42078 Mack Anthem Mods and improvements

[anyUser]

12 minutes ago, Void_S said:

Ohh, you used the idea with 3L pins with a hole inside and T-shaped liftarms?

This?

There's a 1/2 bushing on the axle 'inside' the wheel rim

Edited August 26, 2021 by anyUser

[Void_S]

Yeah, after 42128 I also found that this combination perfectly fits inside the "thin" 14mm disk and even having a little touch in LDD/Studio, physically they don't touch each other even under high load with bended a bit axles. I'm preparing the render of 42078 Mack with old and new wheels both to compare the track widths and overall possible sets. A few minutes and I will upload it here.

[anyUser]

Did you try the old 49.6 x 20? I believe they can be swapped 1:1 by a twin 49.5 x 14:

Edited August 26, 2021 by anyUser
(2nd picture added)

[Polarlicht]

I had to do quite some mods to fit the twin wheels in the same track width.

[anyUser]

I can't remember...

For my version I replaced the dark grey 3L connector with its 2L version.
Also some modifications for the rear buffer bar..

[Void_S]

3 hours ago, anyUser said:

I can't remember...

For my version I replaced the dark grey 3L connector with its 2L version.
Also some modifications for the rear buffer bar..

Yes, the rear bar needs a less wide mount points. There is my variant:

• Rear wheels have teh seam setup like @anyUser made: the axles now are embrased with T-shaped liftarms and 3L pins wiht pinhole in the middle, so now it fits inside the the wheels.
• Rear deck plate has shortened 2*6 plate at the end with pinholes, as the inner wheels now are placed closer to the frame.
• Rear bar with lights and mudflaps now attached with 1*2 plates with pinholes (instead of 1*2 bricks) which are placed closer the cenetr of frame and don't touch the wheels.
• Front wheels are placed exactly instead of old-thick ones, as I wanted to have the front track width a little less than outer rear wheels, like at real trucks. So, the idea with more realistic kingpin offstes wasn't applied here yet.

Then I got the following result (odl-thick wheels are painted in red to compare with a new setup):

1. Rear track width was increased by 1-2mm in total and still fits into 15L-width of all truck.
2. Front axle width was decreased a bit, as the centers of old and new wheels matches.
   It made no benefits for steering geometry but they could be easilly replaced with thick wheels ("385mm", for ones who know them) for heavy-duty and construction machines.

 

Added: I'm sorry for a wrong tire tread pattern. I still have no these amasing tires, so had to hand-made them in Studio, but I see I missed something ald lost the sentral hexagonal tiles 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Void_S

[Bartybum]

9 hours ago, anyUser said:

This?

*snip*

There's a 1/2 bushing on the axle 'inside' the wheel rim

Oh what I would give for a low friction version of that straight pin connector. The cross axle one exists but it doesn't hold the two sides together. We could make low friction steering with the thin liftarms.

[Void_S]

Additionally to the truck, I finished the trailer modification. It was a bit harder due to different axles setup but I belive now it looks extremelly close to the orignial configuration.

 

 

A free instruction for the truck is ready: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-85964/VoidSerpent/42078-mack-anthem-doubles-mod-70490-tires

Updated trailer is in progress.

[Rebel_Lego]

Is there somebody who has the .io file of the unmodded Mack Anthem available?

[Void_S]

https://bricksafe.com/files/Void_s/studio-models/42078%20A-Model%20Mack%20Anthem.io

Edited October 11, 2021 by Void_S

[Rebel_Lego]

@Void_S Thanks!

[williamyzfr1]

On 8/27/2021 at 5:26 PM, Void_S said:

Updated trailer is in progress.

Did you ever complete this?

[Void_S]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:45 PM, williamyzfr1 said:

Did you ever complete this?

Well, some HDD failure casued a bad thing to my files 

Most of them are already recovered and the one with updeted trailer is still waiting for its queue. Hopefully it wasn't broken badly...

[williamyzfr1]

Well I bought all the parts to convert a Mack Anthem to 4 wheeled axles but when the model arrived I decided to keep the wheels standard.

Perhaps due to cost, rarity these days.

It is now complete and I am generally happy with it apart from 2 items.

1. What is it with the fake steering wheel that the instructions tell you to install in the roof space of the cab?

2. The freight container is not constrained in any way on the trailer and is free to move all over the place. I have used 1x1 circular tiles on the base of the container that locate next to the same tiles mounted on the trailer so the tiles prevent the container moving sideways or backwards or forwards. it stays in one position. You just need 4 tiles on the container and four on the trailer, preferably in dark grey The cross beams of the trailer prevent the container moving backwards of forwards with the tiles fitted to the container and the trailer tiles each mounted one further stud in prevent the sideways movement.

