Picked up a new D-Max

[jaydee]

Picked up the latest 4X4 D Max from the dealer yesterday.
My Daughter and her fiance who live up north bought it and asked me to pick it up here in Perth after about a 16 month wait.
They have an old Patrol past it used by date so lashed out on a new car. Tried to talk them into a low kay used HiLux, but heart set on a new car.
They need it and will use it extensively.

So, first impressions, looks great, seating is comfortable, drives well, except...
My God, the ride is terrible, feel every bump in the road, every join, every road repair.
It was like reading Braille.
Checked the tyre pressures, one had 55, the rest 45 to 48.
Let them down to 33, went for another drive, bounce, bounce, bone jarring ride.

Now she wants me to do a road trip and take it up to Broome for them, 2000km.
No way, I just couldn't do it, my back won't make it and I'll be like one of those bobble head dolls.

I'll pay to truck it up, worth every cent.

[whitelion65]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Checked the tyre pressures, one had 55, the rest 45 to 48.

Isn't that pre-delivery fee money well spent? :-/

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by jaydee

My God, the ride is terrible, feel every bump in the road, every join, every road repair.
It was like reading Braille.
Checked the tyre pressures, one had 55, the rest 45 to 48.
Let them down to 33, went for another drive, bounce, bounce, bone jarring ride.

Now she wants me to do a road trip and take it up to Broome for them, 2000km.
No way, I just couldn't do it, my back won't make it and I'll be like one of those bobble head dolls.

I'll pay to truck it up, worth every cent.

#ThailandSpecial

People don't know what they had with the single cab Falcon Ute

[fiestaz]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Picked up the latest 4X4 D Max from the dealer yesterday.
My Daughter and her fiance who live up north bought it and asked me to pick it up here in Perth after about a 16 month wait.
They have an old Patrol past it used by date so lashed out on a new car. Tried to talk them into a low kay used HiLux, but heart set on a new car.
They need it and will use it extensively.

So, first impressions, looks great, seating is comfortable, drives well, except...
My God, the ride is terrible, feel every bump in the road, every join, every road repair.
It was like reading Braille.
Checked the tyre pressures, one had 55, the rest 45 to 48.
Let them down to 33, went for another drive, bounce, bounce, bone jarring ride.

Now she wants me to do a road trip and take it up to Broome for them, 2000km.
No way, I just couldn't do it, my back won't make it and I'll be like one of those bobble head dolls.

I'll pay to truck it up, worth every cent.

Pretty typical of these utes. The Hilux would be no better (possibly worse). Ranger is meant to be best in this regard.

[Paull]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Picked up the latest 4X4 D Max from the dealer yesterday.
My Daughter and her fiance who live up north bought it and asked me to pick it up here in Perth after about a 16 month wait.
They have an old Patrol past it used by date so lashed out on a new car. Tried to talk them into a low kay used HiLux, but heart set on a new car.
They need it and will use it extensively.

So, first impressions, looks great, seating is comfortable, drives well, except...
My God, the ride is terrible, feel every bump in the road, every join, every road repair.
It was like reading Braille.
Checked the tyre pressures, one had 55, the rest 45 to 48.
Let them down to 33, went for another drive, bounce, bounce, bone jarring ride.

Now she wants me to do a road trip and take it up to Broome for them, 2000km.
No way, I just couldn't do it, my back won't make it and I'll be like one of those bobble head dolls.

I'll pay to truck it up, worth every cent.

Assume that you won't be bringing it tomorrow then?

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

#ThailandSpecial

People don't know what they had with the single cab Falcon Ute

Not just the Thailand ones. The Chinese ones do the same thing

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Not just the Thailand ones. The Chinese ones do the same thing

#ChineseThailandSpecial

The only ones which didn't ride like **** were the Australian ones, kinda like we had a bit of an idea how to make a decent car

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

#ChineseThailandSpecial

The only ones which didn't ride like **** were the Australian ones, kinda like we had a bit of an idea how to make a decent car

I disagree, a Ranger rides a lot better on the road than a D-Max.

