keymaker]

Hi,

I would like to present you my new creation: Chevrolet CK1500 based on game Snowrunner. It is the first model from longer series I plan to create. It has many functions presented on videos below. There are also free additions to upgrade Chevrolet to be more capable in the rough terrain. Extensive list of features, details and links for free additions you can find below the video.

Details and main functions:

• scale: 1 : 16
• dimensions LxWxH: 32x13x13 cm
• weight: 956 g (without additions, fully equipped - 1071g)
• 4x4 drive (PF L motor)
• steering (PF servo)
• winch (PF M motor)
• working front lights
• live axle suspension on both axles
• high ground clearance
• removable rear part of the body, secured with locks
• many additions and alternative rear body available

Chevrolet is powered by Buwizz 2.0 unit.

Links for free additions:

• part 1
• part 2
• part 3 - Foldable Crane
• part 4 - Small Trailer

Short story behind the model:

MOC is not the prettiest one (but the original truck also is rather simple), but the looks wasn't my top priority (but I tried to make it recognisable). As I plan this as a series, couple of must have features (common for all models from series) needed to be included in this model, such as all wheel drive, suspension, winch, support for different types of tires and ready for additions/body changes. Important thing is also the fact, that the truck is very capable for its size (you can check on the video), thanks to drive train, tires and high ground clerance - 3 studs! I am also happy with the compact solution for suspension and removable rear part of the body, which give me possibilities to adding new additions and it is true with the game SnowRunner which is an inspiration for this creation. Pity I wasn't able to squeeze a V8 or V6 working fake engine there, but I can live with that :)

 

Some details you may missed because they are hidden under this rather boxy body:

• front and rear axles are connected to the chassis only by 4 ball connections, no suspension elements directly connected to the axles, yet they stay in place and axles have suspension
• suspension uses rubber pieces which allows to very compact and space efficient construction, thanks to that for example rear bed can be located very low – considering fully working suspended rear axle
• even if suspension has a lot of travel already, it is equipped with limiters, which have 2 levels of limitation or they can be easily removed to largely increase travel of suspension
• drive train has four places, where gearing can be adjust, it gives a lot of room for experimentation and choosing your own speed to torque ratio
• all wheels have disk breaks
• it works greatly also with standard 30x20mm rims or 30x14mm rims – you only need to removed disk brakes
• doors have “locks” to keep them in place, they do not rely only on friction between parts
• all electronics is hidden in the floor and power source on passenger place, thanks to that you get clean look, removable rear part of the body and fully equipped driver seat with steering wheel and central column, all of this with keeping great three studs ground clearance which is achievement in such scale and with used rims & tires

Photos: https://bricksafe.com/pages/keymaker/10.-chevrolet-ck1500

Enjoy :)

Edited June 30, 2022 by keymaker

[Daniel-99]

That is so cool! My fav. are additions. Can`t wait for the next creation in this series!

One thing I do not like is the gigantic scrab radius. But I understand, that there is not way to make it more realistic in this scale. (this is one of the reasons I am building bigger cars).

P.S. I am very impressed by the driving of this car with only one L-motor!

[keymaker]

@Daniel-99 Thank you! In case of front wheels steering geometry - I am aware of that and in it gave me a lot of problems when creating front bumper. This is the reason it is so different from rear one. But I have in mind some upgrades in this case which I will use in next model from this series.

[Jurss]

I like this really, mostly because of customisation possibilities.

And those small tractor tires are so confusing, from first look/picture I thought that this is some gigantic build :)

[Mechbuilds]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:31 AM, keymaker said:

@Daniel-99 Thank you! In case of front wheels steering geometry - I am aware of that and in it gave me a lot of problems when creating front bumper. This is the reason it is so different from rear one. But I have in mind some upgrades in this case which I will use in next model from this series.

Your builds are constantly improving by a lot. And i love it that you're active! 
My only wish is that you keep using power fuctions and buwizz so i can build your mocs 

[keymaker]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:22 AM, Jurss said:

I like this really, mostly because of customisation possibilities.

And those small tractor tires are so confusing, from first look/picture I thought that this is some gigantic build :)

Yeah... I really need to start putting some know objects to show the scale, maybe 107mm tractor tires :D

12 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Your builds are constantly improving by a lot. And i love it that you're active! 

Thank you! Yes, improvement was one of the goals when I came back to creating model with 30mm rims. And I have to admit, that progress regarding my first model with those tires (Kraz 255) in case of mechanics is significant. The most important changes are present in the front axle construction. Below you can see front axle from Kraz 255 and from Chevrolet CK1500. The second one has the same width but is smaller, lighter (41g vs 58g), simpler (70 parts 104 parts), it has less necessary points of connection, full 180 degrees of movement (PF servo friendly) and it has similar rigidity as the first one. And the most important thing - it has better ground clearance (3 studs vs 2 studs), which I think is the maximum GC available in this scale and those tires without sacrificing other features like simplicity, rigidity or size.

Besides axles, also construction of the frame is much more stiff, drive train is much more effective (you can see it on video) when keeping one PF L motor as "engine" and even with overall bigger weight of the model (Chevrolet - 1071g vs Kraz - 991g). Overall I believe that this model has nicer elements inside rather than outside :D

Edited May 8, 2022 by keymaker

[Mechbuilds]

Is that 7 long beam under the steering rack necessary? I think it collides with the gear a little. 

[keymaker]

3 minutes ago, Mechbuilds said:

Is that 7 long beam under the steering rack necessary? I think it collides with the gear a little. 

In maximum right/left position it touches the gear, but friction is minimal and and full range of movement is not compromised. When you are asking about if it is necessary... I would say it can be omitted for the price of losing some amount of rigidity. But I will definitely take your advice in next model with those rims when creating even better front axle.

[Jurss]

If I understand correctly , instead of using standard 7L beam, You can use there 7L gear rack, and it would not collide at all. But I may be wrong, as I don't see all details.

[keymaker]

If holes located at the end of 7L gear rack would be oriented differently, then it would be a great solution.

[Mechbuilds]

5 hours ago, keymaker said:

In maximum right/left position it touches the gear, but friction is minimal and and full range of movement is not compromised. When you are asking about if it is necessary... I would say it can be omitted for the price of losing some amount of rigidity. But I will definitely take your advice in next model with those rims when creating even better front axle.

I would advise you to watch LPE power in youtube and learning proper geometry. We have a LPE power discord server where we discuss our mocs and improve our building styles. 
I would also be active if you need any help on future mocs trough discord. 

At this scale it's extremely difficult if not impossible to get proper geometry to the front axle due to the nature of the U joints.. Wish lego would make an U joint with a 2 or 3 long axle sticking out after the pivot point. 

[keymaker]

2 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

I would advise you to watch LPE power in youtube and learning proper geometry. We have a LPE power discord server where we discuss our mocs and improve our building styles. 
I would also be active if you need any help on future mocs trough discord. 

At this scale it's extremely difficult if not impossible to get proper geometry to the front axle due to the nature of the U joints.. Wish lego would make an U joint with a 2 or 3 long axle sticking out after the pivot point. 

I am familiar with his channel. I watched him a lot during creation of 1968 Dodge Charger (btw I even bought instructions and still gathering strength to go to buy over 50 L shaped panels for the body :P). I need to consider joining discord.

I know how proper geometry of front axle should look like. I just sacrificed it for other priorities. But in next model it would be easy to move pivot point one stud closer to the center of the rim (removing "disk brakes") or even two studs closer (if I will decide to change cardans for CV jonts and limit steering angle because of that change - I will lose some angle, but it will be easier to prepare nice front part of the body - decisions, decisions :)).I am also aware of positive/negative caster, toe in/out and camber angle, but those things are rather unavailable in this scale.

[Mechbuilds]

19 hours ago, keymaker said:

I am familiar with his channel. I watched him a lot during creation of 1968 Dodge Charger (btw I even bought instructions and still gathering strength to go to buy over 50 L shaped panels for the body :P). I need to consider joining discord.

