Rodeown

well i had some more time building today and started a new cab design, it is similar to my first one but not I actually thought the Technical side of the design would be hardest but I am now finding the Asthetics is as big a challenge if not more so. Please leave comments on new design, compare to old one and let me know what you think please, I am always open to your suggestions. New design Old design

ohh dear me

Hmmmm Tim you got me thinking about that and i decided to rebuild losing the red so that it does not look like the 8109 truck, I still want the yellow so i will now go yellow/black combination hopefully i can achieve what i want with the parts i have, here is another picture of my latest building, I know some people dont like posting about their creations till they have finished them but I personally think it is good to post your progress and recieve feedback so you get many opinions instead of just your own. It also gives other people an idea of your line of thought and idea developement. Sorry TimH no longer red on yellow (i liked it also) as to double rears, everything tells me i should do but i dot have enough wheels to do that and a trailer. it would not be a problem to fit double wheels and i am now considering buying 4 more because of your comment.

Lol It is not a mod of the 8109 this is a MOC of my own design, made as i go along, I am attempting to make a tractor unit that will tow a tipping trailer unit that has self rear wheel steer, the whole of the design so far has been my own creation, i wanted a tractor unit that looked like the cement mixer style not an 8 wheeler, i did not even realise it looked similar to the 8109 until Tim mentioned it

Ha ha never even realised how like the 8109 it was looking, i know some of the parts are from that set but you know what it might be an idea to copy that cab design and extend it to my wider wheel base as the 8109 is a really good looking truck cab, Thanks Tim that is a great idea.

Brilliant, I have alot to learn from people like you, thank you for sharing with us.

This afternoon i spent some time deciding what make of truck i was going to base my chassis bodywork on. I wanted a Yellow style truck to match my Excavator so looked around for inspiration.... after spending a few hours looking i came across this DAF cement mixer that kept catching my eye.... well after a couple of hours work I have got it started and i must admit myself its looking pretty good so far.

Awesome work

please be my guest, here is a picture of the underside to help you out, i removed one of the beams so you can see better how it is made, notice how the whole gearbox is offset by half a hole.

Sorry i would not know how to start making instructions for it? this is my second build

Just done a chassis test with a hillclimb and parking test to check the capabilities of my new design. seems like it performs okay so i can build the bodywork with confidence now knowing that the chassis is working better than expected. Enjoy!

hope this helps you gmshades

Yet again i did some rebuilding making a much more secure framework to build upon, managed to get all three motors next to each other. I think i am now ready to start creating some bodywork for my baby.

I think i am going to rebuild the truck, i have learnt so much building and rebuilding this that i believe i can make it better, there is more room available than i originally thought so i can make a better model than expected, I now understand how NOT to do certain things and can incorporate the correct ways in a new build, I am thinking a 6 wheel short wheel base tractor unit with drive to both rear sets of wheels would be more fitting now. Maybe the gearbox needs to be above the diffs.... we will see what develops. Well, i had another play this afternoon and managed to create a much more compact gear box with the same gearings as before, also got 2 sets of axels in, problem i have now is motorising the gear change, to close to other gears to use a clutch gear on so will have to do some thinking.

Oh my, i have been called some names in my time but never been mistaken for a cockney, I was born in Stockport in the Midlands and lived in derbyshire till i was 10 then we moved to Geordieland, everyone here cant believe i have not lost my midlands accent.

Thanks, I did design it with as much lateral support for the gears as possible in a flat configuration as i didnt want jumping gears. just tested it before and it goes up a 45% slope with no problem and no slipped gears and can also pull my unimog across the carpet !!! so it looks like it wont have any trouble shifting a trailer around.

Just spent a few minutes getting this gear change automated as per suggestions by you guys works well on the worm gear with a clutch gear in and it is below rear wheel height too.

DLuders, i already made a trailer earlier this year that rear steers so i will use the basic mechanical design from that as it seemed to work pretty good.

