8110 - Unimog - MODs and Improvements

[gti180]

Am I the only one to shorten the chassis to improve its turning circle?

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5412984

Edited July 16, 2014 by gti180

[Dafgek81]

Hello Kimbl,

Do you have more pictures of the mountingpoints of the tillting cylinder?

Need pictures of the underside of them and also more details of where and how to mount it?

[Kumbbl]

Do you have more pictures of the mountingpoints of the tillting cylinder?

Need pictures of the underside of them and also more details of where and how to mount it?

IMHO the pictures above show all necessary point of views to rebuild the cylinder base ... but you can take a look into my bricksafe folder for the Unimog MODS: http://bricksafe.com...lting mechanism - maybe you find there what you are searching for... have fun reengineering...

Now prosecution from here: http://www.eurobrick...75#entry1939279 - added another MOD...

6. Adding a PTO pass trough for the crane - switchable between turning the crane and passing through the PTO:

PTO 1 has same speed as the PTO of the chassis, PTO 2 is slightly geared down (12:20)

This enhances the flexibility of the Unimog a lot beause now you can add any PTO powered trailer even with back-attached crane...

If you want rebuild then in my brickshelf folder you will find a lot of detail shots which should make the build quite easy...

Again this MOD is not from myself but it is from EB member dr_spock. A very well done solution, works like a charm and the full modularity of the crane and the outriggers are preserved. Highly recommened! Thank you, dr_spock, for providing me these 3 detailshots!

One detail shot:

This axle 7L forces all pneumatic tubings to the left of the grey base-frame and so prevents from rubbing onto the pass through axles...

rest of detailshots you can find here: http://bricksafe.com...TO Pass through

EDIT: Replaced all links and pictures to brickshelf by bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Kumbbl]

Well, here is a trailer with dumping bed which can be tilted (but no 3-side as with the unimog bed - IMHO this is not really necessary for such a trailer) by the pass through PTO described in my posting above:

This trailer is inspired by the 8063 Trailer and by a trailer made by EB member dr_spock (which is also the designer of the pass through PTO as mentioned above). In fact: It is the 8063 trailer with slightly wider bed, bigger wheels and ability being connected to a mechanical PTO.

In addition the tilting still can be manually operated. The clever coupling is from dr_spock. But the full power-gear train is completely my own MOD.

The original 8063 trailer has a nice stand that can be deployed via a lever mechanism that keeps the trailer upright when it is not attached to the towing vehicle. I wanted this stand being preserved because it works well and it is simply necessary for a trailer with such an axle layout:

Preserving this stand makes a it little bit tricky to integrate a well braced and geared down gear-train from the coupling to the LA-base - details can be see below.

In addition i wanted to apply as few as possible modifications to the original trailer: just a 2L wider bed (for better scale for the Unimog) and 1L more space between the two axles cause of the bigger balloon tires (also for better scale to the Unimog). So the complete tilting mechanism is 100% original from the 8063 trailer incl the mountings of the LA.

Apart from the very simple and obvious changes for the wider bed and the by 1 stud moved forward 1. axle the complete additional power gear-train can be applied more or less between step 21 and 22 of the original BI of the 8063 trailer:

(The picture above still shows the original axle layout of the 8063 trailer - if you want to mount the big balloon tires you need 1L more space between the two axles (so the 1.axle must be moved forward 1 stud) and you need longer axles (i used DBG axle 8 with stop, 55013) and changed chassis-axle-layout with better support for the bigger wheels:

Some detail-shots of the gear-train:

The gear train is two times geared down for maximum lifting power... the reduction shown here is a good compromise between power and lifting speed...

More detailshots can be found in my bricksafe folder: http://bricksafe.com...Unimog/Trailers

EDIT: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf to bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Paul B Technic]

That is a good looking set up.

[johp778]

Has anyone got a better steering setuo, i've currently got the motor mounted in the frame of the back of the cab, as in an earlier post, however with the Unimigs weight, it doesn't really work. I tried using a servo motor directly to the steeribg axle, but this wasn't powerful enough and neither was an M motor. It needs an open space to turn and will only really turn when going forward.

[Nalyd997]

I was thinking of rebuilding my unimog, stripping out all of the gearboxes/functions, and make something like a Dakar Racing truck. Maybe in the near future

[Kumbbl]

Here is my modified Unimog - a compilation of several already existing MODs or at least inspired from them...

