Daimler steel/plastic "alloy"

Buying a new Chrysler van, and the salesman was tauting a new "alloy"
that he said Daimler developed. He called it an alloy, but the
description seems to indicate a laminate, plastic on steel. I am
assuming it is a single layer of each. He said it provides both
corrosion resistance and sound deadening.

I have never heard of such a material, though I know that they have
been putting a plastic, adhesive backed film on lower external panels
for some time. That is not new. Is there something really new now?

Don Stauffer wrote:
> Buying a new Chrysler van, and the salesman was tauting a new "alloy"
> that he said Daimler developed. He called it an alloy, but the
> description seems to indicate a laminate, plastic on steel. I am
> assuming it is a single layer of each. He said it provides both
> corrosion resistance and sound deadening.
>
> I have never heard of such a material, though I know that they have
> been putting a plastic, adhesive backed film on lower external panels
> for some time. That is not new. Is there something really new now?


hell, lamiplate was on Lotus Sevens in 1960. Dashboards and inner side
panels.

"Don Stauffer" wrote: (clip) Is there something really new now?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New? Certainly not the ability of carsalesmen.

Don Stauffer writes:

> I have never heard of such a material, though I know that they have
> been putting a plastic, adhesive backed film on lower external panels
> for some time.

Sounds like ... paint.

"Don Stauffer" > wrote in message
...
> Buying a new Chrysler van, and the salesman was tauting a new "alloy"
> that he said Daimler developed. He called it an alloy, but the
> description seems to indicate a laminate, plastic on steel. I am
> assuming it is a single layer of each. He said it provides both
> corrosion resistance and sound deadening.
>
> I have never heard of such a material, though I know that they have
> been putting a plastic, adhesive backed film on lower external panels
> for some time. That is not new. Is there something really new now?

If it's a laminate, plastic/steel laminates of various kinds have been used
as sound-deadening materials for decades. The first time I encountered it
was when I had to write an article about a (then) new Swedish three-layer,
steel-and-viscoelastic plastic material called "Antifon." That was in 1978.

--
Ed Huntress

Don Stauffer wrote:

> Buying a new Chrysler van, and the salesman was
> tauting a new "alloy" that he said Daimler developed.
> He called it an alloy, but the description seems to
> indicate a laminate, plastic on steel. I am assuming
> it is a single layer of each. He said it provides
> both corrosion resistance and sound deadening.

I'm unfamiliar with it, but plastics have long been mixed with powdered
metal for extra hardness or density, an example being the body of the
original Polaroid SX-70 cameras from the early 1970s.

One rule to remember about Chrysler and American cars: They tend to be
deficient in the areas touted most by the marketing department.

Get a different van so you won't end up with the Chrysler 4-speed
automatic, which still remains one of the least reliable transmissions
made, despite all the extensive changes, including 3-4 upgrades to the
fluid. Some Chrysler vehicles have a much more reliable
Damlier-designed automatic, but I believe it's a 5-speed.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

> Don Stauffer writes:
>
> > I have never heard of such a material, though I know that they
> > have been putting a plastic, adhesive backed film on lower external
> > panels for some time.
>
> Sounds like ... paint.



Sounds like the Galactic Prophylactic.

wrote:


> One rule to remember about Chrysler and American cars: They tend to be
> deficient in the areas touted most by the marketing department.

<eyeroll>. This level of cluelessness pretty much goes with the rest of
the post, though, so I shouldn't be surprised.

>
> Get a different van so you won't end up with the Chrysler 4-speed
> automatic, which still remains one of the least reliable transmissions
> made, despite all the extensive changes,

Incorrect. It appears to actually be doing considerably better than
Toyota and Honda minivan transmissions these days, thanks to years of
development.

including 3-4 upgrades to the
> fluid.

ONE fluid change- full-synthetic ATF+4 in place of ATF+3. And its
backward-compatible.

> Some Chrysler vehicles have a much more reliable
> Damlier-designed automatic, but I believe it's a 5-speed.

The Charger, Magnum, and 300 have a modified Daimler design
transmission, built at Chrysler's Kokomo transmission plant- but ONLY
behind the 5.7L Hemi. The v6 versions of those cars get a rear-drive
version of the Chrysler 42LE that was used in the 300M, Intrepid, and
LHS. The jury is still out on whether the 5-speed piece of Teutonic
over-complication will even MATCH the Chrysler 4-speed in reliability,
let alone exceed it. I wish you could get the Hemi with the same
transmission the Ram trucks use.

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 10:23:47 -0500, Steve > wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> Get a different van so you won't end up with the Chrysler 4-speed
>> automatic, which still remains one of the least reliable transmissions
>> made, despite all the extensive changes,
>
> Incorrect. It appears to actually be doing considerably better than
> Toyota and Honda minivan transmissions these days, thanks to years of
> development.

When mine failed, I found that the "years of development" included
changing the name of the transmission twice, while not changing the,
what, 5 fatal flaws causing distinct failure modes. When mine failed,
3000 miles out of warranty, it was leaking at the fittings _and_
preparing to grenade the differential pin. Have they actually fixed or
replaced the design, or do they keep adding band-aids to the existing
flawed transmission?

> The jury is still out on whether the 5-speed piece of Teutonic
> over-complication will even MATCH the Chrysler 4-speed in reliability,
> let alone exceed it.

That's a scary statement. Maybe a Ford next time. After Chrysler
stiffed us for the barely-out-of-warranty repair bill (but the dealer
made it good), I'll buy from that dealer, but not another Chrysler.
Good thing he sells other brands...

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005, Dave Hinz wrote:

> When mine failed, I found that the "years of development" included
> changing the name of the transmission twice,

All automakers revised their transmission designations in the mid '90s to
conform to the new SAE nomenclature. This occurred ONCE, not twice.

> Maybe a Ford next time.

Right. Good luck getting increased reliability out of a Ford. For that
matter, good luck getting out alive when it catches fire.