7 Types of Wheels - 4 Hard Trials - Experiments with Lego Technic

I tested seven different wheel types and shapes in four challenging conditions. I was curious which wheels would be more effective - standard Lego wheels or custom ones?
Write in the comments if you are interested in models for 3D printing of custom wheels - I will post the information on my website.
Creality Ender-3 V3 KE was used to print experimental parts.
You can join my channel to show your great support:
/ @drengine
00:00 7 Types of Wheels
00:23 Tire Dump
03:34 Stairway
06:04 Hill Climb
08:36 Tug-of-War
#legotechnic #lego #experiment #vehicles

[@DrEngine]

Any ideas on what other custom wheels would work for Lego vehicles?

[@OverTheHorizon840]

yes

[@Mr._Bellic]

You could try using a motor to rotate a series of gears that move axles in a semicircular motion, so linear on the ground and then circular to come back around. You could combine this with maybe 5 more to make a walking device.

[@young-aviator]

What if you tried to make a lego airplane that Flys only using lego motors wings can be whatever

[@user-mx3wt2wt9e]

You could try omni directional wheels

[@Fl0B]

Can you do a video about tracks, hard plastics, soft rubber and so on ? With various geometry this should be interesting.

[@bestnocture]

If you ever feel useless remember siege strider was included in this video

[@Lionscape848]

Facts

[@dupisdisasterpiece1058]

@@Lionscape848imagine your pfp, but upside down and inverted.

[@ZuoKalp]

Those wheels made them no favors.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

XD

[@vlastasusak5673]

​@@dupisdisasterpiece1058Looks like a screaming gorilla on fire sitting cross legged

[@spunkyprep]

Should have done a supplemental tug-of-war in loose soil - hard and smooth surface was unfairly biased to rubberized wheels

[@garrettcarlson6835]

K but... what if the step master had RUBBER feet?

[@BogWarThunder]

​@@garrettcarlson6835 he probably would have won. His weight was enough to bring on enough tension against his rubber supported contrahend to brake out the defeat for a bit. But with rubber feet he would have had more rubber contact surface with more resist to pull the contrahend right into defeat. It was the literal thing that was missing to win.

[@miyurosewood3837]

@@BogWarThunder real counterpart, a bit more advanced, of step master is known as "dreadnaught wheel" or a "pedwheel", it's a historical predecessor of track. It actually had similar problem as shown but it was successfully used on soft terrain.

[@JS-rv3et]

Ikr these battles where unscientific and biased as hell. Obviously the step master and tank tracked car had better power but the plastic on smooth surfaces VS rubber wheels... like Dr engine never heard of surface contact before.

[@marcosbasbus7031]

Milky Way's Tug of War with Golden Grip Snail was BS, his gears were slipping. I call for a re-do with proper gear support

[@MS-Support-6785]

Fr

[@ethangames5189]

The whole tag of war made no sense, testing mud crawlers on smooth tiles

[@MS-Support-6785]

@@ethangames5189correct o' mondo

[@honema123456789]

@@ethangames5189 I was also thinking, what a non-surprise that the indoor tires won on an indoor paving

[@justjay4586]

​@honema123456789 I would say the Beetle one was indoor tires, but the Golden Grip Snail is still more off-road tread.

[@thomasbrundigejones5780]

Characters in Dr Seuss books would roll up in vehicles like these

[@kurtisspletter643]

Golden grip snail fan. But man the beetle made a hard comeback.

[@w2uup422]

yeah, but beetle had aheavy battery which added huge grip

[@gerardwellman5950]

Me to

[@user-lf1zc7vv5j]

Me three

[@ryangreen9628]

Put the Golden grip wheels on the beetle. 😮

[@Forsakenfruit]

⁠@@ryangreen9628this man is a super genius, he should get a master degree in being smart right now

[@WrappedPole]

Honestly my favorite was StepMaster Cruiser. Such an interesting build, i am also suprised that he did so well in the challenges!

[@DrEngine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Mecchilldefrance]

I agree

[@Wafflesssssss]

Me to

[@mariothegreat4197]

yup add rubber pad and its a winner

[@code-bear]

@@mariothegreat4197 100%. With rubber grips, it would have dominated in the tug o' war.

