Fun fact . I had a 78' IHC Scout 392 , "tank tranny" (all cast iron integral bell housing syncro'd granny) high/low 5 stop transfer case , Dana 44s , steel wheels , spare , 22 gal of gas , spare , full top , A/C , cruise , tilt , handyman jack , 5 straps , 50 ft of chain , and a Sidewinder winch . The iron fortified tank of a truck tipped the truck scales at 2800# on the front end and 2000# on the rear .
Enter the 1999 Ford Explorer . 210 CID V6 , auto , Dana 25 IFS , 8.8 rear , alloy wheels , plastic everything , electric t case in aluminum housing high/low 4 , 2 high , 3 " less tire both up and across , no gas can , rack , or winch , no receiver , no brush guard , cruise , A/C , tint . Gear box with jack, chains etc from the Scout .
Guess what ? 2780# on the front 2000# on the rear ......the 20 yr newer plastic aluminum alloy all over "truck" weighed the same as the old cast iron , V8 , steel reinforced iron behemoth . It got 7 mpg more but I attribute that to aero dynamics and half the displacement making 2/3 of the HP . Of course for torque there's no comparison , and the old carburated beast was sucking wind pretty hard at 8000' where the little black box of wonders would make up the difference to about 9500' . I got nothing against either one , I just don't see how 2/3 of the vehicle weighs just as much with less equipment ........