[FreestyleRenegade]

Out of all the trucks which one would u most like to haul ur sleds with.=

Mine is the BMW x5.i, syle,power and o yea did i mention STYLE

 

[500fasEnuf]

Depends on the trailer, 2 up open, Ford Ranger 4x4 with 4.0 L is plenty.

4 up open, GMC with Vortec 350 (or whatever they call it), or Ram with 318.

4 up enclosed, Ram with new Hemi autta do it.

i like the Cummins alot but where I like to ride there's no plug in's.

 

[MegaMan]

What model X5 do you have? The 3.0, 4.4, or the awesome 4.6is ???


I recently rode in a new Chevy Avalanche for over 500 miles, 4 people inside, while pulling a 2 place loaded trailer. The ride was nice, and we got 15 mpg.

I also drove a '03 Chevy silverado HD with the Quad cab and that thing is sweet! I was amazed at all the luxury features it has. Sure would be nice to haul sleds with one of those.

If i could choose any vehicle to haul my 2-place trailer with, it would be the Porsche Cayenne SUV with the 450 HP twin turbo 4.5L V-8 engine...woohooo! Now THAT would be fun! Plus, it has lots of luxury and styling. .......Gee, if i had that vehicle, i think i would rather drive the Porsche all weekend, instead of my Polaris....LOL.

 

[FreestyleRenegade]

i dont actual have one,but i would like the 4.6is,my dad might get one after his lease is up on the tahoe. sry about the typo, couldnt remeber if it was 4.6si or 5i

 

[Richie Rich]

i tow 3 sleds with my 91 Ford Ranger 4x4 4.0litre. One on the truck 2 on the trailer. Not very good on gas but it gets me there.

Rich

 

[jacqui583]

As an autoworker, I'm curious as to how many people consider whether a vehicle was built domesticly or not when deciding what to buy. I'm sure we all know about how every auto job creates 4 good spin-off jobs. Obviously it's important to me and the people in my community; I'm curious as to how much people think about this elsewhere.

I'm not trying to start a p&%%ing contest or make a huge political statement, I'm just wondering what people think is important.

 

[Guest]

I just purchased a new vehicle and it wasn’t a consideration for me. Perhaps it should have been and it is hard to swallow when a company moves manufacturing across the boarder to pay cheap labor to assemble vehicle especially when the economy is in the current state. I am just curious jacqui583 as to the amount of components – I am assuming mostly electronics – that are manufactured in other countries and are installed in vehicles assembled here. It is sad that more manufacturing can’t be done here but the bottom line becomes more important to some companies. Greed is a mighty motivator! What company do you work for and what vehicles do you assemble?

 

[jacqui583]

You're right, a lot of components come from overseas. I work at a Ford engine plant, we build the 4.6L, 5.4L and 6.8L truck engines.

When we had the Autopact it was mandatory for the companies to build one vehicle here for every vehicle sold in Canada, and they had to have I think 60% Canadian or North American content. The Autopact covered Ford, Chrysler and GM, and it reduced or eliminated tarriffs on products coming from overseas as long as they met the above conditions. The other companies could have joined the Autopact by producting more vehicles here but didn't. Now the World Trade Organization has declared the Autopact an unfair advantage.

 

[trailblazer]

Well maybe it isn't fair for me to reply to this post, being an autoworker and Jacqui's partner. However, I'm very proud of the fact that I go out of my way to purchase anything, not just big ticket items, that's Canadian built first and if I can't find what I'm looking for than U.S. built.
I'm not always succesful, but at least I tried.
I put off buying new running shoes for 2 years when they closed the plant in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Now everything is built in 3rd world countries (Sometimes by small children forced to work for 14 to 16 hours per day.)for pennies and sold over here with huge profits going to the shareholders.

I currently own a 2001 GMC 2500HD Sierra SLT Crew Cab built in Flint, Michigan, U.S.A.
with it's Duramax Diesel built in Ohio. (l think maybe in Lorraine.) It was very much part of my buying decision as to where it was built.
They are to start building that truck in Oshawa, Ontario pretty soon. That'll make the decision to buy the same thing again pretty easy.
I often hear people complaining they can't get a job that pays more than $10 per hour.
But everything they own is built off-shore.
Remember, the jobs you save may be your own or your kids'.

