An ode to the tow truck of Andrea Grazi - review and impressions

[Kumbbl]

I have just finished Andrea Grazis Tow Truck - a model which belongs a long time on my must-build-list.

I would like to share some impressions about this outstanding model - mainly to give this quite old model the attention it deserves still today

BTW: second reason: This topic should fulfill one requirement for being added to the Eurobrick Hall of Fame: The existance of an own topic - well here it is ;-)

IMHO this model should be part of the HoF...

here for a size comparison side-by-side with the 8285 Tow truck:

IMHO the 8285 looks like a toy beside the Grazi boss ;-)

One important remark: The two pictures above are the only ones made by myself. Reason: The brickshelf folder of Grazi (http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562) contains so many good photos for all purposes so i decided to reuse them for this "review".

Facts and feature list:

First some facts - for this i use Blakbirds very good readme.txt (from his brickshelf folder - thank you for this good writing up) about this model - text in italic (where necessary i have added an amendment - to each feature i have linked the related module from the brickshelf folder of Andrea Grazi):

This magnificent Tow Truck MOC is the work of Grazi. It is clearly based on the general look of the 5571 Black Cat rig, but it expands on the original in every way. Besides being much bigger, it is packed with Technic functions. It is even larger and more functional than the 8285 Technic Tow Truck and has many more pieces.

The list of features on this is long:

Front Wheels: Steer via HOG through several u-joints. Entire front axle is pendular from front

ball joint and sprung in the rear allowing for both vertical motion and roll. Steering linkage

telescopes to accomodate the suspension travel. A u-joint is used as a slip fitting. A lateral

link is used to prevent rotation of the entire assembly.

Rear Wheels: Dual rear axles each with dual tires. Entire 8 wheel assembly is pendular

front/back and side/side. Each individual corner is also sprung on a longitudinal swing arm. Two

rear differentials.

Amendmend Kumbbl: IMHO the whole suspension setup on front and rear axles is one of the best and niftiest i have ever seen for heavy lego trucks

Mid Wheels: Can lift or deploy via pneumatics. Two sides share a common pneumatic source so

they are self-balancing.

Amendment Kumbbl: Has an implicit slight suspension, both wheels can swing up and down independently.

the wheels are castered and can turn with a rubberband based return-to-center-mechanism

Engine: V-6 located under opening hood. Connected via drive shaft to rear differentials. Drive

shaft takes a circuitous non-linear path through the body to avoid mechanisms in the way.

- Crane: Lifts via 4 pneumatic cylinders arranged in pairs end-to-end. Telescopes via an electric

motor geared down immensely.

- Winch: Dual drive winch driven by an electric motor. 2 hooks.

- Rear Pad: Liftarm raises via a pair of pneumatic cylinders. Pad folds out via pneumatic

cylinder.

- Outriggers: Dual rear outriggers deploy via pneumatic cylinders. Powerful enough to lift rear

of vehicle.

- Compressor: Driven by dual motors and dual cylinders hidden in sleeper. Power cut-off by

pressure regulator using a cylinder and pole reverser. Compressor feeds hidden air tank.

- Body: Hook opens by pivoting forward. Doors open. Cab includes coffee maker, television,

gauges, steering wheel, and seats. Sleeper includes tool kits and skylights. Fuel tanks hide the

battery box.

- Control Panel: Left side contains a hidden control panel with 2 pole-reverser electrical

switches and 5 pneumatic switches.

Amendment Kumbbl: The control panel is hinged so it can be "closed" when not needed so both sides of the truck look equal

- Statistics: Over 4000 parts. 12 pneumatic cylinders, 2 pneumatic compressor pumps, 5 pneumatic

switches, 1 airtank, over 20 T-fittings. 4 Electric motors (2 high speed, 2 low speed). 12 rare

Black Cat wheels and tires.

--- end of Blackbirds readme.txt -----------

Now some own impressions of the building experience and the whole model:

Looks:

The model is a perfect blend of a model team shell with a wagonload technic inside and belongs concerning this to the top models out there.

