REVIEW: 8110 Unimog U400

[Marin Stipković]

For the firts part I'll just let the pictures speak for them selves. You can see Matija Grguric and myself on some pictures and of course first we admired the box.

And now onto the review.

I know all of those interested in this set already know all the links but still:

Bs link

BL link

UNIMOG U400 - 2011

The scale is not too precise but it is a pretty heavy box.

Everyone's already seen these sides of the box.

And we're onto the interesting part!

3.7 meters of hose!

An interesting detail of the box is the pictures on the back go inside the box a bit.

No, the wheels don't come as assemblies.

Nearly didn't fit on the table.

New parts. 64cm (80L) hoses are new as well. And as everyone guessed, the portal axles can be made in 16-16, 12-20 and 8-24 combos. A part of the U-joint goes in the portal block for a pivot point closer to the wheel.

From left to right: soft, medium, hard. I don't have all three types of the big ones but I'm guessing by the looks of the spring (compared to the smaller shocks) that the Unimog ones are medium stiffness*.

Although a bit smaller in dimensions the new tires don't look smaller than the balloon ones.

Yes, axle fits through the new CV joint. Once you "click" the joints in the portal axle blocks you can pretty much forget about ever getting them out.

Power joints are certainly cool. I forgot to check the compatibility with turrets. Oh well, I'll check after I dismantle the Mog**.

All of the pieces in the box. Nicely filled, very colorful.

5 (!) instruction booklets and sticker sheets. Most stickers are fit for tiles which is a big plus. The LEGO Systems A/S sticker goes on the bottom of the Mog which is also cool but you won't see me apply any of the stickers here.

Some parts of the build.

Of course, the booklets are split in no logical place in the build.

As with the 8146, the wheels are not the last pieces in the build. They are put on the chassis before the cabin, bed and crane.

These are the leftover pieces. Notice the connector. I had to replace that one with this one (from my own collection) because of an error in the build. Both axles are identical apart from this little error that made the front one work less good (and of course the steering). What the error exactly is is up to each of the future Mog owners to discover for themselves***.

...and a review of the functions is yet to come.

EDIT November 2012:

* - This has been proven wrong.

** - Incompatible.

*** - LEGO says it's not an error and you can find some articles about it around the internet.

Edited November 19, 2012 by Marin Stipković

[bord4kop]

Very nice re-/overview of the set.

Great shots, good text. Clean and simple way to view the set

(although mainly for those who have knowledge of the set already)

The happy faces at the beginning are a very nice touch! Like happy boys that waited looong for it to become Christmas at last

[DLuders]

I had to replace that one with this one (from my own collection) because of an error in the build. Both axles are identical apart from this little error that made the front one work less good (and of course the steering). What the error exactly is is up to each of the future Mog owners to discover for themselves.

Aw, c'mon, could you tell us what the error is so that folks don't have to rip their Unimog apart to fix it? Is there an error in the official INSTRUCTIONS, or just in the way you built the two axles? Maybe TLG will have to publish a CORRECTION SHEET, so that they are not inundated with complaints about the performance of the set. Recall the 8043 Motorized Excavator fiasco from last summer....

Edited July 1, 2011 by DLuders

[mind storm]

Pls, can you give Partslist to Bricklink?

[Marin Stipković]

@DLuders:

It's an error in the whole model (instructions, parts list and finally the part itself). But it's really easy to spot it as the axles are identical apart from this piece and you can see something's not right. Anyway, for those who don't want to discover it for themselves:

It's the towball link that stabilizes the front axle. It's built the same way as the one on the rear axle apart from the connector which makes the front axle not centered and blocks a part of the suspension travel.

It's the only part of the front axle (steering not included) that differs from the rear axle and once fixed everything works perfectly.

@mind storm:

I can't promise anything.

[efferman]

thanks for this review!

i have some questions about the torque tube parts:

how many force is needed to pull it out?

How much degrees of movement from left to right, is it enough to use it as a steering part ?

