The Ford Explorer is one of the best-known vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, a global leader in the automotive industry based in Dearborn, MI. The mid-size sport utility vehicle, which has been sold in North America since 1990, was a major factor in turning the SUV into one of the most popular vehicle types on the road.
However, even the most successful products must be improved constantly to keep up with competitive pressures. When Ford sought ways to reduce costs and improve quality, the company turned to Tinnerman, a company that is one of the most capable connection engineering companies and represents the combined synergy of three engineered connection companies.
Tinnerman has a long history of helping companies improve existing products, solve ongoing issues or reduce overall parts and costs. According to Todd L. Hemingway, vice president of advanced engineering, one of the first parts studied by Tinnerman was associated with the rear lift gate on the Explorer. What his team found was complexity.
In particular, there was a complicated set of components designed to reduce “chucking” – a term used to describe the looseness that can occur in a door or gate mechanism, eventually causing rattling.
Hemingway says the solution the Tinnerman team developed began with a clean slate and ended with a completely reengineered striker that would simultaneously create a more secure door while eliminating many other components. “We developed a new striker to engage the fish mouth of the latch. By giving the striker non-symmetrical protrusions we were able to bias the play in the gate toward one side of the vehicle,” says Hemingway. By taking up the play, that simple step not only reduced chucking; it dramatically simplified the door. There had been anti-chuck brackets on the body of the truck and interfacing brackets on the gate itself, all of which had weld nuts and weld nut plates that held them onto the vehicle. In total, the new design eliminated:
Eliminating the parts also meant eliminating weld operation and reducing assembly labor and allowed substitution of a less expensive door seal.
“All of that translated into substantial per-vehicle savings as well as reduced expenditures for assembly robotics,” says Hemingway.
Perhaps just as important was the fact that the new design significantly reduced the gate closing effort needed to overcome the resistance offered by the original collection of vulcanized rubber anti-chucking wedges. With the new design, car owners will have an improved experience with their vehicles. In fact, says Hemingway, ease of operation and the reduced risk of rattles are both part of the quality measures consumers provide through the JD Powers survey – and the JD Powers survey is one of the keys to success in today’s auto market.
“We are continuing to seek out other ways to help Ford and other manufacturers that are open to a collaborative approach to engineering – to simplify their vehicle construction, enhance perceived quality and save money,” says Hemingway.