Edited April 12, 2022 by williamyzfr1

[Void_S]

2 hours ago, williamyzfr1 said:

1. What is it with the fake steering wheel that the instructions tell you to install in the roof space of the cab?

A ventilation fan  Actually, it's a spare part which will be used in the B-Model "Mack LR" that has two identical driver places (Left + Right-hand driving possibility).

2 hours ago, williamyzfr1 said:

2. The freight container is not constrained in any way on the trailer and is free to move all over the place. I have used 1x1 circular tiles on the base of the container that locate next to the same tiles mounted on the trailer so the tiles prevent the container moving sideways or backwards or forwards. it stays in one position. You just need 4 tiles on the container and four on the trailer, preferably in dark grey The cross beams of the trailer prevent the container moving backwards of forwards with the tiles fitted to the container and the trailer tiles each mounted one further stud in prevent the sideways movement.

Did you put the black "pin with ball connector" on the trailer? Four of them should be mounted to Light Blush Gray "positions" where the container stands, to keep it in place by limiting it from all four corners:

P.S. I have restored my HDD but the file was corrupted, so I need some additional time to re-compile the building steps for the "double-tired" trailer MOD. Just a few days and it will come))

[williamyzfr1]

5 hours ago, Void_S said:

A ventilation fan  Actually, it's a spare part which will be used in the B-Model "Mack LR" that has two identical driver places (Left + Right-hand driving possibility).

Did you put the black "pin with ball connector" on the trailer? Four of them should be mounted to Light Blush Gray "positions" where the container stands, to keep it in place by limiting it from all four corners:

P.S. I have restored my HDD but the file was corrupted, so I need some additional time to re-compile the building steps for the "double-tired" trailer MOD. Just a few days and it will come))

Thank you for the explanation about the fan and the correct way to secure the container. 

Yes, I did miss that small but very important step with the four ball connectors.

I had those parts left over and I did wonder why but I had not considered there use to secure the container.

They have now been put in their rightful place.

[McMarky]

Hi guys,

I know I'm a bit late to the party but I'd like to show you my version of PoweredUp Mack.

It's fully RC, the truck and the trailer. Including the 5th wheel. 

Additionally I added LED and a rear suspension.

Of course not all solutions are my idea. I researched the internet and this topic, compiled the solutions I like and made my version. 

How do you like it?

 

[Void_S]

@McMarky, nice! I love how it works and especially the validation of the rear suspension. Real trucks have a possibility to lock rear diffs to avoid such troubles but it is impossible for the given scale.

Is it a Control+ system used, or WeDo-PoweredUp? I think, having a little tricky seqence of the traiiler loading/unloading (to move the contailer along the trailer side not touching it and not moving too far) it may worth to set the seqence as programms of loading and unloading action. I tried to make it fully manual, to use only a single HOG knob but it requres a huge distibution box, similar to the container itself...

[cowboyspeedy]

it looks verry good i hope you will enjoy your truck like that 

[McMarky]

Hi guys,

I'd like to present you my Mack in Road Train version.

 

[onzenuub]

McMarky, nice road train you made.

[Void_S]

On 3/23/2022 at 12:51 AM, Void_S said:

Well, some HDD failure casued a bad thing to my files 

Most of them are already recovered and the one with updeted trailer is still waiting for its queue. Hopefully it wasn't broken badly...

Finally, I've beat it: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-120866/VoidSerpent/moc-42078-mack-anthem-dually-double-tires-mod-70490-tires-full-set

The truck and trailer now have "duallies", with a slightly changed truck's rear and narrowed trailer's axles to fit the duallies within the same total width of 15 studs (shorter liftarms were taken from the trailer).

I didn't measure but I believe with a bit wider track width (at a few MMs) and a bit bigger weight it feels also as slightly more stable during the container unloading.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Void_S

[AFOLegofan66]

Nice look for this truck!

[Clever Nickname]

On 12/25/2017 at 11:04 PM, Bartybum said:

But it also looks goofy because the nose is a stud too long. In the actual vehicle there’s about one wheel’s diameter length of front bumper, whereas in the set there’s more.

I made the nose a stud shorter. 

Edited January 10, 2024 by Clever Nickname

[Bartybum]

14 minutes ago, Clever Nickname said:

I made the nose a stud shorter. 

*snip*

Oh dude, that actually looks fantastic! How rigid is the bumper construction? You've nailed the proportions of the whole thing

Edited January 10, 2024 by Bartybum