2005 Ford Truck Changes?

I don't know about Ford, but GM has taken a few steps backward with its 2005 Silverado and Sierra 1500-series trucks:

There are 3 differences in standard equipment for 2005:

2004 2005 4-wheel disk brakes Front disc/rear DRUM brakes

P235/75R16 tires P245/70R17 tires Max rating 2271 lbs. Max rating 2205 lbs.

Rear axle 3.42 ratio Rear axle 3.23 ratio

The other difference is the EPA rating of the 2005 truck with the following equipment:

4-SPD automatic transmission Vortec 4800 V8 SFI gas engine

2004 2005 City 17/Highway 20 City 16/Highway 21

After 6 years of using rear disc brakes, GM made the decision to go back to antiquated drum brakes on the rear of its 2005 1500-series trucks to save money. Even though drum brakes have more parts than disc brakes and are harder to service, they are less expensive to manufacture.

In a feeble attempt to give some credibility to its decision to reinstate the old fashioned rear drum brake system, GM has made the brake drums bigger. This "improvement" was undoubtedly done to increase stopping power and heat dissipation. Now, GM would like us to believe that its rear drum brakes are superior to its earlier rear disk brakes. However, GM has stopped short of putting drum brakes on the front of its trucks -- at least for the 2005 model year.

Unfortunately, the newly-designed rear drum brake system of the 2005

1500-series trucks has a drum which is now so large that it requires the use of a 17-inch rim in order to give it adequate clearance. The use of this larger rim necessitates the use of lower profile tires, so the load capacity of the 4 standard-equipment tires of the 2005 truck is reduced by 264 pounds when compared to the standard tires which were on the 1999-2004 1500-series trucks with 16-inch rims.

It appears that GM has used the new 3.23 rear axle ratio to obtain higher highway mileage in the 2005 truck. There will now be a decrease of 4th-gear power of around 6% and the lower city rating indicates that there will also be an increase in down-shifting. In my opinion, this is another big step backward.

Here's what the GMC website has to say in regard to technological advances:

"What is professional grade? It's a commitment to a higher standard of innovative engineering, design, and performance." As of the 2005 model year, this statement became total bullshit.

So, what does GM's backward technology and product degradation have to do with Ford? Plenty! Ford may have followed suite and downgraded its trucks as well.

Watch out!

formatting link

Reply to
One-Shot Scot
Loading thread data ...

At first glance, it appears Ford has raised the bar for its trucks in every category. It really had no choice if it wanted to remain #1 because the Japanese offerings in the full size lines will offer tough competition. When they take away market share, Ford wants to be sure it's from GM and Chrysler. The 250/350's look stronger than ever.

Reply to
XLanManX

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.