What I would dearly love to see is for the Falcon trucks (Ford Falcon UTE) currently sold in the Australian market being sold by Ford in the continental USA.
I give them significant marks for aerodynamic styling and overall great looks!
Take a look at the below link, and see what you think about them...
i wouldnt say there lightyears behind toyota or gm.i personally think toyota has better engineers than both of them.thats pry because america is one of the dumbest coutries at least my generation in the world and japan and china are one of the smartest.if you look at the best engines ever in history youll see more ford engines than anyone.altough i hear ford is making a 6.2 boss which is more powerful than any newer light truck engine,that a good thing.
I think this is the post he was trying to to reply to
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P415 Product specialist/Dearborn truck plant
If you waste your time thinking about what if, you will miss what was myspace.com/f150builder
How do you figure ford is lightyears behind GM? I agree that they don't give us what we want/need, but its no different from GM or toyota
For starters, Ford is no longer the # two auto maker. They are for now # three. I've owned 11 Fords in the past 24 years and I have only had two that were/ are basically trouble free. "99 Taurus and an "86 F-150 4x4 300 cid engine. The rest of them including my '04 Expy have had some or many problems. I still own the Taurus and I totaled the "86.
Secondly, styling. Until the '99 SD hit the streets, Ford really didn't have a head turner. I don't consider the '97 era of F-150's and Expy's to be head turners. Ford sold out the rugged and easy to maintain I-beam IFS on it's 4x4's for the mess that we now have.
Engines and trannies: 300cid inline six, awesome motor, (gone). 3.8L v-6 great motor, (gone). 351 cid V-8 very durable, (gone). 7.3L gone. 3.0L V-6 (gone). These were all fantastic engines that I'm sure failed to meet the EPA's requirements and or HP/Tourque specs that Ford wanted to achieve. Ford has done good things with the Triton V-8's however, Yota and GM are doing the same or better with smaller engines. What is GM doing to achieve the MPG's that Ford isn't? I'm not and engineer, I'm a simple retired Coastie turned letter carrier. The '09 F-150 certainly isn't going to set the bar in terms of styling. Features and creature comforts, perhaps. Price? Way beyond what I'm willing to spend. Reliablity? We'll see about in the coming years. I would never say that Japan or China are smarter that us. Henry Ford put the world on wheels.
GM is doing it with Active Fuel Management, cruise speed shuts down 4 cylinders with the injectors not firing for that cylinder and the lifters are able to bleed off the oil also to keep from operating the valves. I am sorry to say the 5.3 is sweet no fuel pressure regulator, no egr valve just as compact in design as a 5.0 ford and 15city 19hwy and they scream. But the 5.4 is no slug either they have 4.10" of stroke they tow(what a truck is intended for work not just driving) they just arn't the best on fuel has ford ever been? my 351 does good on fuel but it does not have 4" of stroke.
Secondly I was looking at the reliabilty ratings over the summer top 10 was a lot more domestic than forigen, I am sick and tired of hearing oh this goes bad, that goes bad, ford sucks, chevy sucks, dodge well yeah( that comes later). China owns 70% of our national debt, we make nothing here anymore and what we do people look at it and say oh my thats high priced give me whats cheapest and going to last awhile. We have brought this on our sevles auto industry is improving things and we are saying well the Tundra is cheaper than the ford and the chevy but we never notice hey in the manual it says "don't rev engine camshaft failure will happen", if you drive with the tailgate down it will crack down the middle( guy at the autoshow showed me pics of 8 diffrent trucks that it happend to on the tundra) and transmission faulures but its cheaper, why not used?
What I like even better is when people say well forigen compaines have plants here, well thats nice but in the end when they sell a car that money still goes to the forigen company not to your own country. Just a stupid comparison I was in eating with some friends last week one ordered a shot came in a plastic shot glass after it was drank I looked at the bottom "made in China". A friend of mine went to Canada last week came back with a shot glass from a bar there on the bottom says "made in Canada"
Just my 2 cents
Curtis
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96 F150 4x4 Xcab short bed 351W/E4OD Eclipse Package
92 F150 4x4 stand. cab short bed 5speed 400M SEFI MA OBD-II- all in the works.
77 F150 4x4 stand. cab short bed 4speed 400 less now project aside for now body parts are $$$
If you want a great book to read on the subject, "Energy Victory" by Robert Zubrin is the best one I have seen for a direction to go to break from the oil monopoly. Jim
"Maybe if it rose higher it would push those in power to come up with alternatives."
