I cannot get the rams to lift or lower the tipper body. I suspect it has something to do with the clutch mechanism since all the shafts and gears rotate freely until the clutch is connected. The white clutch mechanism seems very stiff to turn. Is this normal for this clutch in a new set?
I can get the hauler to drive and steer ok but it won't operate the loader.
Two steps below are taken from first instruction booklet for the 42114 set. Since one end of the clutch is locked it basically tells, that under normal conditions, clutch should not be spinning at all. Clutch is used as a safety feature within the build, when something get stuck, not to cause further damage to gears or human flesh. So in this case it should only begin spinning if the rest of the gear train is having issues.
I'm not entirely sure what could be causing your issue of bed not operating, but I suspect one other tricky place could be the reason. Please pay attention to the location of 20 tooth bevel gear for each side (highlighted in blue) in the pictures below. One of these needs to be on top on one side and on the bottom on the other. If placed in the same direction, one side will pull while the other will be pushing.
I built this project and found that I also had issues with the build. After several rip-aparts and tests, I discovered what I believe many are messing up on this build.
The early steps of building the gearbox are crucial to later success.
Once you get the gearbox built, but before you have connected the motors, operate everything manually to ensure that the purple clips and the orange shifter are aligned as shown in the diagram.
Also, be sure that each of the shift rings is connected properly to the orange shifter. You can test this by rotating the purple shift actuator axle above and ensuring that all 3 shift rings move accordingly.
Don't forget the extra red gears at the end of the gearbox assembly. If you have extra gears sitting in a bag at the end of bag 1, you probably did something wrong.
The shifting works as follows:
There is a Park Gear at full clockwise for the purple clip. It will be at the bottom. This is also where you can operate the dump function.
1st gear is 90 degrees counterclockwise with the purple clip away from you.
2nd gear is with the purple clip straight up.
3rd gear is with the purple clip flat and towards you.
Once you've fully assembled the model and connected the cab to the rear unit you can test to be sure that everything functions correctly.
Be sure and do a recalibration if you changed anything in the gearing.
I had forgotten that there is a 3rd differential hidden underneath the yellow 3x3 / under the dump function gearing in the center. If you don't connect the cab or alternately connect a geared load to the center shaft, nothing will operate and you'll wonder why.
Hopefully, these more detailed instructions will get you unstuck and you'll be operating your truck in no time.
A video showing the dumper drive running forward (up) and backward (down) can be seen here. I didn't make the video but it helped me correct the problems I was having with my build. https://bricksafe.com/pages/VermontDave