Just my $0.02 Cdn.
Jeff [^]

 

[Guest]

Well my truck came from Mexico(I think) but my sled came from Canada!

 

[intendedacceleration]

I guess I might rile a couple people up with this next comment, but here goes.

I go out of my way to specifically buy not american (for vehicles). It's not so much that I think that the american vehicles have poorer build quality, it's all in the design of the vehicle. American cars and trucks still have a long way to be to even match the other offerings from germany and japan. I have a totally open mind when it comes to cars and trucks, and when it comes time for me to buy one, I drive and research EVERYTHING. Nothing america has can even slightly turn my crank. I mean look at what they offer.

GM:
Vette- fast car, with the same interior plastics and build quality of their econobox

Trucks- Overall pretty good, but still exude a feeling of cheapness

Other Cars- GM has a plethora of other cars that all share the same basic structure, engines and such. As generic as you get and the final results show it.

Ford:

Trucks- Well I personally have had several bad experiences with ford trucks, one of which nearly killed my entire family because of a faulty part.

Mustang- Well what good can you say about a sports car that still gets owned by it's direct competitor from 10 years ago.

Other cars- Bland Bland Bland

Dodge is the only company that really takes steps forward from the design end, with the SRT Neon, Viper, Etc.... Too bad their overall quality is still low.


What is there to convice me to buy american? Not much! My honda is 100% hand assembled to the same exacting standards as the NSX super car....in the same factory even. What american company goes through that kind of detail to make sure ANY of their cars are assembled right? None, not even the most expensive from the big three is hand assembled.

Later this year both Nissan and Honda have full size trucks due to launch. I see nothing that would convince me otherwise than to buy either of them over any of the big three.

Discuss

:=)

 

[trailblazer]

Well you were right on riling a few. LOL.

I've compared my truck to many imports and I definitely don't see anything better on the foreign trucks.
Are you comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges?
The biggest thing missing on the foreign stuff (That includes everything manufactured.)
is that all profits go overseas. That means that profit isn't spent here to feed, house, entertain, redistribute their wealth, etc. to our neighbours or ourselves.
The profits don't go to our tax base to pay for the many social services, infrastructure, medicare (In Canada.) that we all take for granted.
Vehicles assembled here are usually outfitted with parts that are assembled nearby at best, but at least on this continent providing an income for your neighbours or yourself. Those people in turn spend that income on other goods and services that indirectly may come back to ourselves or our neighbours. It is cheaper for those manufacturers to source their parts locally so that they don't run into expensive down time waiting for parts to come across on a boat when they inevitably get held up for one reason or another.
How much do those parts that need to be replaced cost on that vehicle of yours that need to be brought over by boat. Do you really want to wait 6-8 weeks for a part that's on back-order while your ride sits at the shop?

As far as your car being assembled by hand.
So far NOT A SINGLE MANUFACTURER HAS ELIMINATED PEOPLE FROM THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS.
I work at CAMI Automotive. It's a jointly owned (GM and Suzuki) assembly plant that used to produce the GM Metro and Sprint and Swift under the Suzuki lable. We also build the Chevy Tracker and the Suzuki Vitara.
In 2004 we will start assembling the Chevy Equinox. [Slightly smaller, lower cost version of the Trail Blazer (and no they didn't name that vehicle after me. LOL)]
I've toured several assembly plants and they all have many things in common. The most prevalent being they all assemble the vehicles by hand.
I don't know where you got such gross misinformation.
I just had to set the facts straight because misinformation does rile me.
I'm not knocking you for your choice of vehicle.
That is totally your choice.
I do like to see people considering all the impacts of buying foreign.
And don't ever whine to me that you can't get a decent paying job with good benefits while sending all / most of your money offshore. (I'm certainly not implying your whining, that's a general statement.)
I guess a similar analogy would be that if your employer and every other employer in your line of work decided that they were going to outsource your work to someone in a third world country for a quarter of your wages or less. If all manufacturers and service providers decided to do that, who could afford their products or services. People out of work don't spend very much money.