The PUBLIC is not DEMANDING alternatives by BUYING them and rejecting expensive luxury vehicles. Therefore, the public is not REWARDING makers of economical vehicles sufficiently.
The public must make it worthwhile for the free market to produce econoboxes, or it will not do that.
Looks like GM is on big trouble, so ford's problems don't seem like such a big deal after all, at least not at a first glance.
The writing I can see on the wall here, is that in a few years it may be impossible to find a "domestic" vehicle that is made in the domestic market. Instead they will all be outsourced to cut costs.
So what does all this have to do with the 2009 F150?
In addition to financial problems, there may be a less fertile market in the years ahead. Think about it, the F150 is ford's bread and butter, and has been for the last 30 years, but aside from comfort and sophistication, the performance has not held pace with the times, power is not great, and neither is fuel economy. Oil prices have backed off recently with the slowdown in the US, but this will not last (at least not the better fuel prices), and with mandated fuel economy standards, I can't help but wonder if this truck is 5 years too late.
As a side note, the ford ranger will be canceled soon, and that means that ford does not even have a fuel efficient entry level truck anymore.
Am I off the wall here?
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Max W
06 F-350 4X4 6.0 PSD NORTH POLE, ALASKA
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Losing the Ford Ranger.....no big deal. That is the sorriest truck in that class. I had one. V-6 performance with V-8 fuel mileage
I can think of a few that might disagree, though I will admit that the ranger has become dated, especially with engines that do not deliver what is expected these days. From what I've heard the sport trak is no better for MPG, maybe worse. I am still sorry to hear the ranger is being axed, because for its size it is a very tough little truck, and indeed, it was the last of the true compact pickups.
The point I am truing to make is that fuel economy is a choice right now. If you want to drive an H2 hummer or supercrew king ranch as a daily driver, than you can, but that choice may not be there in the future unless significant strides are made in fuel milage. Otherwise we may see a return of the cheap econoboxes of the late 70s through the early 90s. Anyone remember the K-car or the mustang ll ("the right car for the right time" - Ford)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by monckywrench
"Maybe if it rose higher it would push those in power to come up with alternatives."
The PUBLIC is not DEMANDING alternatives by BUYING them and rejecting expensive luxury vehicles. Therefore, the public is not REWARDING makers of economical vehicles sufficiently.
The public must make it worthwhile for the free market to produce econoboxes, or it will not do that.
Again, its a matter of choice, and I have made mine (will not buy new). In this respect even I have to admit that the prius is a good compromise of luxury and efficiency, even if some non hybrids are getting better or similar MPGs. Your comments seem to echoed by the fact that toyota is choosing to develop larger hybrids (suvs) instead of lighter more fuel efficient hybrids.
There is something else to this discussion that should be mentioned, and that is the production of new vehicles every year. On the one hand vehicles are on average lasting longer, but on the other hand manufacturers are pushing harder and harder to sell more and more. And they have used almost any gimmick you can imagine to get us to trade up. From sales, cash back, no charge extra accessories, and even trying to sell you on the idea that it is good for the environment to scrap an old but well maintained car for a new one that burns just as much fuel and costs more to buy.
In some ways, the auto sector is a victim of its own success. With cars lasting longer, there is less reason to keep trading up as often as before, so the production capacity cannot be sustained. Sooner or later, you have to cut back on production, but in such fierce competition, its hard to take that first step, so instead, cars are redesigned every few years, old sales pitches are recycled, and new cars made of old ideas continue to be pumped out, untill we end up with the biggest loss in automotive history........
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1986 F250HD Ex cab Fresh built up 6.9L diesel Lariat AC leather seats power everything w/full cluster, sterling rear 3.08LS gears, E4OD trans, ram intake ATS 088 turbo
1986 F150 Ex cab Lariat rollercam 5.0L on LPG AOD trans 3.55 gears 390 000Ks
GM is doing it with Active Fuel Management, cruise speed shuts down 4 cylinders with the injectors not firing for that cylinder and the lifters are able to bleed off the oil also to keep from operating the valves. I am sorry to say the 5.3 is sweet no fuel pressure regulator, no egr valve just as compact in design as a 5.0 ford and 15city 19hwy and they scream. But the 5.4 is no slug either they have 4.10" of stroke they tow(what a truck is intended for work not just driving) they just arn't the best on fuel has ford ever been? my 351 does good on fuel but it does not have 4" of stroke.
