This set is critised a lot, which I think has a lot to do with expectation, rather than the set itself. It was released as the biggest, thus de-facto flagship set in the '40th anniversary' year, and it could not live up to that expectation.

It is often compared to te Arocs, and to a lesser degree to the Crawler, which I don't think is completely fair.

Good

• It is a fun building experience.
• Remote controlled. (Propulsion and steering)
• 4 motorised functions (outriggers, crane rotation, crane elevation, winch)
• Diferentials and simulated motor
• all-terrain terrain capability with pendulum axles at the rear.
• Lots of cool parts: 6 tractor wheels (only in this and the Claas Xerion, and very recently the ZEUX), 4 sliding outriggers, actuators, differentials, complex gearbox, dark azure panels.
• It looks good.

Bad

• The truck bed is quite unfinished
• Door opening is a bit flimsy.
• The (RRP) price was way to high, but it dropped quickly, and right now it's fine.
• The steering does not use a servo motor, so it does not control as well. But this does allow for the 4 motorised functions. (of which two can be operated at te same time).
• It does not have real suspension. (But not every set NEEDS it)
• Some weird coloured parts.

In closing

I passed on the Arocs back then, because I thought it looked boring and contained very few new parts. And one of the reasons for buying this was that it allowed to (with minor Brick-linking, and provided you have the EW160E) build both the Arocs and the Xerion. I'm very glad I did. Now, the Arocs is really a marvel of engineering, especially the suspension, which I was very impressed by, but this still looks better IMHO.

For the price that you are willing to pay you may end up with a huge model if assembled:

Although it has less parts than 42009 crane it's both wider and higher, e.g. taking up bigger volume (42000 is also shown for comparison).

Build

The build starts at the gear box which is located under the rear part of the cabin and below the crane. Subsequently rear and front axles will be added.
Soon the transmission system is hidden beneath the chassis frame. I would prefer to be able to see more of the mechanism to learn better about gear boxes.

I made a mistake at the second rear axles: I didn't notice the orientation of the differential with respect to the drive shaft. At that point it wasn't that obvious. Unfortunately I had to take apart the whole thing and start over.

The front section of the model is well articulated. In contrast I found outriggers, crane and loading area to be made with as little as possible parts. Nonetheless all are adequate to fulfill their function.

Functions

Functions are controlled by an IR sender using both transmission channels. One is connected to a XL, the second to a M motor.

There are six operations that can be selected using two levers on both sides of the drivers cabin:
Left: Drive - Neutral - Functions
Right: Outriggers, rotation, elevation of, and winch on crane. It also has neutral center position.

What's the point of having a remotely controlled model if you have to select function on the model? For driving around, the remote is OK.
It is also better suited to change the direction of selected motion than using the switch on the PF battery box.

If left switch is in Drive position other functions are not available. If in Neutral the model can be pushed around which increases playability. I suggest to add manual steering (see below).
However, playability demands for a not-so-small domicile: The turning radius of the truck is enormous. Therefore I lost line of sight (IR) a few times while driving. Steering is done by means of the M motor. I believe the maneuverability is better than with the servo motor of the Volvo Loader.

Rotation and elevation of the crane are working fine but I found the winch to slow. Worst are the outriggers: The rear ones are deploying faster than the side ones. Therefore you'll get a grinding noise from safety clutch in the linear actuator when the support hits the ground.

Overall

You get a good looking truck - at least for the front section. The new blue colour wins extra points. Six big tyres and the four outriggers suit the scale of the model. However, the rear part only got as much attention not to appear unfinished.

Improving

I read on eurobricks forum that manual steering can easily be added to the model. There is a 12 tooth gear already in place that can be used to upgrade:

If I remember correct I didn't remove or modified any parts from the model to add the function. However, I didn't keep the original yellow lights on the roof.

This model has had a rough ride from other reviewers - ironic since the smallest mound stops it dead in it's tracks! So what's the deal with this flagship set in the year Technic celebrates it's 40th year?

(Disclaimer: I built this set from online instructions and my existing parts - you'll find out why later)

Parts

This set comes with a number of specialised parts: There's an XL and a M Power functions motor and a single 2 channel IR transmitter and receiver pair. We get 6 of the giant and aesthetically pleasing 'Claas' Tractor wheels and tyres, as well as 4 of the new extending boom linear actuators and 3 small linear actuators and one large one.You also get some suspension parts - 6 Portal Axle hubs, 3 new style differential cages and 2 of the older style cages - I used mine from my 8008 Supercar proving the back compatibility of Lego throughout it's history! Then there's a host of new azure blue panels and a lot of turntables too.