Thanks for the opportunity to rant.
Jeff ( a proud autoworker who puts a lot of effort into doing my job to the best of my abilities.)

 

[chipper10shawn]

I have a 79 Blazer sittin beside my garage....the big K-5 model and that will haul anything you put behind it. We put a 427 Pulling motor with the pulling cam and everything and let me tell ya in 4 lo lock it will pull a very GOOD amount of weight. But a few touchups and we could register it. But the pulling motor isnt legal so thats the end of that. But it will pull a LOT of weight. And as for it being an american made vehicle i am pretty proud of chevy on this one. My neighbor has an old ford pickup and im pulling him out of the mud and out of snowbanks all the time. hehe i have a lot of stories to tell but i hate typing a hole lot. but as for a road legal towing rig i would take my mothers 2000 Chevy Blazer with the 4.3 vortec. Plenty of power too and i think it would haul quite a bit. Anyone with a 2000 blazer that towes a trailer....how does it work....i think it would work just fine.

 

[Junior]

this is an important matter for me, when choosing me truck, it came down to the choice between a jeep comanche and a mazda B series. after doing extensive research, I chose the comanche, why? because it's a domestic product, I'm canadian, and this truck was made in the US, not right here I know, but for every comanche that rolled off the line in iowa, 4 cherokee's rolled off the line in brampton.

I believe that domestic products are made with more care, without cutting corners, I don't mean to insult you at all intended, but take your S2000 for example. have you noticed that the domestic sports vehicles use V8's and yours uses a flat 4? I'm sure you have. why do you think this is? you may say it's just as easy to make the power necessary out of a 4-cylinder, and it's lighter, but I find this to be BS. it's much easier to make your 240hp out of a V8, the only reason japanese use 4-cylinders is because they're CHEAPER TO MAKE, for each V-8 block, you can make 2 flat 4's it's simple math, 2x the metal, 2x the machining for the 8.

as far as the ease of creating power. if it's so easy to make this power out of a 4-cylinder, why is it that it's pretty much impossible to find a bolt on mod for your S2K that will add horsepower? because it can't be done! that engine is pulling as much power from the factory as you can get from it. you may gain 1 horse here, 2 there, but anything substantial? no

take a 360V8 of the same horsepower (roughly 240) what can you do to add power? exh manifold, 10 horse atleast, cam 15 horse atleast, intake system, 5 horse, TURBOCHARGER 50 horse?

get the point? we didn't skimp out on the engine, there's lots left to be pulled from it.

do you know of any japanese 4wd that uses a solid front axle? the only one I know of is the toyota that is sold in australia, and why does it use SFA? because the australian government said it HAD to have an SFA to be sold in the country.

I won't hold anything against anyone who chooses to buy a japanese car for the reasons of price, or because domestics don't offer something along those lines, or because they have a good reason. but... I don't relish the thought of people buying Rav-4's, tacoma's, civics, or S2K's when we have liberty's, rangers, cavaliers, and camaro's made practically in our backyard.

yes, I realize that my sled is blue, and yes I realize that the liberty is IFS.

the reason my sled is blue? because a family member runs the dealership, and I don't see yamaha skimping out by makeing twins 'cause they're cheaper. no offense to the other brands, just saying that business decisions have played a large part in the shift to twins over triples.

ride your 900 twin, then throw a leg over any hyper triple, and tell me the 900 has more power. not gonna happen.

sorry, not meaning to ream anyone here, especially not you ryan, I'm just giveing my opinions on domestic vs import.

jeff and jacqui, kudo's to you, cami is a good plant, and it's thanks to hard workers like you that this continent is what it is, and that we have the way of life that we do.

 

[KHB]

I have to agree with the American auto's and not wanting to buy them to a point. When it comes to trucks no one can touch American Iron. But American cars are junk. They are almost all front wheel drive and they come with autos and most handle like shit. Most people see a car as transportation and they have little to no driving passion. Give me some car that is either AWD or RWD and has decent horspower and a stick and can handle with little over under steer and maybe I will buy an American car.

