Archive for December, 2009
For The Love Of Cars
Do you love your vehicle? Just how can you describe or define your love for your car? Would it be like that you feel for your mobile phone? Or love for a pet? Or love for a special human being?
The Auto Channel brings a report which indicated that a survey of respondents around the country was done by Jiffy Lube International. According to the results of the survey respondents who were vehicle owners and drivers had disclosed that there is this special relationship that a driver has to their vehicle. And just how high this love can get the studys results reflected that the affected can be quite similar as the affection that we give to the special people in our lives.
According to the survey the respondents had shared that they were not bashful about saying out loud their affections and appreciation of their vehicle since most of these respondents do look at their cars as a partner. The results showed that out of the total lot of women surveyed 48 said that they thank their vehicle for various reasons. 44 of the men also do such. 37 of the men and 30 of the women have given their compliments to their cars for being dependable units. Also the results showed that some 27 men and 25 women gave their commendations to the vehicle because the unit looked good. Indeed drivers may look at their vehicles as if they were human beings who had feelings.
The survey also continued to disclose that some 20 of the women respondents as well as 14 of the men lot had shared that they gave their vehicle a rub or a tap for being good cars. Also the survey results reflected that people also do apologize for some misdeeds done. 28 women and 24 men had declared that they say sorry to their vehicles whenever they do something wrong like not being able to buy them a new Monroe maxlift lift strut or when they accidentally go through a pothole or when they miscalculate a curb.
Lisa Carlson is Jiffys global director for marketing and she said Valentine’s Day is about showing affection for our loved ones but we shouldn’t forget to also think about our vehicles. For most of us our vehicles are far more than just another lineitem on our list of assets. They are so integral to our daily lives because we constantly count on them to safely and dependably get us where we need to be. They deserve affection and attention too.
About the writer: Anthony Fontanelle is a 35yearold automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.
Ford Expedition Deadly In Rollover Accidents
Like many other SUVs the Ford Expedition has proven to be defectively designed and extremely deadly when involved in a rollover accident.
Although designed to be driven off road the Expedition is not equipped with sufficient roof support adequate door latches or laminated glass that could mean the difference between life and death in a rollover accident. Engineers and safety experts have actively suggested fundamental changes to the Expedition to increase its rollover resistance however Ford Motor Co. continues to choose less expensive and less effective remedies as permanent solutions to a life threatening issue.
Rollovers accounted for over 10000 fatalities in the United States in 2004. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA rollover accidents are more likely to result in fatalities than other types of accidents. In 2004 about 2.7 percent of occupants involved in rollover accidents were fatally injured. That same year only 0.2 percent of occupants involved in accidents that did not involve rollovers were fatally injured. This means 33 percent of all passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in 2004 occurred in accidents that involved a rollover.
Due to its high center of gravity the Ford Expedition is disproportionately prone to rollovers when compared to other passenger vehicles. If a vehicle has a higher center of gravity and is quickly redirected as when a vehicle driver tries to avoid a sudden obstruction the vehicle can topple and rollover. The Expedition holds excessive weight at a higher level than other passenger vehicles leading to handling and stability defects. Because the Expedition is topheavy it is prone to heavy oversteering by drivers making a rollover accident likely.
One of the biggest dangers to Ford Expedition occupants in the event of a rollover accident is roof intrusion. Roof intrusion or “roof crush” refers to a situation when the roof of a vehicle does not maintain its shape during a rollover and is crushed or collapses seriously injuring vehicle occupants. The extreme weight of the Ford Expedition in combination with a weak roof design makes the SUV prone to severe roof intrusion during a rollover accident.
In the event of a rollover the roof pillars front roof header and side roof rails of the Ford Expedition often collapse and invade the occupant safety zone. When this happens the roof of the Expedition is usually forced down onto the top of occupants’ heads often causing brain contusions. Furthermore the forces are often transferred to the spine causing a fracture to the cervical neck. This type of spinal cord injury usually results in paraplegia quadriplegia or death. According to the Crash Injury Research Engineering Network CIREN the roof of a passenger vehicle is the source of over half 56 percent of all head injuries and onethird 33 percent of all spinal cord injuries in rollover accidents.
Problems with the design of some vehicle doors have been brought under great scrutiny in recent years. Shouldn’t vehicle doors be manufactured in a way that is strong enough to withstand the impact of a real accident? Absolutely! Vehicle doors are considered a key element of the overall structural strength and protection that an automobile should and is required by law provide to its occupants. Unfortunately many vehicles are equipped with doors that are not strong enough to bear the pressure endured during a rollover accident.
In the event of a rollover accident the strength of the torsion spring that is designed to hold the door latches or door locks shut may not be strong enough to perform as intended. The torsion spring controls the amount of force required to release the safety grip of the vehicle handle and open the door. The safety grip is created by the outward pressure of the torsion spring against the latch claw mechanism. Its primary purpose is to hold the vehicle door in its closed position. The door latch or door lock problem occurs when the torsion spring is too weak to maintain the safety grip under extended amounts of pressure such as the pressure that is endured during a rollover accident and allows the vehicle door to open exposing the occupants to much greater levels of injury.
The Ford Expedition is equipped with defective door latches. During a rollover accident the excessive weight of the Expedition increases the pressures and forces applied to the side doors of the vehicle. The door latches of the Expedition are too weak to hold the doors shut during the rollover creating an opportunity for occupant ejection or partial ejection from the vehicle. In the event of a rollover accident the door latch fails allowing the door to open during the event and exposes the occupant to deadly objects and impacts outside the safety of the vehicle.
On May 23 2004 a 10yearold boy from Texas endured fatal injuries when he was partially ejected from a Ford Expedition in a rollover accident. The boy’s name was Matthew Morroquin. Matthew was seated in the driver’s side third row seat when the Expedition was hit by another vehicle. The Expedition was struck in the rear quarter on the passenger side causing it to rollover one and onequarter times. All of the occupants in the Expedition including 10yearold Matthew were properly restrained by seatbelts at the time of the accident. During the accident the rear window glass shattered leaving Matthew unprotected from ejection out of the vehicle window. The 10yearold boy was partially ejected through the unprotected window opening causing his head to be crushed between the vehicle and the ground. The boys fatal injuries may have been avoided had the Expedition been equipped with stronger side window glass.
Laminated or glazed glass has been in use for about 60 years. This industrial strength glass is like a glassplasticglass sandwich. An acousticgrade interlayer composed of three layers of acoustic polyvinyl butyral PVB is laminated between two sheets of glass creating a stronger more flexible and lighter product. Laminated glass provides over 10 times the intrusion resistance of the traditional tempered glass and is about 4 pounds lighter than nonlaminated glass.
Studies show that vehicle occupants are five times as likely to endure fatal injuries when ejection is a factor in an automobile accident. If the Ford Expedition in the May 23 2004 rollover accident were equipped with laminated side glass 10yearold Matthew Morroquin would probably be alive today. Although it is widely used in other vehicle models in the United States laminated or glazed side glass in not used in any of the Expedition models. The use of laminated side glass would help prevent occupant ejection and multitudes of injuries and deaths that result from vehicle ejection.
Automotive engineers have long agreed that injuries are reduced dramatically if the occupants are secured within the safety zone of a rolling vehicle without severe intrusion. The technology to ensure this level of safety has been available for years. However little action has been taken to implement the necessary changes.
On July 6 1968 Mr. J.R. Weaver a safety engineer for Ford submitted an internal memo titled “Roof Strength Study” to Ford Motor Co. In the memo Weaver stated that “people are injured by roof collapse” and he suggests that some rollover accidents are so severe that the basic roof design would have to be altered to withstand the impact. Don Huelke another noted engineer stated that the amount of roof intrusion is directly attributed to the severity of nonejected occupant injuries.