4. Double pump

IMHO the single pump is a little weak driving the crane of the Unimog. Cause of the tilting bed i have no internal room for an air tank - so i have doubled up the pump of the compressor. Now there is plenty of air power to drive any attachment. As a side effect this prevents the kind of rattling noise coming from the pump (From technicbricks: "I guess the air should start to leak somewhere. Likely from the pump seals, as the generated resistance is not enough to stop or even slow down the PF M-motor") - when using a double pump the generated resistent is enough to stop the motor after ~ 2 or 3 spins if no operation of any of the cylinders takes place - which is IMHO a good effect (at least if it lasts not longer than some seconds). As the picture below shows it is quite obvious how to install the second pump - but the mounting has to be integrated with the rotary cylinder base of the tilting bed)

well, with the double pump there is enough power in the system but on the other side quite few flexibility because if no operation takes place the motor stalls quite immediately...so either you have to open any valve or switch off electrical power by the PF switch or you let the the motor stall a while... IMHO the latter one is not so good because it eats much of the battery...

Therefore it would be better if the air system has more capacity and an air buffer... so an airtank enhances the whole ait system a lot - well here it is (cause of the lifting bed feature it can not be placed and hided within the chassis so i searched another place where it at least does not disturb the look of the Unimog - after searching this thread i found an idea of EB member Pat-Ard - IMHO a very good solution - i adopted it from Pat-Ard but mounted it differently - it is integrated in the exhaust pipe:

If there would exist a black airtank it would be perfect - so i will try the vinyl dye approach (BTW: thanks for your hints in the other thread concerniung this question) to color it black.

The whole pipe incl. the tank and all connected tubes can be pulled off the cabin with one hand-movement so the cabin can still be tilted. The tubes are all well hided and guided by several smal parts / holes...

BTW: i have added an engine cowling (s.a. first picture) to hide the M-motor, the power cable (which leads to the PF switch) and the tubings to the new air tank.

Overall now the whole air system works perfectly: enough power for all attachments and enough flexibility by an air buffer to prevent the motor from stalling or at least straining. Double pump + airtank is highly recommended.

More detail shots can be find in my bricksafe folder: http://bricksafe.com...and double pump

EDIT: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf by bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Kumbbl]

50 euros including shipping. Zmei_gorini4 did a very professional job!

How to order?

[Pat-Ard]

Kumbbl, sent you a PM

[Paul B Technic]

I have just published on my blog the latest attachment I have designed and built for LEGO Technic set 8110 (Unimog U400). This is a wood splitter which uses both the PTO and PPTO.

Photos and a video of it in use can be found at the link below:

http://paulstechnic.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/unimog-u400-attachment-wood-splitter.html

[johp778]

It's really easy to do. There are some little modification atbthe steering and at the chassis, there you need to replace the black 15 beams with 13. and the connection between them needs to be removed.

Pat

Hi Pat, Do you still have info and pics on how to do the steering servo motor mod, I tried, but the servo motor didn't seem powerful enough to turn the wheels when on the ground. I have another setup from this thread, where an M motor is mounted in the back of the cab, this sort of works, but you have to go forward for the wheels to actually turn and won't steer in reverse at all.

[Pat-Ard]

Hi johp778,

don't know your name...

There are a lot of pictures of my steering mod. First of all, did you reduce the steering friction as some other member posted? Don't know if it was in this thread... You need to do this first...

Pat

[johp778]

Hi Pat, my name is Paul

I read the modifications for improving the steering on here, so i changed the pins and removed the stops to make the steering easier and increase lock and changed the gears in the hub at each wheel.

[Pat-Ard]

Hi Paul,

OK, you did this already... Mounting the servo is easy. There are little modifications on the front axle necessary are you have to replace some beams with shorter ones in the main frame.

Here again pictures:

I don't have more pictures...

Pat

[Paul B Technic]

I have recently modified my LEGO Technic Unimog U400 (Set 8110) with Power Functions remote control for driving and steering.

I have now published on my blog a write up of this with photos and a video of this process and it in action:

http://paulstechnic.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/mod-unimog-u400-power-functions-remote.html

Edited August 5, 2014 by Paul B

[Kumbbl]

Paul B, your placement of the steering servo is a great idea, but i'm not sure if i'm a friend of your propulsion solution - IMHO it is smarter to preserve the fake engine... and if you haven't built in a tilting pneumatic driven bed then there is enough place for a XL-motor in the middle of the chassis... there are some postings here (and also some youtube instructions) in this thread how to do this - its a very easy modification too...

