All Entries in the "Auto News" Category
US Army Tests HUMVEE Replacement Pickups
Everyone knows about the Humvee, the heavy-duty 4×4 that inspired the original HUMMER H1 civilian SUV. While the Humvee has served the US Army well over the past few decades, technology continually marches forward. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is the program dedicated to finding the Humvee’s replacement…and to our eyes the JLTV entrants look a heck of a lot like pickup trucks.
General Tactical Vehicles JLTV entrant
The JLTV has been in development for several years under the auspices of a number of military contractors, and the primary aim of the design has been to improve on areas where the original Humvee fell short.
Tundra Could Overtake Ram Sales in 2010
Last week PickupTrucks.com published an excellent break-down of 2010 pickup truck sales through the first four months of 2010. While there are a lot of interesting takeaways, the one that jumps out at us is the fact that the Tundra could outsell the Ram in 2010. To be clear, knocking off the Ram is still only good enough for 3rd place…and close is a relative term (Toyota is still about 3,000 units short). Here are the numbers:
| 2010 Sales Through April | |
| Ram 1500 | 32,058 |
| Tundra | 29,106 |
Does this mean anything? Not really. Depending on how you look at it, it can be a positive:
- The Tundra is gaining ground on the Ram 1500.
or a negative:
- Toyota has been aggressively incentivizing Tundra sales (along with everything else), and despite that fact they still can’t surpass the sales of the the Ram 1500.
Either way, sales figures really don’t mean anything.
Power Take-Off Units and Ford’s New Live Drive PTO
For anyone who has ever worked with mechanical equipment in the construction or agricultural industries, the term ‘power take-off’ or PTO is a familiar one. For the rest of us, a short primer is in order to help understand what this device is and how it can be useful to truck owners.
What’s A PTO?
In the simplest terms, a power take-off (PTO) is a device which is coupled to a vehicle’s transmission and which shifts the engine’s power output from turning the driveshaft into instead rotating an external splined shaft to which a wide range of equipment can be attached. Commonly found on farm tractors, a PTO can be used to power anything hydraulic – from a hay baler to a snow blower to a cement mixer to a roll-out. PTOs are extremely useful devices when it comes to powering equipment far off the beaten path, where it might not be possible to run electrical power or practical to store reserves of fuel.
Tow trucks use PTOs to power hydraulic lifts and roll-outs.
Commercial vehicles such as fire trucks, garbage trucks, dump trucks, and tow trucks are excellent examples of PTO units in action in our daily lives.
Ford’s New Twin-Turbo V6 F150 Raises Longevity and Reliability Questions
Last week PickupTrucks.com published some spy photos of Ford’s 2011 V6 EcoBoost F150. The rumor is that the new engine will be a 3.5L V6 with a twin-turbo setup. Estimates are that this new V6 will have 400+ hp and 400+ lb-ft of torque, but that it will also get an EPA rating of 23 mpg on the highway.
While this new EcoBoost engine isn’t going to be “free” – it’s a premium option at this point with a hefty sticker price – it’s definitely the next killer app in pickups, and an indicator that the entire auto industry may use small-displacement motors with turbochargers to replace larger naturally aspirated motors.
However, as the comments in the PickupTrucks.com post point out, What about longevity and reliability?
Toyota Plants Target Of Fake Letter Bombs
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that four Toyota assembly plants – San Antonio, TX (home of the Taco and Tundra), Princeton, IN (home of the Sienna and Highlander), Buffalo, WV (a 4cyl and 6cyl engine plant), and Toyota’s R&D facility in Erlanger, KY have all received fake letter bombs during the last few days.
Fake letter bombs being sent to Toyota facilities are made from a short section of cardboard tube and hand addressed. The return address is allegedly Nigeria.
The choice of facilities seems to make it clear that someone has visited the manufacturing page on Toyota’s website, which lists all of the major Toyota manufacturing facilities in the USA. Hopefully this does not mean that more fake letter bombs are due to arrive at the other facilities on that page.
The question is, why?