In the spring of 2000 Ford engineers recommended that the company launch a recall campaign to fix defective door handles for over 4 million Ford vehicles including Expedition models years 19972000. Ford engineers advised that the design and manufacture of stronger springs and the installation of a counterweight was necessary to keep the Expedition doors shut. The cost would have been 99 cents per door. Unfortunately for consumers Ford’s investigation found that such a recall would cost about 527 million to fix all the defective door handles and decided to disregard the safety advice of their engineers.
With approximately 300000 rollover accidents and over 10000 rollover fatalities occurring every year in the United States rollover accidents are possibly the most significant safety issues concerning passenger vehicle occupants. The Ford Expedition is a major contributor to the number of vehicle rollover deaths. Due to its defective design the Expedition can be very unstable and therefore prone to rollover accidents. Research suggests that stronger roofs stronger door latches and stronger window glass would tremendously improve the safety of Expedition occupants.
Most auto manufacturers consciously refuse to take the corrective action necessary to save hundreds of vehicle occupant lives preferring instead to make a cheaper product and increase their profit margins. Our federal regulatory agencies do not have the guts to mandate improved safety standards. Consumers are therefore left to better investigate what they are buying and sue for redress when they have been duped.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;John Bisnar is a partner at Newport Beach Personal Injury Law Firm Bisnar Chase. The Bisnar Chase law firm has dedicated their practice to victims of serious injuries due to defective products negligence and malpractice.Visit http://www.bestattorney.com or call 8882650161
Ford Excursion Body Kits
More and more people are realizing the significant effect of body kits to their vehicles. Aside from making their vehicles look attractive it also boosts your vehicle’s speed and performance through the science of aerodynamics.
If you want your Ford excursion to turn into a million dollar car Hollywood owned vehicle while significantly enhancing its features then you should buy a Ford excursion body kit.
Ford excursion body kits is easy to find drive around your neighborhood and look for shops that offer it. But if have already exhausted all your efforts to no avail then a better idea is to browse and shop online. Many companies are already selling ford body kits and all you have to do is choose which among them is honest and reliable. You do this by conducting an investigation and verifying their feedbacks and reputation. You may call Better Business Bureau and ask if the company you are hoping to deal with is registered with them. BBB ensures that high standards for trust are set and maintained. They exist so consumers and businesses alike have an unbiased source to guide them on matters of trust. They provide educational information and expert advice that is free of charge and easily accessible. When the company you want to buy your kits from is registered with them then they are legitimate. BBB protects consumers by ensuring all the companies registered with them are closely being monitored regardless of any kind of behavior. Aside from BBB you can also call Consumers Advocates and ask if the companies in your list have any reported misconducts or fraudulent behavior. Consumers Advocates should be able to tell you which companies in your list can be trusted.
When purchasing ford excursion body kits make sure that you know the kind of body kit suited for your vehicle. There are two kinds of materials which body kits are made of. The first one is urethane and the second is fiberglass. Urethane aside from being flexible can be installed easily. Urethane is also highly resistant to damage and can withstand extreme weather and road conditions. Remember though that when a urethane gets damaged there is no way that it will be repaired. Fiberglass on the other hand is prone to damages but can be repaired numerous times. If you live in a place where the weather is fine and the road smooth then fiberglass is a good choice. Keep in mind that the ford excursion body kit you should get fits the exact specifications of your vehicle. Otherwise no matter what alterations you make it still won’t fit. Body kits are designed for only one make and model so it will be useless to fit it if it’s not intended for the kind of vehicle you have.
Finally before you rejoice after you the installation of your kit make absolutely certain that you test drive your car first and see if you will hear any rattling or funny sounds caused by loose bolts. If there seems to be no problem with the installation you can now pay the technician and start owning every highway and streets you pass by.
About the writer: Andrew Barker is a writer and a car enthusiast who values creativity and imagination over the standardized. Andrew Barker is also the well known owner of i love body kits. You can find the latest in Ford Excursion body kits at I love body kits.