[@robertrohrer8535]

Making the tracks out of 3d rubber or even just the slices would have been a nice idea and more fair for the tug o war part

[@BogWarThunder]

I totally agree. Not just the DualTrack Dominator was my clear favorite but that would have been the perfect addition. Not just that it adds more weight to the vehicle but it would master every of these challenges without even thinking about struggling in any perspective. The only thing that could have stopped him then was speed.

[@Arct1cW]

9:00 StepMaster turned on Michael Jackson mode.

[@AthiosDvK]

I rly liked how the DualTrack Dom came out, it's my personal favorite the extra room on the top might allow for some excellent cabin designs for the crew

[@DrEngine]

Glad you like it!

[@markus1351]

Reminds me of the hekklund

[@imaginerus]

It also has no 3D-printed parts, which feel like cheating to me!

[@AthiosDvK]

@@imaginerus that's true! it could be made by anyone with the parts to make it, and does not require also owning a 3D printer

[@CODDE117]

Dual Track Dominator is the coolest, absolutely

[@roymuerlunos2426]

StepMaster Cruiser won on style alone, I mean, did you SEE that moon walk in the tug-o-war?

[@garrettcarlson6835]

Yup! Looks like we all need a second video, but with all of the vehicles carrying their own battery packs and fully equipped with rubber feet! Especially for the step master. Maybe using boat-shaped feet for the step master. Like, make it flat, but with a very slight boat-shaped curve on the bottom. That would make it comparable to the traction the beetle gets.

[@garrettcarlson6835]

Or cylinder-shaped, I don't know which one would be better.

[@HenrikMyrhaug]

I feel like the stepmaster could be so much more effective with "shoes" in its feet.

[@tetyanazayatsteza2406]

Model "Golden Grip Snail" the best and cool! I like it😊

[@DrEngine]

Glad you like it! Thank you for watching ☺️

[@RaidFiftyOne]

Yes it was my favorite and stepmaster was a close second. I don't care what anybody says the Golden Grip Snail is perfect in every way. That beetle probbaly cheated in tug a war because it was desperate.

[@ZILOOOOO]

@@RaidFiftyOne bud the beetle was made for smooth surface. tug of war was its time to shine

[@shingshongshamalama]

The tug of war really just demonstrated the idea that on a flat surface like that, rubber tyres have better grip than other things.

[@zenbonimusic7308]

I think if beetle bots signature motion was mirrored in it's rear it would have stood a better chance. Definitely a unique concept!

[@BuilderBasti]

My favourite in this one is definitely StepMaster Cruiser! Such an interesting and playful design, working really well, except for grip being low

[@No_Way_NO_WAY]

This comparison was kinda unfair. 😅. Some had rubberized wheels some didn't. Some had open bellys some hadn't. Especially in the tug of war, the vehicles with rubber easily won vs ones without. Giving the StepMaster rubber shoes, probably would have made him at least 3.rd place.

[@user-jr2ue9nu6y]

Needs 6x6 independent suspension per wheel

[@coleawesomeify]

Put some rubber pads on the stepmaster's feet and do the tug of war again.

[@garrettcarlson6835]

They'd have to be rounded on the bottom for the step master to stand a chance. If they're flat, the distribution of force will be spread too thin. It needs to have a needle-like contact force with the ground for best traction. And as it was mentioned in another comment, having it's own battery pack installed would help add weight.

[@spiceracksargent0014]

Gonna be honest, StepMaster Cruiser and DualTrack Dominator are tied for the top favorite slot in my book.

[@LEGOCOOKING]

Could you build a food truck by Lego, please?

[@darreideamos2309]

there is a reason us humans use tracks for heavy terrain and this was a nice showcase. And these tracks were made out of slippery lego plastic. A proper more grippy material would show true power of this indominable way of transportation!

[@depeltenburg6916]

This need a second one. Before my vote I want head displacement, wet muddy ground. Water axel high on stone surface, water axel high on muddy bottom, ice flat surface and top speed.

[@aldinlewis5579]

Watching milky wheel and stepmaster makes me wonder how scaled up versions of that kind of design would work in real life. They just were so good at tackling obstacles. It makes me curious.