I know how proper geometry of front axle should look like. I just sacrificed it for other priorities. But in next model it would be easy to move pivot point one stud closer to the center of the rim (removing "disk brakes") or even two studs closer (if I will decide to change cardans for CV jonts and limit steering angle because of that change - I will lose some angle, but it will be easier to prepare nice front part of the body - decisions, decisions :)).I am also aware of positive/negative caster, toe in/out and camber angle, but those things are rather unavailable in this scale.

I would love to see more upgrades to this moc.. Or even a bigger scaled version of this with better suspension geometry. 

I'm already subscribed on your youtube channel and waiting what the next big reveal is. 
I really like trail trucks. 

[keymaker]

2 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

I'm already subscribed on your youtube channel and waiting what the next big reveal is. 
I really like trail trucks.

Thanks! My next MOC won't be from Snowrunner series (but the next one after it will), because I going to test new parts. Chevrolet has already delivered them

[Mechbuilds]

That picture looks like the chevy is transporting some tires for a dumper :D 

[gyenesvi]

Really nice truck, I love the modularity, and the stock version looks cleaner to me than with all kinds of extras, but that's just my preference I guess. Maybe if some extras would be of different color, like DBG, to visually separate them from the core body.

Nice build on the front axle; I am also struggling with the same decisions, working on some small live axle build. I love the trick you used to add support for the drive axle in the middle point, that works really nice without a differential. For now, I go with the CV joint solution, limiting the steering angle, I'll see how it is.

On 5/8/2022 at 5:39 PM, Mechbuilds said:

Wish lego would make an U joint with a 2 or 3 long axle sticking out after the pivot point. 

That's exactly what I have been thinking too. It would be very useful for these kind of builds, and also could work in a more tightly designed new portal hub (I think it's time for a new one). Plus it could be used as an incoming joint into a live axle, with pivot closer to the axle, leaving more space in the middle of the chassis for the drivetrain.

[keymaker]

@Mechbuilds That wasn't the plan, but I have to admit you forced me to do this sooner than later. So here I am :D After one longer evening of tinkering I prepared front axle with I would say almost perfect pivot point in this scale (just one stud from the center of the wheel). It has couple other upgrades vs axle from Chevrolet, but the most important thing is location of pivot point. I am so happy that I am almost dare to challenge others to come up with better geometry in this size and still keep axle driven.

But, here are some renders. I did not test it in any MOC, but I built it in real life of course and it is solid and works great.

@gyenesvi You mentioned, that you also need small driven front axle, maybe this one above will be useful solution for you? :)

Edited May 11, 2022 by keymaker

[gyenesvi]

Really interesting build, it has some interesting solutions and asymmetries in it. It seems we have converged on similar techniques for framing the gearing part.

1 hour ago, keymaker said:

@gyenesvi You mentioned, that you also need small driven front axle, maybe this one above will be useful solution for you? :)

Well I mentioned I'm working on it :) But certainly I can learn from yours! So to answer your challenge, I quickly made some renders of my latest version, which I have also built in real life. (I have a thread about my smaller scale off-roader builds, I am going to add this into that thread later, along with the chassis it fits into.)

It is the same width, but the 'wheel hub' part is slightly larger on mine, not sure if the small tractor wheels would fit on it (I don't have them), it was designed for Arocs wheels. My goal was to go as slim and light-weight as possible with this. The backbone of it is an 11L flip-flop beam, without which it would probably not be possible, or would become much thicker. The steering system is quite different on the two, mine is designed for linkage based steering, instead of a rack and pinion. One point of improvement over yours I think is the steering geometry. It seems to me that yours has anti-Ackermann geometry (because the rack is in front of the axle), which is actually somewhat worse than no Ackermann geometry (plain old parallel). Another difference is that I designed mine with two lower links and a panhard rod instead of four links (but I believe it could be made with two upper links as well instead of the panhard rod), since the springs are also giving it stability against tilting forwards/backwards. By the way, I wonder where you mount the springs on yours?

