On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 22:34:14 GMT, Rich Grise
wrote:


And I think it's fairly well-known that Fords will last forever, as long
as you can afford to keep them oiled. ;-)

---
Didn't you mean to say that you were making the _assumption_ that:
"it's fairly well-known that Fords will last forever, as long as you
can afford to keep them oiled?"

Regardless of what you were trying to say, They won't. Their mttf
is designed in, and planned to cause a gradual collapse of the
vehicle with time.

A while ago I read that, in the early days, Henry sent techs out to
the junkyards to find out why steering gear was more reliable than
(say) engines, and took the steps appropriate, after the reports
came in, to make sure that the steering gear wouldn't outlive the
engine, in order to shave costs = increase margins. AIUI, that
process continued until everything was pared down so that it would
slightly outlive the engine.

Now it seems that everything is designed to die on queue in order to
keep the aftermarket and the new vehicle business going, with the
engine itself only designed to last for a certain amount of time
instead of "forever".

YMMV?

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer