Body-on-frame is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain (the engine and drivetrain) and to which the wheels and their suspension, brakes, and steering are mounted. While this was the original method of building automobiles, body-on-frame construction is now used mainly for pickup trucks, large SUVs, and heavy trucks.
A ladder frameA 2007 Toyota Tundra chassis holding the vehicle's engine, drivetrain, suspension and wheels.The BMW i3 electric car is one of the rare modern passenger cars with a separate body and frame design (2013).
In the late 19th century, the frames, like those of the carriages they replaced, might be made of wood (commonly ash), reinforced by steel flitch plates, but in the early 20th century, steel ladder frames or chassis rapidly became standard. Mass production of all-metal bodies began with the Budd Company and the Dodge Brothers. Mass production of all-metal bodies became general in the 1920s but Europe, with exceptions, followed almost a decade later. Europe's custom-made or "coachbuilt" cars usually contained some wood framing or used aluminium alloy castings. Towards the beginning of international automobile assembly and construction, most manufacturers created rolling chassis consisting of a powertrain, suspension, steering column and a fuel tank that was then sent to a coachbuilder that added the body, interior and upholstery to the customers specific requests.
In contrast, unibody or monocoque designs, where panels within the body supported the car on its suspension, were developed by European manufacturers in the late 1920s with Budd USA (which had a number of large factories in Europe) and its technical knowhow. Because of the high cost of designing and developing these structures and the high cost of specialised machinery to make the large pressings required by this style of construction it is not used by low-volume manufacturers, who might construct an equivalent by welding steel tube to form a suitable space frame.
A Model T chassis ready for its bodyAll steel chassis and all steel body Body by Edward G Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia for John and Horace Dodge[1]
The Ford Model T carried the tradition of body-on-frame over from horse-drawn buggies, helping to facilitate high volume manufacturing on a moving assembly line.[2] The use of steel ladder and X frame chassis allowed numerous vehicles to share a chassis and drivetrain while making changes to bodywork and interiors relatively easy, thus keeping costs down and minimizing design time. Over time the technology for unibody construction became economically feasible, assisted in recent decades by computer-aided design.[3] in addition, as modern creature comforts, luxury and power-assisted features, and extensive safety reinforcement of vehicles have all added substantial weight, the ability to offset this with unibody construction has proven advantageous.
A handful of small passenger vehicles switched to unibody construction by the end of the 1930s. The trend had started with cars like the Citroën Traction Avant (1934) and Opel Olympia (a General Motors design) introduced in 1935, and the short-lived, aborted Chrysler Airflow. Trucks, bus manufacturers, and large low-volume cars or those made in the United States continued to use separate bodies on "conventional" frames. Body-on-frame remains the preferred construction method for heavy-duty commercial vehicles (especially those intended to carry or pull heavy loads, such as trucks and some sport utility vehicles (SUVs)) but as production volumes rise increasing numbers of SUVs and crossover SUVs are switching to unibody frames. Mass-market manufacturers Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are abandoning true body-on-frame SUVs, opting, when sales volume permits, for more efficient unibody construction.[4]Toyota currently manufactures the most body-on-frame SUVs with the 4Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, Lexus GX, and Lexus LX, followed by Nissan with the Patrol, Armada, and Infiniti QX56/80.[5]
^page 106, George A Oliver, A History of Coachbuilding, Cassell, London, 1962
^Great Moments in Body-on-Frame Car Construction WSJ, May 2, 2014
^Sawyer, Christopher A. (2009-06-02). . Findarticles.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
^. editorial.autos.msn.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^"Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs". autoblog.com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^ . Austin Memories. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05.
