8446 Crane truck

This is the best Technic set from 1999 IMHO. Sure, the 8448 Super Street Sensation is a cool set indeed but it is not as much Technic as the 8446 Crane Truck.

What the f*ck, I let the 8448 and 8446 have a shared number one position :)

So what's so great about it? Well, everybody has flamed the slizer/throwbot/liftarms/stud less beams/etc. etc. and this set proves that they can be used in a Technic set :)

It also has several functions, I count to five different, I'll specify them as comments to the photos further down among the pictures.

Year 1999, 573 pieces

Front of the box.

I would have bought this set sooner if this box had told what's inside!

And we lift the lid and find the nice windows that displays the goodies. This was not enough for me to buy the set either.

Inside of the lid and a small portion of my finger.

Backside of the box.

Content. Sorry for the bad picture but it was to late to shot another when I had opened the bags ,)

After a while this is what came out of the box and I was amazed!

OK so I became amazed during the building session but never the less.

Displaying the front of this pretty ugly crane truck.

Notice the head support for the drivers.

Notice that both front wheels turn in unison. It works really well.

Backside.

Putting it down on it's side it nicely displays it's top.

Turning it 180 degrees here's the chassis.

Zooming in on some nice gears... These provide the crane movements.

This shot shows that the "hood" of the crane can open via a cylinder, the same kind that's used in the 8448 Super Street Sensation.

The backside/crane can turn 360-degree.

Another shot of the nice gears. Yes I like this setup. The large bevel gears does not interlock with the small ones.

Yet another shot of the nice steering setup.

The crane base tilts and let the arm forward. This is controlled via a worm gear so it stays in any position.

And the crane moves all the way down to the ground.

Here is the crane. Duh! :)

The spring/shock provides the lock mechanism and thanks to the long travel of this shock it can grab a hold of pretty large objects.

Claws wide open. Notice that the top of the shock is to the left of the little knob.

The product description for the 8446 on the store that I bought it from said that the crane could lift heavy objects. Here's the proof. That's a 8457 Power Puller wheel :)

Another angle. I had to attach the wheel a couple of time before I got it right. The friction on that tire is not the best for the claws.

Notice that the hub/rim of the wheel is still there.

Zoom in on the lock mechanism for the claws. This is in the closed position.

Close-up on the claw and it's "fingers".

And the open ditto.

Notice the nice bent liftarm that provides structural strength to this crane. The wheel/knob turns the crane.

And the same clever thing behind the back wheels.

Detailed view of the cockpit.

Both "hood" and crane tilted to their extremes shows the top of the chassis. The tower in the middle is another clever use of the double bent liftarm.

Wave bye folks, this crane is going to be sorted. And boy did that hurt my fingers... It's strong enough to survive a two foot drop, I tried accidentally...

Great pieces

Green pieces?
Dark gray pieces?
Very nice wheels, six of them.
Turntable :)

Links

Building instruction on Brickshelf (N/A)
Inventory on Peeron
Set reference on Lugnet
Jim Hughes Technica