Why is the sheet metal on Toyotas so damn cheap

Hoods are generally the thinnest sheet metal in a car. They are made light to save weight and fuel.

Because Japanese (and european) cars are generally much more efficient than their gas-guzzling counterparts due to being lower weight for the same size of engine.To get the lower weight they make them smaller and of thinner metal. We dont get mental hail storms over here so it doesnt bother us, and they wont make the metal thicker to suit what is, to them, a limited market (US+canada).

My celica has dented wings from the MOT man pressing on them to test the shock absorbers -thats how thin.

Its usually DEAD cheap to replace though, which is a bonus.

J

Corvette's are fiberglass.

Yup.

And your Corvette is Plastic...

It may be plastic (fiberglass) , but there is no dent. In either case, I got one of those suction systems that pulls up the dents. Will try it this weekend to see if it works.

This may be relevant. A friend who worked in the purchasing dept of a big British car company -- back when we had some of those, a bit like the US still (just) has -- told me they used steel that work-hardens. When new, it is softer than it will be, allowing complex pressings to be made more easily. The vibrations of the car's everyday existence cause the steel to become harder. Thus, he said, don't apply excess localised pressure to any sheet metal parts, at least for the first few months of normal use. Meaning, eg: not slamming a door by bumping its side with your butt; etc.

If the same kind of steel was used in those two new(ish) cars of yours, hail and kids' balls could easily exert excess localised pressure.

Just a thought.

2 words: Dent Wizard. Costs about $50 per dent last time I used them. Satisfaction guaranteed or you don't pay.

Sounds like a load of nonsense to me. Vibrating the car isn't going to make the body harder, sorry. That's not what work-hardening is.

OTOH, the thickness of sheet-metal on cars is something I've been curious about. It's one of the many things that the manufacturers simply do not tell you. I wish they would provide information about things like metal thickness and anti-corrosion measures, but they don't.

Sorry, this is wrong. Work hardening only occurs when the metal has been taken beyond its yield point repeatedly. Vibrations in a car body occur within the elastic region (or your car would alter its shape too as you drove it) so work hardening doesnt apply. Your friend in the purchasing department should keep his nose out of engineering lol.

J

The average used is 22 gauge steel. The best HC 22 gauge currently on the market was developed by Bethlehem Steel, the former owner of the Burns Harbor plant now owned by an Indian company that bought our ISG, the company that bought BSCO. Toyota uses steel made in a former American owned steel plant, the name of which escapes me at the moment, now owned by Nippon Steel Co.

mike hunt

I believe steel isn't just steel now. There are all kinds of things in it to make it quiet and strong. That is why when you hear a car crash, if it is a newer car it is a low pitch sound but if it is an old car it is a high pitch sound. Also that is why Dent Wizard works. They can only work one newer cars with flexible steel.

It _may_ be a load of nonsense; and I agree it clashes with the usual idea of what causes work hardening. But it's thirty years too late to check, as he told me that around 1974. OTOH, AIUI (from a factory department where I worked briefly as a student, which did the factory's various hardening jobs) the steel chains used for cranes must be annealed now and then to correct effects of working loads; whether that counts as "work hardening", pass.

Toyotas are primarily designed for the Japanese market. In the Japanese market, gasoline is at least double what it is in the US. They need to make fuel efficient cars, so they are desinged with very strong frames and very light panels. If I felt like being a wise ass, I'd say, "Buy a Ford" But I don't! ;)

Actually they have no real frame at all. Just engine cradles and reinforcing members as needed. Full perimeter frames take up too much room unless you are a Ford towncar, or other old design car, or a truck.

They still have main structural box sections creating a 'chassis' and panels added on that arent required for the stiffness of the car.

The steel on older car was a heaver gauge, but todays steels are 'stronger ;)

mike hunt

Andrew Stephenson wrote: OTOH, AIUI

That'll be due to localised plastic deformation due to high loads in a very small area (contact point between chain links). If allowed to build these could cause massive internal stresses to be generated.

J

My 99 Camry V6 has a VERY heavy hood. Nobody cheaped out on it. However, the doors, for example, ding very easily.

Kids' BALLS coming in contact with the sheet metal? Like in an accident?

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