Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Ford F-150 Aluminum Body Panel

Just visited my local Ford dealer and thought you all might like to see the thickness of the new F-150 aluminum body panel compared to a quarter.





Fewer dents - no rust - the new F-150 will continue to dominate half ton truck sales.

And talk of a new Ranger with a 5 cyl diesel option, of course not available in US or Canada :-(

Mike

If I were hunting for a truck the new Ford would be on the top of my list. No Eco-Boost though.

The Ecoboost engines didn't set the world on fire like Ford thought they would. They aren't exactly duds, but I think most people would be happier with the std engine. That said, they've got the new 2.7 & 3.5 litre engines. How will they work?

I'm not concerned with the thickness as my aircraft skin was only .036 and held up extremely well to the elements and an occasional 7.62x39 but hope Ford gives the entire chassis a good Zinc Chromate dunking or Dichromate plating.I see one of these in my driveway sooner than later..

One of the general problems with aluminum is, while lighter than steel, it has to be thicker to yield same strength losing some advantage.

It is expected to be 700# lighter than steel. That ain't no pop can!

understand that. Just explaining why the panel is so thick and that the need to make it thicker hurts the possible weight savings. Could be made thinner and lighter with better grade but $$$. No free lunches...

Wonder what costs will be for insurance and overall costs separate tools and body shops for the body work.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20140303/RETAIL/140229852/large-ford-stores-say-cost-of-aluminum-body-shop-will-surpass-$70000

One of the body shops I sell to is dumping 30 grand into tools and equipment to be able to do work on the new aluminum stuff. You can guarantee those costs will be passed on...

It's the wave of the future so they'd just better learn to deal with it. Within 5 years all the manufacturers will be making their trucks out of aluminum, fuel economy is going to demand it and now that Ford has initiated it they're all going to have to follow suit to compete.

I suspect as demand increases, the price of Aluminium will rise to the point it will be too expensive for wide spread adoption.

Personally, I would think some of the carbonfibre composites are the way forward, as in the aircraft industry.

aluminum is something like the fourth most common element on earth, so shortage is hardly likely. The aluminum cost is basically the cost of electro refining it. As the cost of electricity goes, so goes the cost of aluminum.

I briefly looked into the new aluminum body and saw that the fuel savings was something like 300 bucks a year compared to a 5.0 with a steel body. Given a rise in insurance, and the cost as an option, I did not think this was a wise purchase. Was that article accurate? I was actually concerned about galvanic rust induced between the aluminum body and steel frame.

I/m saving my beer cans for a long time bfore I take them in for money.

I believe Audi has been using aluminum for uni-body frames and body panels in the A8 for years. Their corrosion warranty is 11-12 years IIRC.

what do you mean they haven't set the world on fire? 40% of the engines ford puts in f150's are ecoboost. That is probably the most popular engine in the f150, The other makes simply have no answer for it. yeah they all are pretty close in mpg but the ecoboost is like a diesel engine that runs on gas. it puts out its power and torque at a very low rpm. I really like mine and even with a trailer I seldom rev the thing, it just does its thing with no fanfare.

Yea, I think the ecoboost engines as a whole have been a success. I think the only failure was that expectations were a bit too high in the mileage department, many were expecting extreme gains in fuel economy and the gains are more incremental. Between the ecoboost and the aluminum body we now have full sized 4x4 trucks that are getting 23 mpg on the highway. That might not sound impressive but the truth is that a decade ago the most you could reasonably expect from something comparable was about 15 mpg. That's a big percentage increase and the ecoboost is a stronger engine. Ford has a 10 speed transmission coming out that'll likely add another 1 or 2 MPG.

Little increases add up. There is no one thing that will make a 5000 lb. rolling brick magically break 30 mpg. They're going the right direction though and the best thing is that the other manufacturers will be forced to respond to stay competitive. I'm not a huge Ford fan, but if it forces Toyota to make a 25 mpg Tundra 4x4 then I'll be all over it.

That is going to be the issue..producing aluminium requires huge amounts of (expensive) electricity and unless that changes, I think its going to be a sticking point..

I think its more likely that over time, the increasing cost of gas will coerce a higher percentage of Americans into driving smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, basically following the European trend..