Instant Compact F150 (Structure matters!)

[Deleted member 5322]

Saw this crazy video from the IIHS where they loaded up an F150 with concrete and smashed it into their test wall at 40MPH.

These guys were just testing their system out to ensure it could handle the weight, but seeing what this load did to the cab of the truck was … stunning.

That white block you see in the drivers seat of the truck was strapped down in the bed of the truck at the start of the video. If anyone was in the truck when this crash happened they would likely be dead. The load just smashed through the entire bed wall, rear seats, front seats and is now smashed against the firewall.

When people talk about 3500 pounds of cargo capacity, that’s the kind of crazy forces you are dealing with.

Also notable, the truck just accordions up, but not in a good way.

Do you all guys think CT would hold it better in the same circumstances? I think the wall between a cab and a bed is the weakest point in any truck. If the load is properly secured - it will not go straight to the cabin so easily. But how many people think about it when hauling this kind of load for a short distance and thinking "it is going nowhere, there are just a couple of miles and I've done it thousands times"........

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[Crissa]

Watched the video again and it is very curious.

They have metal rails and quite beefy chains strapping this thing quite solidly to the deck. But there is no lateral attachment. It’s almost like they wanted to guarantee the weight would not leave the bed of the truck but were relying on friction alone to prevent the truck from sliding forward into the cab.

I almost think they did this deliberately to smash the cab for fun. You have to figure the people who get these jobs have to love smashing things. Smashing a truck in a new and unique way would be the best part of their day. They probably had bets as to how far into the cabin it penetrated.

Yeah.

But how many loads do you see on the road strapped down the same way?

Probably most of them.

-Crissa

 

[Ogre]

Do you all guys think CT would hold it better in the same circumstances? I think the wall between a cab and a bed is the weakest point in any truck. If the load is properly secured - it will not go straight to the cabin so easily. But how many people think about it when hauling this kind of load for a short distance and thinking "it is going nowhere, there are just a couple of miles and I've done it thousands times"........

One thing I noticed that would expect to be different on the Cybertruck. The bed folded up, a ladder frame is vulnerable to this kind of failure because it has little vertical stabilization. I think if you properly secured the load (including lateral stabilization!), it would have done better. That said…

But how many loads do you see on the road strapped down the same way?

Probably most of them.

A while back I was working retail and a truck in front of the shop I was working on had to slam on it’s brakes. He was hauling an engine block in the bed completely unsecured. While it didn’t fly through the cab, there was a 250 gallon propane tank anchored to the truck bed (might have been a propane powered truck??). The engine smashed into the propane tank and broke the fittings on the propane tank, resulting in propane pouring out of the tank.

Fortunately someone was able to plug it… using duct tape and a small stick, creating a sort of compression seal.

Lots of people think loads in a truck bed are “Secure” so long as they won’t actually bounce out of the truck bed. Cybertruck might make this worse since the vault cover slides up. If it can’t bounce out of the bed… it’s secure right?

 

[MEDICALJMP]

@Crissa,
The load was strapped to the frictionless steel plate and not laterally secured. @SolarWizard saw it as well. I was brief, he more in-depth. I did not infer they said that it was analogous. I stated this so that others who had only watched this video from the bookmark did not think it to be so. I wanted there to be no doubt to any casual reader A did not equal B.

 

[Ogre]

@Crissa,
The load was strapped to the frictionless steel plate and not laterally secured. @SolarWizard saw it as well. I was brief, he more in-depth. I did not infer they said that it was analogous. I stated this so that others who had only watched this video from the bookmark did not think it to be so. I wanted there to be no doubt to any casual reader A did not equal B.

I used to drive professionally. Big stacks of feed.

You always knew when a new driver had driven the truck the week before because there would be a new dent in the roof of the cab from when they stopped and feed bags slid from under the ropes and plopped onto the roof. You learned fast to throw the ropes diagonal across the front and rear of the load or you lost things.

I just wonder if the guys in the video did this deliberately or not. There are a ton of straps and chains on that load… just not a single one across or diagonal along the front or rear.

 

[Crissa]

@Crissa,
The load was strapped to the frictionless steel plate and not laterally secured. @SolarWizard saw it as well. I was brief, he more in-depth. I did not infer they said that it was analogous. I stated this so that others who had only watched this video from the bookmark did not think it to be so. I wanted there to be no doubt to any casual reader A did not equal B.

Lateral means side to side, not front to back.

Friction does not hold if there's a shock, like in a collision.

whatever you 'saw' it wasn't what I wrote, I think.

