4404 dirt digger/ Trail rig

[5150 Lego]

Well, my lego feet of techinc and creator cars and trucks are steadily growing. One thing i like about my fleet, is that nearly every vehicle i have serves some kind of purpose, or is used for a spesific duty.

The one thing my fleet lacked was a trail cabable 4x4 that could comfortably transport 2 or more Techinc figures and thier equipment in the out reaches of my back yard and beyond. *sweet* I was going to build one from scratch, but then realized that i already had a good platform to start with.

I bought 4404 dirt diggers creator truck a couple years ago and has always been one of my favorite lego sets due to its detail, and overall design. As with many lego sets there's always room for improvment, so the modding soon began.

Quite a bit has been done so i'll just let the pics do the talking. I apoligize for the low quality pics. my camera doesn't take the best closeups.

All the mods done have been to better improve off road performance. The biggest mod is the extended cab. It can haul 4 techinc figures comfortably, whitch is quite rare. The rear rack hold everything from ladders, ski's, extra lighting, high lift jack, and even a row boat!

The rear holds a custom spar tire carrier, along with an extra gas can. Both swing open to allow access to the bed. Inside the bed can be used to haul anything that the the paticular outing might need. Right now i have storge cabniets. I'm not really happy with its current setup, so it will probbly be changed before the next expededtion.

The next biggest change was the suspention. It came with indapendant front and rear suspention with no steering. This worked ok, but didn't give the truck enough flex for serious off road duties, so once the dession was made to make this a trail rig, the indapendant suspention was ripped out in favor of 4 link front and rear soild axle suspention with steering. This gave the rig the amount of flex needed to conquer the most rugged terrain.

Other off road mods include a front winch, off road brush gaurd, rock sliders and snorkel for crossing streams and lakes.

Thanks for looking. The rest of the pics can be seen here. Sorry i don't have many action shots. We just got a really big rain storm, so all the dirt in my yard is mud right now.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=294294

Edited January 8, 2008 by 5150 Lego

[Siegfried]

Oh this is just pure beauty and the shot of the suspension at work looks so cool! *wub* I love the tinny! :-D

[WarnIcarus]

That's fantastic, great use of the Technic figures (a four seater, at that!) and I love the independent suspension. Will you show us some pictures of how it works and the construction process?

[5150 Lego]

Thanks for the nice coments guys. I'm going to re-design the rear suspention to make it stronger, and give it more flex. I'll take some pics when i tear it apart, and well as wehen its done!

[MatthewUSA]

VERY, VERY, VERY COOL!! I *wub* how you used the creator set and incorporated the technic concept into it. Your MOC looks GREAT. The details you added are especially a bonus. GREAT JOB!!

Model On!!