Roman11 wrote: OK... I'm by no means an engineer but between the Dodge and Ford, Dodges' bottom member looks bigger or thicker than the Ford and the top look the same. I sure all of those extra holes control the way it collapses in a crash but all in all it doesn't look that much beefier?.
I noticed that as well. And, the annoying fellow had nothing bad to say about the Dodge other than "not enough in my opinion". Well duh!! Dodge didn't pay him like Ford did for his "opinion"!
The reason why Ford needs a stronger front end structure because it is usually the front of the truck where the wrecker company hooks the tow truck up to, and requesting a roll-back wrecker isn't always an option.
Picking a truck up by the front end puts a lot of pressure on said truck's frame....
So if all three have a 5 star rating (and they do BTW the Ram was the first in 02 to get it) what does this prove? Not a damn thing, BTW Capt roll a Ford on its top and it does the same thing, I have seen it firsthand just three weeks ago. None of them do well in a roll over crash!
Engineer9860 wrote: The reason why Ford needs a stronger front end structure because it is usually the front of the truck where the wrecker company hooks the tow truck up to, and requesting a roll-back wrecker isn't always an option.
Picking a truck up by the front end puts a lot of pressure on said truck's frame....
Of course, most wheel-lift wreckers are Fords...and have been for about twenty-five years.
(And I prefer to hook fullsize trucks from behind.)
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
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John do you know why that is? Ford has a better price structure then GM and Chrysler did. With the return of Dodge to the MDT market I’m seeing a lot more Dodges on the road lately.
No, the reason is only Ford had a 1.5-ton pickup chassis (F-Super Duty, F-450, F-550) for tow trucks. Even after GM brought out the 3500HD, it was hobbled by the diesel engine being awful. Dodge didn't offer more than an ~11,000lb GVWR (marginal on a hoist, way too light on a rollback) until recently.
Ford was also miles ahead with diesel pickups...they had the diesel in 1982, Dodge didn't have the Cummins until 1989, GM didn't get a good diesel until the Duramax showed up around 1999.
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