Back to trucks. I do have some issues with the styling and quality of materials. Other then that only American trucks stand up to abuse. When I use my truck it gets used. I have had in excess of 2500 lb in the bed alone many times. It has pushed tons of snow and pulled may Non American trucks out the the mud or ditch. It has hauled 7,000 lbs or more. Oh yeah this truck had 190,000 miles on it when I sold it. If you are going to buy a truck to treat it like a car fine, but a truck that gets worked is another story. I would break Non American trucks in a short amount of time.

 

[intendedacceleration]

Originally posted by Junior
[br]
I believe that domestic products are made with more care, without cutting corners, I don't mean to insult you at all intended, but take your S2000 for example. have you noticed that the domestic sports vehicles use V8's and yours uses a flat 4? I'm sure you have. why do you think this is? you may say it's just as easy to make the power necessary out of a 4-cylinder, and it's lighter, but I find this to be BS. it's much easier to make your 240hp out of a V8, the only reason japanese use 4-cylinders is because they're CHEAPER TO MAKE, for each V-8 block, you can make 2 flat 4's it's simple math, 2x the metal, 2x the machining for the 8.

Your logic is flawed in many ways. The S2000 engine costs many times more to make and manufacture than any factory V8 that I am aware of. Honda pour it's heart and sould into this engine, and it shows. Fiber reinforced combustion chambers, forged crank rods and pistons, titainium springs and retainers.....the list goes on and on. The F20c is one of the most expensive engines sold today, and for good reason. Even with a 9200 RPM redline the piston speeds of this car are faster than that of F1 engines that redline at 18,000 RPM because of the long stroke. This engine is a gem and is still to this day the leader in specific output in the world. See how much you can buy an LS1 for and see that you could buy a little more than 3 of them for the cost of one F20c, you get what you pay for. To say that making a sports car lighter is just BS, is something that I can only shake my head to. I'll be sure to tell that to camaro and vette drivers at the track after I hand them their ass in a bag.

Originally posted by Junior
[br]
as far as the ease of creating power. if it's so easy to make this power out of a 4-cylinder, why is it that it's pretty much impossible to find a bolt on mod for your S2K that will add horsepower? because it can't be done! that engine is pulling as much power from the factory as you can get from it. you may gain 1 horse here, 2 there, but anything substantial? no

take a 360V8 of the same horsepower (roughly 240) what can you do to add power? exh manifold, 10 horse atleast, cam 15 horse atleast, intake system, 5 horse, TURBOCHARGER 50 horse?

get the point? we didn't skimp out on the engine, there's lots left to be pulled from it.

Again your logic just doesn't hold up. When I talked about bolt on's, I'm talking exhaust, intake, etc etc. You want to talk cams, Forced induction and the like then you are in a whole different ballgame. There are numerous S2000's putting down OVER 500 hp to the wheels with a quality turbo system. For NA options there are Toda Cams, Mugen stroker kits, and much more to build great gains. But again, I don't consider those to be "bolt-ons". Now lets look at WHY common bolt ons give the V8's of the world more power. It is because by and large they are made as cheap as possible, with rough surfaces on the intake and exhaust paths, and ineffecient designs. The S2000 engine is totally hand ported and polished from the factory. Name another car short of the exotics that does that. Remember at the same time I owned this car, I also owned my mildly built LT1 camaro, aka the torque god of chevy V8's. Yeah it was fast, but my S2k would walk away from it like it was standing still. And that's on a straight, in the twistys is where the honda shines.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that my car is the end all be all of sports cars, but I just saw too many outright lies in your post to let go. Would I trade my honda for a brand new Z06 vette? Damn right, but you have to remember that vette also retails for almost twice what the honda did, without a significant performance boost.

Originally posted by Junior
[br]
do you know of any japanese 4wd that uses a solid front axle? the only one I know of is the toyota that is sold in australia, and why does it use SFA? because the australian government said it HAD to have an SFA to be sold in the country.

Yes, the new Nissan Titan and the yet un-named honda full size truck both use dana axles front and rear.

Originally posted by Junior
[br]
I won't hold anything against anyone who chooses to buy a japanese car for the reasons of price, or because domestics don't offer something along those lines, or because they have a good reason. but... I don't relish the thought of people buying Rav-4's, tacoma's, civics, or S2K's when we have liberty's, rangers, cavaliers, and camaro's made practically in our backyard.

