Why all the hate on 1/2 ton tvs

TomG2 wrote:
There might be some validity to the 1.5 factor, "If" engineers were totally in charge of the process. One bolt does not equal a whole vehicle. The trouble is that marketing gets involved and pushes those limits to gain market share, "Our half ton pickups can tow 12,000 pounds". If you think that 12,000 pounds really means 18,000 pounds, then you are what salesman hope to meet every day.

You have inadvertently made my point for me: It's precisely because the engineers are not in total control and never have been and never will be that you have the 1.5 and greater safety factors.

When everyone, the engineers the lawyers the management and the customers all get around the conference room table and each has their point of view everyone must agree at some point on the SPEC. I have never been in a meeting where safety of the customer..be it an astronaut or a vending machine user, sailor or pilot or driver was not uppermost in our minds. Most good engineers keep detailed diaries of the decisions they make and the orders they are given...most companies require this.

And yes the marketing guys get in their two cents worth and they have valid points too. The numbers race you mention is all marketing driven. And I can assure you that the lawyers and the engineers sitting around that table will not let the drive for ever bigger numbers trump safety or performance. Nor will the lawyers allow the marketing to trump protecting the company in court.

This is why my point is valid that the design is much stronger than the numbers indicate. The marketing guys want ever bigger tow, capacity and Torque and HP numbers the engineers find a way to make it work so the lawyers can de-rate it for legal reasons and still beat out the competition. This is why I contend these numbers are meaningless. (or more properly guidlines)