How to make a 5 stud car chasis?

[markcornell]

Hi there,

I've recently rekindled a childhood passion for lego and am wanting to build (eventually) a really nice looking minifig scale town.

Looking around on various forums etc. I've been bowled over by the amazing models people have managed to create using Lego, I know I'm going to have a long way to go.

I've become intrigued by the 5 stud car. They look to me the perfect minifig scale, although clearly this is an area for debate.

In any case, I am keen to start making some 5 stud cars of my own. I've been using Lego Digital Designer a lot as I'm fairly broke and can't afford much real lego at the moment.

Are there any instructions/pictures etc. that give details of how to make a basic 5 stud car chasis anywhere? I've been looking and can't seem to find any. I've had a go at working something out myself, but I'm keen to see other solutions as I'm conscious my own model building skill leaves much to be desired!

Any help anyone could give me would be brilliant.

Thanks

Mark

Edited January 8, 2010 by markcornell

[Rick]

"Ralph S" is the master of 5- and 7-stud Lego cars. He'll be able to give you some tips. However, I can tell you it involves a lot of small plates (1 x 1, 1 x 2, 1 x 3) and jumper plates to 'convert' things back to standard 4- and 6-stud wide Lego pieces.

Probably you found these already, but here are some links to Ralph S' creations: flickr and Brickshelf.

[brickzone]

Of course one could go for four wide and use SNOT techniques and particular parts to acheive a wider "look" for the car despite a four-wide chassis.

[Legostein]

Hello!

First, I am not a system scale building expert, so my suggestion might looks a bit primitive, but nonetheless, here's what came to my mind.

Relatively new there are now wheels which can be attached by a TECHNIC pin:

Wheel 11 x 8 mm with Center Groove

There are two types of tyres matching these wheels, depending if you want it bigger like a truck or smaller like a normal car:

Tire 14mm D. x 6mm Solid Smooth

Tire 17.5mm D. x 6mm with Shallow Staggered Treads

These can be attached via TECHNIC pins on standard 1x2 bricks with pin hole. I agree, the resulting chasis is very low, but it does not touch the ground, and the car can roll unhindered.

All the best and happy building,

~ Christopher

[Rick]

There's an even simpler way to achieve 5-wide. Using this wheel holder. (It has a half stud offset to both sides, which combined with 1 stud wide wheels, results in 5-wide). Furthermore, this wheel holder, combined with these wheels, also results in 5-wide, since the wheels are about 1.5 studs wide.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Rick

[markcornell]

Sounds interesting, but how would I go about building the rest of the car around the wheel holders you mentioned?

[Dennimator]

Sounds interesting, but how would I go about building the rest of the car around the wheel holders you mentioned?

Welcome to the fantastic world of 5-wide cars!

The wheelholders Rick mentioned is great when building 5-wide cars, especially the first one. You connect it with jumper plates. You will be using alot of these when building 5- and 7-wide cars and trucks, along with 1 x 1, 1 x 2, 1 x 3 and 1 x 4 plates, so be sure to stock up on those.

I´ll build a quick car base that´s easy to build and great to start with, and post the pics here as soon as possible.

"Ralph S" is the master of 5- and 7-stud Lego cars. He'll be able to give you some tips. However, I can tell you it involves a lot of small plates (1 x 1, 1 x 2, 1 x 3) and jumper plates to 'convert' things back to standard 4- and 6-stud wide Lego pieces.

Probably you found these already, but here are some links to Ralph S' creations: flickr and Brickshelf.

Sure, Ralph is the 5- and 7- wide vehicle builder, but... Haven´t you forgotten someone?

[Ralph_S]

Rick might be giving me a bit too much credit, but I have built a fair few five-wides in the last two years. Whether they are the ideal minifig scale is debatable. I know plenty of people who want two figures to sit side-by side in their vehicles. However, I tend to build cars to go into city scenes, with pedestrians and buildings and such, and for that sizingthe cars to how tall the figures are works well. They don't dwarf the pedestrians.

Rick is right about the wheel holders. I use those in combination with jumper plates, as you can see in this picture:

The cars don't really have a chassis as such. They tend to be an almost solid collection of plates with just enough space inside for a minifig. Getting them structurally sound isn't really easy. As Rick already mentions, they require fairly large numbers of small plates

I never made instructions for any of my five-wide cars, but I've got a fair few pictures of some on flickr (the link is specifically to the construction details of the 5-wide cars). I hope those might be useful. Good luck.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Rick]

Haven´t you forgotten someone?