Cause of my tilting 3-side bed i'm currently working on a RC solution with:

- the XL-motor is placed where normaly the battery box is placed is placed

- The accu box is used instead of the battery box and that one is placed in the cabin vertically between the seats... - the accu pack is so small that it fits very well into the cabin even without destroying the look... this gives the Unimog als a better weight balance because the XL motor is less heavy than the standard battery box

BTW: Thank you Pat for the great idea placing the XL where the battery box resides...

Edited August 5, 2014 by Kumbbl

[TheItalianBrick]

I have recently modified my LEGO Technic Unimog U400 (Set 8110) with Power Functions remote control for driving and steering.

I have now published on my blog a write up of this with photos and a video of this process and it in action:

http://paulstechnic....ons-remote.html

Looks quick enough, and steers nicely, but I'm not fan of the servo for steering.....anyway good job!

[Kumbbl]

Cause of my tilting 3-side bed i'm currently working on a RC solution with:

- the XL-motor is placed where normaly the battery box is placed is placed

- The accu box is used instead of the battery box and that one is placed in the cabin vertically between the seats... - the accu pack is so small that it fits very well into the cabin even without destroying the look... this gives the Unimog als a better weight balance because the XL motor is less heavy than the standard battery box

BTW: Thank you Pat for the great idea placing the XL where the battery box resides...

the work has been done - i have finished my RC Unimog project...well, there are already some recommendations in this thread how to RC the Unimog but most of them are based on placing the PF motor for propulsion in the middle of the chassis direct below the bed... This works great and can easily be applied but nevertheless it is useless for me, because i have installed a tilting 3-side bed so there is simply no room for a XL motor at this place...

So i searched for a RC-solution with the following basic parameters:

- must be a reliable RC steering ansd propulsion

- tilting 3-side pneumatic driven bed

- working steering wheel

- fake engine below the cabin must be preserved

- must not mutilate the look of the Unimog

- overall weight balance has to be good

- it should be not necessary to completely rip apart the unimog but it should be possible to apply it with quite less effort

- should preserve the basic design of the Unimog as good as possible

- IR receiver should be placed as invisible as possible

EB member Pat-Ard has a quite interesting basic idea: placing the XL there where the battary box is installed. This idea has fixed me on and it turns out as a very good concept:

- XL Motor fits perfectly at this place --> has as a side effect the advantage that it improves the weight balance of the Mog because now the heavy battery box does not influence the left side-suspension anymore (IMHO this is one of two annoying drawbacks of the standard 8110)

- It does not collide with the pneumatic driven bed

- XL can be very easy, strong and stable installed

So propulsion could be solved quite easily...but one remark: For RC-driving the gears in the portals must be changed - there are some RC Unimogs out there which uses 12:20 gear reduction - this is IMHO too fast, sometimes you will hear cracking some gears when accelerating... IMHO 8:24 is better suited for the RC Unimog...

Well, applying this XL solution forces using the the accu 8878 or the 88000 battery because now the only possible place for a power source is the cabin - at least if the fake engine has to be preserved (which was a must for me) - luckily the accu with its 4x5x8 size fits incredible perfect between the seats direct at the rear wall of the cabin (see picture below) - just a 9L liftarm connected to the roof panel and one simple "connection" between the DBG angular braces within the cabin is needed to fix it dead certain... removing the accu is very easy: just open the roof and pull it out... put it back, close the roof and it is fixed again...no pins no bricjs needed - perfect --> and it is almost "invisible" from outside...

RC steering needed way more efforts to find a well integrated and well working solution - the following alternatives were on my short-list:

a) Placing a servo direct on the front axle --> works very well but it was impossible to connect the rear output of the servo to the steering gear-train to drive my working steering wheel in the cabin (see http://www.eurobrick...75#entry1939279 , 3.) - too steep angle and too short distance to connect a universal joint and the steering CV joint)

b) placing the servo in the cabin between the seats and below the accu: This can be built it very easy with only small changes to the cabin and it is also very simple to connect the working steering wheel but the steering performance is somehow mediocre... the servo has enough power but IMO the steering gear train from motor to the rack is too long with too many gears involved so there is to much backlash - and because the servo can just spin a 1/4 for a full steering lock and because of very much friction cause by the big tires this 1/4 round of the servo is partly somewhere lost in the steering gear train - BTW: the gear train works very smooth and i have also replaced all priction pins of the steering mechanism with frictionless solutions... to make a long story short: placing the servo in the cabin is not the best buy

c) Using the method like that one by EB member JunkStyleGio here in this thread (placing a M-motor vertically at the cabin wall is not possible because this place is already used by the accu-box

d) Placing a M or L motor horizontally between the seats and gearing down it appropiately: This allows connecting to the working steering wheel and has not the just a 1/4 round limitation of the servo (see b) - but this needs some brain efforts to intergrate it well in the cabin so the cabin look is not completely mutilated - at least the Motor should give the possibility to be viewed as a massive center console ;-)

