Lipko

I'm a mechanical engineer (machine constructor) and when I had been building my first big MOC project (showed here) I was constantly thinking that it would almost be easier to design the whole thing in real than using LEGO. Obviously it wouldn't be easier, but using LEGO (or other modeling systems) ties your hands in many ways. That means to solve problems, you have to think outside of the box. There are stuff that doesn't exist in the LEGO world, and that is a common thing in engineering (tube-axle for example). To deal with these, you have to thinker the shit out of LEGO, and this (according to my very limited experience with LEGO) renders my degree almost useless. (and renders LEGO a very exciting hobby)

Why can't you use rubber rings? Something like this:

Yeah, that's what I meant, thanks. I really should look into suspensions before reinventing the wheel or throwing away solutions because "they don't look real enough"...

This:

Well, Zblj is my idol, and it's good to see that he uses simple pins for mounting the springs and not ball-end (or whatever it's called) pins. I was worried about this solution, but I guess I'm trying to be too pedant about the stuff... The solution for mounting the center of the axles (for lateral positioning) is really cool and simple, is it used in real vehicles? I've only seen Panhard rods or nothing for lateral positioning.

Of course the axles are cheap, I was talking more about the correctness of the statements made in the thread. I wouldn't worry about it myself, if the vehicle is not too heavy. But it's a bit strange that some are worried about "illegal methods" such as a 3L friction pin plugged through 1/2 - 1 - 1/2 width beams. What's the difference then? Why is it more legal to use a part for something it's not intended for? I'm still new to this stuff, I may be too pedant, but I'm learning.

Isn't ABS subject to creep or relaxation? (sorry, English is not my first language. I'm talking about the phenomena when for example a piece of wood deforms over time under load that's way smaller than the elastic limit) Most plastics are subjects to it, even with low loads. So even if it seems that the axle returns to its original shape, a few months later it will be deformed permanently. Metals are different, they don't (at least steel) suffer from this kind of deformation. Is ABS similar? (well, I have seen deformed axles and they were just sitting inside a bag of Legos for a few years.)

How about using rubber-rings? You could twist a few of them and mount them somehow (I know that "somehow" is the hard part...) Or you could avoid the need of torsion rods and just use a simple axle as a fake and rubber-ring(s) placed somewhere it's not disturbing. There's no need of much movement after all.

8880. 8 hours of continuous building at Christmas when I was nine.

Thanks for the kind words. Well, I wasn't a total beginner, I built some stuff when I was a kid 10 years ago, but never completed stuff and never a technic MOC. Motorizing comes later, I only have only one M motor, no remote control stuff etc. Too expensive yet. Bu all stuff could go into the back of the vehicle. Yeah, it reminds me of that B model too...

Hi all! This is my first own creation for a very long time and my first meeting with the "new" studless building system. It took 4 days to build. I only had two kits: 8052 and 8265 (and one older one, but I used only a few parts, like pins and a differential, from it). At first, I didn't take the "project" seriously, it was just for killing some time. Due to these factors and the complexity/counter-intuitiveness-for-me of the studless system, the machine is quite hacky at some places, rebuilding the stuff would be a nightmare. If I had double amount of pieces, I could rebuild the whole thing using the older iteration as a reference. Maybe I'll do something about it like making instructions and modifying while at it, or maybe it's time to move on to another project/experiment (experimenting with different suspensions for example). It uses some illegal techniques, but all LEGO at least. About the car: It is an off-road vehicle with four wheel drive. It is not motorized (yet), but it has a 2 speed gearbox, differentials with a central differential and differential lock (which I'll replace with a better, bypassing one), working V6 piston engine and live axle suspension. The suspension uses Panhard rods and trailing arms. Building LEGO machines requires very much thinking in advance. Well, I couldn't do that, so the steering is not complete. It can be steered with a knob at the top of the vehicle, but the steering wheel doesn't work. I managed to build (hack) the drive-train to it, but it has so many gears that the internal friction makes the whole thing jammed. So I took out the final yellow knob-gear, so the steering wheel is only decoration. I don't have enough pieces to reinforce the body, so it has a small torsion under stress. I'm satisfied with the model, I think it's pretty good for a first project with no experience and not too big piece inventory to work with. Gallery Thanks for any feedback in advance!