The results of a CAD designed car

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Someone had commented in another thread about how snug everthing is under the hood of my Chrysler. This is what happens when you completely design a car using CAD with no "real world" mockups:

You have to remove the front bumper facia to remove the headlights. And you have to remove the headlights to change the bulbs. There is no access to the back of the headlights from under the hood.

You have to remove the battery through a panel in the right fenderwell, which is almost impossible to do without removing the right front wheel.

But hey, it sure looks neat and tidy under there.
smirk.gif



under_hood.jpg
 
I'm guessing it's all about gas mileage. They have to utilize every available inch and decrease weight while still maintain room for the ever expanding American **s. So, what gives?
 
When I read the thread title, my first thought was "He must be talking about the Chrysler LH platform". I guess I was close.
 
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When I read the thread title, my first thought was "He must be talking about the Chrysler LH platform". I guess I was close.




You were more than close. The 300M is an LH platform.
 
As my English Grandfather who was born in the 19th century used to say "It's a poor craftsman wot blames 'is tools."

The real problem is that companies use "cad operators" instead of real designers to save money.

If maintainability is a management priority and the design staff is competent, a good job can be done with cad solid modeling and no actual mock-ups. The problem is that the same bean counter mentality that tries to use cad systems with less qualified designers also doesn't make things like maintainability a priority because it cost money up front.
 
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Spark plugs must not be a DIY item either.




No, they are actually quite easy to replace--at least as far as access. They're right on top there, each one under its own coil.
 
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on my dodge i believe im going to have to remove the master cylinder and brake booster to change the dizzy.



I wonder what a dizzy is. Help me out ?
I know it's not a distributor -- we know they have COP (Oops. There I go now. Coil-on-plug ).
The differential could be down below there.. diffy ? Still guessing here.
 
That picture is the result of "cab forward" engineering. More cabin space at the expense of a very crowded engine compartment.
 
why do the car manu. want to make the car easier to work on? Less chance of someone doing it themselves, and more labor hours to charge when they bring it in to the shop.
 
The manufacturers have nothing to gain by making cars hard to work on. The dealers get the benefit of that. I would expect the dealers don't really even like difficult to work on vehicles, either. It just means the mechanics have a more difficult job and customer satisfaction is lower because of the high labor costs.
 
All vehicles are designed like this nowadays. On many vehicles, you have to drop the engine out of the bottom to replace it. Remember when there was boatloads of room under the hood of a pickup truck? Take a look at one built in the last several years.
 
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The real problem is that companies use "cad operators" instead of real designers to save money.

If maintainability is a management priority and the design staff is competent, a good job can be done with cad solid modeling and no actual mock-ups. The problem is that the same bean counter mentality that tries to use cad systems with less qualified designers also doesn't make things like maintainability a priority because it cost money up front.




Yep. I wonder how much of this is trying to be outsourced too.
 
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As my English Grandfather who was born in the 19th century used to say "It's a poor craftsman wot blames 'is tools."

The real problem is that companies use "cad operators" instead of real designers to save money.

If maintainability is a management priority and the design staff is competent, a good job can be done with cad solid modeling and no actual mock-ups. The problem is that the same bean counter mentality that tries to use cad systems with less qualified designers also doesn't make things like maintainability a priority because it cost money up front.




+1

I am a CAD operator (though I don't draw cars) and have seen this type of thing before. Very common with designer type drawings, too much "look of" and too little "how to make it work."

Ultimately, CAD=Computer Aided Design. It is a tool, and does not do the work for you, it simply makes the work faster. Proper oversight/design/knowledge of field are key to a final product. If the draftsman is told to "make it work" due to time/money/poor engineering, this can be the result. And I can tell you that the vast majority of CAD people are not DIY types, so they don't really care/know what makes for easy maintenance.
 
I dunno... maybe I'm a bit of a contrarian on the issue, but it doesn't seem like a big deal if the battery or headlight bulbs are laborious to remove. I mean, how often does a modern headlight bulb give out? Probably less often than you should change the battery (every five years or so).

Now, conversely, I hope that all the frequently checked/changed items are easy as pie. Oil, air filter, washer fluid, coolant, tranny fluid, better be darn easy to identify and check, and they'd better have easy access drain plugs for everything too. (Yeah, I'm probably dreaming. :)
 
Ease of maintenance will never be a consideration for auto manufacturers until people in the dealer showroom start looking over cars and make comments about maintainability and take issue with the dealer over it. The manufacturers don't care about the rest of us who are probably used car buyers.
 
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