Build

The build of this set differs from many of my favorite builds in that it is not modular. You start in the middle of the chassis, then build the front end and after that add the rear axle 'bogeys'. The rest of the truck takes shape built out from that chassis. It's a monolithic build and the instructions get a little bit confused at times (building from a .pdf didn't help here). There's some nice engine bay detail but it's hidden under the hood, and overall the model isn't overly burdened with aesthetic detail or arduous cosmetic filler. It's a fun build, and a long one, but It didn't have me gasping with the ingenuity of it like some builds do. In fact in some instances I found myself thinking 'that's not the best way to do this' - and my intuition was borne out by the functional implications for the finished model.

Finished Model

(I hope you can forgive my artistic licence with colour schemes, minor build variations, and also the hasty photo shoot)

Firstly, lets get the good out of the way: This model is impressively big. It works as advertised. It is genuinely a 6x6 recovery truck with remote control and switchable crane and outrigger functions.

However, as other reviews have alluded to, there are issues:

Because the M motor has to power the outriggers when it's not doing the steering, you end up with Continuous steering that doesn't return to centre and has no 'stop limit'. It's not a massive deal, you quickly become accustomed to driving it, but it's inelegant. And I've become accustomed to Technic being really elegant.

Similarly, the suspension lacks... well, suspension as it happens. The front axle is fixed to the chassis to allow for the steering, and because Portal axles are the only lego approved way of getting enough torque to those massive wheels to permit an XL motor drive. With those in place, you're severely limited in the amount of suspension hardware you can engineer in to a driven, steered, heavy duty axle, and the designers clearly didn't bother here. Then the rear suspension simply consists of two live axles that pivot at their centre and do not use any form of spring to control them. Again, the model only gets away with this because the front axle is un-suspended. The lack of suspension ingenuity (and following on from that, function) is my chief disappointment with this build. The AROCS and the 4x4 Crawler have shown us the kind of exceptional suspension engineering Technic designers are capable of. Building multi-wheel drive MOC's is my thing, so I'm well aware of the challenges, but when I buy a flagship set I do so with the expectation of being inspired by the cleverness within.

THe implementation of the 6x6 drivetrain combines with the poor suspension design to result in this truck failing in it's chief design brief: It's not very rugged! In short, it has open differentials throughout the drivetrain, and that means that if any one wheel loses traction, it's game over for forwards drive. Now, there's stern warnings on the box about this being an indoors toy... but come on!! This is a 6x6 Recovery truck! Because it's quite common for uneven ground, even indoors, to mean that one of the rear axles picks up a wheel, this truck is poor at negotiating obstacles. The weight of it, and the poor steering radius compound this problem. In short, you'll need a lot of space to drive this thing indoors, and it will be defeated by even trivial obstacles. It looks the part but fails to live up to it's rugged reputation!

The Outriggers are unremarkable other than being suitably heavy duty in look. Again, I feel the designers were bound by the use of large linear actuators for the legs.

And the crane... ahh. the crane. It's just not up to scratch. It is too long for it's strength and looks and feels like an afterthought. The tragedy of that of course is that the crane is the raison d'etre for this entire vehicle! It's meant to be able to go to gnarly places and then haul exceptionally heavy vehicles out of trouble. The crane is so feeble that it's actually hard to play with. It also deserved a return of the metal cast hooks.

Which brings me on to the looks: On this rare occasion I think It could actually have benefited from a slightly closer eye to detail, because aspects like the doors feel unfinished and the overall look is slab sided. I normally dread the cosmetic parts of Technic builds although the GT3-RS has softened me to them, but for this build a few curves and a few details could have really set it off. Other reviewers have commented on the fact the bed looking unfinished, and when compared to the 'paneled in' look of recent technic sets this is certainly the case. A bed would also have added rigidity to the tail end, which is floppy.

And finally in this section, I think we can safely say we've hit the limits of what is possible to power with an XL motor. This is the absolute upper limit of remote control model size that you will officially see from Lego (Yes, I know the bucket wheel excavator is self propelling, but it's not the same deal of thing at all).

Conclusion

None of the above touches on the core problem with this set. All of the above is forgivable apart from one thing: The Price. This is a £220 Lego Set!! At that price we deserve and expect something that excels. Comparing it to other sets, The AROCS retailed at £160 and whilst we didn't get remote control, we did get pneumatics and great aesthetics and some of the most fiendishly ingenious design ever to grace a Technic set. I aid full price and felt it represented value for money. The GT3-RS retailed at £250 but I'm betting at least £100 went into the beautiful manual and packaging as well as the pocket of Mr Porsche. I think we are seeing the 6x6 Recovery truck start to slide to a price that is actually reasonable value for money given the parts included and the limitations of the set. And that is why my review and images of this set are based on my build of it from existing parts: It simply doesn't warrant the spend in my eyes. In a way I hope that this set hasn't sold. The message to Billund needs to be this: If a set is going to break the £200 barrier, it needs to be GOOD.