OG_technic Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Hello lads, First time poster here, I just recently bought my first Technic set in almost 8 years, the 42009. Loved the set, fun build, great looking model but the most exciting part about Lego isn't just merely following the instructions, it's seeing what you can come up with it yourself. Please be nice because my Technic skills are quite shaky at best I love euro style tow trucks, so I thought I'd take a shot at seeing what I can with almost 2600 parts. It's far from perfect, the winch is free to rotate when the gearbox is in neutral, and the whole system has almost little to no torque because I used a worm gear+Clutch early on in the powertrain. Also the steering is incredibly heavy. Any tips on how to fix it? The model isn't finished, I plan on stripping it down tomorrow to rework the internals and solve some of the issues. But I'm quite happy with how the bodywork turned out. Cheers Full album here http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=551376 Edited January 3, 2015 by OG_technic Quote
Dalafik Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Looks promising. But I think that front window should be larger. See how MrTekneex did it with his Tow Truck. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 3, 2015 Author Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Looks promising. But I think that front window should be larger. See how MrTekneex did it with his Tow Truck. Good idea. Right now it looks like more like a transformer than an actual truck Edit: But I also think that a front window that big would look kinda weird on this model. I'm going for a Scania inspired front end and they usually have rather short front windows. Edited January 3, 2015 by OG_technic Quote
Pluto_MkII Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Great tow truck, can't wait to see how you improve it. Quote
Josephiah Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Looks good. I'm a big fan of the C-model concept (limiting parts to one source set), and there seem to be several good ones for the 42009. Any plans for instructions once you reach a version you're happy with? Quote
Balrog Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Looks good so far. But I too think that the cabin should be taller. Quote
Lakop Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Great C model. I'm sure you can improve it and I look forward to the completed model. I like the heavy recovery vehicles and hope to build one. H Quote
arik Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Nice model! I think the steering is heavy because you have only 1M lever for the first set of wheels. Maybe you should change it to traditional 2M and use even longer for the second set of wheels. Also try putting the white clutch gear only before the winch, the LA's don't need it. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 4, 2015 Author Posted January 4, 2015 Thanks a lot everyone! Instructions are a possibility although I can't make any promises since school starts in about a week. Also, arik, what do you mean by a 2M lever? I'm new to the game so I'm not familiar with part names yet :) And are you sure that LAs don't need clutch gears? Because in the 42009 I found that once the crane reaches its maximum angles the gears would start grinding if you left the motor running. But it's all good anyway, I had enough clutch gears for every single function. Quick update - made a lot of progress last night, outputs are much faster, gearbox is smoother, functions are more linear and I got rid of a lot of redundant beams. Also made the window taller, what do you guys think? Quote
arik Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 By 2M lever I mean that the length of the steering arm (lever) is 2 units, i.e. length of 3 studs. The first set of wheels have very short steering arm, and that's probably the reason for heavy steering. Make it longer (which means longer travel in the gear track, but that shouldn't be a problem). Compare to original 42009 steering setup. The Linear Actuators have internal clutch, which makes the noise (I'm fairly sure it isn't the gears grinding). It's safe to use as a clutch, although I don't want to keep them running against the clutch for long (just to be safe not to wear out the clutch). If you use the white clutch gear, you probably loose quite a bit of power that the LA's could use. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 4, 2015 Author Posted January 4, 2015 Ahh, gotcha. I deliberately used a shorter lever for the first set of wheels because it meant that I could get 2:1 steering ratio for the two sets of wheels without having to use different sized gears and rack offsets. But I have a lot of gears left over so I could try to come up with a solution. Thanks a lot mate I see. Do you know if the mini-LAs have the same built in clutch? Quote
