[MOC] Nissan Patrol Offroad SUV

[gate]

Hello everyone, here again with a new MOC.

Nissan Patrol GR II (Y61).

(Updated - body lowered by 1 stud and some panels replaced by plates to reduce weight.

Fifth generation of patrols before restyling is my favorite. A lot of experienced offroaders love it too, not without a reason.

Update - outdoor trials video:

This is a 3-door version which is much less common than 5.

All the dimensions are strictly scaled 1:10. Taking into consideration that the real 42 inch tractor wheels definitely require suspension lift and are 106cm long.

Also it is 3 doors and not 5 just because of the scale I've chosen. 5-doors would be something around 80 studs long, considering paneling and other stuff - that would be too heavy for an offroad vehicle.

 

Dimensions: 45cm long x 18.5cm wide x 22.5cm height.

Weight on the video: 1750g.

I wanted to build a working vehicle, not just a standing brick, so I had to sacrifice some things to get it into optimal weight condition.

The front is the visiting card for Patrols (imho). Think I caught the main features.

All photos: https://bricksafe.com/pages/gate/gate-lego-technic/nissan-patrol-y61-suv

The most effecient gear reduction was this one (no reduction from XLs to the transmission):

In my previous MOC Ural 4320 I used a similar reduction, but 1:3 slower in the gearbox. It was really slow and couldn't compensate the speed with torque. Resulting - it could go from an obstacle steadily, but not climb it - if it was a large hill. Not only this one is faster, but has a shorter transmission, which is always good for models.

No strain axle - steering ball joints is at it max bent position, giving a nice clearance. Always a minimal height limitation when using 9.5l shocks. I could cut off a stud here and there, but this position I liked most of all.

 

The body is fully modular - axles, engine part, chassis and panels:

Took it for a hard outdoor drive and of course made some pictures:

Think I have failed this MOC, because:

- I wanted both front and rear axle diff lock, but just couldn't find space in the front with winch on top (Update - actually not a problem at all. If it doesn't sit on its axles, it moves out of almost every situation (with winch 100%)).

- This model literally wouldn't drive with many other gear setups (originally tried 2PF L and 20 beavel gears locked differential, but may be because of the weight, may be something else - couldn't make it cross obstacles without gear crack).

- The weight is not distributed evenly between axles, with an overweight on the back. As you can see in the video I've taken some parts from its back to more or less stabilize it.

- Design has some holes and is not so smooth - result of purpose of this vehicle - which is offroad. Many small detalization parts were falling off. So with quite a few rebuilds was getting rid of them up to this point.

With 41999 for scale:

Summing it up, I like it a lot. Really enjoying using it for direct purpose. It rolls over, crashes, but is extremely satisfying.

Feel free to criticize.

 

Edited October 6, 2018 by gate

[jorgeopesi]

The back part is nice.

[suffocation]

Great work and I agree that the Claas tyres complement it best.

[zux]

Don't want to be harsh, but for me it seems like proportions a little off. You can clearly see this on a picture compared to blueprint: wheel base is a little too short, doors are wrong shape, and roof is stud or two too low.

I like the transmission however, as I'm yet to build my own crawler I'm quite fascinated by other's builds. Have you considered using two L-motors instead of XL? They perform quite well on 9398/41999.

[Corrado]

For me it doesnt look too good, especially with that high suspension but I see it gives lot of fun. :)

[gate]

14 minutes ago, zux said:

Don't want to be harsh, but for me it seems like proportions a little off. You can clearly see this on a picture compared to blueprint: wheel base is a little too short, doors are wrong shape, and roof is stud or two too low.

I like the transmission however, as I'm yet to build my own crawler I'm quite fascinated by other's builds. Have you considered using two L-motors instead of XL? They perform quite well on 9398/41999.

On the blueprint the car is with 10 stud wheels, which are unimog ones. But I wanted to build vehicle with tractors, which lead to the suspension lift and inevitable wheel arches expansion. In fact when the shock absorbers are maximally squeezed the wheels are just about touching it. So they really couldn't be any other shape. Wheel base is exactly how it is on the blueprint - 29-30 studs in 1 to 10 scale, may be my photos aren't in the right angle, sorry for that. As for the doors and roof yes - completely agree with you, a minus, but the one I can live with since:

4 hours ago, gate said:

I wanted to build a working vehicle, not just a standing brick, so I had to sacrifice some things to get it into optimal weight condition.

About the 2 PF L:

4 hours ago, gate said:

(originally tried 2PF L and 20 beavel gears locked differential, but may be because of the weight, may be something else - couldn't make it cross obstacles without gear crack).

Edited September 13, 2018 by gate

[AndyCW]

I haven't seen many crawlers on here recently.  So your creation really made me smile. 

The caster angle on the front looks extreme and is likely causing issues.   Try doing a body lift and reposition the shocks to maintain your scale.  This will also lower you center of gravity. CG

Instead of a body lift, you could hack the quarter panels more to clear the tires. If you were to put 42 inch tires on a real patrol, the quarter panels would be almost entirely eliminated.

