Side Discussion: Anything Inherently Wrong with Parts Bin Sharing?

[lupinsea]

This is mostly a side discussion to the Chevy Malibu thread. In there some people were recognizing some "corporate" pieces such as the steering wheel. Usually when I read about this in the various automotive press it's accompanied by a note of derision. It got me thinking. . . .

Is there anything inherently wrong with utilizing the corporate parts bin for some components on cars?

To a certain degree it seems to make sense, why re-invent the wheel after all. . . . why spend time, resources, and energy to redesign, say, a steering wheel, door handle, pedal, guage cluster, or any of a number of typically used components.

One would hope that the components that are selected would be good ones.

As an example, my Jeep Wrangler had benefited greatly from Chysler/Jeep's parts bin. The suspension was lifted largely from the Grand Cherokee of the time. You can even swap the control arms and bushings between the two. The regular Cherokee also used the same front suspension setup. In fact the Cherokee front axles and steering systems are nearly a straight bolt-in on a Wrangler. Same with the transfer cases and 4.0L engine. Personally, all these borrowed parts made the Wrangler significantly better.

Now, I understand that there are times where a designer may want a unified design language and want unique parts. But it seems like there may be things that if you hit the design and ergonomic nail on the head it would be good to use that in other applications.

[Plaz]

Unless the part from the bin is a piece of crap, I see no problem.

[ZBB]

I don't think so -- in theory parts-bin sharing should help drive the per-component price down and allow for a well-engineered design to be used.

But it may be problematic when the parts are part of the visual design. The steering wheel in this example is a good example -- a steering wheel is a steering wheel for the most part. Get a good looking and feeling design, and all you should have to change is the center hub/airbag cover for it to fit in almost any interior. Another example would be a headlight -- I remember the '86 Taurus' headlights were used on on a big rig -- and fit right in because the big-rig fender was designed to accept them. If you're not careful and just throw in the part, you could have problems -- for example the typical GM "tall slot" radio design from the mid 90s was used in almost all their products -- in some it looked good, others it did not fit the rest of the dash design...

[dredmo]

Originally Posted by Plaz

Unless the part from the bin is a piece of crap, I see no problem.

Agreed.

The more I invest, the more I care about the business end of things, and to me this makes good shareholder sense.

[lemming]

well, there are notable examples of how it works really, really well.

we have too many examples of it (in GM products of the past 5-15 years).

how about the Chrysler 300? the magnum SRT8? all off of the old E class chassis.

how about hydroforming of steel rails?

how about the XLR?

the aston martins of recent memory?

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by lemming

the aston martins of recent memory?

I really like how they put leather pouches around the stock Ford seatbelt clip/buttons...

[lupinsea]

Originally Posted by ZBB

I really like how they put leather pouches around the stock Ford seatbelt clip/buttons...

Ok, this is probably good one. . . do the Ford seatbet clips really feel or look all that crappy? I mean, seat belt clip!?!? Should Aston have really designed and fabricated their own? Is the Ford clip really that inferior or is it just the idea that something, anything, from a lowly Ford made its way into an Aston Martin. I look at the seatbelt clips in my 3 series. Now, I'd consider the 3 series to be several steps up from a Ford but I've not noticed anything spectacular or BMWness about the 3 series' seat belt clips. I do notice a big difference in the dash, the way the car handles, the sound, and a lot of other things but not the seat belt clips.

Admittedly, I've not gotten into a new Ford lately. For all I know their seat belt clips might feel like cold poo in one's hand. I don't know.

Hm. . . I ramble here.

Anyways, I was just curious on people general thoughts on the subject.

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

Ok, this is probably good one. . . do the Ford seatbet clips really feel or look all that crappy? I mean, seat belt clip!?!? Should Aston have really designed and fabricated their own? Is the Ford clip really that inferior or is it just the idea that something, anything, from a lowly Ford made its way into an Aston Martin. I look at the seatbelt clips in my 3 series. Now, I'd consider the 3 series to be several steps up from a Ford but I've not noticed anything spectacular or BMWness about the 3 series' seat belt clips. I do notice a big difference in the dash, the way the car handles, the sound, and a lot of other things but not the seat belt clips.

Admittedly, I've not gotten into a new Ford lately. For all I know their seat belt clips might feel like cold poo in one's hand. I don't know.

Hm. . . I ramble here.

Anyways, I was just curious on people general thoughts on the subject.

The seat belt clips are likely made by a third party supplier, as are 70% of the parts used in most mass-produced cars.

Parts/platform-sharing is just fine, it helps spread the cost of research and development across several model lines. Nissan uses the same platform to underpin several models, known as the F chassis, it forms the backbone of the Infiniti M45/35, G35 sedan and coupe, the F series SUV's, and the 350 Z sports car. Unfortunately, in this latter app, it makes for a heavy (but stiff) two seater.

However, if you're spending big bucks for an "exotic", you would expect to see more proprietary stuff, but even then there's plenty from the corporate parent bins.

My ex Z4 was far from an exotic, but it had some nice proprietary parts: it had seat bottoms from the three (but its own seatbacks), its own dash, steering wheel, instruments, shift knob, console etc.

Its front suspension was lifted intact from the E46, but the rear was a mix of E46 and proprietary stampings.

Of course, its 3.0 liter six was shared across the marque, but the Z4 had some unique intake setup. The climate control and other ancillary switches were pure corporate BMW.

When you consider all the things that can't be shared in a limited production car of this type (body panels, structure, windshields, tops, glass etc.) you begin to partly understand why they're so expensive to build and buy.

Ed