The new Ranger is next level.

A LOT better.

[ozrunner]

Originally Posted by fiestaz

Pretty typical of these utes. The Hilux would be no better (possibly worse).......

Agreed. Last Xmas on a flying visit to Melb to see my mum and sister I asked for a hire Ranger so I could see why they were popular.

Was not happy when told I had been given a new Hilux. Wow what an eye opener that was. Total POS and the ride was absolutely terrible even on the Hume I felt every freaking bone jarring little bump. I arrived at Mums totally RS. It was hard to believe how anyone would buy one to go on trips after a test drive.

No thanks Toyota I'll keep my FG Mk11 tray back ute. Compared to the Hilux it's like a Limo, LOL.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

I disagree, a Ranger rides a lot better on the road than a D-Max.

The new Ranger is next level.

A LOT better.

Only taken circa 15 years, a billion dollars and a global engineering team to catch up to the ride and refinement of an FG

I hear they even have disc brakes on the rear axle now.

[.:4:.]

Car based utes like falcodores are way more complient with roads then ute based utes. Chuck a couple hundred kgs in the back of a ranger, hi lux, dmax, then they ride comfortably.
When i had a 2013 ranger as a work car i only drove it for a week with nothing in the back, if i had fillings in my teeth im sure the bouncy ride would have rattled them out. But with all my work tools and stock in the back it rode quite nice. So +/- 400kgs in the back. Thats the main aim for utes designed for uting. Unlike a falcodore ute, they're not supposed to be the poor mans performance coupe.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Car based utes like falcodores are way more complient with roads then ute based utes. Chuck a couple hundred kgs in the back of a ranger, hi lux, dmax, then they ride comfortably.
When i had a 2013 ranger as a work car i only drove it for a week with nothing in the back, if i had fillings in my teeth im sure the bouncy ride would have rattled them out. But with all my work tools and stock in the back it rode quite nice. So +/- 400kgs in the back. Thats the main aim for utes designed for uting. Unlike a falcodore ute, they're not supposed to be the poor mans performance coupe.

Yeah but even unloaded a one tonner Falcon ute is still a lot more comfortable than an unloaded Thailand Special.

You had 195KW too to go with it, and disc brakes on the rear axle

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Yeah but even unloaded a one tonner Falcon ute is still a lot more comfortable than an unloaded Thailand Special.

Correct, however why by a ute if you do not plan to put crap in the back?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Correct, however why by a ute if you do not plan to put crap in the back?

Why have something with more than 70KW when the highest speed limit in VIC/NSW is 110? Even with your 70KW you'd still do the 130 that NT has on its highway.

Why have beer when you have water? Why eat meat when we can all be vegans and live off vegetables.

Don't use seasoning on your food either, don't need it.

Its just handy to have a ute - I'm pretty sure a whole heap of people who have bought the Ford Maverick in the US aren't the traditional ute buyer either but its still selling like hotcakes (except in RHD markets where they don't offer it).

Doesn't mean it has to be slow and ride like **** just because it has a tray on the back of it and its designed for 'work' - as the Falcon ute proved for a very long time.

The same sort of mentality why it has taken years for them to be given safety systems, they didn't even have airbags or ABS for the longest time, now two of them even have disc brakes on the rear axle (I think the LDV T60 was the first one to offer disc brakes on the rear in our market).

When was the last time a Falcon ute had drums on the back?

Just because something 'does the job', doesn't mean you can't (or shouldn't) improve on it.

Half of the DCOA monthly compilations have an unloaded Thailand Special facing backwards from a low speed spin at a slightly wet roundabout because of the poor dynamics of those things.

I can rip skids in mine without much effort in something with nearly 200,000km on the clock with all 92KW/200NM (when it was new) from its 2.6L 4 cylinder engine with a mighty 8.4:1 compression ratio.

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Why have something with more than 70KW when the highest speed limit in VIC/NSW is 110? Even with your 70KW you'd still do the 130 that NT has on its highway.

Why have beer when you have water? Why eat meat when we can all be vegans and live off vegetables.

