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Not sure if it was a real question or not, but here goes.
I did buy all 3 of my Excursions because they are far and away better then any Suburban. its bigger in every way, has superior HD drive trains...and i wont buy anything but a Ford because everything else in my humble opinion is an inferior product.
One of my Excursions gave its life in a head on crash that i walked away from with minor injuries. I went on the hunt the same day for its replacement.
My point is the SD cab design (designed in the late 90s mind you) does just as good of a job protecting its occupants as the other american truck brands that all at this time have updated cab designs much newer then that of the Super Duty.
Exactly. A friend of mine in the Portland Oregon area had a head-on collision with a wrong way drunk driver on HWY 26 heading west out of Portland. Gary was driving 2000 7.3L SC SB 4X4. He walked away also. The drunk was killed instantly.
Yikes. I know that section of Hwy 26. Almost bought a place in Manning. That undivided two way curvy commuter corridor of carnage would have been my daily drive. Glad your friend walked away.
AlaskanEx... I have read your posts over the last couple of years, and wouldn't have dared asked the question if it wasn't already abundantly clear how much you like your Ex's. And you give specific reasons for liking them... "bigger in every way", "superior HD drive train," etc. Key words being "bigger", not "no smaller than," and "superior", not "no worse than."
Guys, this thread, and my call for better cab structure, isn't about the competition. It isn't about what the other brands are doing or not doing. It is about what is FORD doing... "Lately"? (some readers might not be old enough to remember Ford's advertising slogan that lately is in reference to).
The title question is: "What do you want to see on the 2016 truck?" And my answer is, I want to see the cab structure with A, B, and C pillars as sturdy as my 1963 F100 (designed 30 years earlier than the 90's)... or even my 1979 F250. I get that metal thickness has been removed over the years to lower costs and shed weight. I get that higher strength steels and new alloys can be thinner while offering similar tensile strength. But I also see more flattened cabs in the Super Duty body style than I've ever seen in previous generation Fords.
I'm saying that I'd like to see Ford address this concern with the body for 2016/17. The current body will have had a 17/18 year run. The previous Ford truck body also had a 17 year run (1980-1997). At a 17 year refresh cycle, whatever cab Ford introduces in the next couple of years, will likely be with us for the next couple of decades. Perhaps it is far too late in the design cycle to be making this request, but I'm not the first or only person to make it.
Entire organizations have formed to address rollover collision safety with modern day pickup trucks and body on frame SUVs. Perhaps because these vehicles are built on a separate frame, some economy is eeked out of the cab structure design... since unlike unibody vehicles (most cars today) the cabs on the pickups and large SUVs do not have to also function as a stiff unit body space frame to tie the two axles together. The ladder rail frame takes care of that function.
But whatever the reason is, something should be improved here. One of the organizations built a roll over collision bay, and mounted a couple of Ford Expeditions on a rotisserie, and simulated roll over collisions. Quite interesting to watch, it's on You Tube somewhere. I'll try and find it later. The first Expedition they roto-crashed was as built by Ford. On the second Expedition, they made a few small reinforcments in the A, B, and C pillars. These reinforcements were imperceptible... utterly invisible... I'm still trying to figure out what they did (Shear plates? Gussets? Two part catalylised structural foam?). The roto-crashed the pillar reinforced Expedition... HUGE DIFFERENCE that is clearly visible on the video.
THAT'S what I want to see on the next Super Duty. Whether the cab is made from Aluminum, Steel, or recycled plastic (one day, I'm sure this is coming), I'd like to see more attention paid to the roll over crush performance of cabs in the Ford trucks. That desire is not inspired by, nor tempered by, whatever Ford's competitors are doing.
If I walked into Carrow's for breakfast, and the wait person asked me how I would like my eggs, I wouldn't say "I'd like them no worse than the eggs served at Denny's." No, I would tell the folks at Carrow's how I'd like my eggs. And likewise, I'm here and now telling the folks at Ford how I'd like my Super Duty.
I'd like to see them bring back the V10 option. My 2009 F250 with the V10 is the best truck I've ever owned and I still love it like the first day I started it (bought new). And I've had A LOT of trucks...
Whether the Super Duty is worse than, or no worse than, other pickups on the market as far as cabs crushing, can be both debatable as well as immaterial at the same time......
I understand your point, but my question is does the Super Duty cab represent a substantially bigger hazard to it's occupants than other full size trucks? Injury statistics could prove this out if it is true. Full size trucks by their nature are more prone to rollovers (particularly when modified), and due to their weight is a 'tall order' to engineer the cab to withstand the weight of the vehicle in a rollover. Rollover roof crush was one of those things no one considered back in the day, no question a lot of older vehicles performed very poorly in this regard.
Some changes i would like to see that in my opinion are realistic are
1.No more hard plastic dash
2.Please put a real fuel tank in the shortbox!
