hsukaria

I believe they call it "brand management". If floating was the only problem, that would be easily fixed with stiffer shocks. But I suspect there were other issues too. For one thing, they had the twin-I-beam front suspension. That was supposed to make it more rugged, but rougher riding.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Sport Pilot, my primary business was brakes and suspension/steering and I saw them all. I do concur on the Mustang II. I had one of the first few hundred of that model built and it was a Pinto in disguise. That anemic smogged 2.3 in a vehicle weighing 3200lbs did not earn any accolades at the stop light either.

We can agree to disagree on Chrysler. The 360 Smog looked like they cast their heads in gravel, with combustion chambers so rough they tended to self ignite the fuel/air charge. The 440 may have been tough, but you never wanted to change the plugs on one and cork valve cover gaskets did not last long.

Their A and B bodies went fine in a straight line, but cornering was another story. When their structures were bolted together from countless stampings one had to wonder if they forgot how to weld. As for torsion bar suspension, having one anchor under the front seats did not help comfort any either. The L shaped torsion bars liked to break at the rubber, something I have to admit we may have only seen up here in the "Salt Belt". And ANYONE building a vehicle lacking a stabilizer bar earned no respect here.

Also once witnessed a Ramcharger 4 X 4 lose the front suspension completely driving over a drain gully less than 2" deep. One thing that used to help my business was their locating the steering box out in the left fenderwell. Another Salt Belt victim.

On a final note, when you went to set the toe on one of those Rams to find both RH thread tie rods using different thread pitch to adjust I just threw up my hands.

ps. Cannot single Chrysler out on that lack of stab bar. Mother had a Merc Monarch that wallowed like a dead whale, especially when moving to TO to go to school with a matress and box spring tied to the roof.


Perhaps this may be a subject for its own forum?

hsukaria

"Perhaps this may be a subject for its own forum?"

We are all going stir crazy without flying. So, talking about cars happens.

1QwkSport2.5r

I am sure most of the guys that frequent the glow engines forums know I'm one of those kooky airboat guys. When I met my now flying buddy, I had mentioned I had built a bunch of airboats to go fast. He told me an airboat is just a neutered float plane.

Sport_Pilot

Likely some union issue, they are supposed to be welded. Only saw one broken torsion bar, but several broken coil and leaf springs.

Didn't I say the trucks are another matter?

spaceworm

Well, the Russians tried cutting off the wings of a plane to make a "go fast boat", but it did not work out very well.
I do have a Dumas big Swamp Buggy from years ago. I have a K&B 40 on it. Time to put a 60 or 90 on it and upgrade the radio. Maybe even an electric motor so I can run it on the lake I now live near. Ran it on the snow once; maybe I should get it out now.

My first RC model in 1952 was an airboat made out of a cigar box with a Cox .049. A rubber band escapement for the air rudder, and a homemade Lorenz 61 RX. Had to use a friend's TX, as I couldn't afford one myself. Didn't matter, 27MHZ would turn all the RX's on.

Sincerely, Richard

hsukaria

It's worse, not only not flying, but not even bench running engines because of the weather.

Tim, you need to get some flying experience, you will like it so much you will end up adding wings to all your airboats.

Charley

My Feedback: (2)

I don't know about '90s Ford trucks but I drove quite a few '80s models when I worked for the army at Ft. Bliss. We put a lot of highway & off-road miles on them in the deserts of southern NM. Never had any complaints about the handling. I have a 2007 Ford Ranger long-bed pickup with the small pushrod V6 now. It's a good road vehicle.

CR

hsukaria

Sometime in the late 90s, I believe, the Ford trucks switched from twin I-beam front suspension to coil types. That helped the handling and ride.
I bought a 2000 Ford F-150 for my sons to use a couple of years ago. The suspension, steering, and brakes were shredded. We replaced the balljoints, steering rod ends, pads and rotors, shocks, and swaybar links. It rides like a new truck now, really smooth.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

I have 203,000 miles on my 1995 F-150 and has always steered straight as a die. No wondering at all. The 302, (301.44) is still as quiet as the day I bought it.

hsukaria

The F-150 I bought very used, previously owned by a construction company. It has gotten a second life since the lower end rebuild. It has the 4.6L, about 200,000 miles. No complaints. I put a used cap on the long bed and use it to haul my planes.

earlwb

Ford had a major faux paux when they were putting in the extra long two piece spark plugs into the V8 engines for a number of years. Granted you got to go a 100,000 miles plus before you needed to change the plugs. But unfortunately the bottom piece of the plug stayed inside when you unscrewed the plug. So then you had to use a special tool to go in and dig out or extract the part that didn't come out. The dealerships were wanting something like $1,200.00 deposit per spark plug hole, before they would attempt to change the plugs. If they couldn't get the plug pieces out they had to pull the head off and dig it out from the inside. Or if the pieces fell down inside they still had to pull the head off too. Obviously that was a bad thing when ll you wanted to do was change the plugs. It was supposed to be a relatively easy task to perform. Not where you have to tear down the engine to do it. Now they are supposed to have corrected the problem. But I wonder if they really did though.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Yeah, I hate to see those trucks with 4 doors and a 4.5 foot bed, that is not a truck, it is a car with no trunk lid. It's an 8 foot bed or nothing for me. My next one will be a Super Cab with an 8 foot bed.

earlwb

Yeah, I still don't know what those things are good for, except something to spend money on.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Earl, don't believe those were two piece spark plugs. The wall was so thin even slight corrosion would have them separate when you tried to pull them out.