Don't use seasoning on your food either, don't need it.

Its just handy to have a ute - I'm pretty sure a whole heap of people who have bought the Ford Maverick in the US aren't the traditional ute buyer either but its still selling like hotcakes (except in RHD markets where they don't offer it).

Doesn't mean it has to be slow and ride like **** just because it has a tray on the back of it and its designed for 'work' - as the Falcon ute proved for a very long time.

The same sort of mentality why it has taken years for them to be given safety systems, they didn't even have airbags or ABS for the longest time, now two of them even have disc brakes on the rear axle (I think the LDV T60 was the first one to offer disc brakes on the rear in our market).

When was the last time a Falcon ute had drums on the back?

Just because something 'does the job', doesn't mean you can't (or shouldn't) improve on it.

Half of the DCOA monthly compilations have an unloaded Thailand Special facing backwards from a low speed spin at a slightly wet roundabout because of the poor dynamics of those things.

I can rip skids in mine without much effort in something with nearly 200,000km on the clock with all 92KW/200NM (when it was new) from its 2.6L 4 cylinder engine with a mighty 8.4:1 compression ratio.

Still think the reason most utes still have drums is for the needed park brake performance having a tow rating of 4 to 4.5 tonne try holding that with little shoes .mounted on the inside of the rotors my au11 Fairmont struggles to hold its own weight .....they're big drums too Twice the size of Falcon drums

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Why have something with more than 70KW when the highest speed limit in VIC/NSW is 110? Even with your 70KW you'd still do the 130 that NT has on its highway.

Why have beer when you have water? Why eat meat when we can all be vegans and live off vegetables.

Don't use seasoning on your food either, don't need it.

Its just handy to have a ute - I'm pretty sure a whole heap of people who have bought the Ford Maverick in the US aren't the traditional ute buyer either but its still selling like hotcakes (except in RHD markets where they don't offer it).

Doesn't mean it has to be slow and ride like **** just because it has a tray on the back of it and its designed for 'work' - as the Falcon ute proved for a very long time.

The same sort of mentality why it has taken years for them to be given safety systems, they didn't even have airbags or ABS for the longest time, now two of them even have disc brakes on the rear axle (I think the LDV T60 was the first one to offer disc brakes on the rear in our market).

When was the last time a Falcon ute had drums on the back?

Just because something 'does the job', doesn't mean you can't (or shouldn't) improve on it.

Half of the DCOA monthly compilations have an unloaded Thailand Special facing backwards from a low speed spin at a slightly wet roundabout because of the poor dynamics of those things.

I can rip skids in mine without much effort in something with nearly 200,000km on the clock with all 92KW/200NM (when it was new) from its 2.6L 4 cylinder engine with a mighty 8.4:1 compression ratio.

Wasn't trying to start an argument. Just car based utes unlaiden handle better then unlaiden utes that are by design supposed to carry stuff.
Oh, the 92kw thinkg makes me laugh. My grandpas old 2000 mazda 626 made 92kw factory claimed. It went alright. My mums 2017 benz b200 has a turbo 1.6 that also makes 92kw. Its an absolute slug. Pretty sure the 19 airbags make it safer as they weigh the thing down that much that if you do hit something the car is travelling too slow to deploy any of them.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Only taken circa 15 years, a billion dollars and a global engineering team to catch up to the ride and refinement of an FG

I hear they even have disc brakes on the rear axle now.

And a few Australians to do that hey ?

[GT1533]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Correct, however why by a ute if you do not plan to put crap in the back?

Ironically, you can put more crap in the back of a Falcon one-tonner than in the back of a Thailand special.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by GT1533

Ironically, you can put more crap in the back of a Falcon one-tonner than in the back of a Thailand special.

I reckon even my van carries more.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by GT1533

Ironically, you can put more crap in the back of a Falcon one-tonner than in the back of a Thailand special.