Check out Aussie Racer on youtube. 

[Jurss]

Looks good, but it is hard to recognize there some particular car. Maybe it is also because Nissan Patrol doesn't have some kind of iconic look (but it doesn't look bad), like Toyota FJ cruiser f.i.

Edited September 14, 2018 by Jurss

[gate]

13 hours ago, AndyCW said:

I haven't seen many crawlers on here recently.  So your creation really made me smile. 

The caster angle on the front looks extreme and is likely causing issues.   Try doing a body lift and reposition the shocks to maintain your scale.  This will also lower you center of gravity. CG

Instead of a body lift, you could hack the quarter panels more to clear the tires. If you were to put 42 inch tires on a real patrol, the quarter panels would be almost entirely eliminated.

Check out Aussie Racer on youtube. 

I hope you smiled in a good way;)

Realised that in my 2nd or 3rd full chassis rebuilding I've made the chassis sit 1 stud higher, this is where such extreme caster angle is from. The only bad thing I noticed about it, that is when you squeeze it to the full (both left and right shock absorbers) the axle has a moment where it jumps a little bit, on practice haven't loaded it to this point and don't think I actually could. What you mentioned is worth to try.

Thanks for that channel tip, it's a good one.

About the arches and 42 tractors on real patrol - not necessarily. The guy is likely to use 38 inch and it's clearly enough for flat surfaces with slight potholes.

I was aiming for some slower and deeper offroad, closer to this one. Not tractors but they are 42 inch:

Don't know if he has problems with wheels scratching the arches, but looks cool.

2 hours ago, Jurss said:

Looks good, but it is hard to recognize there some particular car. Maybe it is also because Nissan Patrol doesn't have some kind of iconic look (but it doesn't look bad), like Toyota FJ cruiser f.i.

Yes, true. The only thing I believe Patrols have unique is their front face. Building a 4th generation would be much easier I guess because of its squarelike shapes, but we don't go the easy ways.

Edited September 14, 2018 by gate

[1gor]

Wheelbase is to short but rear part looks good

[zoo]

1 hour ago, I_Igor said:

Wheelbase is to short but rear part looks good

What Igor said.

Front axel looks to be too far back. The entire front wheel well is in front of the door on the real machine. I think that is what makes your model look a bit odd in comparison. Not saying it can't be an advantage when it comes to function though. :)

[1gor]

44 minutes ago, zoo said:

What Igor said.

Front axel looks to be too far back. The entire front wheel well is in front of the door on the real machine. I think that is what makes your model look a bit odd in comparison. Not saying it can't be an advantage when it comes to function though. :)

You just red my mind 

[AndyCW]

Despite the flack you are getting, I'm looking forward to more of your work. 

Truthfully; if your having fun, then you are already doing everything right.

What's next on your lego agenda? 

[gate]

I realise why the axle position and wheel base gives so much question, but really if you put tractors on a 41999 for example - it will look much the same.

Yet it is completely within my first calculations of scaling. I guess everyone just got used to cars being longer.

6 minutes ago, AndyCW said:

Despite the flack you are getting, I'm looking forward to more of your work. 

Truthfully; if your having fun, then you are already doing everything right.

What's next on your lego agenda? 

Thank you, the fun is what I pursue in lego

Going to make something fast with 62 mm wheels and I really want to make a solid 6x6 trial truck in a big scale. 

[gate]

Didn't want to revamp this topic as I understood people didn't really like the MOC, but few of my AFOL friends really liked it and encouraged me to post the update. So here it is:

Finally had the time to take the truck for an offroad trip, resulting in:

I reworked the suspension (visible effect - body lowered by 1 stud) and replaced some panels with plates to reduce weight.

Also edited the main post. Cheers

[Johnny1360]

It does look better and I do like a good crawler, working on one myself in fact. I think it really helped lowering it one stud, to me though that front grill portion just sticks out way to far, I think if you shortened it up a couple of studs it would look so much better. Anyway looks like fun enjoy and thanks for showing it to us. 

[gate]

4 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

It does look better and I do like a good crawler, working on one myself in fact. I think it really helped lowering it one stud, to me though that front grill portion just sticks out way to far, I think if you shortened it up a couple of studs it would look so much better. Anyway looks like fun enjoy and thanks for showing it to us. 

Front is what I've really struggled against in the process. The thing is it has a lot of curves, which I tried to represent while also keeping the geometry on paper. The headlights sticking to the back is a side effect of this. Pretty sure it is possible to make it better looking. May be one day it will see the light of day

Edited October 6, 2018 by gate

[ndm1306]

could you make photo instruction?

[gate]

7 hours ago, ndm1306 said:

could you make photo instruction?

I don't plan to do instructions, sorry. Creating MOCs from scratch takes a month or more for me, so I simply don't have that much time to do it.