I have tried a, b and d - and overall d is the best compromise: It steers reliable (in contrary to b - but not as perfect as a), it preserves the working steering wheel and it can be integrated in the cabin with a acceptable look (at least IMHO ;-)

One remark to c and d: For this solutions a white 24th clutch gear is essential and this can be a limiting factor: it the clutch is to weak then it could be that the steering works not reliable - the motor has enough power but cause of the high friction of the tires it can be that this power drains away in the clutch gear

There would be a solution e: Using a (placing the servo direct on the fron axle and combining a M-motor in the cabin beetween the seats and below the accu which has just one tasK. driving the working steering wheel (this should occupy much less space as a L-Motor and all the down-gearing necessary with solution b)... maybe i will try it out because this would combine the best steering of solution a with a working steering wheel and a quite invisbile motor in the cabin... but it is also the most expensive solution and it sounds like an overkill for just a working steering wheel (bur for me this is a very important feature of a lego technic vehicle..)

So overall integrating

- the accu-box

- a L Motor incl gear down train ~ 1:8

- the IR receiver

in the cabin and still preserving a quite good look was a real challange - but overall i'm quite satisfied: Now the Unimog drives and steers reliable with RC and still has the tilting bed, the working steering wheel and the fake engine and apart from the L-Motor for steering all the needed stuff is more or less invisible from outside...

This RC-Mod is an additon to all the MODs described in previous postings of this thread:

http://www.eurobrick...75#entry1939279 (working steering wheel, smother steering, 3-side tilting bed, double pump and some more...)

http://www.eurobrick...00#entry1943066 (PTO pass through and PTO driven trailer)

http://www.eurobrick...00#entry1950664 (Air tank)

Plus now openable doors - they were inspired by the solution of Pat-Ard but slightlyx improved by adding a second hinge so now the doors are guided very well and stable...

All motors of the chassis are now cased...

Well, enough words, here are some pics of my final RC Unimog with all the additional features described in the linked postings:

Two detailshots of the RC steering solution:

Two concept pics from my PoC how the XL-drive motor is integrated - only the red parts and some pins and some gears are necessary as additional parts (all other colors and parts are original 8110 design):

Here is a pic about the building sequence when adding the XL-motor to the already build Unimog:

All detail shots needed for reproducing all of the changes (should be sufficient as photo BIs) can be found in my bricksafe folder (and its named subfolders): http://bricksafe.com.../Remote Control

After working some weeks on all this MODs i can only repeat what i have said in another thread (topic: What is so special of the Unimog?): The moding possibilities of the 8110 sets are really incredible - i love some other great sets too but no other sets makes so much fun by trying to improve it - Overall IMHO the best lego technic set until now, period! ;-)

P.S.

I'm waiting on the flashing beacons i have ordered from EB member Zmei_gorini4 - then my Unimog is really finished.. ;-)

EDIT: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf by bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Pat-Ard]

Very cool modification... Hm, I think I have to rebuild my chassis :)

Pat

[TimH]

Nice modifications kumbbl. I'm currently working on mods for my Unimog.

[dr_spock]

Have to agree with Kumbbl. 8110 has lots of fun possibilities to add to it.

[Kumbbl]

There would be a solution e: Using a (placing the servo direct on the fron axle and combining a M-motor in the cabin beetween the seats and below the accu which has just one tasK. driving the working steering wheel (this should occupy much less space as a L-Motor and all the down-gearing necessary with solution b)... maybe i will try it out because this would combine the best steering of solution a with a working steering wheel and a quite invisbile motor in the cabin... but it is also the most expensive solution and it sounds like an overkill for just a working steering wheel (bur for me this is a very important feature of a lego technic vehicle..)

well, yesterday i have built this solution e for RC-steering incl. seprately driven working steering wheel and i must say: This will be my to go version because it simply performs best, by far best. Cause of the heavy weight of the Unimog and the very high friction of its tires a RC steering which is 100% reliable and which has a fast enough response time is IMHO only possible when mounting a servo motor direct on the front-axle without any gear train... all motor solutions which steer via the standard steering gear-train are operating more or less suboptimal, at least IMHO and based on my experiments - and because connecting the steering wheel to the front-axle servo via the steering-gear-train is impossible one has simply no other chance than mounting a small M-motor in the cabin which drives with some reduction (1:5) the steering wheel and which is connected together with the servo on the IR-receiver on the same connector... yes, it sound a little bit as overkill and the solution d (see my previous posting) works overall also not bad... and also yes, steering via the long gear-train is more complex especially if for you the number of involved gears and axles is the most important value - but as EB member allanp always says: "complexity just for the sake of complexity is not really smart" (or words to that effect) .. and the best result and performance you won't get with such a complex solution but only with the solution described above. And therefore this is my final RC solution.

