‘I’ve been a mechanic for 55 years – this hidden component can show how strong a car is'
One of the most popular motorists on YouTube has revealed an important hidden component that all drivers should study before buying their next car.
The popular YouTube mechanic Scotty Kilmer has advised motorists looking to buy a new car to find out what kind of chassis it features.
Scotty has worked with car for over 55 years and now regularly posts videos to his YouTube channel, reacting to the latest motoring developments and giving advice to viewers looking to buy their next vehicle.
In a recent video, Scotty explains the difference between body on frame and unibody construction, stating that both have their own advantages.
He advised: “This is a Jeep Grand Cherokee. You might think big Jeeps have solid frames but no, this is a unibody construction. Now they call them Jeeps but they’re really SUVs, the actual Jeeps like the Wrangler have a solid frame and the body bolts on top of it.
“But if we look under this Grand Cherokee there is no actual frame, the whole body of the car is the frame. That’s why it’s called unibody.”
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Scotty noted that historically almost all cars and trucks featured a separate chassis, sometimes described as a "ladder frame," which the body would be bolted onto.
Whilst this made for sturdy vehicles, from the 1950s and '60s car companies introduced unibody cars as a way of making their models more affordable.
The mechanic also highlighted that unibody construction vehicles are also typically lighter, resulting in better gas mileage and improved handling, and are generally safer in crashes due to featuring more crumple zones.
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However, Scotty noted that motorists looking for a dependable vehicle that will be used for travelling off road or carrying heavy items should check that it still uses a frame.
He added: “The downside of not having a solid frame is they can’t tow as much. Now, this [unibody car] has a tow hitch on it but most people don’t buy these things to tow heavy loads or to do any serious off-roading.
“You want a heavy frame, the structure is stronger for pulling really heavy weights, and of course for going off road. Aside from the advertisements you see on TV with these [unibody] things going off road, you’re not going to see hardly any if even one going serious off-roading and rock crawling.”
