At 08:36 AM 2/27/98 , you wrote:
>> Chrysler Corp. spokesman Mike Rosenu [...]
>> said the automaker already has implemented its new hydroforming
>> technology in the 1998 Dodge Durango and 1997 Dakota
>
>> It makes the vehicle lighter by taking out the unnecessary weight - thus
>> making it safer for car drivers if involved in a collision - but does not
>> affect its strength, he said.
>
> The sounds like a line of BS to me. They want to cut weight for CAFE
>and cost reasons, that I can understand. But this safety bit is all
>politics. If anything, cutting mass from the vehicle will actually make
>it more UNSAFE in a collision for that vehicle's driver & passengers.
>
> CC is just trying to deflect all the crap people are spouting about SUVs
>being menaces on the road, and unsafe because they are bigger. Could that
>be because they are actually descended from trucks? No duh!
>
> Ron "Take That Econobox And Shove It" Rader
>
I wouldn't be too quick to pass this off as just BS. There is a lot of
concern in the gov't (DOT, NHTSB, etc.) about SUV/pick-up vs car
collisions. Seems the occupants of the cars come out on the worse end of
the deal in almost every case. Unfortunately (from the point of view of we
truck owners) the gov't's answer is to make the SUV/pick-ups lighter and
more equal to a car thus doing less damage to the car in a collision. We
may not like this solution (I know I don't) and it is arguably not the best
solution, but the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the
vehicles on the road are cars and you know what they say about majority
ruling. This solution may wind up doing more damage to the SUV/pick-up
driver in order to do less damage to the car driver, but as long as they
are in the majority, they are going to make the rules. Gripe all you want,
but the way things look now SUVs and pick-ups are destined to be drug down
to the car's level. That's why I'm doing everything I can to make my Dak
last as long as possible.
-- Mike Crumley mcrumley@airmail.net 97 Dakota Regular Cab Short Bed 3.9L V6 3.55 Auto DDBC Bug Shield Mud Flaps
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