DLuders

The 1-stud-long metal axle is not long enough to poke through the top of any of the 1-1/3 studs long round bricks. Even if it did, there is no way of securing the round bricks from rolling off the end of the pin. Axle pins have small, raised ridges and their ends to prevent this from happening, just like there are raised ridges at the ends of Technic Pins Without Friction:

@ tl8/ Tristan Lostroh: Your analysis is very good! I have not seen a similar report, and I've been looking for something like this for years. As a professional Civil Engineer myself in the USA, I recognize the standard "Strength of Materials" machinery and methodology. Did you get any Mechanical Engineering course credit for this work? I'm sure The Lego Group has conducted similar experiments, and that the "failure mode" is the CONNECTIONS (as it is for most beam assemblies). One wants the Lego friction pins to pop out of the Technic Liftarms and Technic Beams, and not have the beams crack under load. Since you said "There are many alterations to the tests and testing procedure that could be changed. I would certainly be willing to do more tests if I was given assistance with resources....outside assistance will be accepted to further the data and conclusions", I would be willing to donate any additional Lego Technic pieces you need. I realize that Lego parts are VERY EXPENSIVE in Australia. Please e-mail me at LudersDG@MSN.com to tell me what you need, and where to send it. I have sent Lego parts to an AFOL in Australia several times, and the transit time is about 2-1/2 weeks.

On the Lego Technic Challenge webpage, the "Join the Competition" button leads to this webpage which lists the deadline (in faint gray letters at the top-right): the monthly challenge "ENDS Tuesday 23rd of August by 23:59 CET," but this conflicts with the statement on the first webpage that "On the 21st of August, a panel of judges consisting of designers, marketing managers, building instruction artists and more will pick out (of all submissions) 10 finalists...." I will e-mail Lego Customer Service (yet again) to fix this date discrepancy (yet again). The set below is shown on this month's challenge, so one could assume that it is the prize (and not the Unimog U400).

On the Blakbird's Technicopedia listing for the 851/952 Farm Tractor set, at the bottom it says "As long as the model is right side up, the push-pull linkage is always in compression so it tends to stay together. If the model is inverted, this is in tension and can pop apart. If the thresher is lowered too far, the 40 tooth gear will fall under the PTO and jam. There are wheels on the thresher to make it level and prevent this from happening. The original mechanism (pictured) had a weak spot at the aft end of the connector link. Only the friction on the studs kept this together, so it tended to come apart often. In 1978, LEGO® changed the design to have a vertical 1x4 beam at this location to hold things together. This resulted in a slightly different parts list and count for this set."

As dolittle noted, the Lego 8110 Unimog U400 set is available here at Shop.Lego.com for USD $199.99 . If you want to help the cost of the TechnicBRICKS website operation, go to TechnicBRICKS and click on the "Buy Lego" banners along the right edge of that website. Once at Shop.Lego.com, you can change the country and language at the top of the page to match your location. For Canadians, the Unimog costs CAD $249.99 here. According to this online Currency Converter, USD $199.99 equals CAD $190.23 and 138.78 Euros. ToyRUs does not yet carry the Unimog in its Technic lineup, but there is a Free Shipping deal going on.

You ORIGINALLY asked, will fit in any of these parts below? The answers: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, & no. The top "studs" on each of these parts are the same size as the "stud" end of the 6587 "Technic, Axle 3 with Stud" (pictured below), and the round axle portion of the metal axle is not long enough to project up through the top of the round bricks anyway. P.S. You really need to insert the images of these parts in your posts yourself -- you're making us work too hard. Copy the URL of the image, and then click the "Insert Image" icon on the post menu (two icons to the right of the "smiley face" icon). If the image URL has more letters past the ".jpg" filename, chop off anything beyond the ".jpg". That's what I did above. You could also click "View Larger Image" on the various Bricklink parts pages to see that things won't fit.

I would just get a replacement 71846 "Electric, Cybermaster RF Tower" part and be done with it.

@ RejectedShrimp: TheLEGOproject posted this of a motorized Lego 8386 Ferrari F1 Racer: ThomasG8207 also posted this of his Power Functions version, and he wrote: "I start with the F1 Lego set 8386. I added a small motor for steering, a 2nd small motor to make it go forward & backward, replaced the yellow piston engine with the battery pack and added a IR receiver. The IR gradual remote works great by providing 7 speed. Check my to see it in action."

@ lakuda: You may generate some interest by POSTING that picture here. How complex is the vehicle? What scale do you want it to be? How much have you got to spend?

As shown on this Bricklink page, the 30028 "Black Tire Smooth Small Wide Slick" fits on a 30027b "Wheel 8mm D. x 9mm (for slicks), hole notched for wheels holder pin". Here is a picture of the two together: The "Wheels Holder Pin" is not the same as a Technic Axle. Here is a 4870c05 "Plate, Modified 2 x 2 Thin with Dual Wheels Holder (type 1) and Black Wheels (30027b/30028)": The 30635 "String Reel 1 x 4 x 2 Drum with Friction Spokes" has little "nubs" on the ends, even smaller than the "stud" on the end of the 6587 "Technic, Axle 3 with Stud" (also pictured below): The 2585 "String Wheel 2 x 2 Drum" (pictured below) could slip over an axle, but how would you get the tire onto it? It seems too long for the tire.

