95.5 Oddities & Questions

do the rear side windows not vent out on the 95.5

 

No.... they open.

 

I am slightly confused what you mean by open vs winged

 

I think @Wsidr1 is referring to these front vent windows on the old pickups:

 

I don't know it the same relation is in Toyota Pickup, but I remember some older European cars had the same small triangular insert. That little triangle cost about 3-4 times more then the main glass in a door. Guys who did not know that and locked keys inside tended to brake that little triangle to get the keys out thinking that it will be the lest expensive repair. The surprise awaited them at the glass shop.

 

95.5’s lack a corner window (what that triangle in called.
It originally used as a window-extention, to allow full window opening, without having a big blind spot in the corner. It was also used for additional ventilation in the days before it was common to have a/c in vehicles. With a/c it wasn’t seen as needed anymore, plus was a fairly expensive small part for engineering, assembly, & expense (the glass, hinges, frame, etc had to be strong enough to take the pressures & stresses of being a wing/vent, with exposed & unprotected glass edges, that were yanked & pressed around (besides road debris, etc.).
With it, additional ventilation was added, but it was a complex way to do it.
After it bacame unnecessary, doors were engineered in a way to allow larger glass to fully retract into the frame. CAD helped to insure clearances & room for the huge window slot to not comprise structural integrity.

Non-opening corner windows actually help outside airflow, by lessening the effect of a big hole in the vehicle profile. But, it hurts airflow inside the vehicle, but trapping inside air in a vortex, while not allowing air from the vehicle boundary layer to enter at a place that gets flowing air to the occupant’s face.
But, with internal environmental systems in vehicles becoming common (a/c, heater, good “outside ait” ventilation, etc), the corner windows became undesirable by car designers & buyers.

So, in the 1990s, the corner windows gradually vanished on line redesigns.
I’ve owned a VW Vanagon (last gen of the rear-engined Bus) with functioning wing vents. 2 cars with corner windows (not vents), inc. my beloved Miata. Then several with full windows (no corners at all).

I do miss wing vents, but am glad the truck does NOT have corner windows.

 

I had these "fixed" corner windows in my first car ever (picture of someone's car, but looking exactly like mine - yellow):



If you did not guess it is Zastawa 1100 (very similar to US Yougo) - and off-spring of Fiat 128. I did not know then what piece of $hit it is. This was like taking Ford Escort from junk yard and restore it so it looks. I don't know any single thing that was good in that car. For example lower ball joints were designed to be replaced every 20k miles. You can name any part of this car, and I can tell you how many times it broke. Having Tacoma after owning Zastawa 1100 was like reaching the moon from deep swamp.

 

The Fiat 128 spawed many, many offsping- many of which were total pieces of crap. For some reason, when that design was already over 10 years old, Fiat made a crap-load selling off licenses to build them all over eastern Europe. While the Fiat started as a good design, SO MANY derived ones were so, so bad.

 

is this the kind of car Franka Potente was driving to Paris in the first Bourne movie?

 

What was changed between 96 & 97?
I know airbags changed mid-97
When did other parts change?
Distributor?

Did the frame change?

 

She drive a classic body Mini

 

curious if the hook pole stick (whatever its called i dunno, rod?) used on the battery hold down in the back changed and when?
I was trying to fit one of the custom hold downs and my OEM stick will NOT fit through properly
i suppose that 95.5, 96, 97 are all the same in this area?

 

I think cup holders in the dash disappeared after 96. They were leftovers from pre-95 pickup design.

Because of these cup holders I can't use in vent Pro Clip USA for my phone.

 

i have pull out cup holders in my dash under the center vent ('97 model), I was very disgruntled when the soft drinks and other beverages went to the 500ml from 20oz bottles, those 500ml bottles don't fit snug and like to wiggle around too much on the curves

 

The only (I say only) benefit of having cup holders there is you can keep cold drinks cool by blasting A/C air from these vents. Works best for soda cans.

 

also helps to better keep your eyes on the road instead of looking down at the console area to find your drink

 

FTFY (you don't know where I look when I grab my drink!)

 

Consoles?
We don’t need no stinkin consoles!

 

Look to put your drink down?
One of my trucks is a 98 taco NO cup holders.i have a improvised coozie drink holder. I just feel around with the can(monster) and can find it every time.

 

any idea what the two blank slots are purposed for in the middle of the center console?
I thought maybe for power sunroof was told no option
maybe something if you have AT?
maybe for a powered rear sliding window?
I have always wanted a powered rear window, next to impossible to open/close in the xtraCab while driving unless you have long arms
never had that problem in my single cab