GM built unibody trucks before Honda

[SStan]

Just an FYI, I had to laugh reading the autoweek thread and elsewhere about how the Ridgeline isnt a real truck partly because of the unibody design. I even joined the autoweek forum but it wouldnt let me post pics.

Anyhow here a pic of a 1995 GMC 1 ton truck with 6.5 diesel and 4L80E auto transmission. Its a 3500 series van with aftermarket cutaway bus body but still a truck chassis.
The newer GM vans have gone back to separate frame/body altho none of the 95s I maintained ever had body issues.

This is the rear suspension front spring hanger, you can see how the frame rail is open on the top and attached to the stock floor pan.

http://images.filecloud.com/97508/GMC1.jpg

This is the transmission crossmember/frame area under the drivers seat.
A is the trans crossmember
B is the unibody crossmember
C is where the same crossmember is tack welded to the driver side frame rail, good view of the metal thickness
D is the second battery used with the diesel option

http://images.filecloud.com/97509/GMC2.jpg

[Oddjob]

OK whaz the point?:confused:

[SStan]

Umm, that unibody construction doesnt disqualify a vehicle from being labeled as a truck?
That GM also used unibody construction in their trucks?
Something to tell Ridgeline haters?

[SStan]

PS Ive been told since buying mine that the Ridgeline isnt a real truck because of
A it has plastic bumpers
B it has unibody construction
C its a Honda and they dont make trucks

FWIW I work in heavy truck maintenance and on diesel trucks all the time so I find the ignorance of so called truck experts funny.

[ProHonda]

Ford mad a pickup that was all one piece, no gap between the bed and cab.

Flex was real bad, even with a full frame. I think of the ridge as a AWD El Camino :D

[SStan]

Ford mad a pickup that was all one piece, no gap between the bed and cab.

Flex was real bad, even with a full frame. I think of the ridge as a AWD El Camino :D

Yes, made back in the mid60s. Had a friend who owned one of the Fords.
Chev/GMC also had a model with one piece body/bed back in the late 50s.
Too bad the technology wasnt advanced like it is now

Interesting about the El Caminos, a mod back in the 70s was to convert the front bed panel with hinges and latch into a trunk. Underneath was the passenger footwell compartment that was used on the station wagon body that the El Camino shared body panels with. But the Ridge is much more user friendly :)

[ridgeln]

SStan - very cool - thanks for posting the pics. Makes sense!


-ridgeln

[WhiteRTLnav]

The Chevy Avalance is also a unibody truck as the cab and bed are all one piece.

[rtboy1961]

PS Ive been told since buying mine that the Ridgeline isnt a real truck because of
A it has plastic bumpers
B it has unibody construction
C its a Honda and they dont make trucks

FWIW I work in heavy truck maintenance and on diesel trucks all the time so I find the ignorance of so called truck experts funny.
People say my wife is fat but I still stay with her !

[SStan]

SStan - very cool - thanks for posting the pics. Makes sense!


-ridgeln

Your welcome!


Re the Avalanche, its not a unibody. AFAIK it has body on frame construction. Unibody refers to when the body itself is the main structural part of the chassis and there is no separate main frame like on traditional trucks. Even the Ford (and Chevy) one piece cab/bed models mentioned earlier were not unibodies, they had body flex problems due to the body mounting to frame being poorly designed.

[scottIN]

Out of curiosity, who else has seen the cut-away of the Ridgeline in person? I saw it at Indy (I think it was the F1 race) and damn! There is a lot of metal in there, going every direction you can think of. My initial thought was 'overbuilt'. :D