Parts vs. Engineering example:

Service manual the starter index plate is called an engine separator plate.
Parts catalog the engine separator plate is called a starter index plate.

This example may be obvious to most but not everything is.

Another Ford example: Rocker panel = outer side support = floorpan outer side support (there is an inner side support)

 

Engineering nemes it for what it is, parts names it for what it does. Stupid and yes all manufacturers do it.

 

Mercedes transmission bulkhead connectors are called pilot bushings, and BMW rubber driveshaft flex disks are called u-joints even though an actual universal joint is right next to it. Ordering parts is fun when you have a new parts guy who doesn't know his own brand's terminology yet. Just the other day I ordered a fuel tank vent hose that BMW calls a "suction jet pump with line", no one knew what I was talking about with either name, I had to give them the part number.

 

Motor mounts called insulators etc, etc,......... It can be maddening at times.

 

Good to know I'm not the only one irritated by this. The new parts counter people can be interesting. Went to the dealer Tuesday for a new Coyote pilot bearing and the kid at the counter said they don't have them, They only have them with a bushing. What can you say? lol

 

Pilot bearings for every Ford engine I've ever worked on was just a brass bushing.

 

I blame the Tower of Babel.

 

Names vary because the people writing them vary.

There is no master parts-name index you can follow when you're conceptualizing, designing, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, inventorying, assembling, & marketing something as complex, with as many parts, as a vehicle. And yes, that list of potential names gets further-complicated by the fact that a person involved in one of those steps might not use the same language (American-English, UK-English, German, Japanese, Chinese...) as another person working on a subsequent step with the same part.

And even if they're using the same language, they may have different perspectives on what's the "best" name to use. Engineers came up with the clock spring (which has nothing to do with a clock, and isn't a spring) specifically because the old "steering wheel sliding contact" wasn't suitable any more. But because the base PN was the same or similar, the parts guys like to re-use the old names as much as possible, so it became the "airbag sliding contact" to them.

 

Ford was just a brass bushing at one time but It's been a while. They're a needle bearing in a bushing now.

Edit: changed roller to needle, oops

 

I've only ever seen those in racing applications, not stock engines and only used on manual transmissions. Is there a manual trans option for an F150 these days?