Thanks

[Marin Stipković]

@efferman:

It takes quite a bit of force to pull the power joint apart. From what I remember it could be twice as much as to get the hemispheres out of a turret. And they're not compatible, I just compared the dimensions.

[Anio]

I noticed the mistake on the panhard rod too. And I changed the connector too.

Otherwise, the whole front axle is not straight.

I still wonder how they did not notice such a "problem" when they did the building instruction. O_o

I've seen it as soon as I put the 6L link.

But well, the connector which has to be used to fix the problem is very common. Most people may have one.

But what is more interesting, is what this mistake means.

Did they lack time to finalize the model ?

I wouldn't be surprise of such a thing, cause the way the chassis is built is much less optimised than what we have seen in the past.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Anio

[Alasdair Ryan]

Perhaps it might be a good idea to post a pic of the error in the booklet so people know were it is and what needs changing?

[Meatman]

I thought that TLC had people test out building the new sets for quality assurance? 2 flawed flagships in a row?

[TheHammer]

You should definitely report this back to TLG about the error so they can post a fix or change it.

-E

[Anio]

You should definitely report this back to TLG about the error so they can post a fix or change it.

-E

I emailed the person I know few minutes ago.

Unfortunately, today is Friday. We will have to wait till Monday at least, to have an answer.

[Marin Stipković]

Moving on with the review.

Chassis is the first submodel.

Notice the towball pin in front of the motor. It has absolutely no function. Or does it? *

Also, the cable is supposed to hang loosely under the undercarriage but that problem is easily fixed as shown on the picture.

Notice the towball pins on the front axle presumably for blocking suspension travel but not carrying out that function.

Second submodel is the cabin.

Attached to the chassis via pins just like the rest of the submodels. Notice the red pin in front of the engine. That's the block for tilting the cabin.

If you want the cabin down you have to push it forward.

It's then locked with more pins.

Next is the bed. Nothing too special in it other than those 12 lovely panels.

Up comes the crane. Pretty big one, too.

Winch is another unspecial cool part.

Finally complete.

And now it's time for the functions.

Fist up is steering which has a waaay too weak lock (maximum angle). See for yourselves.

I mean really, is that it? Not to mention how hard it is to steer it in place - impossible, the model is too heavy! But I guess that's cool because real vehicles are also easier to steer while driving.

I tried to illustrate the weak turning angle in this sequence but I'm not sure I've made it. The above pictures do a better job.

The suspension however is fantastic.

It doesn't tip over. Nice isn't it?

Outriggers/stabilizers are perfect. Deployed with a click they lock the Mog in place.

Rotating the crane about 340° total.

Blocked by the very axle that rotates it.

As low as it can go.

As high as it can go.

Wow, this model is huge!

I'm not going to go through all of the functions but just list them as most of you already know them all:

one M motor for:

- mechanical function (winch or rotating the crane)

or

- pneumatic function (front or rear attached) - all three cylinders

That means there are a lot of switches and with the stickers not applied it was hard to learn them all but once you catch it it goes just like that.

Here's an action shot (though rims are not the usual load for this type of vehicle).

And so long as we have the rims...

Isn't this what a Mog should look like? (Just google "unimog orange" and see what I mean - 95% have black rims.)

(And a bonus: Who can tell me what's missing? )

To wrap it up:

10/10 for everything despite the error, weak angle and hard steering and gray rims.

Big for LEGO.

That's pretty much it unless you have any questions.

Hope you've enjoyed.

EDIT November 2012:

* - LEGO says it's there to support the frame and it really seems to be so.

Edited November 19, 2012 by Marin Stipković

[JunkstyleGio]

@ Marin:

Please tell us more about the error in the building proces.

Pictures and a bit of explaining would do nicely.

[merman]

Thanks so much for putting these pics up

The build of the chassis feels kinda messy and inefficient

Can u put a pic of the mistake (good and bad) up here???

[Anio]

Can u put a pic of the mistake (good and bad) up here???

