The truck features: solid axle suspension on all axles of which the rear axle uses tandem bogie suspension, PF powered driving with power transmitted independently to both rear axles, reduced speed to increase power/torque, Ackerman geometry on steering axle, Servo powered steering, fully functional fifth wheel, fifth wheel slider, modeled engine, detailed cabin interior and 3 light units.
Even though this truck is designed to go with ”Trailer Tr4 MkII” plus ”Trailer Tr4 MkII Add1” lowboy combination in the first place, it doesn’t necessarily mean it can't be used with other available trailers as well.
If you prefer to give it a flat bed or log trailer, you are free to do so! If a different trailer is used it might be useful to give this truck's drivetrain a various gear setup. For this a separate PDF file is available that tells you what gear reductions to use with which trailer. It also shows you how to do so. Evidently the torque will be reduced, but with lighter weight trailers that is no problem at all.
As one of the designer's trademarks this truck model is provided with full solid axle suspension on all axles, so including the front steered axle. Regular LEGO® Technic shock absorbers proved too large. Instead Rubber Belts are used, to achieve this the movement is converted using a lever constructions.
What is particularly new to this model is the double rear axle setup. This new setup allows easy axle and wheel travel. Because it doesn't use any shock absorbing the wheels and axles do not have to deal with any force. It is based around the concept of the walking beam suspension.
This Mack Granite model is powered by a Mack MP8 engine which is visible with the hood opened. This power source is an inline 6 cylinder engine with a displacement of 13.0 L. The horsepower range is from 425 up to 505 HP and this engine has a torque range from 1570 to 1760. This detailed MP8 engine is nice to build and to give it those realistic looks a total number of 55 parts is used. It is detailed with for example engine oil dipstick, fan, fan belt, pulleys, hoses, oil filters including by-pass oil filter and a turbo.
The original color scheme of this truck is Orange with a White roof and Red striping. For this reason there is also this newly released solid Yellow color version. First of all since Yellow is a more common color when it comes to LEGO® parts it is easier to build this model. Probably it will also be a little cheaper if you have to buy the parts for it. And why not go for a Yellow truck with a Yellow lowboy trailer? Next it makes it easier for you to change it in another solid color if you want to. For example if you want to build it yourself in Blue, go ahead, just replace all the Yellow parts in the Inventory/parts list with Blue parts. Except for the parts that are not used for the body work. To find this out, just check the building instructions!