[@christianstorms3950]

I'd imagine those as interesting designs for Mars/Moon rovers

[@aldinlewis5579]

@@christianstorms3950 I can clearly picture what that would look like in my head. It looks like the future.

[@ZuoKalp]

I absolutely loved the dualtrack domintator design.

[@EagleCroc]

The Golden Grip Snail won in all the competitions (for the most part).

[@JS-rv3et]

Against rigged matches. Though non of these lineups were fair in any manner

[@user-qo3yj1vk6v]

The GoldenGrip Snail was actually very good, because it has bigger wheels, it has more space on the ground. The "DualTrack Dominator" could be a lot better if: You added 2 springs in a V shape for each axle, made it a single track, and found a rubber-like surface to attach to the tracks for grip. Basically, make it a tank. - Something completely unrelated, if you added pontoons to the creation (with my addons, of course!) then added a retractable propeller, it's a boat :D - EDIT - offsetting EACH stepmaster's wheels could alter the performance on the steps and hillclimb!

[@itscolemartin]

It would’ve been even cooler if you had showed all the vehicles and the terrain and then let us make our predictions before seeing the results. That way it would be more interactive

[@tetraquark2402]

Technical lego was out of our price range then but years ago me and my friends used to make Meccano tractor pull vehicles so I really relate to this.

[@sharonbradford4494]

I kind of like the one with the big wheels originally designed for bearings, but with rubber tread it became really cool

[@pictometryofficial]

Milky Wheel milky-wins my vote! The design of the burrs on the back of legs, so subsequent feet can grip them is ingenious!

[@Videogametourist]

If the stepmaster had failed the steps that would have been real embarrassing

[@trueomni4855]

The StepMaster Cruiser is just SO satisfying to watch

[@CiarraHarrison-le6pz]

Be honest, the step master is my favorite because it’s kind of cute. Just add a little face onto it and you basically got yourself a step master pet.

[@Superbius90]

Dont think i have ever been so invested in performance comparison of silly lego vehicle competitions.

[@justjay4586]

Altogether, my favorite was the DualTrack Dominator! I also love the Milky Wheel custom; what a great pun.

[@codychickadee5095]

I think the GG snail is a solid design, it's like a SHERP. The beetle was also a fascinating concept along with the stepmaster! Siege strider may do better with a speed reduction. Such a fun video this makes me want to go invest in a bunch of technic.

[@CloutmasterPhluphyy]

Golden grip, milky wheel, and stepmaster are the only correct answers. They won at pretty much everything until beetle came back in ToW

[@MONYESTER]

Goldengrip snail and milkyway are both amazing, they did all challenges and are strong in the tug of war.

[@nugget127]

I Vote Goldengrip Snail

[@HawaiianKong]

Tug of War would have been more fair with a force meter mounted at the same level as the chassis, and all vehicles having rubber traction. Like the 6x6 was being pulled upwards from the back

[@cameronneveu7277]

Rubberizing the Smooth Plastic Grippers would have helped (Rubber Cement or Rubberizing Spray), also Differentiating Terrain would have yielded different results, as certain forms of movement are favored. It would be great to see these Vehicles in Difficult Terrain Trials. Smooth (Steel, Plastic), Low Friction (Ice), Soft (Sand, Loose Dirt), Hard (Stone, Asphalt), Wet (Deep Mud, River Crossing w/ Current) [Not Sure How you'd do that, but it would be neat] Also Speed is An Important Metric for many Vehicles, sure it can make it over any terrain but could it be used in a situation were time is an important vector like an emergency?

[@fikluk4118]

Beetle was the only one with an installed battery pack, the weight helps for tug of war

[@garrettcarlson6835]

Oh yeah huh! shoot, and if the other vehicles had installed battery packs, how would they fair in the uphill climb?

[@buggatiauston873]

9:31, 9:42 - clear influence of tread and surface grip quality

[@danielrobinson7872]

The tug of war test was too in favor of the rubber wheels because of how smooth and hard it was. A rubber mat would have been better. My favorite will always be treads. They are the ultimate in all terrain movement.

