I want to share a couple of videos with you.

Chinese engineering (long video, skim as needed):


German engineering:


This all started when I acquired my bigger boat - the whole reason for getting my 7.3L to begin with. ExPaCamper recently got his bigger travel trailer, and is putting his 7.3L Excursion to the test. The shared videos above are the results of two tech heads comparing notes when looking for modern/improved methods for maneuvering large trailers in cramped spaces.

Watching these, I'm thinking while the drivers can't manage to maneuver their grains of rice around a cereal box without satellite assist - we behemoth drivers with nothing more than mirrors and some gauges must be masters of the universe. This also falls in line with the conversation I had the other day that modern mechanics need a computer to tell them what's wrong with a vehicle, vs. our 7.3L leaving bread crumbs on the OBDII port for a troubleshooter to follow.

What is my point? Technology assist is one thing - but the tech in these vids lead to self-parking and self-driving vehicles. Once that technology is established, you can bet self-driven tow vehicles will back trailers into tight spots while the "drivers" are checking their Facebook accounts. It's as if we're saying "I don't want the driving experience, I just want my crap to get from point A to point B."

Many of us here work on our own rigs, or we wouldn't likely be reading a 7.3L forum. The bulk of us will do for ourselves - either because we like doing for ourselves, or the funds are not there to have others do for us. Whatever the reason, we still do for ourselves. When showing the German video to my wife, she echoed a thought I had: "They spend more freaking time looking at the monitor than they do out the window". That can lead to us losing our skills as drivers. Have you ever been a passenger in a new town and didn't really catch how you got where you were? As I driver, that is not as likely to happen (for me).

Having all those features on a trailer may be handy during the last 3 minutes of a drive, but the cost.... It'll make the Buck$Zooka cower behind your leg and wet itself.

 

The newer generation doesn't care about the real world experiences like the older generation. There all about personal feelings and other people's feeling and what who's thinking. To me it seems they never stop to appreciate the opportunity that they take for granted. Instead they wallow in anything that can keep their minds busy without "looking out the window" at life in general.

Take a minute and think about how many "kids" can drive a manual transmission or back a trailer using their mirrors.

 

Generalizations are just that... generally true, but not always.

I believe it's generally a little different than that... the only time "other people's feeling" come into play for most of these kids is when it's associated with their observations about what OTHER people do or don't do. Their own feeling are going to trump "other people's feelings" just about EVERY time the two are not parallel.

 

Thanks alot Tug. Not only is my IQ lowered after that, but I have a strange urge to fix the convergence on my tv and listen to tekno...goodlord.
. I'm she glad I don't need the next closest open parking spot at my favorite Wally world or construction zone at Depot, but rather just grab one far from the sliding doors that has a tree to cast shade on my pickup😉.
. Just think when that window leaks rain water on the GEM, and then you try using the self park assist, hehe
. And, for use with trailer parking, just figure how to park the damn thing. I gotta do a square dance with mine to clear the overhung roof. If it was my home, that damn corner would be in the garbage..(pic soon when light out)., along with "brushing" a fire hydrant....maybe a class A gives me that extra confidence, lol

 

Hey... you recognized the relationship between the camera calibrations in the video and convergence - that's way more than the average viewer would catch.

This all takes serious computing power, so while one may be wowed by the view from the cameras - I'm looking at that Bosch system, wondering how much juice is being used up by all the sensors, cameras, and computing power. Our computer racks at work to do this kind of thing are a gamer's paradise - with insane cooling power keeping the rack from going volcano. Which drives the next question: What's going on to keep the system cool, since those in Phoenix and Vegas don't have the same climate as Europe? How does this cooling scheme work out on our "Jalopy" or on a trailer?

 

off topic but headed to the point. I guess I fall in the middle. I love my mirrors and have no problem hopping out to take a look at where I am trying to put a trailer. My level of future electronic upgrades I would like. Reverse lights on my trailers (carhauler, toyhauler, gooseneck equipment trailer). The 2008 plus mirrors are great but you only get so much light riding the brakes so you can see backing up in the dark.

On topic sorta: I would like a camera on the back of the toyhauler to see what is behind me and one in the garage to check on the bikes while going down the road. so I want some technology but I will be driving not a computer. the videos above and similar technology just don't sit well with me.


Side note about cars being "too smart" Last night I was looking at the ladyfriends minivan. It "thinks" the fuel filler door is open so it will not "let you" open the sliding door even with the power doors turned off and manually pulling the handle. I understand not letting the door power open so it doesn't smash into the gas pump hose but let me open it up manually from the outside at least. Today she will be tossing the little guy in the window to buckle him up.

 

I wouldnt generalize the whole of my generation. There are still a couple of us who are motor junkies. I got a buddy who restored his dads old '72 Torino (he was 15-16 at the time). Got another friend who drives a manual. Annnnd the rest of my friends are losers haha. Although I was the only one smart enough to get a 7.3.

I can drive a 13 speed. Back a semi trailer blindsided, fix my own crap, and cruise control is not an option (17 when I started with semis)

Anyone else notice the difference in video quality? I thought the German one felt a lot cleaner and well cut.

 

Just so I understand....

Somebody decided to override any possibility of using an exit - emergency or not - just so the fuel door doesn't get damaged. "Everybody in the back died when the minivan stalled on the railroad tracks, but the fuel door still looks good". Yeah.... I'm sure that blood will clean right off. This as opposed to changing the location or design of the fuel door? What did they do... design a fuel tank and fill neck, then build a minivan around it?

 

Technology is basically making us (as a society) stupider ironically, but the thing I really dislike about it is that the vast majority of today's technology is basically disposable. Seriously, what is the maintenance cost going to be for a 17 year old vehicle with the above technology..... maybe I'm just being a fuddy-duddy before I'm old.

 

The maintenance cost will be zero because all of the sensors and "safety features" will have failed over time and made the vehicle useless.

 

Anybody see the movie Idiocracy? That's how I feel our younger generation are starting to become.

 

It has electrolytes, the plants crave it...

 

Nice�� it's got electrolytes! It's what plants crave! Lol...classic it's a good movie.

 

Threads like this and similar feelings and responses are why I still hang out here!

 

Correct. go try it on a van sometime. I showed my neighbor on his late 90's ford minivan. Total base model no power anything. if the fuel door is open you cannot open the sliding door on that side. He was speechless. (cool 86 year old guy that used to build racecars way back when. still changes his own oil outside on ramps)


I did some troubleshooting last night and it turns out that is not the cause of my problem though. The front latch is stuck, jammed, or broke. Need to pull the panel and investigate.