This render above is made by blakbird - you will find some very impressive renders at Blakbirds brickshelf folder (http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=372128) like the following one:

Pneumatic marvel:

The model is an pneumatic marvel above of the level of the 8455 TLG backhoe. But the most impressive fact is not the shear number of cylinders or valves but the oustanding guidance of the air flow from the compressor to the tank and from there to the valve-panel and from there to a dispatcher and from there to all the pneumatic functions - and the > 5 meter hoses are not only squeezed into the free spaces but are very carefully and professionally routed and supported by rigid hoses - just as real machines! And this is really outstanding - so overall for me this is the best pneumatic model i know (better than 8455 and 8868) and a MUST for each pneumatic lover.

One remark: Most photos here show the oly cylinder style of 8868. But apart from the compressor air regulator the instructions of blakbird are based on the modern type of 8455 - so for the boom you need the rare and expensive cylinder brackets. But it is also no problem to build the whole model from the old-style cylnders...

so the model is also very impressive without its shell, s.a (for me one of the best model shots) - which is also not self evident.

Building experience:

The feature list is quite impressive but what have impressed me even more is the oustanding modularity which is not self evident for the studded area of building - as you can see here very well - http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=121602 - there is really for each function or encapsulated building block an own modul with an own ldr-file... so you can build frist all modules and then when all modules are ready you assemble the full truck - it is a very very good design of a very experienced lego builder. The full model is about 70cm long, consist of more than 4000 parts and is quite heavy but the inner structure is very stiff and doesn't bend which is achieved by a very professional usage of studded technic beams reinforced by liftarms.

The overall building experience is very challenging - well, Blakbird has made professional stepped PDF-BIs which were available for free a long time (now for 1$ at mocplans - http://mocplans.com/...71towtruck.html) so building the modules is not really difficult (but sometimes it is very helpful to use the ldr-files to see hidden parts where the placement is not clear in the BI - anyway: Big big thanks to Blakbird!

Remark: I have added a lot of comments and explanations to the PDF which corrects very few mistakes/errors and makes some things clearer - if anybody is interested in this commented PDF do not hesitate to ask. Blakbird, if you are interested i could send you my version so maybe you could make public them.

Eurobrick member EdmanZA has compiled a pneumatic landscape available here: http://www.eurobrick...75#entry1724680 - it is a helpful indicator but in my experience often it is better to find the routings and then cut the hoses to the needed length. And finding the routings of all the hoses and electric cables and putting together all the electrical and pneumatic models in the right order is the real challenged which gives you a great building fun!

Overall you have the impression during building that this model is designed by an expert who nows exactly where to put each part regardless if a small 1x1 plate or a pneumatic cylinder - the whole design breathes to be very well thought out and mature - despite the fact that the model has an extremly high detail level there are no superflous parts - kudos to Grazi.

back to BI: There are a handful outstanding tow trucks out there in the same league of Grazis (from Sariel, MLonger, Dikkie Kjiln and maybe one or two more) but apart from Dikkie Kjilns model this truck is the only one where stepped BIs and full detailed photos are available so at least an experianced builder can rebuild the model.

Costs:

This model is very expensive because you need as starting point 2(!) sets of "Black cat" 5571. Reason: 12 rims/tyres of these unique and very rare and expensive wheels (just these 12 rims+tyres would be cost ~ 250€ at bricklink): and you need eaxctly these wheels because:

a) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look if buld with current wheels - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards...

b) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) be too low ie. more or less zero.

I addition the model uses a bunch of parts which were unique at 5571.

So a good starting point is: 2x 5571, 1x 8448 (contains a lot of needed parts), 1x 8868, 1x 8455 (for pneumatic) and 1x 8275 (for 4 cylinder brackets) - these sets contain about 3000 of the needed parts of the Two truck - then you need 2 of the quite expensive geared motors of 8479 and 2 ungeared old motors - finally you need some bricklinks orders for about 1000 parts (in germany i have paid about 180€ overall for these bricklink parts)...

Conclusion: This model belongs easily to the absolute Top-MOCs out there and plays in the champions league. Believe me: The real live model looks even better than on these pictures and the building can keep you busy over some weekends with hours over hours of building fun. very expensive but IMHO worth every cent. Kudos to Andrea Grazi.

And here again my suggestion of adding this model to the HoF.

