allanp

Yeah, i'm fairly sure the unimog will be operated the way you suggested, i'm just saying this amazing set would be even better the other way. The PTOs should not require much power, so i'm sure the motor can drive both the PTOs and the compressor OR the driving of the model. Those parts do look very similar (even tho the colours are swapped) but I don't think it will be exactly these parts, they don't even have a hole for a drive shaft to go through them.

Thanks I haven't sent it to lego, there are parts that I am much more eagar for them to produce. However TLG, at least the technic guys anyway do read these blogs I think. If they like it, maybe they could be inspired to make there own version.

That's cool. Wonder what happens if you use a pf motor

It seems to be a win win for everyone, lets make sure we buy lots of them so it's a win for TLG too! I have also thought the pump seems a bit longer and have wondered what that white thingy is. I really do hope they continue to overhaul the pneumatics range because of course I think they have yet to make the most wanted part(s) . Damb right i'll go crazy!

Could be. That 6L steering link that is being used as a panhard bar and the ball joint leads me to think that it's like a torque tube. That ball joint also looks to be the thing that holds the rear axle on. Now i'm wondering if that light bley ball and the new c-shape beam is actually one part that clicks into a larger dark bley socket. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_tube

That round part looks very interesting, like some kind of large hollow ball joint that would normally house a cv joint in steerable/driven axles. There are so many secrets in this set my heads gonna explode

Such a thing would be very useful. I've done a sketch of what such a tool could look like. I did think of adding a sort of pry bar to it but it might be too sharp as I cannot recall a single edge in lego being sharper than 90 degrees. What other additions would anyone like to see to this tool?

The car and driver website says this: "and sports a fully pneumatic gripper arm mounted aft of a pneumatic “dump” bed." I know this has been talked about, but does it have a dump bed or not? I can't see a switch for it but the website seems to be pretty spot on with the other details. They must have been told by lego what functions it has otherwise they would not have known about the hub gearboxes and so on. It also says it is electrically "driven". Does that mean motorised wheels? Im not that optimistic for that, but it sure whould be cool because at the moment, this awesome set seems to be lacking in nice geartrains for the largest technic set ever. I've already said how that would be operated, but for those who missed it, the yellow lever would switch between driving the wheels and the compressor, whilst the red lever would switch between the front and rear PTO. This would mean you could operate the pneumatics and the rotation of the crane at the same time. The engine would be driven directly by the motor regaurdless of what functions are engauged.

Agreed brickend. The unimog has alot of awesome new parts already, but in the future I really think we need some longer cylinders for this type of thing.

BTW has anyone else noticed the 6l steering links used to stop the axles swinging side to side. Although we have been doing this for years I think this is yet another first for an official technic set. Very realistic of a live axle I must say. Another BTW, off topic, I like those 8856's Parda, it makes me want to find my onw out and start building it. In fact I might just do that.

It looks like it's been photoshopped to hide a gear that drives the wheel. However I think part one is just a yellow half bush.

Until the unimog comes out, for me the 8868 is probably the best set ever, but there has never been a perfect set yet. There were two problems with the 8868, the main one was that the pump did not really provide enough power to the system because it only uses half it's stroke. Sure it worked fine for me every one of the many many times i've built it, even the first time when I was 8 years old. But i'm impatient. All the 8868 needed was a redesign of the compressor and it's pneumatic functions (especially the rotating of the crane arm) work alot better. The 8868 had a more demanding pneumatic system than the unimog (unless there are pneumatic functions in the unimog we don't know about yet) so I don't think there will be an issue even with the poor compressor design of the 8868. But still, I hope they do improve the performance of the compressor.

Oh wow, this is great, some sneak previews, awesome, can't wait for more, of for the set for that matter. Finally a new pneumatic part. Heres hoping for more new pneumatic parts in future as it is an amazing system that needs a bit of an overhaul me thinks. It depends how well it is used, but it can provide as much pressure as the large manual pump when used properly. One pump is enough half the time (assuming you want good performance). I hope the unimog at least uses the full stroke of the pump if it does only have one.

Cool, the captains view was a very nice touch

My last MOC to use the flex system was my red hawk rescue. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=420770 Most of them are 15 or 16 years old but they still work perfect in this model to control the blades. Never had a problem with them but I know it's not wise to expect too much of them so I don't put too much strain on them.

It's believed that there is also a new part that the wheels fit onto, like a gear box housing thingy for portal axles, which i'm very much looking forward to.

Good luck (psst, 8258!)

Maybe you could try the new mini LA's or pneumatics.

The unimog is gonna top both of them

I would recommend the 8258 due to it's awesome size and complexity, surpassing the 8043 on both accounts (it really is big!) but not too hard to build. To be fair tho, no set is too difficult nowadays due to each step of the instructions consisting of only 2 or 3 parts. 8258 IMHO not only has may more parts, but a better selection of parts. Having 8 wheels is far better for making your own designs than having tracks. It also contains 7 gear racks which is useful for steering and so on. The 8258 has also been out longer so it won't be as easy to get in the near future as the 8043. They both have a similar play value and performance, nither of them can lift much weight. 8043 may also be a little dissapointing if it doesn't work as reliably as a technic set should.

Should be good for a future technic challenge competition

Loving the MOC index so far. There are some that i've not come across before.

I actually saw it during my daily check of new posts in the technic, mindstorms, model team theme.

Looking great as per your usual, love it!

Ok, i've come up with these for you. The first is probably the simplest way of doing it: However if you want the non-reversing feature to be silent then you may want to experiment with something like this: I can't say how successful the silent version will be without building it but I hope it at least gives you some ideas to work from.