To compare the S2k to a camaro is like comparing a thundercat to a pro-X race sled, totally different machines for entirely different purposes.

That is all for now. []

 

[intendedacceleration]

Originally posted by KHB
[br] I would break Non American trucks in a short amount of time.

You are comparing apples to pineapple's. What full size truck is made currently oversea's? None. Only the tundra exists right now from toyota, and that is a american design and build. The only thing you have to compare is the compacts, and there are legions of toyota fans that will gladly compare apple's to apple's with any american compact. Just wait until later this year when honda and Nissan bring over their Full Sizer's, then we will talk.

 

[Junior]

wow ryan, you may be right on all those things, I'd never heard of them, but I don't know you may well be right, I've heard alot of stories about S2K's getting raped at the track tho, and not much about them winning (with the exception of the skid pad). I DO like them, don't get me wrong, but I'm of the "old fashioned" mindset that there's no replacement for more cylinders.

as for outright lies, I certainly didn't intentionally lie, but I may well be misinformed. HOWEVER, where is the power/displacement record comeing from? didn't the first RX-7's with the 1.3L rotary make over 200hp

shit, a T-cat makes something like 170 right? you're talking about makeing more than 120hp/L let's think, right off the top of the head ANY 800 twin, 700 twin, any modern triple, the R6 makes 145bhp on a 600cc engine, that's 241.6hp/L, more than double your S2K

again, no offense at all, it's a great car, but I'm skeptical about saying it's the best thing since sliced bread. I read a review the other day on the 350z vs a z06 and I know you said U'd take a z06 over your S2K, but the poor nissan got totally bent over a table and taken advantage of.
350z z06
1/4 14.4 12.8
0-60 5.8 4.5

overall, I think these are all very nice cars, but... #'s are still #'s

for the interest of fairness tho, the nissan is $34688 and the z06 is $51450

however, they also ran the M3 and the 911 in this issue, and... I'm not even gonna go there, it was a slaughter

and as for american vs japanese mid-size trucks... I'll square my 'manche off against any ricer you can line up next to me. let's see them make it thru the rubicon.

both those SFA SUV's are fresh off the lines, and I'll be honest... I hadn't even heard of them until just now... does that say something? if they can cross the rubicon, damn straight, I'm glad SOMEONE is stepping into the space chryco is leaveing by screwing jeep, I would rather an american company jump in and fill ALL these gaps, but the reality is that if they don't.... someone else will.

as for the power gains being made by hand makeing this stuff... I was undert he impression that it was mostly in you valve/header angles and sizes that made the difference in HP, not the texture, like... I'm sure that the smoothness will make SOME difference, but how much really? enough to make up for another bank of cylinders? I doubt it. and yes, ofcourse we can bolt on turbo's for power, but you can do that to a hayabusa and put over 500hp to the rear wheel on a 1300cc engine, it can and HAS been done.

as far as the solid axle trucks, where are those dana's they're throwing under there made? and which manufacturers have been useing them for the last 30 years? ya... that's what I thought.

in my opinion, I'd on a general basis rather be driveing american than japanese, there ARE alot of exceptions, and I'm VERY picky about the vehicles I want to drive.

"what's that? no power to the back wheels? not interested"
I refuse to drive fwd, so when I'm compareing japanese to american, I'm compareing a camaro/firebird/vette/mustang against a 350z/S2K/miata

one exeption that truly sticks out in my mind about a japanese car that I would take in a second is the RX-7

if I'm wrong in here intended, let me know man, better to be corrected and made a fool of then to go thru life being a [email protected]$$ that has the facts all wrong

 

[paulxlt]

You don't really need a diesel, unless its a full-size trailer, but for 2-4 sled trailer, a 4.6L is plenty. An F-150 or any SUV is more than enough.

 

[Rexou812]

We tow a 4 place enclosed with a ford E-350 van or for the un compairable ride comfort 2003 GMC Yukon Denali XL (What a ride). Threr is no compairson to the ride and comfort level of a american made truck, and no contest to the ride and preformance of a 2002 BMW M5.