Mule testing in Florida?

Stopped at the 237 rest area on I-75, came out and something caught my eye 

Walked over and asked a few light questions,  didn't get anything. Walked around the white one and saw the body was a complete shell (as in one layer of metal, little to no folds or inner/outer layer for rigidity,  back window appeared to be plexi glued in place) and heard what sounded like a diesel doing its little sewing machine noise.

Absolutely no noise from the covered truck, but the guy cleared the cover from the hood and any cooling that might be under there while he waited for his colleagues to come back.

Yes.  For various reasons.

One of the more odd is cold testing.

You can't see the label on the passenger door of the middle truck, but it says Roush on it.  The trailer behind it had a largish chunk of concrete on it.  2'x2'x6 or 8'?

alfadriver said:

One of the more odd is cold testing.

Oh I know all about that.  Was stationed at Eglin for 4ish years.

Roush does a ton of development work for ford, not just making future fun for us.

chandler said:

Roush does a ton of development work for ford, not just making future fun for us.

I like the story of a friend being told he had to spend eight hours driving an F450 towing a 20k lb trailer.  Sweet!

He started it, and realized it was a V10 truck.  Cue longface.

Also heard about some tribulations in the drive by wire systems.  "Some days you drive eight hours, some days you go a half hour and wait for a tow truck."

Mr_Asa said:

alfadriver said:

One of the more odd is cold testing.

Oh I know all about that.  Was stationed at Eglin for 4ish years.

My company sent a few semi trucks down one year for cold testing.  It was hard to understand why Florida is the right place for this, in the summer.

In reply to Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) :

Ok, I'll bite. Hockey rink? Specialty facility? Florida summer is not the what I think of when I think of cold testing. 

I've seen those at Pikes Peak but recently they were towing big water trailers across Death Valley in June.  I see a lot on I94 across Michigan.  
 

Also saw an odd bird by a guys car - wait, is that a Road Runner?   
 

RevRico said:

In reply to Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) :

Ok, I'll bite. Hockey rink? Specialty facility? Florida summer is not the what I think of when I think of cold testing. 

It is a great day! Today you get to learn something new that isn't just routine!

The McKinley Climactic Lab is smack dab in the middle of Eglin AFB.  Eglin is at least partially known for having a fairly large test wing for new DoD experiments.   The Lab is basically a series of rooms where they can simulate just about any weather condition you want.  Blazing heat, freezing cold, rain and wind so hard it comes at you sideways, you name it and they got it.  When not testing DoD toys they rent it out to just about any manufacturer that requests time.  I wouldn't be surprised if whatever you have in your driveway hasn't had a major component tested there.

The guy that kickstarted it originally thought "maybe we can do some cold weather testing in Alaska" but realized that sometimes Alaska has warm winters as well.  A most future-proof decision. 

Depending on the OpsTempo they have been known to invite the kids on base inside for a snow day in the middle of July, or for Christmas or whatnot.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Roush has a big test facility out by Bemidji, MN. I knew a few people who worked for them and occasionally would have a car come into the service station I worked at while in college. They got R & D vehicles from several different brands to test. Regularly would see Ford, GM, Dodge, Porsche, Mercedes, and occasionally others. Heaviest testing was done in the winter. Could always count on 2 weeks where the high was -10. Some people I knew who worked there talked about how you show up for work and just drive...the whole shift. Cars would show up brand new and in a few months would have hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

In reply to RevRico :

Probably a reliability thing. You need reliable and predictable 24/7 temperature control. Ambient is kind of immaterial at this point.

Place I used to work we did some environmental chamber work and the chamber was forever needing fixed. Florida has more AC infrastructure to support this kind of equipment than most places. If you are going to attract a clientele that needs reliable on-time results, you need to convince them that your equipment has the infrastructure to maintain it.

Beyond that there is the cost/availability of power and whatever environmental oversight might apply that makes FL a good place. Then add in who-knows-who-and is getting paid.

In reply to NOHOME :

I did deliveries to some cold storage warehouses and in summer thought the workers must look forward to taking off their parka going outside and warming up.

Similar question since people here seem knowlegdable - 

Is it possible to get a job at one of these testing facilities without a degree in engineering?

Here in AZ we've got a few. It sounds like a fun job, even if your not driving. 

