'murican Pickup Trucks

[Uwe]

Looks more useful than Mopar's "Ram Box" storage bins

Since we can't get an Amarok here, I can't really compare their utility with my Ramboxen:

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

Since we can't get an Amarok here, I can't really compare their utility with my Ramboxen:

Not a Cummins? What a waste.....

 

[Uwe]

Not a Cummins? What a waste

I really didn't see the need for a 3/4 or 1-ton truck, so I settled for a VM Motori V6 with a mere 260 hp and 480 ft-lb of torque. It gets mid to high 20s with the ACC set to 10 over on the highway.

-Uwe-

 

[jyoung8607]

I really didn't see the need for a 3/4 or 1-ton truck, so I settled for a VM Motori V6 with a mere 260 hp and 480 ft-lb of torque. It gets mid to high 20s with the ACC set to 10 over on the highway.

-Uwe-

All that crap you gave @Bruce about betraying the family...

You towing something these days? You don't seem like the RV type, you seem like the "establish a domicile everywhere I like to visit" type.

 

[Uwe]

You towing something these days?

No, but late last summer, it became apparent that I couldn't haul all the people and things my wife and daughter wanted to bring with them on trips between the domiciles in the T'reg. Once I got it, I really started to wonder how the heck I'd made it to age 61 without having had a pickup. Full-size freezer? No problem. Gun safe? No problem. Deer going to the butcher? No problem. Etc, etc.

That said, at some point I probably will buy a utility trailer as well.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

.

 

[vreihen]

Speaking of the dark side, have you tried AlfaOBD on it yet? Does it even work on 2018+ trucks with the SGW bypass interface?

 

[Uwe]

have you tried AlfaOBD on it yet?

I have, but I have not spent much time with it, only enough to verify that it talks to many (most?) of the modules in my truck.

One thing it doesn't seem to have is the equivalent of an Auto-Scan function.

I have an SGW bypass, but haven't actually tried using it yet.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

My 2006 Ram 2500 was the first year of Daimler's CAN rollout. Many of the modules have half-baked firmware, and were superseded with different components and even wiring in 2007+. AlfaOBD works fine with the Cummins engine ECU, but is hit-or-miss trying to set features on most everything else. Even the headlights and tail lights are single-year parts.....

 

[DV52]

Hmmmm......... what about the Aussie invented "ute" - which I understand is available in USA now? It's a pick-up truck built on a car chassis. Or are these considered to be toys in the American truck market (and are US utes built made in dual-cab version)?

Don

 

[Uwe]

what about the Aussie invented "ute"

Not sure what you mean. Can you provide an example?

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

The silly Australians invented the ute, which inspired the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino.

I suspect that the 25% chicken tax is responsible for keeping the VW Amarok (and that entire category of vehicle) from reaching our shores.....

 

[iichel]

You need one of these from der Heimat (no pun intended)

 

[Uwe]

The silly Australians invented the ute, which inspired the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino.

So like the old Subaru Brat? I haven't seen one of those in ages.

I suspect that the 25% chicken tax is responsible for keeping the VW Amarok (and that entire category of vehicle) from reaching our shores.....

The Amarok strikes me as closer to a Tacoma/Hilux, Ford Ranger, or Chevy S10 than the car-chassis based things you mention, because it's a traditional body-on-frame truck.

But yeah, there's no doubt in my mind that the Chicken Tax is what has kept the Amarok out of the US market. The Japanese companies get around it by building their trucks here in the US. I suppose VW could have done that with the Amarok as well, but for some reason decided not to.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

So like the old Subaru Brat? I haven't seen one of those in ages.

Subaru got around the chicken tax by putting rear-facing seats in the bed of the BRAT:

On why VW hasn't brought a pickup here since the Mk1 days in Westmoreland, well, you know how clueless the folks in VWoA / Auburn Hills are with importing niche vehicles that people actually want to buy.....

 

[Uwe]

Subaru got around the chicken tax by putting rear-facing seats in the bed of the BRAT:

You know the Turkish-built Transit Connect vans Ford sold here as small work vans? The were all imported to the US with two rows of passenger seats and rear windows. Once they got here, Ford pulled the passenger seats and replaced the rear windows with sheet metal panels. The bits that were removed were "recycled". Doing all this was less expensive than paying the Chicken Tax.

-Uwe-

 

[DV52]

The silly Australians invented the ute,

Yep, lots of "silly" Australians but there are many, much-more "silly" inventions than the ute (and it's not really an "invention "- more like an application of a previous invention IMO)

In Australia, there has been a youth sub-culture built-up around the ute (much like America's hot-rod culture) - mostly in our rural areas where we have "ute musters" as part of our "Bachelor and Spinster" balls.

We also have high performance utes (supercharged V8 models) for Aussies who like muscle-cars - as well as ute racing events.

Is it "silly"? Maybe it is from our perspective - but perhaps we might be mis-judging the matter (no offense intended)?

Not sure what you mean. Can you provide an example?

Back in the glory-days when Australia actually made cars - GM Holden made something like this:

If I'm correctly understanding what Americans call a "pick-up" truck - the ute is a pick-up built on a car chassis

 

[Mike R]

I really didn't see the need for a 3/4 or 1-ton truck, so I settled for a VM Motori V6 with a mere 260 hp and 480 ft-lb of torque. It gets mid to high 20s with the ACC set to 10 over on the highway.

-Uwe-

Ha, I got it to 31.

 

[Uwe]

Ha, I got it to 31.

Yeah, according to the Lie-O-Meter. Fuelly says the long-term average is 25.6. I'm trying to remember what the Lie-O-Meter says for the long-term average (which I've never reset). I think it's showing 27-something.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

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