[@CommanderDuck-zn8ro]

I like the Double track dominator or whatever it was called

[@0815firstuser0815]

Yes, im a fan too. But it needs rubberized tracks. Pure plastic is too slippy.

[@MarkoDash]

@@0815firstuser0815 it did help it it the stairclimb that it basically climbed up by it's fingernails

[@garrettcarlson6835]

I like the double track dominator too! It's like 8-wheel drive, and tank tracks! It's the ultimate all-terrain vehicle! All it's missing is water and air.

[@christianstorms3950]

MilkyWay was my favourite but not by much before GoldenSnail and StepMaster. Tug of war on loose slippery ground would be nice. Stepmaster could use rubberized feet. Also great inspiration for some new Mars rovers

[@FattyZee]

Pour one out for the Siege Strider, mad respect, gave it the best it could

[@Jacob_Dwyer]

Golden Grip snail, I mean Milky wheel, no wait BeetleBot. Ok Those three, but also the Dual Track Dominator.

[@bluedistortions]

Basically, everything except the seige strider

[@user-no3vf9ry8u]

you have a 3D printer! This is great. This gives new opportunities, new projects!

[@thewhimsicalworldofthewond9144]

I like to imagine the siege striders driver would scream the vehicles name while doubling down how cool it is after every failed challenge

[@SmartLego-it1wj]

You're always so creative with your ideas. I'm always excited to see what you come up with next.

[@godblessamerica99]

Let's be honest. It all comes down to the skill of the driver.

[@user-ezdubs]

i love seige strider he is me and I love how hard he tried and against all odds he's still here and his gears didn't slip like milky wheels

[@Steppenkater]

Put some rubber on the pads of the DualTrack Dominator and it's almost unbeatable. Also the Milky Wheel is incredible. It just need some stronger gears that don't slip.

[@ggroombr]

The golden snail is essentially just a Sherp ATV. No wonder it did well!

[@retrolutiongames9479]

Seems to me that the leg types performed most consistently on the differing terrain overall, which may explain why nature evolved animals to have legs rather than wheels?

[@connorlarson7390]

I feel like the dual track dominator would fare a bit better of the plastic wedges were rubber, since it looked like the DTD lacked grip on the TOW.

[@gsestream]

milky for the win

[@brizkt7480]

Some of these have little to do with the wheels, but everything to do with power to weight distribution and traction to surface area ratios.

[@nickrexroth2785]

I loved the 6x6 but he did pretty poorly for having that many rubber wheels. It was mostly the solid frame that hurt him. Not sure why he didn't win in tug of war for having all that grip. Maybe he was too light

[@sanidan2010]

Deformable and rubbery wins the day.

[@redrex6642]

Milky Wheel, GoldenGrip Snail and StepMaster Cruiser are clearly the best designs

[@gershommaes902]

Immediately liked beetlebot. So proud he won the tug of war.

[@Dom-Perignon]

If anyone is interested in a game version of this play fantastic contraptions. Timeless game

[@uniquely.mediocre1865]

Okay but I love that the big winners were the steampunk-esque wheels like the goldensnail (which was basically gears for wheels) the springy spiral wheels, and the giant stepper, like it honestly gives creative inspiration

[@Runescope]

Give the "Stepmaster Cruiser" some traction instead of super smooth feet and it'd probably walk over everything in the tug of war. (See what I did there?)

[@catzual]

For tug of wars... need to level playing field of having them same weights... and rubber grips

[@enyu3591]

Try tank type wheels and a stronger gear ratio for each one. Plus, you can add better and equal grip for all of the machines.

[@Roboseal2]

These are so fun to watch.

[@ruwa8754]

I honestly think the dominator could have won the tug of war if it didn't have those things on its tracks

[@sethtaylor4198]

Love the head-to-head type videos!

[@Hoshimaru57]

I’m disqualifying anything with 3D printed parts because not all of us have a 3D printer. So I’m going with the Stair Master because it handled everything you threw at it, and despite being at a significant disadvantage on a smooth surface, managed to hold its own against your Golden Gripper.

[@robertlandrum]

I think if the skids on the bottom of the Dual Track Dominator were TPU, it would have held on better and beaten Beetle bot.