arik Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Glad I could help. Mini-LA's also have the built-in clutch that works the same way, although the clutch implementation is different. For more info, see for example http://www.eurobrick...=25#entry932264 Oh, also, when having two steered axles, you want them to point to a point that lies on the same line as the rear axle(s). So if you have 2:1 steering angle, the rear axles should be as far from 2nd steered axle as the steered axles are from each other. Looking at your current setup, the steering angles ratio should be maybe something like 4:3 or so (you can count the exact ratio by comparing how far each of the steered axle is from the middle point of rear axles). Quote
OG_technic Posted January 4, 2015 Author Posted January 4, 2015 Glad I could help. Mini-LA's also have the built-in clutch that works the same way, although the clutch implementation is different. For more info, see for example http://www.eurobrick...=25#entry932264 Oh, also, when having two steered axles, you want them to point to a point that lies on the same line as the rear axle(s). So if you have 2:1 steering angle, the rear axles should be as far from 2nd steered axle as the steered axles are from each other. Looking at your current setup, the steering angles ratio should be maybe something like 4:3 or so (you can count the exact ratio by comparing how far each of the steered axle is from the middle point of rear axles). Wow, lots of useful information. You're the man. I will be back with updates tonight hopefully. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 5, 2015 Author Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) It's 99% done, just gotta clean up the engine bay and switch some of the clutch gears to normal 24 tooth gears. Pretty satisfied with the way the bodywork turned out. Functions are as follows - HOG steering Lever operated battery switch Wheel lift, winch, main crane/boom structure and stabilizers controlled by pf Tilting cab Dummy V8 engine Front 4 wheel steering 4:3 ratio ( thanks arik :) ) Manually extendable wheel lift I will post some nice outdoors pictures once the wind calms down and I completely finish building it. Cheers Edited January 7, 2015 by OG_technic Quote
gevans12 Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Pretty awesome truck! Can't wait for the instructions! Quote
Rishab N Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 Great work!. The 42009 seems to be a very versatile set as there have been a couple different C models for it Quote
arik Posted January 6, 2015 Posted January 6, 2015 Looking good! It's amazing what you can do with just a single set. Are all stickers at the same pieces as in the model? LDD or some photos of internals would be nice. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 6, 2015 Author Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks everyone! I changed a few things since the last photoshoot, gave it a (slightly) better interior, made the engine somewhat detailed and made some other general stylistic changes to it. Arik, whats LDD? I've also been meaning to ask how you guys make instructions. Do you use CAD or something? Meanwhile I'll post some detailed pictures tomorrow Quote
NXT45 Posted January 6, 2015 Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks everyone! I changed a few things since the last photoshoot, gave it a (slightly) better interior, made the engine somewhat detailed and made some other general stylistic changes to it. Arik, whats LDD? I've also been meaning to ask how you guys make instructions. Do you use CAD or something? Meanwhile I'll post some detailed pictures tomorrow LDD = Lego Digital Designer. You can use that program (download at ldd.lego.com) to make instructions. Quote
OG_technic Posted January 6, 2015 Author Posted January 6, 2015 Looking good! It's amazing what you can do with just a single set. Are all stickers at the same pieces as in the model? LDD or some photos of internals would be nice. I only applied a handful of stickers when I was building the 42009. I've had the idea of building a tow truck even before I finished building the 42009 so I skipped out on most of the stickers. Quote
therealjustin Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 I think it looks fantastic! Nicely done! Quote
neoconagenda Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 The wine glass adds a touch of class Quote
OG_technic Posted January 7, 2015 Author Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Thanks everyone! Means a lot. I went ahead and removed the imgur photos because they represented an outdated version. I have made a lot small changes since then and finally settled on a version that I can happily claim is 100% completed. A big shout out to arik for helping me solve a couple of issues and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who followed this thread from the start. I will download LDD today and play around a little to see if I can make instructions, but no promises Cheers! Dimensions - Length - 73.6 cm with wheel lift deployed, 48 cm without Height - 19.1 cm Width - 15 cm Part count - ~ 2450 pieces Highlights/Functions - Motorized Winch, wheel lift, crane arm and outriggers Manually extendable wheel lift Hidden battery box operated by a lever located behind the cab Hand of God steering Tilting Cab Opening doors Dummy V8 engines connected to the 2nd rear axle 4 wheel steering - 4:3 ratio http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=551556 Edited January 7, 2015 by OG_technic Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.