:::Why The Move Away From Tilt Columns?

[Virtus_Probi]

My FXT has gas hood struts while my daughter's absolutely base model Impreza has a prop.
I find myself having to catch her hood all the time because I will start to lift it and then assume it's going to take itself up the rest of the way...worried that someday I will miss and it will get crinkled or otherwise damaged. It still has pieces of acorn in it from its short period as a chipmunk home and it irritates me to hear them rolling around every time I lift it, but I'm not too excited about the idea of trying to take it apart and remove them.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: NDL
1) Steering columns have migrated from a tilt steering design, to an adjustable rake column design.

Pardon my ignorance, what is the difference between tilt and rake?

 

[NYEngineer]

I like tilt columns. I'm 6'5" and my wife is 5'5". Mine gets used.

My Suburban has an aluminum hood so it has one gas strut in the middle. I would hate it if that truck had a prop rod.

Door handles... Here's my take. My 09 Suburban has the pull out handles. My 98 Yukon before it had flip up handles. The flip ups were made of cast aluminum or pot metal or something. In the winter, if the door got frozen shut, my wife and kids would yank on the door handles and break them. It was a huge pain to replace those handles on the 98. I was so happy to see them gone on the 09. I make sure I unstick the doors on our cars in the cold before anyone breaks any more door handles.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: NDL
1) Steering columns have migrated from a tilt steering design, to an adjustable rake column design.

Pardon my ignorance, what is the difference between tilt and rake?



Tilt columns have a pivot with a universal right where the column comes through the dash and the wheel changes angle and height. A rake column pivots somewhere near the floor and the height of the wheel changes but the angle doesn't change much. Some also telescope to change reach.

Door handles: small kids can break them right off an 07 Dodge Ram truck. They're meant to pull out but the kids reach up and pull down on them. Plastic..

 

[littleant]

I do not miss the floor high beam switch. In high salt areas that switch would corrode. Do like the pedal adjustments. I do like the pull out handles they work better than pull up from freezing up in the winter. My steering wheel extends and tilts but not much just enough.

 

[Trav]

The hood has to be a lot stronger and better supported where the spring hinges are mounted making it heavier. They could use lighter springs but the mechanism still rusted if not maintained and buckle the hood.

 

[chainblu]

The younger crowd won't know what I'm talking about, but remember when you had to hold the door handle button in to lock the door while closing it? I think the change was pushed by the locksmith companies, because you almost never locked your keys in the car.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: oilmutt
I am still waiting for THREE ON THE TREE to come back!


I miss the hand crank starter!

 

[mightymousetech]

Originally Posted By: chainblu
The younger crowd won't know what I'm talking about, but remember when you had to hold the door handle button in to lock the door while closing it? I think the change was pushed by the locksmith companies, because you almost never locked your keys in the car.


No, it is just not required on most newer cars. The car knows when the key is inside the vehicle and will just prevent you from locking the door. My BMW even has a feature that will prevent the trunk from closing if there is a key in the trunk. Wife found that out the hard way. Put key in trunk to grab something, closed the trunk lid and it popped right back open. Tired to close again, and popped back open. Then she noticed the key on the floor.

Sometimes I think the average age on this site is 132.

But there is just WAYYYYYY too much wiring in a modern steering wheel to have a tilt wheel.

 

[Rand]

my last few cars have had no prop rods.. cheaper, budget cars usually always have prop rods.

The ones with angles on the ends are usually pretty secure. so even a bump wont make it crash into your head/shoulder.

 

[SeaJay]

I miss the hand crank used to start the engine on my grand pappy's Model T. Those were the days!

 

[edwardh1]

a bmw salesman told me in his 20 years selling he had never seen or heard of a request from the factory on what people want

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I miss the floor mounted high beam headlight switch.
My truck has that! I hate the stalk mounted ones.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: oilmutt
I am still waiting for THREE ON THE TREE to come back!
I would buy it. I loved mine.

 

[NDL]

I really appreciate everyone's replies, and thank you all for sharing your memories - among them putting 6 x 9's in the rear parcel shelf

!

 

[NDL]

Originally Posted By: NYEngineer
I like tilt columns. I'm 6'5" and my wife is 5'5". Mine gets used.


So few cars have them nowadays.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: NDL
1) Steering columns have migrated from a tilt steering design, to an adjustable rake column design.

Pardon my ignorance, what is the difference between tilt and rake?



As someone else noted, it's a matter of where the column pivets:

A tilt steering column pivots (has a hinge) right behind the turn signal stalk; this allows the wheel to move with several inches of motion.

An adjustable rake column pivots (has a hinge) somewhere under the dash; this limits up-and-down movement of the column by a few inches. An adjustable rake design is heavier to use in operation, and near useless. I dislike this design, and now Ford and GM are using it.

 

[NDL]

Originally Posted By: Trav
The hood has to be a lot stronger and better supported where the spring hinges are mounted making it heavier. They could use lighter springs but the mechanism still rusted if not maintained and buckle the hood.


Appreciate your reply. That's the only reasonable argument I can consider on why spring hinges are no longer used.

 

[littleant]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
I am still waiting for THREE ON THE TREE to come back!


I miss the hand crank starter!
Now that's old.

 

[JeepWJ19]

Yes let's wire a high beam switch in the floor away from all the other light controls. It would make too much sense to have the high beam switch on the turn signal lever, and on some vehicles where it also controls regular running lights. We sure don't want that, or having all that on the same wiring harness.

 

[Claud]

Anyone know any models with a tilt column and airbags?. Glove boxes at a convenient height disappeared with the advent of passenger airbags.
Floor mounted dip switches make for a crowded floor on today's small stick shift cars.
I don't smoke, but always found the ashtray a convenient place to hide some coins, gas receipts etc.

Claud.