External linksedit
Ford assembly line featuring body-on-frame car (historic)
May 12, 2024
body, frame, traditional, motor, vehicle, construction, method, whereby, separate, body, coach, mounted, strong, relatively, rigid, vehicle, frame, chassis, that, carries, powertrain, engine, drivetrain, which, wheels, their, suspension, brakes, steering, moun. Body on frame is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain the engine and drivetrain and to which the wheels and their suspension brakes and steering are mounted While this was the original method of building automobiles body on frame construction is now used mainly for pickup trucks large SUVs and heavy trucks A ladder frame A 2007 Toyota Tundra chassis holding the vehicle s engine drivetrain suspension and wheels The BMW i3 electric car is one of the rare modern passenger cars with a separate body and frame design 2013 In the late 19th century the frames like those of the carriages they replaced might be made of wood commonly ash reinforced by steel flitch plates but in the early 20th century steel ladder frames or chassis rapidly became standard Mass production of all metal bodies began with the Budd Company and the Dodge Brothers Mass production of all metal bodies became general in the 1920s but Europe with exceptions followed almost a decade later Europe s custom made or coachbuilt cars usually contained some wood framing or used aluminium alloy castings Towards the beginning of international automobile assembly and construction most manufacturers created rolling chassis consisting of a powertrain suspension steering column and a fuel tank that was then sent to a coachbuilder that added the body interior and upholstery to the customers specific requests In contrast unibody or monocoque designs where panels within the body supported the car on its suspension were developed by European manufacturers in the late 1920s with Budd USA which had a number of large factories in Europe and its technical knowhow Because of the high cost of designing and developing these structures and the high cost of specialised machinery to make the large pressings required by this style of construction it is not used by low volume manufacturers who might construct an equivalent by welding steel tube to form a suitable space frame Contents 1 History 2 Examples 2 1 SUVs wagons 2 1 1 Mini SUV 2 1 2 Mid size SUV 2 1 3 Full size SUV 2 1 4 Compact MPV 2 1 5 Mid size MPV 2 2 Pickup trucks 2 2 1 Mid size pickup truck 2 2 2 Full size pickup truck 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory edit nbsp A Model T chassis ready for its body nbsp All steel chassis and all steel bodyBody by Edward G Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia for John and Horace Dodge 1 The Ford Model T carried the tradition of body on frame over from horse drawn buggies helping to facilitate high volume manufacturing on a moving assembly line 2 The use of steel ladder and X frame chassis allowed numerous vehicles to share a chassis and drivetrain while making changes to bodywork and interiors relatively easy thus keeping costs down and minimizing design time Over time the technology for unibody construction became economically feasible assisted in recent decades by computer aided design 3 in addition as modern creature comforts luxury and power assisted features and extensive safety reinforcement of vehicles have all added substantial weight the ability to offset this with unibody construction has proven advantageous A handful of small passenger vehicles switched to unibody construction by the end of the 1930s The trend had started with cars like the Citroen Traction Avant 1934 and Opel Olympia a General Motors design introduced in 1935 and the short lived aborted Chrysler Airflow Trucks bus manufacturers and large low volume cars or those made in the United States continued to use separate bodies on conventional frames Body on frame remains the preferred construction method for heavy duty commercial vehicles especially those intended to carry or pull heavy loads such as trucks and some sport utility vehicles SUVs but as production volumes rise increasing numbers of SUVs and crossover SUVs are switching to unibody frames Mass market manufacturers Ford General Motors and Chrysler are abandoning true body on frame SUVs opting when sales volume permits for more efficient unibody construction 4 Toyota currently manufactures the most body on frame SUVs with the 4Runner Sequoia Land Cruiser Lexus GX and Lexus LX followed by Nissan with the Patrol Armada and Infiniti QX56 80 5 nbsp Austin A40 Sports ca 1951 Jensen Motors of West Bromwich built the aluminium on ash bodies under contract and transported them to Austin s Longbridge plant for final assembly 6 Examples editMain article List of body on frame vehicles The following is a list of SUVs and light duty pickup trucks that have a body on frame construction as of The list is divided by vehicle category SUVs wagons edit Mini SUV edit Suzuki Jimny Mid size SUV edit Toyota 4Runner Toyota Fortuner Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Lexus GX Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Nissan Terra SsangYong Rexton Isuzu MU X Jeep Wrangler Ford Bronco Ford Everest Ford Explorer until 2010 Kia Mohave Mercedes Benz G Class Mercury Mountaineer Lincoln Aviator until 2005 Chevrolet TrailBlazer until 2009 LDV D90 TANK 300 TANK 500 Full size SUV edit Toyota Land Cruiser Toyota Sequoia Lexus LX Cadillac Escalade ESV Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Tahoe Hongqi LS7 Nissan Patrol Nissan Armada GMC Hummer EV GMC Yukon XL Jeep Wagoneer Grand Wagoneer Ford Expedition EL Max Lincoln Navigator L Infiniti QX80 Compact MPV edit Mitsubishi Zinger Mid size MPV edit Toyota Innova until 2021 Isuzu Panther Pickup trucks edit Mid size pickup truck edit Holden Colorado Ford Ranger GMC Canyon Isuzu D Max Renault Alaskan SsangYong Musso Toyota Hilux Toyota Kijang Toyota Tacoma Mazda BT 50 Mitsubishi Triton Nissan Frontier Nissan Navara Jeep Gladiator Volkswagen Amarok LDV T60 GWM Ute Cannon Full size pickup truck edit Chevrolet Silverado Ford F Series GMC Hummer EV GMC Sierra Nissan Titan Ram pickup Toyota TundraSee also editBackbone chassis C channel Coachwork Exoskeleton car Monocoque Skateboard automotive platform Semi monocoque Space frame Subframe SuperleggeraReferences edit page 106 George A Oliver A History of Coachbuilding Cassell London 1962 Great Moments in Body on Frame Car Construction WSJ May 2 2014 Sawyer Christopher A 2009 06 02 Framing the question Automotive Design amp Production Find Articles at BNET Findarticles com Archived from the original on 2009 02 11 Retrieved 2009 12 08 Car Reviews New and Used Car Prices Photos and Videos MSN Autos editorial autos msn com Archived from the original on 6 January 2014 Retrieved 10 April 2018 Toyota reaffirms commitment to body on frame SUVs autoblog com Retrieved 10 April 2018 Austin A40 Sports Austin Memories Archived from the original on 2009 01 05 External links editFord assembly line featuring body on frame car historic Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Body on frame amp oldid 1221775997, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