PS.

All links at one place:

Rebrickable: http://rebrickable.c...Grazi/tow-truck

Grazis brickshelf Folder: http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562

Blakbirds brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=372128

Mocplans: http://mocplans.com/...71towtruck.html

Edited March 23, 2015 by Kumbbl

[TinkerBrick]

Thank you very much for this outstanding review. You did an excellent job on visualising the several moduls and functions.

Regarding the cost: I wonder if the regular technic tire (62.4x20) would work, res. what the truck would look like?

[Kumbbl]

Thank you very much for this outstanding review. You did an excellent job on visualising the several moduls and functions.

Thank you - but i hope you saw the following remark in my review:

"One important remark: The two pictures above are the only ones made by myself. Reason: The brickshelf folder of Grazi (http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=74562) contains so many good photos for all purposes so i decided to reuse them for this "review".

So i mostly "compiled" already existing informations and pictures...

Regarding the cost: I wonder if the regular technic tire (62.4x20) would work, res. what the truck would look like?

another guy asked this in another thread too - see above in my review, there i wrote:

"...you need eaxctly these wheels (of 5571) because:

a) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look if buld with current wheels - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards...

b) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) would be too low ie. more or less zero."

so cause of b IMHO the tow truck would not work with the smaller current 62.4x20 tyres ...it needs the big 68.8x24

[Lakop]

Thanks for the review. It is an epic model and more than worthy of HOF. The mix of studded and studless, the suspension and steering, outriggers and just the whole build is very clever. The techniques used are well worked out and will no doubt be used by others (including myself).

H

[Askan]

Great review of a masterpiece, thanks! About those wheels, are there no third party tyres that would suit? Maybe that would be expensive as well.

[Askan]

Double posting, sorry.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Askan

[lcvisser]

Thank you for this great review. I agree that this truck is very HoF worthy. Ever since I found this truck years ago, it has always been a huge inspiration. One day I hope to build it, but I'm afraid that I still have a long way to go.

[Blakbird]

Thanks for the review! This is certainly a model that deserves the attention.

First some facts - for this i use Blakbirds very good readme.txt (from his brickshelf folder - thank you for this good writing up) about this model - text in italic (where necessary i have added an amendment - to each feature i have linked the related module from the brickshelf folder of Andrea Grazi):

I totally forgot I had written that README. I guess it was effectively a review but I never posted it here for some reason. Thanks for finding it!

Amendment Kumbbl: The control panel is hinged so it can be "closed" when not needed so both sides of the truck look equal

One problem I had with this truck originally is the little "tower" of hose connections in front of the panel. It has a bunch of rigid hoses attached with 1x1 plates and it is not very sturdy so it fall apart easily when trying to get all the hoses attached or opening the control panel. You can see it in the picture below just above the drop axle (made of many colors).

If I was building this again today, I would change it to use a stack of these:

This render above is made by blakbird - you will find some very impressive renders at Blakbirds brickshelf folder (http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=372128) like the following one:

That Brickshelf folder is pretty old. I have some newer renders and photos at Bricksafe.

One remark: Most photos here show the oly cylinder style of 8868. But apart from the compressor air regulator the instructions of blakbird are based on the modern type of 8455 - so for the boom you need the rare and expensive cylinder brackets. But it is also no problem to build the whole model from the old-style cylnders...

This is a change that I made. Grazi used the old cylinders but I changed it to the newer versions because they were much cheaper at the time. Mostly they drop in with no impact, but when used back to back with the cylinder brackets the overall length is different so I had to change the mounting point on the chassis. If you want to go back to the old cylinders, they won't fit right unless you move the mounting point again.

The overall building experience is very challenging - well, Blakbird has made professional stepped PDF-BIs which were available for free a long time (now for 1$ at mocplans - http://mocplans.com/...71towtruck.html) so building the modules is not really difficult (but sometimes it is very helpful to use the ldr-files to see hidden parts where the placement is not clear in the BI - anyway: Big big thanks to Blakbird.

back to BI: There are a handful outstanding tow trucks out there in the same league of Grazis (from Sariel, MLonger, Dikkie Kjiln and maybe one or two more) but apart from Dikkie Kjilns model this truck is the only one where stepped BIs and full detailed photos are available so at least an experianced builder can rebuild the model.

