Paul Boratko

I wasn't talking about the steering arms pulling apart because of where the shock was placed, I was talking about them staying uniform and not having more of a twist with the increased space between the top and bottom of the hub(as compared to the old ones), now that thicker liftarms can be used, it's easier to keep everything tighter without having to re-enforce anything plus you can decrease the length of the liftarm to 5L(rather than the 6L of the steering arm) to give you more space in between... You still need to support the 6L steering arms with thin 5L liftarms on the sides even if you are using the shock on the top one because like I said this increase to 3L between the top and bottom has more play and twist than it did with the old hubs only being 3L total, so you are basically forced to use extra support with the steering arms no matter how you use them with the shocks now...

I covered everything that you said here about building a stable suspension with these parts in post #21...

Here is a short video showing this wobble...

I was actually using 3L axles through the wheel and into the hub and they do help a bit, but it is still noticable... You can only catch 1/2 a stud of axle into the hub without pushing the cv joint out...

Well, after lookng over my wife's crawler and unimog, I guess they also have some wobbling issues...

Alright... I built some suspensions with the new hubs and worked them into a chassis and I have found a problem with them(the new hubs) that Lego IMO really needs to take care of.. There is some substantial wobbling going on, not only between the center hub and the New outer hub mounts with both the steering ones and the fixed(rear) ones, but there is also a lot of play when you snap the wheels to the center hubs, much more than with the older black hubs...The 3 pins on the center hub just don't fit as tightly as the black ones do... This is something that wasn't quite as noticeable with the portal axles on the Unimog and Crawler because there were axles being used that helped give a bit more support with an axle being used that went through the back of the portal axle, through a gear and then into the center of the back of the hub... This is primarily a problem if you are planning on snapping the the CV joints into the Hubs because there is no way to give any additional support... If you are using them in a live axle, this shouldn't be as much of a problem...

Well the old link would take you to a screen saying that TechnicBRICKs had moved to www.technicbricks.com and then you had to click on a redirect link, so I eliminated the unnecessary extra click...

That reminds me, I need to update the link at my website for TechnicBRICKs to the new address... I am gonna do that right now..

TechnicBRICKs seems to work fine one day for me and then I cannot access it at all the next... I have had this problem for a few months....

If you used the older type, they would help keep the driving rings engaged a bit better and would be easier on the clips in the driving rings...

Ok, I built a new suspension using the 6L steering arms(along with the towball pins) last night and after using the New 5L thin liftarms for structure in both the base and one on each end(along with one standard 5 hole liftarm for the 3L axle with stop to properly fit into), I must say that it works surprisingly well, but of course everything has to be built solid... Otherwise there is more of a "Twist" with the towball joints due to more of a space between the steering arms as opposed to the older hubs... I agree that they will still be useful, I am just questioning whether or not Lego will continue to produce it... I think I may actually use this design below in my next project...

Here is another front drive suspension with 5L liftarms used as steering arms... Using 3L universal joints instead of CV joints with 7 studs between the shock towers... Max turning angle before the CV Joints begin to bind...

The Dark Gray Center Hub on the 8110/9398 Portal Axles is same exact part as these new center hubs... What I meant by "The old ones" was the black hubs from the 8070 Supercar...

I think it's about the same...

Yeah, unfortunately these new hubs are the same exact dimensions as the Old Black hubs... 23 from end to end is the shortest true "stable" diameter that you could get using them and the CV Joints, I guess it may be possible that you could monkey around and re-route the differential and possibly make it smaller... That is another good point... That is definitely something that you could not do with the old ones... These new ones also feel more natural and solid... I haven't tried yet, but I am assuming that separating them must be done like this once again...

The people that have worked with these new hubs will probably agree that it is safe to say that they are going to be around for a long time... The old styled hubs from the 8466, 8653, 8145, and 8070 are more than likely going to ride off into the sunset as there is a new Sheriff in town... I also wouldn't be surprised if we don't see the steering arms used much(or at all) in the future as well.. These new hubs offer many unique ways to mount them... I can only assume that the way that I have used them in this front suspension module is probably how the B-Model for the 42000 is set up using this piece as the steering pivot point... By not using the old style towball hubs, you also now have more stability and won't need to reinforce the old steering arms with a liftarm to keep them uniform... The new steering hubs will stay about as stable as the steering arms that you build.... The downfall is that the height has been increased to 5 studs from the previous 3... You could also plug in the old towball pins in the top and bottom and use the traditional steering arms, but with a new parts like this, do you really want to..? Not as much pivot/steering friction and wobbling anymore like there was with the towballs and steering arms Another nice thing about the new hubs is that you can choose to make your steering arms shorter if you want and still incorporate All Wheel Drive while staying true... As seen here by eliminating the second CV joint and replacing it with a 3L universal joint, you can change the liftarm to a regular 5L one and you have your pivot point true with the pivot point of the universal joint leaving space in between the shock towers to throw in an engine.. The days of having to stablize the rear hubs with 4 steering links are gone... I am going to play around tonight with doing something similar in the front, I really wish that Lego would have introdiced some new 5L steering links to replace the old 6L ones... I have more pictures and angle of these suspension Modules here -> LINK (when moderated at brickshelf)

F-ing incredible... Wow.... Can't wait to show the wife this...

Really cool model.. I really like this...! You should have snuck in a few 19L black flex axles somewhere and maybe some black bushings...

Got mine today...

I am going to say France...

I don't think that you're going to find another forum on the web that has as much traffic or brings together as many different countries and cultures as Eurobricks... If you notice here(and basically everywhere) Technic is nowhere near as popular as the majority of the other sub-forums... I think that it is great that there are multiple posts and threads here everyday.. i used to be a member at Lugnet and there was barely any activity at all, in fact I don't think there have been any new posts in the Technic section over there in months... You're going to find complaining and other things that you dont like no matter where you go... I hit up SeTechnic about once a week as those guys seem to be very updated with new information and there are some really great French builders... Of Course I have to translate everything...

Yeah, I think they're done too...Already hitting $200 a set on Ebay.. My Toys R Us still has a few excavators, but they now have the prices jacked up $20 on each one...

I see those! This is a good thing...

February..? That sucks.. I already have plans for them... That center hub is just the same thing on the Unimog/Crawler isn't it..? I see that the Crankshaft center color has been changed to tan... By the way, when did the crankshaft ends change from yellow to a mustard orange yellow color..? i just ordered a bunch and the ones that I got are not the traditional yellow color..

If you can, try and get a scan or photo of the parts list from the back of the instruction book.. That way we'll know what the part numbers are for ordering them... (New Hubs, White #13 and #14 panels, etc..) I am getting ready to put in an order from lego and would like to check and see if they are available for purchase yet... Or if you could just tell us what those numbers are for the new parts, that would be very helpfull...