Motorized Legs And Rear Fenders

[stamatis]

Hi all,

Valuable help is needed. I got a flatbed for my Volvo and Scania, and thought motorized support legs would be a good hopup.

Is there a way to use it without removing fenders?

Thanks,

Stamatis

[backtomyroots]

Remove the fenders ? Interesting - I need the answer too then as I have the motorized legs, flatbed trailer & Scania packed up for a future project . Anyone help us out here ?

[stamatis]

Well with the fenders as they are, the motorized legs screws scratch them in every turn

[subsea]

I found putting washers between the fifth wheel and chassis lifted it enough not to scratch the badword out of the fenders. i found one washer per screw helped.

[BRELs]

I found putting washers between the fifth wheel and chassis lifted it enough not to scratch the badword out of the fenders. i found one washer per screw helped.

I found that a 1 imm shim of plasticard helped to stop the screws on the underside of the support legs switch scratching the fenders on the right hand side to ****

[stamatis]

Thanks guys.

So I will probably use some spacers or washers to raise the coupler some mm to be sure there will be no more scratches

3mm should be safe I suppose...

[backtomyroots]

What about cutting off the bottom of the screw ? Mine is all packed away for the future so I'm not sure how it all goes together . . . . . . . . .

[BRELs]

What about cutting off the bottom of the screw ? Mine is all packed away for the future so I'm not sure how it all goes together . . . . . . . . .

on another forum, it was suggested theat counter sunk screws would provide a solution to the motorised legs kit hitting the fender on the truck

[stamatis]

An other idea was to use the R620 fenders, where the upper part can be removed.

Will this work with R420 chassis? Does anybody know?

From some pics on the net, I think it probably will not...

M2 counter sink screws also seems a good idea...

[ant88]

on another forum, it was suggested theat counter sunk screws would provide a solution to the motorised legs kit hitting the fender on the truck

This is what I have done to my trailers, Counter sunk the plate, and added 1.2mm washers under the 5th wheel plate on the rig.

Has solved the problem, and you can drop the trailers and collect for hours. Well that is what I was doing at the model show on the weekend lol!!

Ant

[stamatis]

Thanks so much for the pics and help.

I desided to totally remove the parts above the coupler, rearranged the cables and kept the legs, motor and manual switch only.

This made things much simplier.

Also I noticed that the coupler base provided with the legs kit and the MFU one, has to be trimmed above the fender rear mounts in order to be attached fine, and the front part must be cut to provide space for the servo horn to work ok...

Conclusion: Tamiya desided to use old parts with new models without much thinking and the easy way of "remove parts" was applied instead of taking

some time to see if all these things can work together or if changes should be made to parts.

Stamatis

[BRELs]

I replaced the Plastic fifth wheel with an anodised black aluminium one I got from Stellamodels

[stamatis]

Took me quite some time but here is what I did finally, works fine and looks nice .

First removed some rubber pads from my flatscreen's base at office which happened to be of the proper size, and then placed them between the coupler M17 part and the Q3 coupler mount.

This added some 4mm air plus some extra flexibility.

[gozone]

First off.. What´s the idea of having motorized legs when you still have to pull out the light-cables? For this to work properly, you´ll have to use infrared light-couplings, like the ones made by Servonaut..

Also, for raising the coupler mount from the chassis, use chequer-plate for modelling, available through truck-oriented model shops.. These also hide away the ugly details under your chassis from wiring etc.. .

Furthermore: No, the 620 fenders won´t fit the 470-chassis without mods, but it´s no biggie to make them fit. But still... Loose the 470-chassis and go for a 6x4 R620 config instead.. This is especially good when running outdoors for more traction..

Also, to increase traction, use FG Modellsport diff-grease in your diffs.. Much tighter, "semi-locking" effect is achieved through this..

Cheers..

Michael

[stamatis]

Well, I really do not want to spend hundreds to avoid a plug-in or out movement and I do not like the flat rear look, so I choosed that way...

I suppose with Servonaut systems, you do not have to plug but you have to turn on and off a switch or something... So what is the point?

And I would get some RC4WD tires for better traction, not a new 6x4 setup which I also do not like...

But that is just me.

Thanks

[gozone]

No, when using the Servonaut infrared systems, the trailer carries its own battery and switches off the lights when the truck drives away. The lights will re-activate when the truck enters the infrared range of the trailers reciever-system..

I don´t know the rc4wd-tires, bit some great tires for trucks are available from Carson in Germany, called Fulda Crossforce. These also have nice, deep grooves and much softer rubber than the stock tires from the kit.. Perhaps these will be cheaper when in Europe?

Also, when you want to keep the 4x2 config, you will find much good in using the FG-diff grease rather than the regular Tamiya-grease. The semi-locking effect will surely help on the trucks performance on loose dirt..

Cheers....

Michael

[stamatis]

I use these RC4WD tires, they are much much softer that Tamiya or Carson ones, similar compound as other RC4WD tires.

Provide very good traction and IMO they also look nice.

This FG thing sounds interesting

Thanks,

Stamatis

[Tamiya1/10]

First off.. What´s the idea of having motorized legs when you still have to pull out the light-cables? For this to work properly, you´ll have to use infrared light-couplings, like the ones made by Servonaut..

Cheers..

Michael

That's a good point. But real trucks have connections for brake line and lights, which in one sense is correct. I can see some how making some fake magnetic ends connection with cables and cab while using the infrared system you mentioned so have realism and hands off?

[gozone]

Personally, i only use the plug-type lights, and i have 3 seperate plugs to disassemble on my trucks.. 1. the stock Tamiya type for blinkers and rear lights, and 2. a 3-pole connector for the brake and reversing lights, and 3. 1 TRX-style plug which powers the tipper-mechanism on the dump trailer or the winch on my lowboy.

I also only use the "mechanical" type of supporting legs, as i think the motorized system takes up too much space, looks bad and is not very realistic, lol..

I like the look of those tyres, stamatis.. Perhaps i should get a set for my latest truck, which now has been painted, and is currently in the LED-department in my workshop, getting all wired up for PLENTY of light, lol.

Cheers..

Michael