I am glad that people are still using these building instructions. Believe it or not, this was the very first CAD/instruction project I ever undertook. Obviously I don't believe in starting small! Looking back now, I was not very good at it and there are a lot of things I would change to make the instructions better. My goal at the time was just to learn the tools and to be able to build it myself. I figured this would also be good enough for another experienced builder to do the same, and apparently I was right.

This model is very expensive because you need as starting point 2(!) sets of "Black cat" 5571. Reason: 12 rims/tyres of these unique and very rare and expensive wheels (just these 12 rims+tyres would be cost ~ 250€ at bricklink): and you need eaxctly these wheels because:

a) the truck will look out of scale and would loose some of its really boss look if buld with current wheels - the modern tyres will be too small for the mudguards...

b) even more Important: the ground clearance of the two rear axles and their suspension System ( BTW: this truck has the best and niftiest truck suspension i ever saw in a huge truck lego model - on all 4 axles!) be too low ie. more or less zero.

I addition the model uses a bunch of parts which were unique at 5571.

Note that while you need the tires from 2 sets of 5571, there are a lot of parts unique to 5571 of which you only need 1. I was able to sell the rare parts of the second set and make more than $100 of my money back.

I'll add a cutaway render that I made for Sariel's book:

[Freekysch]

Makes me wish I had this model in my collection, many thanks for the review/overview Kumbbl ! Maybe someday I will have the opportunity and the wheels to build this model

[Rishab N]

Nice review and this is one great truck. The suspension system looks very interesting

[Kumbbl]

One problem I had with this truck originally is the little "tower" of hose connections in front of the panel. It has a bunch of rigid hoses attached with 1x1 plates and it is not very sturdy so it fall apart easily when trying to get all the hoses attached or opening the control panel. You can see it in the picture below just above the drop axle (made of many colors).

If I was building this again today, I would change it to use a stack of these:

Indeed - attaching all the hoses onto these short rigid hoses of this christmas tree (you named it tower) was really a pain in the megablocks... because

1. you have to connect all hoses at the cylinders and then route them guided trough the model to this "tower"

2. cut them to the exactly needed length, unmount the tower hold it in your hand and press always so strong that no 1x1 plate falls apart and push the hose onto the small rigid hose which is often really hard - if the tower falls apart, then stack together all these small plates again and try it again, and again and again - believe me, no one would like to hear my cursing during this task ;-)

3. build the valve-panel, connect the valves to hoses with correct length and play the game again with the tower, no from the other side and with aleady connected hoses coming from the cylinders which makes the task even more .....<please choose an expression for yourself>....;-)

But overall i have succeeded and overall it is part of the building fun and challenge...

Two remarks: The tower will be fixed on top later on when mounting the panel with the pole reverser switches and here it i very important that this connection is strong. Therefore i have added some black tiles on top of the left side panel which holds together the pole-reverser panel and the outer shell-panel.

Also important is to give the hoses between tower and valves exactly a length which doesn't have any tension and forces to this tower, neither when opened nor when closed (the valve-panel)...

BTW: one other real challenge is mounting the rear-axles-modul with the suspension onto the chassis-frame: for mounting the rear suspension on the chassis you need a "tool" build from a 3x5 L-liftarm, a 1x3 and 1x7 liftarm to prevent some inner 1x2 thin black liftarms from being pushed from red axles by pushing other red axle from outside... a fiddling job... but as already said: a really interesting and challenging build...

I am glad that people are still using these building instructions. Believe it or not, this was the very first CAD/instruction project I ever undertook. Obviously I don't believe in starting small! Looking back now, I was not very good at it and there are a lot of things I would change to make the instructions better. My goal at the time was just to learn the tools and to be able to build it myself. I figured this would also be good enough for another experienced builder to do the same, and apparently I was right.

they were good enough and a great help but you are right: they are not suited for beginners and newbies in building large complex models... but on the other side this is the reason why the build is very intersting and not so straight forward (and sometimes boring) as with todays BIs...

