A bit of Ford history

[85_Ranger4x4]

That was an F250 IIRC right?

Those frames were fine...it was the F100/150 in 80/81 that had the swiss cheese frame

View attachment 93685

What could go wrong right?

I think they woulda been ok had they not went crazy with the hole saw right where the cab and box come togther...where the most frame flex happens and the longest length of rail without an axle to suport it

It was a one ton and had holes in it like that.

If F-100's were supposedly having problems hauling mulch or whatever I don't think ours should have enjoyed a long like hailing livestock and farm equipment with a gooseneck.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

It was a one ton and had holes in it like that.

If F-100's were supposedly having problems hauling mulch or whatever I don't think ours should have enjoyed a long like hailing livestock and farm equipment with a gooseneck.

Ive never owned one from that vintage. Just going off what ive heard and read. Ive actually always avoided the 80/81 models just for that reason

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ive never owned one from that vintage. Just going off what ive heard and read. Ive actually always avoided the 80/81 models just for that reason

I file it under fake news. I have never heard of anyone having problems, just people thinking there is going to be problems.

 

[dvdswan]

Very interesting topic. I never knew about the "wrongbed". I just thought Ford had an overstock of beds from a previous bodystyle and threw them on the next year's model to get rid of them. LOL. Never heard of the 80/81 frame fiasco either. I guess I just chalked it up to someone trying to make a story. Sort of like what Dateline did with the 73-87 C/K trucks exploding from side impacts. It seemed they would only catch fire if an igniter was used. LOL

 

[sgtsandman]

Very interesting topic. I never knew about the "wrongbed". I just thought Ford had an overstock of beds from a previous bodystyle and threw them on the next year's model to get rid of them. LOL. Never heard of the 80/81 frame fiasco either. I guess I just chalked it up to someone trying to make a story. Sort of like what Dateline did with the 73-87 C/K trucks exploding from side impacts. It seemed they would only catch fire if an igniter was used. LOL

You mean the media would sensationalize a story and blow it out of proportion? Nooooo!

 

[19Walt93]

Early 80's F100's were much different from the F150's. The F100's used the 5 on 4 1/2 bolt circle on the wheels with brakes from a Crown Vic and could be equipped with a 3.8 V6, a 3 on the tree, and a 2.75 axle. Add NH hills and you have a belly crawling, barking dog. 3.8's worked great in Mustangs, T Birds, and LTDs but they sucked in a truck, even one as light as an F100. I've seen way too many rusty vehicles, the perforated frames didn't fare any worse than earlier frames.

 

[19Walt93]

It’s probably better you didn’t. The first generation Ridgelines shared the transmission with the Odyssey mini van and those transmissions had a lot of problems. They either fixed the issue(s) with the transmission not long before the current Ridgeline came out or they came up with a whole new transmission. Very un-Honda like but that transmission is an example where even Honda puts out their lemons from time to time.

We took many Hondas in trade over the years, their reputation was generated by the likes of Consumer Reports, not by real world performance. The company also has an ethics problem. The first person killed by a Takata airbag in a Hinda was documented in 2001, with more cases over the years until the end of 2014 when NHTSA finally forced them to issue a recall.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

We took many Hondas in trade over the years, their reputation was generated by the likes of Consumer Reports, not by real world performance. The company also has an ethics problem. The first person killed by a Takata airbag in a Hinda was documented in 2001, with more cases over the years until the end of 2014 when NHTSA finally forced them to issue a recall.

And how many people died in Ford Pinto crashes where the car caught fire after being rear ended, before Ford issued a recall?

ALL of them. Ford never issued a recall. In fact, they decided that it was more economical to pay out lawsuits than to recall and repair the Pinto.

It's also worthy of note that assuming the NHTSA knew about the problem with Takata airbags (which were used in more than just Hondas, by the way) in 2001, it took them 13 years to "force Honda to issue a recall". Could Honda have issued a recall without the NHTSA forcing them to? Sure. BUT, why did it take the NHTSA 13 years to force the recall?

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Heck, when I was looking for Rangers, I saw plenty here from up north with "Swiss cheese" frames. From rust.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

And how many people died in Ford Pinto crashes where the car caught fire after being rear ended, before Ford issued a recall?

ALL of them. Ford never issued a recall. In fact, they decided that it was more economical to pay out lawsuits than to recall and repair the Pinto.

There was a lot of hype in that fiasco. They were not much worse than anything else in the time period.

Auto

pintostampede.com

Heck in a first gen Mustang the fuel tank was a major structural part of the car that even formed the truck floor.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Alot of vehicles had the fuel tank in the same location as the pinto.

 

[superj]

my 65 mustang had it right in front of hte rear bumper. i think if you took it out, you had no trunk floor anymore

 

[rusty ol ranger]

my 65 mustang had it right in front of hte rear bumper. i think if you took it out, you had no trunk floor anymore

My LTD II is back there too. Granted its got a pretty stout frame back there but its still there.

Im not sure if its part of the trunk floor though. i dont think it is.

 

[19Walt93]

And how many people died in Ford Pinto crashes where the car caught fire after being rear ended, before Ford issued a recall?

ALL of them. Ford never issued a recall. In fact, they decided that it was more economical to pay out lawsuits than to recall and repair the Pinto.

It's also worthy of note that assuming the NHTSA knew about the problem with Takata airbags (which were used in more than just Hondas, by the way) in 2001, it took them 13 years to "force Honda to issue a recall". Could Honda have issued a recall without the NHTSA forcing them to? Sure. BUT, why did it take the NHTSA 13 years to force the recall?

Damn few people died in Pinto fires. Three girls in Ohio on their way back to college died in a fire after filling the tank, leaving the gas cap off, and driving onto the highway to be hit by a Dodge van. No vehicles at the time had gas cap tethers and people constantly forgot to put their caps back on. The gas station I worked at after graduation had a box we'd put all the caps left on top of the pumps in, oping the owners would come back for them. The video that 20-20 used to drum up the whole mess showed a Pinto being hit from behind by an LTD at 60 mph and catching fire after the tank was crushed. The federal crash spec at the time was 30 mph and Pintos passed with no problems. At the time almost every car had the tank behind the axle, a lot of GM's had the filler behind the rear license plate and the tank in a VW beetle basically sat in the drivers lap. But "thou shalt not criticize a foreign car" is some peoples operating philosophy. The Pinto gas tank recall was probably as legitimate as the GM side tank recall was- under rare conditions, both could catch fire.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Damn few people died in Pinto fires. Three girls in Ohio on their way back to college died in a fire after filling the tank, leaving the gas cap off, and driving onto the highway to be hit by a Dodge van. No vehicles at the time had gas cap tethers and people constantly forgot to put their caps back on. The gas station I worked at after graduation had a box we'd put all the caps left on top of the pumps in, oping the owners would come back for them. The video that 20-20 used to drum up the whole mess showed a Pinto being hit from behind by an LTD at 60 mph and catching fire after the tank was crushed. The federal crash spec at the time was 30 mph and Pintos passed with no problems. At the time almost every car had the tank behind the axle, a lot of GM's had the filler behind the rear license plate and the tank in a VW beetle basically sat in the drivers lap. But "thou shalt not criticize a foreign car" is some peoples operating philosophy. The Pinto gas tank recall was probably as legitimate as the GM side tank recall was- under rare conditions, both could catch fire.

They nailed the P71 vics for that to in the late 2000's....why ford started installing fire suppression systems in the interceptors.

IIRC the cops vic got asspacked by an excursion (or maybe suburban) doing like 85-90