by Jonathan » Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:03 pm
International is already making the current Ford diesels, are you talking about a possible engine for the light duty trucks when the ULEV II diesel regs come into play? I think Ford is planning a new diesel for next model Super Duty trucks, but it's not a different diesel, just a stroked version of their current model designed for more power and fuel economy (just hearsay, though, I think it was a 6.4L twin turbo concept). Far as the Split Pin, it seems like the smaller the diesel International makes, the worse it is <shrugs>
Of all the new trucks, I'm really wondering about the longevity of the Honda Ridgeline truck design. Unibody combined with a ladder style truck. They weren't the first to do this, Ford did the same in the early 60s with the F100 and called it the Styleside, to give a smoother look since the cab integrated with the bed. Later they ditched it because they found that with heavy loads, the bed flexed at a different rate than the cab, and that corrosion from the bed or fenders could transfer to the cab. The Honda is still subject to the exact same problem, although the chassis is a bit stronger, but it also has independant rear suspension and no stabilizers to aid the truck during towing. Plus the issues with the engine, the Ridgeline is using an anemic V6 designed for higher RPM pull and doesn't wake up until about 3,000 RPM or so, the engine is horizontally opposed, and is AWD, but primarily FWD unless traction slips, and can only apply torque to the rear wheels to a certain speed. Then there is an independant rear suspension, which rides well, but isn't rugged nor does it do well off roadd, and now you have 4 CV axles to have to worry about and a rear end alignment, which have never been rugged to begin with and don't handle flex worth a crap. Off road reviewers have already said it makes a lot of strange noises from the chassis under load, and Honda is trying their best to advertise this as a tough truck since it's based off their minivan platform. They could surprise me, but for a truck (assuming the buyer uses it for a truck, which most of them won't) it just doesn't seem like a good engineering exercise.
International is already making the current Ford diesels, are you talking about a possible engine for the light duty trucks when the ULEV II diesel regs come into play? I think Ford is planning a new diesel for next model Super Duty trucks, but it's not a different diesel, just a stroked version of their current model designed for more power and fuel economy (just hearsay, though, I think it was a 6.4L twin turbo concept). Far as the Split Pin, it seems like the smaller the diesel International makes, the worse it is <shrugs>
Of all the new trucks, I'm really wondering about the longevity of the Honda Ridgeline truck design. Unibody combined with a ladder style truck. They weren't the first to do this, Ford did the same in the early 60s with the F100 and called it the Styleside, to give a smoother look since the cab integrated with the bed. Later they ditched it because they found that with heavy loads, the bed flexed at a different rate than the cab, and that corrosion from the bed or fenders could transfer to the cab. The Honda is still subject to the exact same problem, although the chassis is a bit stronger, but it also has independant rear suspension and no stabilizers to aid the truck during towing. Plus the issues with the engine, the Ridgeline is using an anemic V6 designed for higher RPM pull and doesn't wake up until about 3,000 RPM or so, the engine is horizontally opposed, and is AWD, but primarily FWD unless traction slips, and can only apply torque to the rear wheels to a certain speed. Then there is an independant rear suspension, which rides well, but isn't rugged nor does it do well off roadd, and now you have 4 CV axles to have to worry about and a rear end alignment, which have never been rugged to begin with and don't handle flex worth a crap. Off road reviewers have already said it makes a lot of strange noises from the chassis under load, and Honda is trying their best to advertise this as a tough truck since it's based off their minivan platform. They could surprise me, but for a truck (assuming the buyer uses it for a truck, which most of them won't) it just doesn't seem like a good engineering exercise.