Edited March 24, 2015 by Kumbbl

[Fullion]

I am only a few parts away from starting on this epic build!!! Been a little over a year of gathering parts so far.

Cheaped out on the tires/wheels though and made my own polished aluminum wheels instead so just had to look for the tires.

Will definitely be looking in on this thread as I go.

Thank you for the great writeup!

[Grosse Kind]

Was the model it was based off only a V6?

[afol1969]

Hi Kumbl,

I really enjoy this Tow Truck from Grazi, an amazing model!

It's definitive on my build list. I've made a look on the instructions and Blakbirds' CAD file. And there is one question: which shock absorber are used? Soft, stiff ore extra stiff?

I have made some changes in the file to get more clear steps by using common colors in pins and axles, and I'll see where it needs to change the rotation angles.

Greetings

Alex

[Kumbbl]

shock absorbers:

- front axle: 2909c01, the absorbers of the 8466 (the completely yellow ones) - the unimog aborbers would be too stiff i assume

- rear axles: 731c01, the hard yellow ones, e.g. from 8070

[bonox]

Having recently bought the instructions for a look, I'm wondering if anyone has found a third party tyre that would suit this application? Many of the suggestions in the 3rd party tyre thread are based on crawler or racing types rather than the tall thin truck type tyres.

[Kumbbl]

Probably buying 12 third party tyres would be as expensive as using the original ones.... ;-)

My recommendation would be the same as blakbird did: buy 2 used sets of 5571 ( you will Need a lot of unique parts of this set, for not few parts you will need more than 1 5571 contains), use the 12 rims and tyres and all parts you need and sell the remaining parts...

Probably the best deal you can make....

Edited July 30, 2015 by Kumbbl

[bonox]

The prices of complete sets are ridiculous. I'd much rather substitute alternative parts and colours, chrome bits myself etc than carve up two original sets. I'm looking at about 800 euro to get a pair landed here, and that'll buy a crazy amount of stuff from BL that's cheap and plentiful, plus an 8642 for the air tanks, hook and a few cylinders.

I could end up building one without wheels as a garage queen (or perhaps build a maintenance routine around it) but it'd be nice to have it complete in spirit if not all the quoted parts.

Was the model it was based off only a V6?

It's most likely an inline 6, but spacein lego design pretty well precludes that.

A Kenworth T650 with a Detroit series 60 diesel for example is pretty similar to this model

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Kenworth_T650_tow_truck.jpg

[afol1969]

My recommendation would be the same as blakbird did: buy 2 used sets of 5571 ( you will Need a lot of unique parts of this set, for not few parts you will need more than 1 5571 contains), use the 12 rims and tyres and all parts you need and sell the remaining parts...

Probably the best deal you can make....

That's I thought too at first. But after checking the parts in my stock, I noticed that most of them are available to build this truck, so I've only bought the 6 tires/rims - for 77€.

Greetings

Alex

[Kumbbl]

77€ for 6 of these wheels (rim+tyre) is quite a bargain!

[Grosse Kind]

It's most likely an inline 6, but spacein lego design pretty well precludes that.

A Kenworth T650 with a Detroit series 60 diesel for example is pretty similar to this model

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Kenworth_T650_tow_truck.jpg

Thank you bonox. Question was in relation to "Engine: V-6 located under opening hood." where old mate has a pic of an 8 banger. I'd wondered whether mr grazi had built her with a V6 and this was an upgrade. Agreed that a 60 series or signature would be more in keeping with tradition unless as the seemingly shown by the black cat on the grille subbing for a bulldog, it could be fairly accurate to form with a bent eight as a Mack. Pleased that someone had a go at answering anyway thankyou.

[bonox]

Thank you bonox. Question was in relation to "Engine: V-6 located under opening hood." where old mate has a pic of an 8 banger.

ahh - I actually understand your question now. Yes, the black cat (5571) set had a V8

and as you say probably steers it into bulldog territory

[czl663]

May I have the BI with your comments? Where can I download it? Thanks!

[bonox]

May I have the BI with your comments? Where can I download it? Thanks!

from the bottom of the first post

http://mocplans.com/designer/5571towtruck.html

[Kumbbl]

Yes, but these are the uncommented ones... ;-)