@ SNIPE: From the Bricklink inventory of the 8430 Motorbike set (which is pictured below), could you find that "Technic piece" that you are talking about? What is the Bricklink Part Number of that piece?

@ lockdownTF: You must mean an 8098 set (not an 8089 set, which is a "Hoth Wampa Cave"). The 8098 Clone Turbo Tank (seen below) won't be easy to motorize, since it looks a bit too slender in the "underbelly":

Well, as of this instant, there are no bids for the US $399.99 Little Devil on eBay, with 1 day 5 hours to go. That's a lot of money. I built Jurgen's model using parts from Bricklink, and I estimate that I spent 1/2 that amount. I bet you that this blatant copy does not sell at all.

@ SNIPE: Bricklink's Tire On Wheel Relationships webpage will show what wheels fit the tire you have chosen. Why are you so concerned about "tire wear", when you can get replacement tires for very little money?

On his Brickshelf gallery, a-tree posted a picture of his Lego Hero Factory snake:

On his Brickshelf gallery, TechyMind posted 9 pictures of his 12-cylinder Lego Technic radial engine which can be operated with a Power Functions Medium motor. His and shows it in action:

Sjoe96/ LEG0STEEN posted this YouTube video of his Lego Technic "RC scale model of the Ferrari SA Aperta. The SA Aperta is built for the 80th birthday of Pininfarina design studios. The SA Aperta has the same V12 as the 599 GTO, with 670 hp. I based the model on the LEGO set 8145, which contains the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. For more [bIG] pictures, look at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=479449 ."

kiko9768/ kiko97 posted this of his Lego Technic Mini 6x6 Petra 3 Truck. It uses a Lego Power Functions (PF) XL motor for propulsion and a PF Medium motor for steering, and weighs 815 grams. See it do a roll down a rock face and survive; 12 BIG pictures are on his Brickshelf gallery.

jlee58540 posted this of two Lego "Turbine Power Pullers" that work via compressed air hoses:

I like your claw modification! When I see it lifting the wheels, it seems that the 8043 Motorized Excavator's Power Functions arm is a lot easier to use than the (comparable) pneumatic arm on the new 8110 Unimog U400. Maybe you can use "The Claw" to grab a pile of these:

Here is the website to find out more about the FunkNXT software, and to download the application. @ Zblj: Do you think that an NXT-powered Trial Truck is feasible? Compared to Power Functions infrared signals, a cell phone would make it a lot easier to drive a Trial Truck OUTSIDE (in bright sunshine).

@ RejectedShrimp: There was a previous topic that discussed the return-to-center steering. The Power Functions Medium motor clips onto the hockey spring. To learn more about the Power Functions System, visit the official Powerfunctions.Lego.com website. Be sure to look at the "Frequently-Asked Questions" (FAQ) page. Mahjqa made Building Instructions for an "Intermediate Power Functions Chassis" which has a different method for return-to center steering. You may enjoy building it:

You know, there IS another "Wheel Cover" for the 44772 wheel -- the 58088 "Wheel Cover 7 Spoke with Axle Hole - 56mm D. - for Wheel 44772". It is used in two sets -- the 8145 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (released in 2007) and the recent 8068 Rescue Helicopter (released in 2011). I'm sure they look good on NK's Concept Car too.

rien posted this Eurobricks topic about Lego "Power Functions on 11.1V" RC batteries. There is extensive discussion about the maximum voltage that PF components can handle. On this post, Out of Sight wrote these tips: "Here are few notes to consider for everyone else BEFORE upgrading to 11.1v Lipo: Make sure ALL the gears spins freely by giving some play/tolerances to their adjascent object. I did this during my assembly, the M motors seem happy, no apparent stresses when lifting the boom, the motors stay cool too. This will reduce friction by a lot, gives added agility and reduce battery consumption hence longer running time! I'm also into radio operated electric car models, Lipos are mandatory in these high performance vehicle. By seeing previous posts,we need to understand the proper usage of Lipo: 1.The PF circuitry does not come with a low voltage cutoff LVC. The LVC is needed to protect the Lipo from over discharged below 3.0v/cell. In a 11.1v Lipo, the minimum LVC is 9.0v. You need to measure the voltage when running it on the PF or you'll damage the cells or puff the cells ultimately. Have you seen an exploding Lipo?? Very scary..it will melt the lego bricks since it mimicks a flame thrower. 2. 11.1v is the nominal voltage of a Lipo (1 cell = 3.4 volt). But a fully charged Lipo fresh off the charger is 4.2v/cell. So a 3 cell Lipo like Rien's is around 12.6v fully charged. 3. You need to buy not just any 3s Lipo, but those that are rated for the maximum current draw of the PF motors. A lipo that's operating above it's discharge rate will get hot, damaged and ultimately explode. Lipo usually comes in C rating. C stands for continuous curret. The maximum current is the capacity of the Lipo times the 'C'. Eg. 11.1v 3s 1500mah 10C, means the Lipo is able to supply 1500mah x 10 = 15000 mah. Or 15A. So this battery will be safe to use on the PF which draws around 2-5A under load."

Well, you are probably correct, but the person has not yet committed any "sin". Why try to hang the guy before he has "shown his cards"? Is not a person "innocent until proven guilty"?