How much safer are newer trucks?

[Mikey von]

Since I have been driving my lifted '89 suburban a lot more I have started thinking about safety. Many times I will have my boys with me. 90% of the roads we drive on are fairly dangerous 2 lane mountain roads. We were headed to the creek the other day and almost were pancaked by a log truck that crossed the center line going around a curve. That got me really thinking. Then there was a fatality last night. It seems to happen often enough, someone is drunk and/or speeding and they either crash and kill themselves or they cross the center line and hurt others.

I know newer vehicles are safer. Heck there are some car models which have not experienced a fatality.

How much safer is the question? Is it worth the piece of mind and price tag to get into a 2000-2006 full size Chevy? Is a 2006 much safer than a 2001? How much safer than my '89 3/4 ton burb?

 

[Deuling]

Imo, in stock form, these vehicles are not safe at all compared to newer ones lol.


You can remove like 12 bolts IIRC and have the whole front clip off. That's all the meat standing between the cab and whatever you hit. Well that and noodle frame.

 

[Mikey von]

Imo, in stock form, these vehicles are not safe at all compared to newer ones lol.


You can remove like 12 bolts IIRC and have the whole front clip off. That's all the meat standing between the cab and whatever you hit. Well that and noodle frame.

Are the newer ones better? I am guessing yes with airbags and crumple
zones. I guess I can stop being lazy and look at safety ratings.

 

[black dawg]

This is something that I have been looking at recently also. I dont really know where to find much info on this stuff.

07 and newer have ALL shoulder belts, and headrests, and I think that is a pretty big deal safety wise.

There are a few pictures on the internet of these old burbs wrecked, and they dont fair nearly as well as one would hope/expect.

 

[rampage]

Here's a 78 Blazer that should give you an idea of how your 'Burb would fair:

And an '03 'Burb

 

[dyeager535]

One of the more recent pictures I had seen of the "square body" trucks in a crash was a Suburban (may even have been here) and it seemed from that photo that the worst way to hit was quartering (a 45* strike) at either side of the front.

From what I could tell, if the vehicle striking is tall enough, or gets over the bumper/frame, it will go right through all the sheetmetal, pushing all the body material back into the passenger compartment.

The frame isn't much resistance either, but it's tied to the axles and what not, so there is going to be some. As mentioned, the rest is just a bunch of sheetmetal bolted down.

 

[Big Ray]

the big thing is the air bags. It is a very violent event when they go off, but they will save lives with everything else being equal. imho of course...

 

[y5mgisi]

I don't know when the stability control stuff came into play, but on my 12, that's a huge safety feature! It works so wildly effectively it's mind blowing. A few times getting on the freeway on the long turn entrance I have been on the gas to hard and felt the rear end start to come around. It happens only just long enough to notice before the stability control kicks in and points you back straight. It's insane. I scared the crap out of my wife and a couple friends on a gravel road in this truck. I put it in 4x4 and was winding through the gravel corners at horrifying speeds while the abs and stability control stuff worked magic that was beyond comprehension. Taking gravel corners that would likely be rated for around 15mph at 45mph and entering those corners upwards of 70 was seriously unreal.

I wouldn't do it again because no doubt about it, it was unsafe. But the capabilities of that system left me speechless and more over, allowed me to imagine all the ways it could get a novice driver out of a situation like a hydroplane or emergency avoidance maneuver or whatever.

But seriously, hearing and feeling the vigorousness with which the abs solenoids and relays and so on under the dash and everywhere in that truck was borderline spiritual.

Also, it has relays and such that lock the seat belts into position any time it thinks things are getting weird. Which is nice.

 

[K85 Octane]

Also, it has relays and such that lock the seat belts into position any time it thinks things are getting weird. Which is nice.

Meh
My K5 and S10 both do that. Not sure if it's on purpose though Pisses me off in the blazer



Funny, I'm looking forward to the day where I sell my '01 and begin to daily drive my '68. Then again, no kids and no brains.

 

[4xcrazy]

That traction control does have a few draw-backs though. It left us stuck once up in Northern Arizona at a relatives cabin. It had snowed a few times and the plow trucks built a nice little pile of snow in front of the driveway, wasn't a real big pile, I have plowed through them of that size before in other vehicles.

This one, didn't happen, once I got the running start at it, we got about 3/4 of the way through when the traction control detected the wheel spin, and activated, basically, stopping all wheel spin, and also any forward movement.

Sucked, had to dig the truck out..

On another occasion, Jenn was trying to get up a slightly snow covered, mild uphill road in Seattle last year, Was stopped at a stop light at the bottom of this hill, light turned green, she started to roll up it and then wheels started to spin slightly, no high speeds, no fishtailing, just a loss of some traction sent the traction control into a frenzy, shutting down all forward movement, once again.

She called me about it, I asked her if she hit the button that turned off traction control, she said no,,, once she turned it off she made it up that mild hill with no problem and only minor wheel spin at a few slicker spots.

I do know what you mean about the curves and wet or slick roads, I've had it activate and felt it working, it's weird and definitely tights itself if it gets too out of control, but it's something I've learned that it has its limitations for use.

Another place I turn it off is at the beach when go out clam digging or whatnot. If those wheels start spinning, T/C will cut it altogether and force a complete stop. not good.

 

[Chevy305]

That's why you can turn off traction control. But we're not talking about busting through snow banks, we're talking about Stabilitrac saving you on winding mountain roads. It is quite the system. Even on my '12 Camaro it won't let the rear end slide AT ALL, but when I set it in "Competition Mode" it allows you drift corners but won't allow the rear end to come around completely (nice feature to make it look like you know how to drive lol) and when I completely disable the system I can do donuts all day long.