Rousch has a testing facility in Naples, FL.

It's not uncommon to see "disguised" cars/trucks running around.

Where is exit 237?

CrustyRedXpress said:

Rousch has a testing facility in Naples, FL.

It's not uncommon to see "disguised" cars/trucks running around.

Where is exit 237?

237 is Ruskin-ish.  217-224 are Bradenton

pheller said:

Similar question since people here seem knowlegdable - 

 

Is it possible to get a job at one of these testing facilities without a degree in engineering?

 

Here in AZ we've got a few. It sounds like a fun job, even if your not driving. 

Very probably.  I'd look for job titles with "test technician" or similar in the title.

In reply to pheller :

I'm pretty sure there are plenty of non-engineering jobs at proving grounds.  Actually, I would bet that most jobs that are specifically only at one proving ground would be non-engineering.  Lots of techs are needed.  Most of the engineers that test at proving grounds will be from the home, coming with the vehicles to do some pretty specific seasonal work.  Arizona is a little different, since it can also have some off road and durability work- but the vast majority will be between June and Sept when it's the hottest.  

Go to the home of the OEM and search for jobs.  There will be location specific ones listed.

(the most busy proving grounds will be near the home location- like Chelsea, Romeo/Dearborn, and Milford.)

On a side note- while it seems cool to do the work, IMHO, it gets old really quickly.  Especially some of the more mundane tests.

alfadriver said:

On a side note- while it seems cool to do the work, IMHO, it gets old really quickly.  Especially some of the more mundane tests.

This.

One of my jobs we went and tested primers for 120mm tank ammo.  The area that they tested primers was the same they used to test hand grenades.

High speed cameras to record, little lever to yank to pull the cord connected to the pin, sounds great right?

Guy doing the testing hated it cause he had to walk so far to set up each test.  It was about 40 feet away from the building behind a huge berm.

Mr_Asa said:

RevRico said:

In reply to Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) :

Ok, I'll bite. Hockey rink? Specialty facility? Florida summer is not the what I think of when I think of cold testing. 

It is a great day! Today you get to learn something new that isn't just routine!

The McKinley Climactic Lab is smack dab in the middle of Eglin AFB.  Eglin is at least partially known for having a fairly large test wing for new DoD experiments.   The Lab is basically a series of rooms where they can simulate just about any weather condition you want.  Blazing heat, freezing cold, rain and wind so hard it comes at you sideways, you name it and they got it.  When not testing DoD toys they rent it out to just about any manufacturer that requests time.  I wouldn't be surprised if whatever you have in your driveway hasn't had a major component tested there.

The guy that kickstarted it originally thought "maybe we can do some cold weather testing in Alaska" but realized that sometimes Alaska has warm winters as well.  A most future-proof decision. 

Depending on the OpsTempo they have been known to invite the kids on base inside for a snow day in the middle of July, or for Christmas or whatnot.

Here's a press video Ford did on their testing, I never visited Eglin but it sounds much more preferable than Kapuskasing or other northern territories. Bonus, after cold box testing one could pull out of the hanger and jump into hot humidity testing.

In reply to engiekev :

The fuels are so different that it's not a direct step between the two- you have to do a drain and fill.

OEMs go through enormous effort to get extreme ambient condition testing completed.

SHPG in New Zealand comes to mind, their winter is June-Sept. I've heard of some programs that elected to visit there as cold data was needed ASAP in "traditional" summer periods. Yes, that would not be a cheap trip.

https://shpg.co.nz/

alfadriver said:

In reply to engiekev :

The fuels are so different that it's not a direct step between the two- you have to do a drain and fill.

Oh I forgot about that point, goes to show I've never done cold start cal ;).

The drain and fill is not a real life scenario. Many times in the last 55 years I have shut a car off with plenty of fuel, and re-started it a few days later when the ambient temperature has changed by at least 60*.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

The difference between the fuel between -20 and + 40 is pretty small compared to 30 to 60.  And Florida would be in the 80F range- and it's very unrealistic to have -20 to +80F swing.  Happens, but it's so rare that few really think it's realistic to include in a test plan.

The only reason people go to Elgin for cold testing is that they are VERY late in the program and are specifically looking at -20F tests.