Oh... and here's the Brickshelf gallery from someone who seems to build 5-wide sometimes too.

Rick might be giving me a bit too much credit, but I have built a fair few five-wides in the last two years. Whether they are the ideal minifig scale is debatable.

You're just modest

I think a good mix of 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-wide vehicles makes for a nice selection of different sizes of minifig-scale cars.

I never made instructions for any of my five-wide cars, but I've got a fair few pictures of some on flickr (the link is specifically to the construction details of the 5-wide cars). I hope those might be useful.

I knew those were on your flickr account somewhere. Thanks for linking to them.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Rick

[markcornell]

Thanks Guys, this is awesome.

Here's my first Car I'm happy with.

Technically it's 5 wide if you count the wheel arches.

I'm not happy with the way the front and back of the car are slightly higher off the ground than the rest of the car. There's a particular car front piece that would sort this out, but Digital Designer doesn't have it.

Anyways, onto some proper 5 wide cars now I think! I have to say gentlemen, you are Lego Geniuses.

Mark

Edited January 8, 2010 by markcornell

[TJJohn12]

These can be attached via TECHNIC pins on standard 1x2 bricks with pin hole. I agree, the resulting chasis is very low, but it does not touch the ground, and the car can roll unhindered.

Chris,

These older wheels also accept technic pins, which can help with 5-wide:

and

These give quite a bit more clearance when used in your example, and work relatively well for older vehicles.

-John

[Dennimator]

Here are the pics I promised. Sorry for the bad quality on the pics, my camera and I aren´t friends...

Thanks Guys, this is awesome.

Here's my first Car I'm happy with.

*snip*

Technically it's 5 wide if you count the wheel arches.

I'm not happy with the way the front and back of the car are slightly higher off the ground than the rest of the car. There's a particular car front piece that would sort this out, but Digital Designer doesn't have it.

Anyways, onto some proper 5 wide cars now I think! I have to say gentlemen, you are Lego Geniuses.

Mark

Well, technically it´s not 5-wide, but 4-wide. The arches doesn´t count, only the brick length.

I wouldn´t recommend those wheels or arches for 5-wide cars, as they are oversized and (IMO) by far not looking as good as the smaller wheels.

Your model is great for being a 4-wide car though.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Dennimator

[prateek]

Thanks Guys, this is awesome.

Here's my first Car I'm happy with.

Technically it's 5 wide if you count the wheel arches.

I'm not happy with the way the front and back of the car are slightly higher off the ground than the rest of the car. There's a particular car front piece that would sort this out, but Digital Designer doesn't have it.

Anyways, onto some proper 5 wide cars now I think! I have to say gentlemen, you are Lego Geniuses.

Mark

This is a good start for sure! I should start building 5-wide too

[Rick]

It is a nice little car, but I agree with Dennimator that most builders wouldn't consider that 5-wide, but for a car that side I'd probably also go for 4-wide. The wheel arches aren't really suitable for small cars like this one and the wheels are also a bit large. The fenders and wheels used on Lego's new small car set would look much better.

[markcornell]

It is a nice little car, but I agree with Dennimator that most builders wouldn't consider that 5-wide, but for a car that side I'd probably also go for 4-wide. The wheel arches aren't really suitable for small cars like this one and the wheels are also a bit large. The fenders and wheels used on Lego's new small car set would look much better.

I've got the small car ordered actually, so I'll give that a go when it arrives (if it ever gets here in the snow!)

Turns out the wheels rub slightly against the wheel arches in my model anyway if you try it in 'real life' so all in all it's a bit more rubbish than I thought. I see what you mean about it not being a 5 wide too, having made a start on a 5wide chasis as per the pictuires above there's a big difference. Cleary I have much to learn!

I have to say though, I really love the problem solving element of building a 5 wide, it's a real challenge.

M

[Ralph_S]

They can be a bit tricky, but once you've built a few they get progressively easier. I've built a lot of cars for a public display last year, including a lot of cars with five-wide bodies (I'm trying to avoid the 'is this a five-wide car discussion '). Probably about 20. The first few that I built were all pretty similar, but as I gained experience I started experimenting with different types of vehicles a bit more, building all kinds of things: a Jeep, sportcars, vans, SUVs, taxis you name it.

Some examples:

I've reached a point where I can crank out a new one in about an hour.

Cheers,

Ralph