Is this attitude really necessary? Really? Things like this are starting to get incredibly frustrating. How many fucking reasoned paragraphs (rather than e-one liners) do i need to write before dismissive bullshit like this stops. Jesus christ.
Trolling you say? Exactly what part of "I have a theory that car companies have no interest in building durable cars, heres why and heres why and heres an example" is trolling to you? Are some of you just lazy? Do you guys have reading comprehension problems? Maybe internet forums just aren't right for you, what you want is some sort of committee of "Yes-Men" that will agree with you. I think you'll find internet forums are often for the discussion of opinions, sometimes ones *GASP* that you dont share! There is nothing stopping us from disagreeing without resorting to petty insults, THAT is what i would call trolling.
Edit: Wow feels good to get that off my chest, Thread derail over from me (although remember this arose from a discussion of fake duals being a result of packaging difficulties in a unibody's underside), i dont have the willpower even try anymore.
Alright lets give you the benefit of the doubt and answer honestly...
Advantages of Body-on-frame design:
1)Ease or repair
2)Longevity (very arguable but since its easier to repair lets give it that as an advantage)
3)Body damage not critical for the rest of the car
4)Arguably ease of packaging
Disadvantages:
1)Weight
2)Torsional rigidity (as a direct result)
2.1)Handling
2.2)Acceleration
2.3)Deceleration
2.4)Comfort
2.5)Driving dynamics in general
3)Manufacturing
Unibody advantages:
1)Ease (and cost) of manufacturing
2)Torsional rigidity (pretty much same list as above)
3)Weight
4)Safety (easier to set up crumple zones and so forth w/o having to worry about body getting knocked off the frame)
Disadvantages
1)Ease of repair
2)Longevity? (Plenty of unibody vehicles last 10+ years rarely would have a need above that)
3)Harder to put dual exhausts through.....
There are no good reasons for a body-on-frame design for consumer vehicles, if you want to keep your car for 50 years you will take care of it, that's just normal.