RE: Re: Wagondisaster

[Chris & Ranae Procyk <procyk19@domain.elided>]

> Sorry you feel I've insulted your baby.  Perhaps I'd have been safer
> picking on your wife?   :-)

Yeah, you can trash her all you want!!

> BUT, I will still maintain the Wagonmaster was a disaster for IH.  I
> don't know just what maximum weight we specified for its towing ability,
> but I know that basically nobody heard that back in 1973-74.  Back then,

According to "Sales Engineering Bulletin Number 273" of September, 1973
a 132" or 166" wb pickup could take a max trailer weight of 6000 lbs and a
max hitch weight of 2000 lbs.  A WM could take 5000 and 1500, respectively.

> Fifth Wheel meant only one thing, BIG TRAILERS.  Besides, everyone knew
> you could increase the manufacturer's recommendations by 30%, 50%, 80%,

Obviously, from the above recommendations!!

> And when they crashed and burned, they'd sue.  And the defense that we
> said it should only haul x thousand pounds when it had a hitch for a
> 15,000 trailer didn't convince too many juries.  This was the reason the

I love our tort system.  15000 lbs is 300%, BTW.

> truck quietly disappeared in early 1974. 

Now it's beginning to seem like you sold too many, not too few.  A shame
there was no way to "interlock" the trucks so you couldn't 5th wheel (I was
orginally going to get a tag-along, anyway).   Then you'd still be left with
the cool 4x4 and IFS 4dr Camino-style.

In the 80's, when people were just buying the Japanese trucks like crazy
they had shrunk gn's down to their size... which would certainly work with a Terra.
 
> the plant manager said "Lets do it." and Marketing
> looked at it and came up with the brochures showing it doing what a
> longer pickup did, then Engineering finally got involved and found out
> there were serious limitations on towing, but it was too late.

Geez, like I've never been in that situation before.  At least I wasn't working on
anything lethal.  Our problem was always that the (corporate) customer would
figure it out before our management, and cancel the order!!!  Layoffs would
follow, but for some reason they were never in top managment!!!  Anybody
else see this story at their workplace???  Dilberts of the world, unite!!

> International:No, I don't think the name is going away.  I think there...
> has been a trend, but will see a change in this if what I've read and


Cool!!