Volvo FH16 XL750 – Part 5

Part 5 already of building the Volvo FH XL750. This was mainly building the transmission for the truck.

As I mentioned before, this could be a tricky part. So I had to be careful. While I was building the transmission, everything went fine, and was wondering why this could have been tricky. Once I was building all the separate parts together, I got the feeling that something was wrong. But I was sure I had follow the building instructions correctly.

The thing was that some of the plastic discs had prongs on them. They would fit in the back of the gear that was in front of it. Once the prongs where in the back of the gear, it would turn. When it was slide back, the gear would stop turning. It was something like a clutch. But I noticed, that one of the three was not fitting in the back on the last gear. It was like, the prongs were a little off to the outside.

Because it did not felt right, I placed a remark in a special Facebook group and asked for help of tips. At one point, someone kept mentioning parts J6 and J8. That they should be in the right order. For me, I was sure that I placed the right one in the right place. I removed some of the parts and looked at it, and saw that the parts J6 and J8 almost looked the same. The difference was hardly noticeable. Just to make sure, I exchanged the parts and put everything back together. And what do you think? Now everything worked the way it should.

When I placed all the parts on the desk, to prepare them for assembly, I mixed up J6 and J8. And that’s why at first it did not feel or look right.

Lesson learned for next time. BE MORE CAREFUL and don’t mix up parts.

The motor is also connected to the transmission. Normally, the motor is provided with the kit. But in the shop, they advised me to get a different motor. The motor that is with the kit, will make it almost like a race car. The speed of the motor is too high. So they advised me a slower motor that is more suitable for the RC Truck. It makes it more realistic.

The transmission is now in the chassis and I am tempted to see if everything still works the way it should.

Maybe later, I will temporarily connect the receiver and the servos and see how things are. Now it is time to put back all the leftover spare parts and open parts bag E. Now it is slowly time to build up the outside of the truck. It is also time to choose a color and get the paint for it. This also will be a first for me again. I will use spray cans for the paint. This will be a whole process but I think I will manage.

Below are the pictures of the transmission build. (Click on the image to enlarge.)