Secondly I was looking at the reliabilty ratings over the summer top 10 was a lot more domestic than forigen, I am sick and tired of hearing oh this goes bad, that goes bad, ford sucks, chevy sucks, dodge well yeah( that comes later). China owns 70% of our national debt, we make nothing here anymore and what we do people look at it and say oh my thats high priced give me whats cheapest and going to last awhile. We have brought this on our sevles auto industry is improving things and we are saying well the Tundra is cheaper than the ford and the chevy but we never notice hey in the manual it says "don't rev engine camshaft failure will happen", if you drive with the tailgate down it will crack down the middle( guy at the autoshow showed me pics of 8 diffrent trucks that it happend to on the tundra) and transmission faulures but its cheaper, why not used?
What I like even better is when people say well forigen compaines have plants here, well thats nice but in the end when they sell a car that money still goes to the forigen company not to your own country. Just a stupid comparison I was in eating with some friends last week one ordered a shot came in a plastic shot glass after it was drank I looked at the bottom "made in China". A friend of mine went to Canada last week came back with a shot glass from a bar there on the bottom says "made in Canada"
Just my 2 cents
Curtis
Nice Blog! Your comaprison is right on point. I'm a retired Coastie and have been on both of Canada's coasts. Canada's economic infrastructure and mindset is completely different than ours. They pay extremely high taxes and a high price for goods and services, likewise thier pay comensurates with thier high cost of living. Social programs and manufacturing are solid and most importantly, the citizenship is very patriotic.
For starters, Ford is no longer the # two auto maker. They are for now # three. I've owned 11 Fords in the past 24 years and I have only had two that were/ are basically trouble free. "99 Taurus and an "86 F-150 4x4 300 cid engine. The rest of them including my '04 Expy have had some or many problems. I still own the Taurus and I totaled the "86.
Secondly, styling. Until the '99 SD hit the streets, Ford really didn't have a head turner. I don't consider the '97 era of F-150's and Expy's to be head turners. Ford sold out the rugged and easy to maintain I-beam IFS on it's 4x4's for the mess that we now have.
Engines and trannies: 300cid inline six, awesome motor, (gone). 3.8L v-6 great motor, (gone). 351 cid V-8 very durable, (gone). 7.3L gone. 3.0L V-6 (gone). These were all fantastic engines that I'm sure failed to meet the EPA's requirements and or HP/Tourque specs that Ford wanted to achieve. Ford has done good things with the Triton V-8's however, Yota and GM are doing the same or better with smaller engines. What is GM doing to achieve the MPG's that Ford isn't? I'm not and engineer, I'm a simple retired Coastie turned letter carrier. The '09 F-150 certainly isn't going to set the bar in terms of styling. Features and creature comforts, perhaps. Price? Way beyond what I'm willing to spend. Reliablity? We'll see about in the coming years. I would never say that Japan or China are smarter that us. Henry Ford put the world on wheels.
Well I think you'll find that that in the past GM was just as reliable as Ford. By that I mean not very. Toyota over that time span is a different story.
The TTB front suspensions was fairly durable and easy to work on but had as many issues as the IFS today. I personally would take the IFS of today over the TTB in ALMOST every circumstance.
I also disagree that Ford's good motors have been discontinued. I think the newer ones are generally more reliable, get better fuel economy, lower emissions and better performance. GM and Toyota are getting similar fuel economy with similar motors. There are lots of false claims but the truth is they get similar MPG. GM and Fords engines seem to both be very durable, we'll see about the toyota 5.7 Also Ford is actually competitive with the larger motors with smaller 5.4
This is not directed at you at you, merely an observation about all of us. We tend to remember things better than they actually were.
I really won't argue about styling. Everyone likes something different. As for me, I've always hated "the newer" styles of Fords Since my father had an 87. But they've always grown on me. In summary, I'm skeptical that one brand can set the bar for styling
So yes I do disagree that Ford is lightyears away from GM and Toy. But I do agree that all of them are lightyears away from where they should be in 2008.
...and i still feel that a larger vehicle does NOT have to be ineffiecient. they just want us to think that. no way anyone'l convince me that a 4.0 explorer w/overdrive lock up torque converter, smaller size and aerodynamics has to be harder on gas than the old 71 f100 302/c4/4:10's that revs it's guts out at 60mph and still uses less gas during the week than the 4.0. am i the only one who's noticed this? even a '70 lincoln 460 wasn't all that bad considering. it'll be the day when the corporates would ever be honest again. at least in henry ford's day, the country wasn't so developed and rich, and everyone was looking in the same direction, kind of like the e.v world is right now. here i go again.
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