Corrected entry: Questions of the era-appropriateness of the bionics technology aside, there's another problem with the use of the bionic arm. Even assuming it was capable of developing a ton of lift or more at the elbow and wrist joints, that still doesn't strengthen his shoulder and back similarly. In any of the type of situation where he used it to lift up the back of a vehicle or similar, all that would happen would be that the arm would draw his upper body down with bionic strength - quite possibly smacking his face into whatever it was he was attempting to lift.
The Six Million Dollar Man (1974)
1 corrected entry
Starring: Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks
Factual error: There is no physical way that Steve Austin could perform most of his superhuman feats of strength in the ABC television series, due to the fact that they simply replaced his arm and legs, but didn't rebuild or reinforce the rest of his skeleton and muscles to handle the physical loads. Interestingly, author Martin Caidin (creator of Steve Austin in his novel, "Cyborg") actually did describe an incredibly complex whole-body rebuild that included vertebral reinforcement and ribcage and pelvis replacement, which was far more scientifically-accurate than the subsequent ABC television interpretation. ABC only accepted the series on the condition that it was less technical for their audience.
Trivia: Only mentioned in one episode early in the series, Steve Austin's least-referenced superhuman power was his ability to hold his breath for extraordinary lengths of time. Steve's phenomenal breath-holding ability was due to the fact that, even though he had two normal lungs, he had a much smaller circulatory system than a normal human being. Also, the Steve Austin in Martin Caidin's original book, "Cyborg," had an entire array of weapons, flares, communications gear, retractable swim fins, and scuba tanks built into his bionic body.
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Correction: Hindsight being 20/20, the era-appropriateness of the bionics technology is an unfair question, as the show is a 'near-future' construct, and we can't know exactly what the future will bring. As for the bionics-vs-human stresses, its a well-known fact that the human body is often capable of feats not considered possible by rational explanations. The TV series 'the Hulk' used the premise of super-human strength under duress as the reason for Banner's experiments. Non-bionic real humans have overturned cars with their bare hands in emergency situations. It's entirely possible this 'near-fture' bionic technology included something that tapped into such natural reserves, allowing Austin to use the arm at will, as seen.
johnrosa