[Disturbin]

“GM, Ford, and Chrysler will build fewer big SUVs based on pickup truck frames, which are good for towing but heavy and inefficient”

Awesome, bring on the unibody trucks! [/s]

[BwanaNdege]

While I detest bureaucrats playing with engineering almost as much as I detest lawyers playing with engineering, don’t be too quick to condemn “unibody” trucks (vs “frame & body”). Unibody (or monocoque) construction works quite well for things like F1 or Indy cars, nearly all modern aircraft and a number of other strong, lightweight designs.

If the “hardpoints” are designed correctly, a unibody truck will have no problem towing trailers, etc. Don’t believe me?

Take a look at a carrier based aircraft, like the F-18. The carrier’s catapult accelerates the 25+ ton F-18 from 0 to over 150 mph in 2.5 seconds. All of these acceleration loads are taken up by the nose gear.

When it comes time to land, the tailhook snags an arresting cable and stops an aircraft flying at 150 mph in about 2 seconds. All done with a unibody.

[stompk]

“Awesome, bring on the unibody trucks! [/s]”

yeah, there are more Honda Ridgelines for sale on Ebay and Craigslist than almost any other truck. wonder why ?