WIP Beta released Heavy duty Off-road semi suggestions and bug report 4.1.0

If you mean the side view at 40-45 seconds, those wheels are still on the ground, still supporting substantial weight. But their individual suspensions are raised up quite a bit compared to the section right under the saddle supporting the vessel.

Every set of wheels is maneuverable. If they're just moving the trailers, they'll lift a lot of them. (Although they'll stack them up to move them more efficiently.) With a heavy load, they're all on the ground. I don't know what the control system looks like, but I imagine it's a fairly complex block of code, reacting in real time to terrain changes, side forces from wind and turning, pressure loss in individual tires, etc.

Getting back on topic (Sorry for derailing this)

To model a SPMT (self-propelled modular trailer) in BeamNG, you could get away with not modeling every wheel set completely. You could have a lot of dummy wheels modeled into the body of the trailer (like all of the inside wheels). The ground doesn't deflect, so you wouldn't have the real-world concern of destroying the road. A couple dozen active tires along the endges would be less resource-intensive because you could use a rigid, non-deforming material to mimic doing the job of a hundred or more. The inner tires could be a non-colliding material to avoid complications with uneven road surfaces. Tires wouldn't be switchable, and pressure wouldn't be changeable.

You could use maybe eight suspension units per trailer, with straight vertical travel, heavily damped. You wouldn't even need to see them from the outside, just model one giant spring and shock for each unit.

To make them modular, you'd need rigid couplers on all four sides. You could have power units to mount front or back. In @PIISIGMA's pic, the power units are high-mounted at the front. There are also units that are no higher than the trailer, and nearly touch the ground, mounted front or back.

Mounting a load on a single trailer would be easy: 2 to 4 saddles coupled using nodes. No relative movement necessary. For something like the Heartland video, you'd need to model the base plate and swivel joint below the saddle in the middle of each trailer group. (Each trailer in that project is actually four trailer modules.)

Truck modifications

To modify the truck, you'd add a weight on the fifth-wheel, and front and rear tow bars coupled to the trailer or to another truck. (Notice the tandem tractor arrangement in the video.) You'd use the biggest engine available, and the model already has snow chains for winter moves like we do here in Alberta. (Loads like this have to be moved in winter when the ground is frozen and the bridges are stiffer. So even though the Big One will be done in a couple of months, it will sit in our yard until next winter.)

For multi-tractor moves, you'd also need a way to control multiple trucks at once (or have really good coordination with a multi-player mod).

All in all, it would be a hell of a project. As a complete programming noob, I wouldn't be much help except for providing limited input on the real-world version. I don't work with the trailers themselves; I manage the health & safety of the company that builds the pressure vessels. But I've got a mechanical design diploma, so I understand the mechanics of it all.

Extra trivia

Just FYI, here are some specs of the bigger version of the vessel in the Heartland video, the one we're building now:

Length: 340 feet (Will be like a 35-story building when lifted upright)
Diameter: 28 feet
Empty weight: 850 tons (Just the vessel. Total weight with trailers will be close to 2000 tons.)
Internal volume: 5,450,000 liters (1,440,000 US gallons) ...and we have to fill it up with water to hydro test it.
It takes about a year to build something like this.

But if you think that's impressive, I talked to one of the Mammoet guys before they moved the vessel in the video, and he told me that the previous year, in Russia, they moved a load ten times that size.

 

Jeez that is insane but it would be awesome if it could be in game.

 

The Radiator is extremely fragile
--- Post updated ---
the trucks radiator is extremely fragile

 

Already got it fixed, just waiting to do some other stuff before to posting the update. Thanks for letting me know tho

 

You talking about the upfit?

But the truck is great though its the strongest vehicle in the game i love absolutely obliterating cars and ai cops

 

--- Post updated ---
what new things are going to be added

 

No good maps have enough space to use that.

 

https://www.beamng.com/resources/roane-county-tennessee-usa.1586/
But yeah, you're mostly right

 

New cosmetic body stuff, changed a bit the interior, 3 axle trailer, new loads, new senarios, better rigidity for the frames, new skins, some high/low range transmission for steering wheel users for the 12speeds and 18speeds, and lots of other stuff that I don't remember

 

3 axle trailer omg yes

 

souunds great this truck is by far the best in the game

 

Will the 3 axle trailer also be usable with the t-series and other trucks?

 

Yes, I just modified the 2 axle one so it could have more weight on it. Actually I just remembered I made a 3 axle and a 4 axle version

Screenshot of my screenshot:

 

Cool!

 

I literally won't be happy until I can haul this:
https://beamng.com/resources/dmm512-diesel-locomotive.11142/
but anyway, great work! would it be possible to make a small wall at the end of the flatbed, like this? Or make the axles turn? (I'm sorry I'm just so excited, apart from the 30/50 ton trailers we never got a proper heavy transport semi trailer)

And damn, I know I can't be the only one who wants a road train dirty truck and 50 tons of livestock behind it, driving this either on the Long Desert Road, Nevada Interstate, or just Utah. This is probably the closest we will ever get to Steve Graham'S legendary C501

Can we get this megatranz thingie?

 

There are road train type trailers in this mod
https://www.beamng.com/resources/gavril-t-series-addon.178/

 

I might make the axles turn in the future but not rn, yeah I'll see if I can make a wall

 

I know, love the mod

 

Do you think you might add body colored steps and black or body colored fuel tank options? Like, to still have the current ones available, but with those as well?