I love the way they word that kind of statement.
"May not have been installed"
Well, do you have a room full of cases of latches that didn't get installed or not.
Everything is ordered by demand. Either you never got them, or you did, but didn't use them.

I can't even get out of second gear.

/55

Would it be impractical for pickups to have hoods that hinge in the front?

Beep beep.

JohnAnnArbor: DownDaRiver: I love the way they word that kind of statement.
"May not have been installed"
Well, do you have a room full of cases of latches that didn't get installed or not.
Everything is ordered by demand. Either you never got them, or you did, but didn't use them.

Ask the UAW boys. If they're not too stoned/drunk after lunch break, that is.

I'm not saying that this happens in every industry, but my father worked for a nationally recognized newspaper (you know, with the bestseller lists) for 30 years, and It's amazing that newspapers got to the paperboy on time.

Challenge accepted!



Link

I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.

If the primary latch isn't properly engaged the hood could pop open. Am I missing something? When was the last time you failed to engage the primary latch? Wouldn't the hood not being flush with the fenders be a big clue?

I had this happen once. Had a truck with a hood latch that wouldn't pop the hood reliably; one day, I tried to check my fluids, couldn't get the hood open, and figured, "Well, at least it's not going anywhere." Discovered the hard way while doing 75 that yes, the latch did, in fact, let go of the hood.

Thankfully, it was a pretty empty and straight freeway, so I was able to trip the hazards and safely pull over.

Sneakernets: JohnAnnArbor: DownDaRiver: I love the way they word that kind of statement.
"May not have been installed"
Well, do you have a room full of cases of latches that didn't get installed or not.
Everything is ordered by demand. Either you never got them, or you did, but didn't use them.

Ask the UAW boys. If they're not too stoned/drunk after lunch break, that is.

I'm not saying that this happens in every industry, but my father worked for a nationally recognized newspaper (you know, with the bestseller lists) for 30 years, and It's amazing that newspapers got to the paperboy on time.

I have 16 years in newspapers.
And yes, every damn day it is amazing.
In fact, every day its like controlled chaos with a heart attack chaser.
But every damn day, the paper gets out the door.

wildcardjack: Challenge accepted!

[www.blogcdn.com image 630x393]

Link

They didn't change the tires at all! They didn't even rotate them.

Huck And Molly Ziegler: Would it be impractical for pickups to have hoods that hinge in the front?

They'd just forget to install the hinges.

Solid Muldoon: I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.


I had a '76. Loved it.

/VW buses will learn you to wear a seat belt

What else would you expect from a corrupt bureaucracy like Government Motors!?

/Just getting that out of the way

My father owned a 1929 LaSalle (at a time when it was a crappy old car and not an awesome vintage roadster) that had a oil gauge in the dash. You'd pull it out and being attached to a float in the oil pan it would tell you how many quarts it was down based on how far it would come out. It apparently burned oil about as fast as it burned gas so he'd buy gallons of waste oil at gas stations and refill the car ever hundred miles or so.

Amos Quito: Solid Muldoon: I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.


I had a '76. Loved it.

/VW buses will learn you to wear a seat belt

I loved it and hated it.

It had the aerodynamics of a loaf of bread.

If you ran into anything, there was nothing between you and death but a pizza pan and a sheet of glass.

And no gear shift should be three feet long. Seriously.

But I used to pack a dozen of my friends into it for great roadtrips, and had many, many awesome sexual adventures in it as well.

And those two statements are not mutually exclusive.

I was driving to work one cold January morning about 6am when my hood flew up on my 95 Ram. Scared the shiat out of me. /had to ratchet strap it down to install a countertop that day. Felt like Lamont Sanford/

Solid Muldoon: Amos Quito: Solid Muldoon: I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.


I had a '76. Loved it.

/VW buses will learn you to wear a seat belt

I loved it and hated it.

It had the aerodynamics of a loaf of bread.

If you ran into anything, there was nothing between you and death but a pizza pan and a sheet of glass.

And no gear shift should be three feet long. Seriously.

But I used to pack a dozen of my friends into it for great roadtrips, and had many, many awesome sexual adventures in it as well.

And those two statements are not mutually exclusive.