3.Child seat latches in the back, more and more of these are family vehicles. I hate using the stupid seat belt for a car seat. Every other manufacturer of diesel trucks has them
4.remote locking tailgate
5.new headlights. preferably LED
6.Bigger wheels on the F350 Dually. not those little pizza cutters
7.Cargo/fifth wheel camera
8.NO locking fuel door. up here in canada it would just freeze shut in the winter
9.DEF guage
10.Particulate filter guage and manual regen option
11. SRW with towing capacity of 18000 so i can pull my fifth wheel without getting a dually
12. Real fenders for the dually if I do have to get one.
Love my 2011. Wish i had the better nav system and the exhaust brake but overall I love my Ford and look forward to the new ones coming out
One advantage of the hard plastic dashes is that they don't crack and split after being baked for 14 years in 100 degree UV sunlight, like the softer dash pads did on every previous truck made since painted metal dashboards were eliminated. The 99 up Super Duty is the first truck dashboard I've had long term, in any vehicle of any type, that hasn't cracked or split, since my first Ford... a 1963 Ford F-100, which had solid metal.
All this new Dodge & GM fancy foo foo leather looking pleather and "stitching" on their new dash boards has yet to stand the test of time. Those soft materials are yet unproven as to how they will hold up after years of exposure in a non garaged truck.
Hard plastics most certainly do crack and break from age. As plastic gets old it becomes brittle. Not to mention the oils in the plastic dries out and the plastic can shrink. Not to mention the sun bleaching that happens as well. As far as leather and vinyl surfaces are concerned, as long as they are cleaned and conditioned properly they will last. But that is the key. Most people don't put the effort into conditioning the leather and vinyl in their cars and trucks. Therefore those materials can and do break down over time as well.
Hard plastics most certainly do crack and break from age. As plastic gets old it becomes brittle. Not to mention the oils in the plastic dries out and the plastic can shrink. Not to mention the sun bleaching that happens as well. As far as leather and vinyl surfaces are concerned, as long as they are cleaned and conditioned properly they will last. But that is the key. Most people don't put the effort into conditioning the leather and vinyl in their cars and trucks. Therefore those materials can and do break down over time as well.
That would be me. Rubbing and scrubbing a truck that stays outside is at the very bottom of my priority list. I want a truck that doesn't need coddling.
Of course some hard plastics crack and get brittle with age. I've currently got a WTB post on the classified section looking for parted out sunvisors, because the hard plastic (polyoxymethylene, aka POM) cracked apart, presumably from being baked against the black roof of the truck, and the sun visor fell down. POM has about the same durometer as Delrin, and is non cohesive with epoxies like JB Weld. I can't seem to find POM plastic welding rods in the United States. (Only in Europe and Asia, it seems, but still looking).
Of course some hard plastics bleach. The tops of all my hard plastic (polypropylene, aka PP) door panels are turning white and chalky, even though their original base color was injected into the mold, not painted afterwards. And even my hard plastic (Thermal Plastic Polyolefin, aka TPP) Lariat trim appliques that are sonically welded to the door panel are starting to change color on the top, but I guess that makes the "wood" look more authentic, since wood fades too.
HOWEVER, whatever hard plastic Ford put on the Super Duty dashboard has neither cracked, split, nor faded. And I've never had a "dash topper" of any kind on it, and the truck has never been garaged it's life. THAT's the kind of dashboard I want to see in the next Super Duty. Skip all that soft stitching. I want something that lasts.
Glass headlamps. That way they won't fade and yellow over time. To me there is nothing that ages a late model vehicle fast than this. Even a clapped put beater looks much new and better with like new headlamps.
Dear Folks at Ford... While you set about introducing an entire new cab for the Super Duty, can you please make it safer?
A recent 2013 Super Duty:
When NHTSA proposed that roof crush resistance standards for vehicles under 6,000 GVWR be extended to apply to vehicles up to 10,000 GVWR, Ford petitioned.
When NHTSA proposed that roofs should withstand 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle, Ford argued that 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle was adequate.
I'd say the Super Duty is no worse then any other truck on the market for roof strength.
The last truck appears to be a 2007 or newer GMC. They seem to be a bit stronger, notice the roof didn't completely fail (and it's an extended cab with no 'B' pillar as well). Lot's of variables to consider, but notice the crew cab Super Duty is worse (and it has 'B' pillars). The GMC cab is an 8 year newer design than the Super Duty.
The last truck appears to be a 2007 or newer GMC. They seem to be a bit stronger, notice the roof didn't completely fail (and it's an extended cab with no 'B' pillar as well). Lot's of variables to consider, but notice the crew cab Super Duty is worse (and it has 'B' pillars). The GMC cab is an 8 year newer design than the Super Duty.
All depends on how the truck lands, every roll over is like a snow flake..every one is different. i made a very quick google search to find what i did. It is a much newer design as stated though.
09-02-2014, 06:15 AM