Booklet 2, page 49, step 19 : we are shown that we must use that connector to attach the towball, and so the panhard rod.

But this connector makes a half stud offset. And as a consequence, the front axle is not straight :

So, it is necessary to replace the first connector by this one :

And so, the front axle is straight.

It's that simple.

It is strange to have such a mistake on the final product for 2 reasons :

- it is very visible

- the rear axle has the right connector

So, I'm still not 100% sure it is a mistake. Maybe this connector has a reason to be here.

Maybe it's here to compensate the weight of the battery box which prevent the model to be perfectly balanced. When you push the model on the left side, it does not go back to its very initial position.

But sincerely, I doubt this is the right explanation...

Edited July 1, 2011 by Anio

[merman]

Thanks for elaborating. Very lame mistake!

[Silcantar]

It may be because the Panhard rod is diagonal, which causes the axle to move sideways when the suspension is compressed. In reality, a Panhard rod would be horizontal, which makes the sideways travel negligible. Offsetting the axle when the suspension is uncompressed would make up for the sideways travel when the it is compressed. I would think that it would be preferable for the axle to be centered with the suspension uncompressed, but I didn't design the model (I would also have attempted to make the Panhard rod horizontal). Maybe it allows for better suspension travel without hitting the fenders?

[T_Tank]

just out of curiousity how much space would there be on each side if you some how removed the gearing an pto system. I really would think maybe intergrated a couple of rechargable battery packs instead of the large AA power pack would work to help with the weight issue. Though I already have ideas for what I'd do to one of these mogs once I get it even though it could mean loosing the pneumatics an pto but I'd love to have this working as a power functions rc

[Marin Stipković]

@T_Tank:

There is little room in the chassis and even making nothing but steering and propulsion (and removing all other functions) would still take a lot of modifying to make it PF RC ready. So much in fact I've given up on the idea.

Oh and a big thanks to two friends of mine that made it possible for me to have the set so early!

@Anio:

Do you know the purpose of those towball pins I've mentioned in the review? Because I have no idea...

[Musikfreak]

I have ideas about the towball pins (because I was also wondering a lot about these after building the model). The one on the side stabilizes the model - you can see that the black beam behind the motor is supported by it if you compress the model at this place with and without the pin in place to compare.

The ones on the steering axle I'm not sure about. But maybe they are supposed to center the axle when compressed while steering. If you steer and compress than the axle is moving slightly sideways. I also took away the two upside down mounted 2x1 plates (but left the 2-hole pieces in place) to make the suspension travel a tad longer.

[Anio]

@ T_Tank : I do not understand exactly what you mean.

But there is a lot of room in the front of the rear axle. Between the compressor, and the 1st pneumatic switch.

There is enough room to add the small battery box.

As you can seen, there is only 1 blue hose here :

@ Marin : the towball is here to stuck the dark bluish gray liftarm well.

Besides, these liftarms (4) are VERY important for the sturdiness of the chassis.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Anio

[Dutch_EE]

@Aino,

Where would you put a PF-Switch, to compensate for the almost impossible task to stop the battery box in the middle position every time?

[Anio]

@Aino,

Where would you put a PF-Switch, to compensate for the almost impossible task to stop the battery box in the middle position every time?

Very easy : instead of switching off the battery box first, just disengage the lever of the working function. So, it stops exactly where you want it to stop. And then, you switch off.

If you really want a swith, the solution is not that obvious...

What would make sense is were to put the switch on the right, to have all the controls on the same side.

But the is not much room on that side. Moreover, that would increase the problem caused by the weight on the side.

So, if you want it on the left side, I would suggest to put it upside down with studful/studless parts, under the battery box, in order to achieve something like the lever of 8297.

If you want it on the right, it should be pretty easy to includ it at 90°, with studful/studless parts. Just hope the cable is long enough to reach the battery box.

[underredsky]

Nice suspension. It can be used to build a real 4X4 off-roader.