OT-Bed Bounce-OT

I'm wondering who paid for the test?

I wonder why Dodge was not included in the comparison?

Bob

Well since the video on the screen had a Ford logo on it and the Silver Creek Proving Ground belongs to Ford I think it's probably safe to assume Ford paid for it!

However from the looks of it that wasn't really meant for the general public, it was meant for Ford themselves to measure how they stack up against the competition... and in this case very well.

It would be interesting to see how a Champ would do on that test!

Jeff DeWitt

ALEX M. wrote:

Here is more about that test...

RE: ""> I wonder why Dodge was not included in the comparison?"

Why no Dodge? Because it has not had a complete makeover in more than five years, and competes in today's market mainly through brand loyalty and huge rebates (price).

All of these trucks are "all new" within the past three years.

I know that Ford has really been pushing frame stiffness, and so has Chevy as well... I seriously doubt my dad's '73 Chevy would do as well as the new one in that test; I have noticed a fair amount of frame flex over rough roads (as evidenced by movement between the front of the bed and the rear of the cab, as shown in that video.)

Too bad the new Fords are fugly; apparently somewhere in the late 90s they actually got a decent front suspension setup... I'd still pick the Chevy on aesthetics alone though, and driving a last-generation Ford and Chevy back to back, I far preferred the ride and handling of the Chevy...

nate

Jeff DeWitt wrote:

I think it would be neat to see how a 55 or 56 Packard with the torsion bar suspension would do over that same testing section of the road. Anyone remember the picture of the fish bowl on the back of a 55 patrician with the blown rear tire?

This is the kind of irrelevant testing that makes US automakers great. (right) I havn't driven down a set of railroad tracks since high schol when a car load of us drove my 56 Dodge convertible down the abandoned railroad tracks in the Natchaug state forest. Who gives a shit about how trucks compare at 28 mph on Fords bumpy track? Whats more important is the vehicle response at 70 when the truck or truck and trailer hit a bridge expansion joint and starts to tramp and the rig turns sideways in the road like my old Durango did all the time. I'm one of the most die hard buy American buyers and these guys once again are demonstrating their complete lack of connection with the real world. Bill

Sort of like the UAW workers walking out on strike yesterday...... 'for job security', huh...

"Bill Clark" wrote...

What is their current hourly rate? Around $60 ph??

Screw em and GM if they capitulate!

JT

Jeff Rice wrote:

Come on out here to rural farmland America.... there are still pleny of graded stone roads out here that would make that test track look like glass.

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

just about any dirt road with a little rain, some traffic, and no maintenance will washboard bad enough to give you the same thrill. But did you notice that the camera angle changed on the Ford truck, much more to the side, so that it was difficult to see if the rear end was dancing around? Ford has a long history of doctored movies going back at least to the Corvair.

Reminds me of when I worked at Rockwell bumper devision and we lost the Studebaker business. The company had a deal to do Buick bumpers if we met a production goal. The company asked for the unions help and explained that we'd go to a third shift and hire more workers. The union decided they had the company over the barrel and demanded more money, we went out on strike, lost the contract and the plant shut down a year later. I could not find a job that paid half of what I'd been getting and went back in the Navy. Most of the other line workers took jobs for a fraction of what they'd been making. It's too bad we don't live in a capitalist country where the workers that feel $50-$60 a hour is not enough could be replaced by those willing to work for that or less. GM should sell everything to the Japanese, then they could open new plants in the south to make Chevy's for a lot less.

Grumpy AuContraire wrote:

Or GM could pare down their operation and build their own plants in the south.

I support workers rights, not worker/corporate extortion.

Those striking workers probably signed (de facto) their own termination paperwork...

JT

John Poulos wrote:

If the results of this test were opposite what was found, and if CBS, NBC, ABC or CNN had gotten their hands on video of the Chevy and Ford beds gouging into the back of the cabs, there would already be a class action lawsuit, owner horror stories on 60 Minutes, and a NHSTA investigation into the defective frames on the American trucks. A recall requiring frame reinforcements would be a certainty. I can just see Leslie Stahl asking an owner/victim "At only 28 miles per hour?".

As far as the UAW strike, Union leaders refuse to see it, but Japan's best salesmen today wear the UAW logo on their picket posters. Despite sympathetic media stories sure to be run about their plea for "job security", the UAW will not gain any traction from a sympathetic public in their fight. They have much more to lose than GM, and are assured to lose it if they refuse to compromise. I wonder how many Studebaker guys regretted the 1962 strike in 1963?

I heard it was a bit more, averaging about $80 (plus benefits!)

Idiots.

Jeff DeWitt

Grumpy AuC> What is their current hourly rate? Around $60 ph??

Is that cost to the company or in the pocket of the worker?

Cost to the company, it's a bit high but I could see it.

If it's in the pockets of the workers, I wonder if my employer would give me a leave of absence. (not likely!)

nate

Jeff DeWitt wrote:

The employee, presumably before taxes.

Jeff DeWitt

Nate Nagel wrote:

Actually the line workers don't make $80/hr. everything I've read online says they're now getting $200/week strike pay compared to their $1000/week ($25/hr).

$80/hr. x 2080 hours per year = $166,440. And there ain't no way in hell assembly line workers are making that kind of money... if they were they wouldn't be on the picket line.

Lee