I just wonder if the guys in the video did this deliberately or not. There are a ton of straps and chains on that load… just not a single one across or diagonal along the front or rear.

Definitely. This is how you remind those guys to do the safety thing.

-Crissa

 

[JBee]

Are you a reservation holder for Cybertruck? or a Smart car? in fact, I did take a test drive in a smart car surrounded by large SUVs and trucks on the highway feeling like I could be blown away any moment. Putting my own life on the line is one thing but my family? And that is the sad reason America disagrees with you. Average size and weight of Ameriacn cars on highways have been only increasing.

What you are saying makes sense as a whole for society but what makes sense does not often prevail.

Smart cars are awesome, even for safety. Built like a ping pong ball just bounces off anything.

 

[Diehard]

Smart cars are awesome, even for safety. Built like a ping pong ball just bounces off anything.

They are awesome for Europe or American cities. I have driven cars like it in Europe and I wouldn't have it any other way. Got a minivan in France once (not by choice) and it was a nightmare. But I wouldn't want to have a head on collision in a smart car with a Rivian on one of divided highways near my house no matter how bouncy it is. Physics would not be on my side.

Don't get me wrong, I love your vision. My ideal world would be one in which the only personal mode of transpiration would be feet and low speed (less than 40 mph) EV/Bicycles. But I am too much of a chicken to be the guy stepping in front of dirty harry first to make that happen.

 

[android04]

It sounds like the main reason they are doing this is extra weight of EVs. The extra mass is often under the vehicle and less likely to crush passengers. In fact that extra weight may make the vehicle safer for it's passengers by adding stability and momentum.

I believe the reason for this test was revealed in the latest Munro Live YouTube video where Corey Steuben visits the IIHS testing facility and gets to watch the Mustang Mach E crash test. The director (or head, or whatever his title was) answered Corey when he asked if they had tested or were able to test heavier vehicles that weight up to 10,000 lbs. That was in indirect reference to the Hummer EV. The director answered that they hadn't done the crash test yet, but had just tested their pulling equipment to make sure that it could accelerate a much heavier weight than it was originally designed for. So I believe this test was for seeing if the equipment could pull 9k or 10k, and they decided it was entertaining or informative enough to post it.

 

[SwampNut]

Are you a reservation holder for Cybertruck? or a Smart car?

I have a CT reservation and I currently own and drive a Smart, as well as a Model 3. I love the smart, and have never felt unsafe in it. And I simply laugh at the "men" who tell me they could never drive something so silly because ego. It's a vastly under-rated car (by Americans).

As Crissa said, the actual fact is that they are safer than many larger vehicles. But people are dumb and treat feelings as facts.

 

[Ogre]

I have a CT reservation and I currently own and drive a Smart, as well as a Model 3. I love the smart, and have never felt unsafe in it. And I simply laugh at the "men" who tell me they could never drive something so silly because ego. It's a vastly under-rated car (by Americans).

As Crissa said, the actual fact is that they are safer than many larger vehicles. But people are dumb and treat feelings as facts.

I like the Smart cars in terms of what they offer and never worried about safety.

What bugged me about them is the (lack of) economy relative to it’s size and price. Seemed like something that small should have gotten much better fuel economy than a Honda Civic and more affordable as well. It was neither from that I recall.

 

[SwampNut]

They are dirt cheap, but do only get around 38-40 MPG. But the car itself is just super cheap to buy and to insure. I paid $13k for a totally perfect 2016 with full Mercedes dealer records for all maintenance. I could have gone down to around $9k for a not so perfect one. Tires are dirt cheap, as are most normal maintenance things. I added it to the Tesla insurance for under $40/mo with full coverage, 100/300, and $500 deductible. Being mostly just a backup car, the fuel savings mean little, but the "sitting around" cost is important (such as insurance).

 

[Crissa]

What bugged me about them is the (lack of) economy relative to it’s size and price. Seemed like something that small should have gotten much better fuel economy than a Honda Civic and more affordable as well. It was neither from that I recall.

It's a pretty blunt object, so can't get the same efficiency at highway speeds.

The local weed ahop uses them for their delivery vehicles. While the shops are open, they park them two to a parking spot ^-^

-Crissa

 

[Cybertruck Hawaii]

Smashing into a concrete wall is a solid stop. Most accidents involve a soft stop from the impact of another vehicle as the crumple zone. That other vehicle will act as an cushion.

 

[Cybertruck Hawaii]

IIHS Approved ?

?Owner is saying that all he needed was a few more inches until he crossed over the border with the “420” load.

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