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Old 06-28-2015, 11:25 PM
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Rakthi Rakthi is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2014
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Default Re: Scaleart - assembling an Arocs 8x8 roll on roll off kipper

Hi Prop, yup, bolting this thing together I keep being impressed by the way things fit together, holes line up etc etc. Someone spend a lot of time thinking about this. When I put the front bumper on the frame I was expecting some problems because you got a lot of parts and assemblies coming together there. The only "problem" was finding the access for the Allen key.

Which brings me to tc1cat's comment ... Yes, the kit is expensive, but I do feel I have gotten value for the money. I have no idea which design flaws caught your attention. I didn't notice any.

There were 4 missing hydraulic parts, a couple of wrong sized screws (easily replaced), one ball joint with a wrong thread, missing insulator on rear lights and the sliding hook part of the hydraulic mechanism that turned out to be a bit of rough machining (easily sorted). The missing parts were send out after an email. If I had found the balljoint with the wrong thread and the missing insulators at the same time, they would have included those too. So no problems there. Follow up is fantastic.

The raised exhaust not fitting well. Considering this variation is sold without exhaust, it was upon me to sort it out. The raised exhaust is not meant for this model, so can't blame them for it not fitting.

For the rest, everything went together as it flawlessly. Some of it required a bit more thinking than others, but most of that was because I didn't strictly follow their guidelines or misinterpreted the technical drawings. Most if not all of the mistakes in this thread are caused by my own inattention or simple stupidity like mounting the supports for the locking mechanism on the wrong side or putting things in the wrong order.

The rough casting where the door hinge fits I sorted just now in about 10 minutes. Not a deal breaker for me. Neither is having to run a 2mm drill through a hole to make life easier, shortening a screw a tad or remove some paint to make something fit.

All I can say is that 99.99% of the parts fit perfectly and the 0.01% is an easy fix. Just looking at the workmanship and engineering of the parts is a pleasure.

Would I buy one again (given enough disposable money)? No question about it. This kit is an absolute pleasure to assemble.

Now off to locate my soldering stuff ... next step is the roof and for that I need some wiring sorted out. Will post the pics of the fitting of the doors in the next update.

Cheers.
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Cheers, Stephan (Rakthi is the one in the avatar)
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