Used to love when they all advertised 100K before first tune up. Especially with alloy heads as they used such a small spot of anti-seize you could guarantee if the plug came out it was taking the threads out of the head. Where I learned about TimeSerts.

As for long trucks, my next door neighbor had a 77 Ford 250 crew cab and full box. Had the turning radius of Jupiter.

fujiman

My Feedback: (133)

CRAZY, CRAZY ENGINEERS!!!!!!!!!!! Where in h&#l do they come up with these really STUPID IDEAS anyway. they actually go to school for this. what a bunch of idiots. have to pull the heads to get the rest of the plug parts out. and dealers who want to get you to pay 1200.00 each hole up front????? are we living in an alternate universe or something???????!!!!!!!!!!! i just bought a 97 chevy van with a vortec 350 in it. the injection is inside of the intake manifold of all places and the orig. factory injection was garbage. so bad are they that gm feels bad so they sell you a new and ''improved'' version for 400.00. this weird stuff keeps popping up. no wonder asia is kicking our butts!!!!!!!! just my 2.5% thots on this!!!!!!

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Not sure I would want a long box. No xtra cab for me, just another area for junk to pile up/collect. My short bed gives me 7'. Regardless, a PU truck is a great plane hauler. I have a trailer, (frame actually) not sure I want to commit to it though, as I am not sure I want to deal with maneuvering it. Especially in other cities for events, competitions and such. Problem is, my models keep getting bigger!

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

I hauled a 24 foot fiber optic splicing trailer pulled by a Ford Super Duty, (F-450) long wheel based bucket truck all over northern Virginia and DC. It's no big deal. I love 460's. About every year in a safety rodeo I had to parallel park it.

VG, you should commit to something, life's too boring in the middle of the road.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

I've been looking for a cheap old pop up trailer I can fix up into a plane hauler. No weight and with the right mods can carry a lot more than the Grand Caravan. We normally plan on tripping to at least 3 events a season and my planes seem to be getting bigger, as well.

fujiman, don't be surprised by that integration. The Northstar V8 had the starter under the manifold years ago and every day we had to deal with repair items that meant half the engine compartment had to be dismantled to access, (using every tool in your inventory). Believe me, the Pac Rim engineers were no better, and in some cases far worse, than NA in that regard.

Also, don't think there is anything solely "North American" any longer in the auto sector. Love that to be true, but I'm starting to get confused trying to follow who owns what any more.

1QwkSport2.5r

I plan to. My trainer is nearly RTF and I have most of the stuff to get my Mig 27 foamie RTF. Need to find someone that will trade 5 1/4 scale servos for some smaller servos and the Mig will be ready.
My big outrigger has a vertical stabilizer and elevator. It needs it too, the elevator makes a big difference keeping the aft section in the water. When the Jett .56 makes it on board, it's really gonna need it.

spaceworm

Had a Bosch plug separate and leave the threads in a Porsche. Used a big Easy-Out to get the threads out. Worried at first that part of the plug was in the bore, but 80,000 miles later, everything was still good.

Still have Fox .35 original from 1953 with which I learned to fly U control stunt and combat.

Sincerely, Richard

hsukaria

Make sure you take good videos. I would like to see the Mig 27 and the boat with the Jett .56 running. Are you keeping the K&B 65 engine on the Mig?

I have 2 quarter scale servos sitting around that I can trade or even give away. I have no use for them.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

1QwkSport2.5r, any specific reason you would need 1/4 scale servos? Some of the "regular" size put out a whopping amount of torque with good speed now.

I can't wait for the HV servos to drop in price and become the standard as they allow 2S LiPo or LiFE with no need for the added cost of a BEC.

1QwkSport2.5r

I have a video of the boat running with the TT 46 and 10x5 prop on YouTube. I'll get a link posted later. It'll be a riot with 2.5 Dub Jett horsepower.

hsukaria

Fujiman, if you give me your address, I can come over and "re-engineer" your vehicles for you.

My wife owned a Mazda minivan that had a Ford 2.5L V6 mounted sideways. The alternator was installed behind and below the engine. You had to take the right front suspension apart to replace the alternator. We don't own that van anymore.

Just to clarify, we are discussing mostly American brand issues, but some of the worst stories I've heard are about foreign made cars, like Audis, etc...