New WhistlinDiesel: Cybertruck vs. F-150 Frame & Hitch Video

[Tedacules]

Not going to lie I was in the camp of "the concrete broke the hitch, this would never happen in real life". But after watching his followup video and seeing the F150 frame take that abuse... Maybe they should make the CT casting thicker. Easier said than done. Im still getting my CT

They will fix this but not soon maybe next year? Thoughts? ?

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[2DVS4U]

Like I said after the first WD Cybertruck video steel bends and aluminum breaks, it is entertaining to me to see how after all the comments he got about the hitch/frame breaking off it made him go way above and beyond to prove his point, and we all are adding $$$ to his YouTube account by watching it and agonizing over it.

No matter how you look at it the Cybertruck has never been built before and a giga press made castings are new to the automotive industry, So I am sure like all other products that are made they will require some modifications to improve strength and reliability down the line.

It does make you wander if a true exoskeleton design would have done been better or worse after being subject to the abuse the WD applies when he makes a point about something.

 

[tingmo13]

idiots feed idiots and it works in the mental health crises moment.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Where have you been, giga casting is all Tesla has been talking about for the past decade.

Been behind Fords. This is my first Tesla.

 

[mcm4ss]

I am a little worried that maybe my hitch could rip off my truck now…

yeah. seems like its a possibility

 

[darkfyre]

Opinion:

We don't know what happened (truly). WD makes clickbait and entertainment. The accident that he talks about has 0 sources (so it could be 100% made up and likely is because there are no news articles that I can find at least - you would thing news media would be salivating to rub Tesla's nose in something like this). If I was WD and my latest CT video did "very well", I'd be looking for ways to ride that succes; like smashing up an F-150 to "prove a point".

I am also not saying that there is nothing wrong. CT towing isn't something that directly impacts me because it's not one of my use cases for the truck (directly) so I'm not overly concerned. However, if you do row, it's probably something to try and find out more about.

 

[rrizzi7210]

Did you watch this latest video? It definitely seems the casting is weak…. Especially if there was another truck that had one shear off while towing.

I read someplace that Tesla purposely designed a breakaway point in the system so that when loads exceed ratings by a multiple (I don't know what the multiple is), it breaks away to prevent total destruction of the frame. I have no way to verify, but if I find a reliable source, I will amend it here later.

 

[mongo]

The video (mostly*) debunked the poor argument that a steel F-150 chassis would snap if dropped on its hitch. However, that's an irrelevant strawmanish topic to the events the Cybertruck experienced.

He admits they dropped it on the hitch/ rear frame

He continues saying it snapped in half. The trailer receiver section broke off, not half the frame. It's not clear if the receiver is a critical cross vehicle structural component.

He tries to hand wave the F-150 braking on extraction which is when the frame broke. Note: a 11,000 pound trailer with maximum braking will only exert around 8k pounds of load. The F-150 with nose in the dip could have exerted more, plus the shock load of the chain would be multiples of the F-150 mass.
Note the F-150 is braking before entering the drip, chain is slack, and the pull angle requires a near perpendicular motion of the F-150 front tires:

The Cybertruck still pulls it up the culvert before breaking.

*Ways the video did not compare apples to apples:
F-150 dropped a shorter distance, (but rear wheels didn't hit )
The F-150 had a ball mount in the receiver vs hitting the frame
Biggie: The drop was using an excavator instead of free fall and it was supported by the chain all the way down.

The impact angle was different

Other test: Dragging a concrete block is less force

Basic differences the test couldn't control:
Vehicle weight

 

[Clintmilt7]

Buildings aren’t made to get hit by airplanes.
Drill bits aren’t made to bend.
Mentally challenged are easily amused.

 

[boley]

I heard aluminum is difficult to weld though... and the weld point will not have the same strength as the rest of the forged material?

Its not rocket science, just takes a bit of skill. Personally, I lack the skill but I have worked with some welders that it is like a walk in the park.

 

[Cybergirl]

This test is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison which proves nothing.

Did they weigh each vehicle before doing these torture tests? I'm guessing the F-150 weighs close to 5000 lbs with 2200 lbs distributed to the rear axle. The CT weighs 6669 lbs with 3,364 lb on the rear axle, a difference of 1000 lbs or more. When the Cybertruck fell from the concrete pipes, it struck the concrete slab with a far greater force than what the F-150 experienced.

If the falling distance was 3 feet onto a hard concrete surface, that extra 1000 lbs of mass would produce over 30,000 lbs of additional shear force on the Cybertruck's casting on impact compared to what the F-150 frame was subjected to. You can do the math if you don't believe it.

So, drawing conclusions about the durability of these two vehicles based on this sophomoric demostration is completely bogus.

 

[SCTesla]

This test is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison which proves nothing.

Did they weigh each vehicle before doing these torture tests? I'm guessing the F-150 weighs close to 5000 lbs with 2200 lbs distributed to the rear axle. The CT weighs 6669 lbs with 3,364 lb on the rear axle, a difference of 1000 lbs or more. When the Cybertruck fell from the concrete pipes, it struck the concrete slab with a far greater force than what the F-150 experienced.

If the falling distance was 3 feet onto a hard concrete surface, that extra 1000 lbs of mass would produce over 30,000 lbs of additional shear force on the Cybertruck's casting on impact compared to what the F-150 frame was subjected to. You can do the math if you don't believe it.

So, drawing conclusions about the durability of these two vehicles based on this sophomoric demostration is completely bogus.

The Ford still wouldn't break, even putting another 1k lbs in the bed. It would bend first.

 

[CyberGus]

He keeps saying “Cybertruck has weak hitch”, but I hear “Cybertruck strong enough to rip out its own hitch” ?

 

[TickTock]

Even though I think this is going to be a very rare occurrence, I suspect Tesla will *have* to answer to this because runaway trailers are life-threatening (why hitches require chain backup). Although the CT was abused in the video, the abuse is not out of the realm of possibilities for an off-road vehicle and the damage was not apparent until the total failure at a later time when the hitch was used. We will probably eventually see a recall where Tesla, as a minimum, installs backup steel chains or bars to keep the receiver attached should the casting break. Won't ever come into play for 99.99% of the trucks but they would face a very legitimate lawsuit if they do not address this and someone is killed as a result.

 

[CyberGus]

I never understood “safety chains”. Being chained to a runaway trailer doesn’t sound very safe ?‍

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