[@Unapersonaconunmicroscopio]

In the tug of war, gear runner 6X6 would have destroyed the beetle bot if it had the same grippy wheels.

[@Shadowdoby2129]

Step master cruiser is super cool only slicing in grip so the hill climb I was surprised and the tug o war didn’t expect it to last as long as it did

[@chriscubbernuss3288]

Beetle Bot finally won one! Good job little fella!

[@FlakManiak]

The StepMaster Cruiser has captured my heart; I was rooting for it 200% in every category.

[@VultureXV]

I like the idea of golddngrip, BUT i dont like the potential introduction of points of failure with the wheel's teeth falling out. The dual tread has a ton of torque but honestly this is a rover probe, why does it need all that torque? The milky way takes a nice spin on things but it has the same concerns i have for goldengrip. The beetle is surprisingly efficient on some of these tests but i am concerned about all the moving parts and the potential for failure in any one of them. The stairmaster did a hilariously good job but once again, lots of damn moving parts and the potential for failure incesases with each mechanical moving part. The wheel designs have less potential for failure but barely succeeded when they did and lagged behind the other designs. Personally, if the Milkyway was made with durable material that wouldn't break depending on a "bad step" that would probably win in my book. Simple enough to be used for sample gathering and data collection while also being straightforward, lightweight, etc. weight is a massive player when you need to calculate sending something into space...

[@yuzemir]

9:13 sarı yuvarlak tekerleklerde kauçuk var, ayaklı olanın altında kauçuk olsaydı kaymazdı adaletli bir karşılaşma olabilirdi. Bu malzeme karşılaştırmasına benzemiyor tasarım karşılaştırması olması gerekir

[@sharksblades7118]

Surface was unfair in the "thug of war" dominator and gear runner would prevail on more sturdier terrain

[@luciangamer9882]

Since tug o war is just the grip and everything I like stepsister cruiser bc it isn't complicated with pillows

[@DarkRoseOwO]

if the tracked one had rubber on top of these grey blocks it would get the tug of war, seems the heaviest and has the most surface area

[@mouse_cop]

This video proves that tanks are awesome and should be road legal 👍

[@realbartsimpson]

The stepmaster - a weapon to surpass metal gear.

[@mtheory3]

Dr. Suess would be proud of the Step Master

[@miyurosewood3837]

dual section one - there is a russian (soviet originally) all-terrain vehicle like that - DT-30, but torque is passed from front secion to rear via couplings and transmission.

[@user-fk2oi2yn2f]

Your work is very impressive! Guys, you are the best!

[@DrEngine]

Thank you so much 😀

[@c.009]

I can imagine engineers at NASA doing the same thing in their lab: “Now let’s see if we can fold it up to the size of a postcard and drop it from orbit.”

[@CODDE117]

Siege Strider needs a buff, some little rubber pieces on the wheel nubs would bring it to top tier.

[@yeetyeet4380]

I love these kinds of videos because I can see car designs with their pros and cons and build similar ones in building games.

[@nienke7713]

I was rooting for milky wheels, it being in the thumbnail made me click this video, and it looks by far the best

[@marossedik2130]

7:04 I found this satisfying

[@OppositeOpinion]

I immediately hit the like button when I saw that light!

[@mrboneahmah1648]

"beat that" *moon walk -stepmaster cruiser-

[@Darkstar321]

The last test bugs me because a lot of tracks and treds are meant for different terrain sorts. For example, stepmaster would have done much better in the tug of war if its feet had rubber on the bottom. And the tank tred one would have been much more formidable with some dirt for its treds to get. I love your works. Thus far though I'm a huge fan of the StepMaster and think you have so much potential. You could probably eek out a bit more power from the step master if you alligned the feet slightly apart on the rows. Right now it's like | | but what if you lined the wheels like / \ So that the back feet where slightly outside the inner feet. So both sets of feet would get clean dirt as they rotated.

[@blaukitten5317]

DuelTrack Dominator would have bodied if it had more traction at the end..

[@jclark2752]

Love it! I just wish it had some epic commentary like the Jelle's Marble Olympic guys… 😄

[@maximussolini]

If the DualTrack Dominator had those teeth made of rubber, he would destroy that Golden Snail 8(