[MOC] TOYOTA Land Cruiser 76

[KevinMoo]

Hey, it’s been a long time.

This model is actually finished at the end of last year, I finally got time to make some improvements and show it to you.

 

 

Ever since the introduction of the new planetary wheel hub, I’ve been trying to find ways to use it on medium-size/small-size models.

With fixed ball joints, steering arm seems to be the only choice no matter what kind of axle you would like to build.

While experimenting a parallelogram structure, I found something interesting:

 

When you setup a parallelogram like this, two yellow liftarms are perfectly aligned with a one-stud offset. So it could be used like this:

 

 

In this way, a narrow solid axle could have some extra ground clearance.

This is all theory. In practice, as you can imagine, backlashes will cause frictions between cross axles and 5 x 11 frame.

So I have to add some extra parts to help keep steering arms steady.

 

 

 

In fact, both front and rear axles were “overly compensated”, which means when you hold the model in your hand, the pressure generated by these extra parts is more than sufficient to keep the steering arms from moving even a tiny bit,

when the model stands on its own, the extra pressure and the gravity balance out.

I don’t have a way to measure exactly how much the friction is between the cross axle and the 5 x 11 frame, nor do I know if it’s less than or more than a conventional solid axle.

At least from my test, the wheel’s rotation is just as smooth as I want it to be. 

 

That’s about the main feature of this creations. Hope you like it.

 

 

 

Building instructions:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-47249/KevinMoo/toyota-land-cruiser-76/

Edited July 23, 2020 by KevinMoo

[rm8]

Interesting idea. Chassis should be rigid according to number of triangles)

[Jundis]

First off: Nice model :-)

But:

3 hours ago, KevinMoo said:

When you setup a parallelogram like this, two yellow liftarms are perfectly aligned with a one-stud offset. So it could be used like this

They may be perfectly aligned but your swing arm won't work without stress. Diagonal structrures like the 5L liftarm are placed to avoid any lateral movement of the two beams, who are intended to move. You practically introduced a stiff scaffolding structure into you swingarm.

Edited July 22, 2020 by Jundis

[amorti]

18 minutes ago, Jundis said:

First off: Nice model :-)

But:

 They may be perfectly aligned but you swing arm won't work without stress. Diaganol structrure like the 5L liftarm are placed to to avoid any lateral movement of the two beams who are intended to move. You practically introduced a scaffolding structure into you swingarm.

It's a live axle suspension, the wishbones aren't meant to move.

[KevinMoo]

59 minutes ago, rm8 said:

Chassis should be rigid according to number of triangles)

 Yes, specially designed for this long-wheelbase model 

[amorti]

Looks cool indeed, and works better off-road than something its scale has much right to. Good work!

[KevinMoo]

1 hour ago, Jundis said:

Diagonal structrures like the 5L liftarm are placed to avoid any lateral movement of the two beams, who are intended to move.

In this case, they are not intended to move at all. Both axles are rigid axles, which look like independent suspensions.

[proran]

This is a very clever build. Congrats! The picture with the side view of the naked frame and axles is gorgeous.Positive castor in the front, clever axles, and all these triangles in the frame - just wow!

I am curious how the building process felt like? Was it painful or fun? It's just for me sometimes a complex looking model can come together quite easily when everything just clicks. But sometimes the simplest thing takes dozens of iterations.

[Jundis]

Oh my bad, I did just see the springs and angrely typed before looking :D

[amorti]

1 hour ago, proran said:

This is a very clever build. Congrats! The picture with the side view of the naked frame and axles is gorgeous.Positive castor in the front, clever axles, and all these triangles in the frame - just wow!

 I am curious how the building process felt like? Was it painful or fun? It's just for me sometimes a complex looking model can come together quite easily when everything just clicks. But sometimes the simplest thing takes dozens of iterations.

The most fun I've had building Technic was @Didumos69greyhound. Every connection and brace was a joy, all in system, all clever, all necessary. This model shares a lot of that philosophy, by the look of it.

@KevinMoo forklift was right up there, too. Lots of Technic all with purpose, in a very compact model for how many functions it has.

[HorcikDesigns]

The chassis is really well built, I especially like the triangulation and axles - need to try something similar. Good job, and thanks for sharing! 

[2GodBDGlory]

Great work! This is a well-engineered, good-looking, and good-performing model of my all-time favorite vehicle!

[siriuspaul]

Wow,this model is so compact and looks great!So sad that it doesn’t use the wonderful dual driveshaft system 

[dpi2000]

Hi,Kevin, Thanks for sharing! the axle design is very special,I like it.

Edited July 24, 2020 by dpi2000

[Jeroen Ottens]

Great looking model and a very nice trick with the angled suspensionparts. I thought that I knew most of the combinations to keep beams in system at angles, but this is yet another way. Great find.

[Lipko]

Awesome chassis!
Feels brilliant and slightly over-engineered (the axles) at the same time :)
So all beams are in system in the chassis or just very close approximations? The beams starting from the bent liftarms are especially interesting!

[KevinMoo]

6 hours ago, Lipko said:

So all beams are in system in the chassis or just very close approximations?

I think it’s close enough to be called a “perfect fit”, but the tricky part, for angled beams, is that you have to take backlashes into consideration. That’s why I used some extra parts to compensate for that. The goal is to hold the friction on the cross axle down to its minimum.

[KevinMoo]

On 7/24/2020 at 5:22 PM, Lipko said:

So all beams are in system in the chassis or just very close approximations? 

Oh, I mistook chassis for axles. All those triangles are in system.