By dual cab, yes. Single cabs, yeah 100% a falcon is nicer then a single cab ranger. My brother has an au ute. I had a px single cab with a tub. The au has way more cabin space, but the tub is about a foot shorter then the px. So for moving large amounts of crap, the ranger could move slightly more. My brothers au isnt good for uting these days. Its been lowered on bigger rims so not practical anymore.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by PooDog

Still think the reason most utes still have drums is for the needed park brake performance having a tow rating of 4 to 4.5 tonne try holding that with little shoes .mounted on the inside of the rotors my au11 Fairmont struggles to hold its own weight .....they're big drums too Twice the size of Falcon drums

I don't think so - how many of the American utes have drums on the back?

They did up until the 00s, curious about now.

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I don't think so - how many of the American utes have drums on the back?

They did up until the 00s, curious about now.

Good question, do Americans have utes I thought they were trucks ?

[PooDog]

Interesting Chev Silverado trucks switched to disc brake rears in 99 but by 2005 switched back to drums by 2005 stating cost and maintenance issues and park brake performance

Not sure what f series used but looks like some had a separate pedal ratchet set up in 2016/17 went to electric park brake with German electric calipers

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Only taken circa 15 years, a billion dollars and a global engineering team to catch up to the ride and refinement of an FG

I hear they even have disc brakes on the rear axle now.

Now you’re Trolling, you know that

[Falcon SXR8]

I went for a spin In a new dmax a few weeks ago didnt think it was to bad for a 4x4 ute, i wouldn't look at a dual cab if i wanted ride quality. But dual cabs must be doing something right people keep buying them in record numbers

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by Falcon SXR8

I went for a spin In a new dmax a few weeks ago didnt think it was to bad for a 4x4 ute, i wouldn't look at a dual cab if i wanted ride quality. But dual cabs must be doing something right people keep buying them in record numbers

They are all guilty of it, some (ranger) are better than others, but none are perfect. Got to be some trade off for the load carrying/towing capacity.

Ranger is class leader currently but the Dmax's arent too bad compared to others either (ive only driven the top spec X-Terrain version though).

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Falcon SXR8

I went for a spin In a new dmax a few weeks ago didnt think it was to bad for a 4x4 ute, i wouldn't look at a dual cab if i wanted ride quality. But dual cabs must be doing something right people keep buying them in record numbers

Tax incentives - that's how stupid we were, we subsidised Thailand's manufacturing industry and they became really popular to the point we disincentivised people buying our own cars.

Though from a fuel use perspective can understand why people went the diesel SUV and ute route, Ford Australia was way too late with the diesel Territory, talk about being behind the 8 ball.

Then no diesel Falcon ute when they had the diesel Territory?

Imagine the FG with the 6R80 and the 2.7L V6.

I don't mind basic, but when we're buying ladder frame chassis vehicles with diesel 4 clinder engines for close to or exceeding 6 figures, someones having a laugh

Or the absolute joke that's the 79 series Land Cruiser running the same drivetrain since 2007 going for 6 figures, that 1VD-FTV engine in stock form is an absolute turd and paired with a 5sp manual, feels like its 1985 again.

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by Falcon SXR8

I went for a spin In a new dmax a few weeks ago didnt think it was to bad for a 4x4 ute, i wouldn't look at a dual cab if i wanted ride quality. But dual cabs must be doing something right people keep buying them in record numbers

Yes, this ones the dual cab.
Leaf sprung too, doesn't help.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Yes, this ones the dual cab.
Leaf sprung too, doesn't help.

Just because its leaf sprung doesn't mean it has to ride horribly though - Falcon ute also had leaf springs until the bitter end

Also XR6 Turbo ute anyone? Leaf springs and 270KW.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by PooDog

Still think the reason most utes still have drums is for the needed park brake performance having a tow rating of 4 to 4.5 tonne try holding that with little shoes .mounted on the inside of the rotors my au11 Fairmont struggles to hold its own weight .....they're big drums too Twice the size of Falcon drums

Nope.
Landcruiser has had discs forever and have had a 3.5t tow rating for just as long. So does plenty of other wagons.

Thai utes have drums on the back simply because of Thai tax laws.