I concur with each of your poignant  peeves, and on reflection, agree that my fondness was not so much for the bus, as for the memories of the times.

/Miserable vehicles in the winter

badhatharry: DownDaRiver: I love the way they word that kind of statement.
"May not have been installed"
Well, do you have a room full of cases of latches that didn't get installed or not.
Everything is ordered by demand. Either you never got them, or you did, but didn't use them.

I hate it whenever I have left over pieces after building something. I just hope that they sent me some extras.

Whenever this happens to me, I congratulate myself for re-engineering the device more efficiently.

Glancing Blow: If the primary latch isn't properly engaged the hood could pop open. Am I missing something? When was the last time you failed to engage the primary latch? Wouldn't the hood not being flush with the fenders be a big clue?

Maybe, maybe not. If you've had any kind of front-end collision nowadays, your hood might not be flush with the fenders anymore, even if the latch is engaged. (Since it takes about 1.2 grams of force to buckle the aluminum foil they make parts out of) I always drop the hood to engage the latch when I check my engine; but I know not everyone does that, especially people who don't routinely check their own engine fluids. It might not even occur to them that there are two latches and both need to be secure.

Never assume that people know anything about cars except "Get in turn key push pedal car goes."

BolloxReader: just in time

Just in time supply is about the only way any industry with bean counters can work. Bean counters think like, hey, every second that money for that box'o'parts is out of our bank account is another second it isn't generating interest. If we got deliveries a week early instead of the day of having to use them, we'd miss out on six dollars a year we could have had in interest. Never mind that in the end it will cost us thousands of dollars to fix all the problems created from deliveries being late!

Amos Quito: Solid Muldoon: Amos Quito: Solid Muldoon: I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.


I had a '76. Loved it.

/VW buses will learn you to wear a seat belt

I loved it and hated it.

It had the aerodynamics of a loaf of bread.

If you ran into anything, there was nothing between you and death but a pizza pan and a sheet of glass.

And no gear shift should be three feet long. Seriously.

But I used to pack a dozen of my friends into it for great roadtrips, and had many, many awesome sexual adventures in it as well.

And those two statements are not mutually exclusive.


I concur with each of your poignant  peeves, and on reflection, agree that my fondness was not so much for the bus, as for the memories of the times.

/Miserable vehicles in the winter

Heater? What's a heater?

Huck And Molly Ziegler: Would it be impractical for pickups to have hoods that hinge in the front?

Yes. Due to the height and size of the vehicle, working on the front of the motor would be near impossible without removing the hood. Pulling a hood and going to the trouble of reinstalling it for doing a simple waterpump replacement would double the labor. Besides you could go redneck and mount 'nascar' hood pins.

BolloxReader: Or they got boxes of random brass findings instead of latches from the supplier. I used to find boxes full of hinges, doorknobs, door pulls, knockers and rails randomly shipped to an automotive parts assembly plant, instead of small metal frames for components.

Why? Because for a decade not one shipment of components had been spot-checked before being put on the assembly line. Small things are sold by weight, and presumably for years suppliers had just been boxing up whatever crap had been made on the previous run, and the assembly line pilots had just been tossing it out without comment.

You can spout "just in time manufacturing" all you like but all that means is that there are a lot more expedite trucks out there hauling stuff around because of these issues. The supply chain still has a lot of problems and it always will.

I noticed the same hole in the modern incoming inspection system. If all the paperwork was in place a box of rocks could make it to the line. Had it proven when someone in receiving put the wrong part number on a box. Totally wrong part. Ended up on the line. Could have been rocks or doorknobs in there.

As to 'just too late' systems, all it was change how manufacturers pay for inventory and shipping. Instead paying for their own warehouse space they pay for the supplier's warehouse space and more shipping wrapped up in the part price. But someone in these corporations got promoted because he reduced his department's costs. The cost was just transferred to some other department's ledger.

Of course it's socially incorrect to actually point out these things out when working at a company with these systems.

As to how this happened on the line it could be simple BOM error, not just lazy, incompetent, or angry employee(s), Usually the secondary latch is part of the latch assembly. The issue might have actually been back at the supplier of the assembly. The guy in the GM plant put the latches on, he doesn't care that they look different than they did last week.