Anyway, there's no contest, newer vehicles are far safer than any older square body. The '00-'06 Tahoes/Burbs are probably one of the better runs of SUVs ever made. My '00 doesn't have traction control or Stabilitrac but those features became available in the later run of the body style (Maybe '03-'06).

 

[Greg Ducato]

I love the Stabiltrack and other safety features of the newer trucks. I spent 5 days running in ice and snow that virtually shut down this part of the state two years back and the truck (2014 Tahoe Z71) was almost invincible. It saved my bacon more than once when I got over confident and gained too much speed for conditions. It has air bags out the whazoo and the doors and pillars are massive compared to my old Suburban. Driving them back to back is a real eye opener for sure...

 

[Blue85]

Here's another perspective. They say that distracted drivers are a big cause of accidents today. In a new rig you'll be looking at the navigation screen and talking on the cell phone the whole way. In your old sloppy steering, no sway bar 4x4 with Swampers and Flowmaster 40's you won't even try to hear the cell phone and your attention is 100% dedicated to keeping it in your lane.

 

[Greg Ducato]

That is some great reasoning Blue

 

[Mikey von]

Lots of great comments. If it was just me it would not be a huge deal. I love the square body Chevys. But I am a husband and dad and my family often is with me.

It will still take a bunch of money to get my burb into family/tripready. The only seat belts that work reliably are the drivers, 2nd row lap, and the 3rd row. It needs head liner, paint, stereo, parking brake. It could use 2nd row head rests. I don't mind spending the dough, but I will still have a truck that I worry about the safety of my family.

My wife rocks a 2005 1500 Suburban with AWD and Stabilitrac. The thing rocks in the snow and ice. Almost unstoppable. Our first part of our drive is around 16-18% and 200' long. It is not fun in the snow, especially packed. She walks her burb right up it while many of the rest of us get to walk. Only thing hers is missing is the upper curtain air bags.

If I am able to pull off getting a newer truck, it will most likely be a high milage dmax. My burb is a project, I am sure if I got a new one it would be another project.

 

[Mikey von]

The thing I don't like about the 05 burb is all the computer crap and error messages. Right now stereo went out (expensive to fix), we get ride control error, tire monitor error, both key fobs stopped working and the only key hole is drivers door, GM over complicates error.

 

[Greg Ducato]

The thing I don't like about the 05 burb is all the computer crap and error messages. Right now stereo went out (expensive to fix), we get ride control error, tire monitor error, both key fobs stopped working and the only key hole is drivers door, GM over complicates error.

I agree, from my experience the 2007 and later models are much improved but still layered in electronics.

 

[Richcz28]

Here's another perspective. They say that distracted drivers are a big cause of accidents today. In a new rig you'll be looking at the navigation screen and talking on the cell phone the whole way. In your old sloppy steering, no sway bar 4x4 with Swampers and Flowmaster 40's you won't even try to hear the cell phone and your attention is 100% dedicated to keeping it in your lane.

This is why I can drive cross country without any risk of falling asleep at the wheel

 

[Chevy305]

Here's another perspective. They say that distracted drivers are a big cause of accidents today. In a new rig you'll be looking at the navigation screen and talking on the cell phone the whole way. In your old sloppy steering, no sway bar 4x4 with Swampers and Flowmaster 40's you won't even try to hear the cell phone and your attention is 100% dedicated to keeping it in your lane.

Very true [emoji144]

That's a big reason why we need more manual transmission cars nowadays. Everyone just gets in and throws it in drive and forgets what's actually happening between them, the car, and the road. I know that I'm a lot more alert when driving a stick. You know force people to put down their phones and actually pay attention.

 

[diesel4me]

This is why I can drive cross country without any risk of falling asleep at the wheel

Yeah,it's hard to doze off when your scared sh**less...
I know in my truck I dont ever feel complacent enough to risk falling asleep..
I'm too busy trying not to have a heart attack going at highway speeds in it..

My old 82 K2500 might be "unsafe" compared to a newer truck,but why do I FEEL safer driving that,than I do most any newer vehicle?..even though its body is just rusted tin and the frame would likely buckle up in a collision,I still feel like I am more "protected"..maybe because of all the plastic on newer vehicles...

I drove my sisters 2014 Nissan Sentra today,every time I'm in that car I feel vulnerable,maybe because its low to the ground and I cant see as well as I can in my truck sitting up higher--and it seems to be invisible to other drivers too (it's black)--they cut right in front of me and I'm not sure if it's just the size of the car or what,but when I'm in my truck people usually give you some respect and think twice about pulling in front of you..

I might be more likely to suffer worse injuries or die in my pickup in a crash,but that isn't going to stop me from driving it or owning any of my older vehicles..I've managed to go well over half a million miles,maybe a full million, in my 40 years of driving,and in much "unsafer" vehicles like old VW Bugs and a Bus,and numerous other ones that today are considered death traps..

I think a lot of surviving on the roads is a combination of common sense,experience,and a lot of plain old LUCK...today your chances of being hurt or killed are a lot greater despite all the safety stuff like air bags,etc,because there is a few million more morons who shouldn't even be allowed to drive on the roads,who feel invincible in their super-safe new SUV's and are doing everything BUT paying attention to their driving,instead they are yapping on cell phones,playing with GPS's and the stereos,and not giving a crap about the "rules" about speeding and DWI on whatever drugs they can get...