An interesting thing I did with the real life version is that I managed to put Efferman's 3d printed 2-wide 20T differential instead of the fixed gearing. It also requires his custom 12T gear mounted on a 2L axle to drive it (2.5L altogether), driven by a U-joint from the other side (that's why I have the axle that sticks out in the middle prepared for that in my render). I believe the same diff could be used in your version as well. Interestingly, that differential only works with these CV-joints in the wheel hubs, because the left/right sides of the axle have to go into the 2L diff all the way to the center, creating a half stud offset, but because this joint has a 1.5 stud hole in it, it can nicely accommodate that.

[keymaker]

I am happy you took a challenge :) I still haven't designed axle with satisfying linkage steering, but maybe I should try harder and look at your example.

20 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

It seems to me that yours has anti-Ackermann geometry (because the rack is in front of the axle), which is actually somewhat worse than no Ackermann geometry (plain old parallel)

Yes, it has... So the pivot point is great, but steering angle is smaller due to CV joints and additionally presence of anti-Ackermann geometry. Maybe it is not so important in such a small and rather slow truck, but still...back to drawing board.

 

19 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

It is the same width, but the 'wheel hub' part is slightly larger on mine, not sure if the small tractor wheels would fit on it (I don't have them)

Part 92907 is a great part and I have seen usage of it in many nice axles. That is why I have tried it as soon as I put my hands on Ford Mustang and new 30mm rims. Unfortunately it doesn't fit, so it cannot be used in such way :(

Below you can see the core of my axle, half a stud is a must.

20 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

By the way, I wonder where you mount the springs on yours?

Shock absorbers can be placed as below, but I would prefer solution I used in Chevrolet visible on last photo (just above rear wheel). Thanks to that you can limit amount of connections to axle. This solution is also very space saving one.

[pleegwat]

31 minutes ago, keymaker said:

Below you can see the core of my axle, half a stud is a must.

I suspect mirroring this vertically around the axle would significantly improve rigidity. But I guess you don't have the ground clearance for that?

[keymaker]

42 minutes ago, pleegwat said:

I suspect mirroring this vertically around the axle would significantly improve rigidity. But I guess you don't have the ground clearance for that?

It is not the most rigid of my axles, but still when assembled is stable and more rigid than it looks like. And yes, one of the main features is ground clearance, so I wouldn't like to go below the axle level.

Edited May 12, 2022 by keymaker

[gyenesvi]

14 hours ago, keymaker said:

Below you can see the core of my axle, half a stud is a must.

That's a nicely built core :)

14 hours ago, keymaker said:

Shock absorbers can be placed as below, but I would prefer solution I used in Chevrolet visible on last photo (just above rear wheel). Thanks to that you can limit amount of connections to axle. This solution is also very space saving one.

I am trying to make out the shock absorbers on your photos, but can't really see them, but I am guessing you are not using springs but 1x2 rubber pieces? Sure that's a more space efficient one, though I never tried to use them, not sure how I would start out with them, where to connect them to a live axle.

[keymaker]

4 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

That's a nicely built core :)

I am trying to make out the shock absorbers on your photos, but can't really see them, but I am guessing you are not using springs but 1x2 rubber pieces? Sure that's a more space efficient one, though I never tried to use them, not sure how I would start out with them, where to connect them to a live axle.

Exactly. Maybe it is not clearly visible on photo, but yes, those rubber parts do their job pretty well. Arm who holds the axle is suspended, not the axle itself.

[gyenesvi]

46 minutes ago, keymaker said:

Maybe it is not clearly visible on photo, but yes, those rubber parts do their job pretty well.

Thanks, this was my actual guess. Furthermore, I believe there's nothing to prevent the rear axle from falling downwards when lifted for example, but I guess that also helps with the articulation.

[keymaker]

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

I believe there's nothing to prevent the rear axle from falling downwards when lifted

Don't worry, there are limiters there, even visible on render.