Hrist: BolloxReader: just in time

Just in time supply is about the only way any industry with bean counters can work. Bean counters think like, hey, every second that money for that box'o'parts is out of our bank account is another second it isn't generating interest. If we got deliveries a week early instead of the day of having to use them, we'd miss out on six dollars a year we could have had in interest. Never mind that in the end it will cost us thousands of dollars to fix all the problems created from deliveries being late!

The flip side of that is having a lot of inventory that could be bad when a quality problem is found.

Huck And Molly Ziegler: Would it be impractical for pickups to have hoods that hinge in the front?

Yes

Mr. Eugenides: My father owned a 1929 LaSalle (at a time when it was a crappy old car and not an awesome vintage roadster) that had a oil gauge in the dash. You'd pull it out and being attached to a float in the oil pan it would tell you how many quarts it was down based on how far it would come out. It apparently burned oil about as fast as it burned gas so he'd buy gallons of waste oil at gas stations and refill the car ever hundred miles or so.

I have a 1929 Pierce Arrow that doesn't really burn oil so I'm getting a kick out of your post.

Maus III: Once owned a Hyundai Elantra; driver's side door would suddenly open without warning while over 30mph. Never bought a Hyundai again and never will.

Sounds like Hyundai stole design from the Ford Escort.

No one ever would have known about the missing latch if they would have put a missing engine in the damn thing.

I have made a point to have very useful, reliable cars.

JohnAnnArbor:
I haven't seen a paper boy in two decades or more. Seems the bike-riding paper boy has been replaced by car-driving adults.

Didn't get his $2, had to declare bankruptcy

Solid Muldoon: I used to own a 1972 VW Bus.

You could literally work on the engine while you were driving down the road. I know, because I did it.

Well, my Dad was driving, but still.

Back in the '70s I was driving one of those vans that have the service access inside the cab,
We were just pulling in to a coffee shop for lunch when I noticed the temp gage was pinned over at the HI side.

So we went into the coffee shop to have lunch and call for a tow truck. (From a payphone of course!); noticed there was a garage just across the road, so we thought "we'd have a nice long lunch while the engine cooled down, then get some water from the coffee shop and top up the rad before driving the van across to the service station and save the cost of the tow".

After about an hour we'd finished up lunch and figured the thing had cooled enough to top up the rad, we got back in the van with our cup of water, opened the "hood" and my partner removed the rad cap.

BIG MISTAKE

It was like "Old Faithful" right there inside the van! We had to bail out quickly - fortunately my partner was not burned too badly - here we are outside the van with clouds of steam pouring out from the doors!

For the rest of the time I worked there, everything in that van was slimy and smelled of coolant!

A win for Obama and the unions. More bailouts?!?!

rhiannon: unexpectedly flying open on the highway.

Freedom, baby.

When I was in high school, the bus did that one day after school. The bus driver stopped and put the hood back down. Thakfully we lived in BFE so there wasn't any traffic.

rhiannon: unexpectedly flying open on the highway.

Freedom, baby.

Back in my day we called that "ram air".

"The situation could be especially severe while driving as wind could lift the hood up and block a driver's view of the road ahead."

umm if your hood pops up while your driving it does more then just block your view of the road, I had this happen once to me in college on an eclipse that I had just bought (front end work from an accident right before I bought it was to blame). It flew up so hard that it shattered the windshield and destroyed the roof. Damn near totaled the car.

FarkerinMN: "The situation could be especially severe while driving as wind could lift the hood up and block a driver's view of the road ahead."

umm if your hood pops up while your driving it does more then just block your view of the road, I had this happen once to me in college on an eclipse that I had just bought (front end work from an accident right before I bought it was to blame). It flew up so hard that it shattered the windshield and destroyed the roof. Damn near totaled the car.


Exact same thing happened to me in my old Civic. Same thing, front end work had been done and the latch hadn't been fixed properly. At 65 mph that hood hitting the windshield scared the shiat out of me.

Wait, I learned from GTA that if you just accelerate a little bit, a popped-up hood will detach, fly off, and you'll be on your merry way with no change in aerodynamics.