ScaleART - Assembling a MAN TGX/XL 6x6 tractor & Trailer

[Rakthi]

Hi Tom, crisis time, well starting to look that progress is not going to be too smooth. Which makes for a more interesting build of course

Hi Chris, guess you are eagerly awaiting the arrival of your kit!

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Before bolting the frame together I checked the position of the fenders.

Mhmm rear support supposed to go in the 7th hole from the back, but frame rail only has 5 holes ... Guess I might have to drill one myself. Will deal with it when we get to it.

Since the positioning of the fender determines the position of the rear light holders I might as well go ahead. Can always unbolt stuff.



So we continue with the frame. The cross brace is held on with 4 bolts and te top 2 also hold the rails where the 5th wheel will attach too. There are a further 3 bolts in that rail. The position of the parts is easily determined too.



Easiest to first attach the 3 bolts of the rail



Then the cross brace



After doing the other side



Next up is the simple assembly of the "heavy hauler" end piece





Followed by the fiddly fitting of small bolts in hard to reach places to combine these 3 parts.



The holes in the stainless steel parts do line up perfectly, but they are very tight fit for the bolts. So ran a 1/16" bit through them. Made a world of difference. Still fiddly but at least didn't have to "force" them through.







And that red circle above ... bummer ... the "heavy hauler" end piece is not compatible with the air suspension (see below) ... so either I take it back off or I slice a bit off to give room to the airbag. I'd prefer to cut it down a bit, but don't have the equipment for it ... head scratching time.



The circle on the drawing is where I will have to drill 2 2mm holes on both sides of the frame. No holes foreseen in the cross brace.

And I though the tractor part of this build was going to be easy - what I get for trying to be different.