Well this is the start of my Truck and Trailer, it will be my second moc so dont expect amazing things. i will do what i can and with the help of you technic wizards should be able to solve any problems on the way (excuse the bad video looks like youtube messed it up with antishake thingy)

AWESOME! a racing quad i loooove it Yeah!

I am a Lucky guy, yesterday i was feeling sorry for myself, wife comes in, she had been to Argos and come back with some goodies, presents me with the 9397 Quadbike which i had not even considered buying myself, "whats that for" i asks, "to cheer you up you miserable old sod" was the answer, well i asked for that, after grumbling about wasted money etc she says "shut up its got some chain in there, you said you could use some the other day" Wow, my wife is an angel, she bought the set cause it had some chain in it and thought i could use it,and it was cheap because box was damaged, I love her! Anyway here is my build pictures and colour change at the end because i didnt like the Orange and black scheme, it is actually a really good set, great for a technic starter, and it also looks good and has "CHAIN" hmmm love chain it seems soooooo useful.

Makes Perfect sense Thanks DHC6twinotter and Lipko yes that is the correct thing the problem is getting the beams offset half a hole to line up with the red selector lever,it is possible but not solid but I have many ideas now thank you all and will get back later with some pics/video maybe, see how i am feeling.

NOPE! I will have to do some pictures or a vid when i am up to it, I am also making it as flat as possible knowing that this truck is limited on space because of trailer and short wheel base with only 4 wheels. Awesome, thanks for all the advice, plenty for me to work with there, great idea with the 3 pieces and spacers, i had tried using the same method as on the motorised ecavator but it moves around too much for what i am attempting but your ideas have given me some inspiration. Also what is the best way of motorising the change over as i am concerned about stressoverloading the motors as that will kill battery life and motor life, took me 3 days to work out a suitable steering system for my truck until i was happy with what i designed, must have made about twenty different setups before going the route i did eventually. I do try to solve the problem myself first then go look at other peoples ideas when i get stuck because you may just stumble on something new whilst testing. Thanks again guys.

OK i have been very ill this last weekbut had some time to start my project but i have now hit a problem requiring advice if possible please. I have made a (IMO) very good almost "ackerman" steering for the truck that works slow enough to be realistic and precise but also accurate for steering etc but the problem i now have is to the drive of the truck, I am using medium motors not xl and this is not an issue as they will be geared slow as i am not building a race truck so i decided a simple gear system would be required, fast for normal driving around and snail crawl for reversing with trailer and tight manouvers, whilst its easy to make this manually using the usual lego methods my son told me to make it so i could motorise the change over from slow to fast by remote.... this is when i encountered a problem, the red selector is only 2 holes wide so the selector lever is positioned half way between two holes? i tried allsorts of ways to get a motor mounted to operate it but keep getting it jumping out of the slot etc, if i move it half a hole it works one way but comes out the other way so it has to be central, i have tried to find videos etc of how others have done it all to no avail. anyone had a similar problem as i have spent so many hours finding all the ways NOT to do it now i am going bald from the hair pulling

Thanks for that link VMLN8R, some good trucks there and yes start with the most difficult bit sounds like a good idea Thanks Alasdair, the trouble with the 9397 B model is that it is too long for a tractor unit like we have in the uk so i will make one from scratch i think, much more satisfying that way anyhow. and the tip body/ raise lower legs is important like you say, i was even thinking of a system for connecting to the trailer without manual input, some sort of trailer lock mech like on real trucks that locks in place as you reverse into the trailer, would be a challenge but not impossible i think. Chorlton, my thoughts exactly on reversing, that is why i thought maybe NXT steering would be better with a return to center command so that when not been issued commands it would stay where i put it or return to center if i told it too, we dont have return to center in real vehicles ! this would have to be controlled by my android tablet so may get complicated, i will look into it. also the cable connected when hooked to trailer does sound authentic aswell, great ideas guys much appreciated.