Anyway, with the smaller M-motor and with much less needed down-gearing the cabin looks less full and the "center console" less bulky - but compare for yourself which solution looks better: M-Motor for just the steering wheel (pictures below) or L-Motor for driving the full steering from within the cabin (pictures in previous posting):

BTW: Mounting the servo on the front-axle is completely copied from the solution of EB member Pat-Ard - can not be done better (IMHO)... all detail pics of the cabin changes and the servor-mountings can be found as always in my bricksafe folder and named subfolders: http://bricksafe.com.../Remote Control

And cause of finding now the final solution of the RCing and therefore finishing the Unimog MOD-project (at least for a while ;-) here comes the full potpourri of the final RC-Mog and all its added features and attachments (the yellow mower, the red street cleaner and the front-loader are only rebuilds based on some pics posted by the original builders in this thread - cudos to all of you for these great attachments )

EDIR: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf by bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Kumbbl]

and the best result and performance you won't get with such a complex solution but only with the solution described above. And therefore this is my final RC solution.

well, the question of the questions is: when is final really final? ;-)

needing two PF motors for steering the Unimog incl. working steering wheel (see my posting above) did not leave me in peace, until i found a solution which

- steers as reliable as a directly-at-the-front-axle-mounted servo (description see posting above)

- needs only one motor

- preserves the fake engine and the working steering wheel

some posting above i wrote that a solution with a L-motor in the cabin which drives the steering and the steering wheel performes not bad but not as perfect and reliable as the servo directly mounted on the front axle. This was my starting point and i found quite fast the weak-point of this solution why the steering does not work when the Unimog doesn't drive and why the steering has a somehow too high reaction time: The weak point was the white clutch gear which was too weak so the full power of the motor does not reach the steering rack...

So a fix was quite obvious: using two clutch gears in a row should be strong enough to force the wheels steering always and even when not driving...well, but this brought up a further problem: the very limited space in the cabin: there was/is simply per default no room for a second clutch gear, the motor and all the needed gear-reduction - but then i had an idea: what about "outsourcing" the last black 12th bevel gear which drives the axle with the yellow knob gear of the cabin?!

And yes, that was the philosophers stone - this made room for another clutch gear - but still a real challange integrating all stuff so in the cabin that all stuff is braced very well and work smoothly together...

But now i'm really happy - the RC steering

- works as well and reliable as the direct-servo-solution (steers also very well when not driving!) - even better because now you are able to steer smoother because the m-motor allows every steering angle - and a return-to-center is really not necessary with such slow vehicles...

- preserves the full suspension travel of the front axle (with the servo mounted on the front axle the travel must be reduced by the height of a 1x2 plate to prevent the servo from colliding with the pistons of the fake engine (from below)

- has a working steering wheel

- needs only one motor to drive all stuff together from within the cabin

- does not destroy the look of the cabin which is still good (even better as with the L-motor because the m-motor is less bulky and therefore a better looking "center console"

well enough words, here are the pics of the final result and also one from the inside (all detailshots are in my bricksafe folder http://bricksafe.com...ontrol/Steering)

from the inside of the mechanics:

backside view which shows the bearings and bracings of the now outside located final 12th bevel gear (which drives the yellow knob gear as well as the gear-train of the steering wheel):

sorry for bad pics but they have been shot last night with an iPhone...

EDIT: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf by bricksafe

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl

[Kumbbl]

until now my 3-side tilting bed has missed real loading gates... in this thread i found a very good inspiration from EB member stefan_betula_pendula:

especially his locking mechanism is very nifty... so i copied that one and made my own bed with 3 tailgates - inspired by that one above but reduced to the original 8110 size (height, width and length (+1)) (i'm not willing to buy estimated 3 millions LBG thin 1x6 liftarms ;-) - here the result:

the copied locking mechanism:

EDIT: replaced all links and pictures from brickshelf by bricksafe...

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kumbbl