€Do you think Ford can successfully make its next F150 out of aluminum? Will it be strong enough to handle the demands of a truck?€
I’ve heard these questions more than once in the five months since Ford unveiled the all-new 2015 F150 at the Detroit auto show. The headlining news for the new F150 is a massive drop in weight (give or take 700 pounds) due to the use of aluminum for the body structure. This is the first time a full-size truck will utilize aluminum for its body panels, and while a reduction in weight is expected, a reduction in strength and durability is a concern some have raised.
I can understand this reaction to what is a massive leap forward in truck construction, but I also find it comical that anyone thinks Ford would actually roll the dice with its F150. Ford sells an F150 every 41 seconds, or around 60,000 a month and over 750,000 last year. And like all trucks the F150 is a high-profit model, which means an estimated $10,000-plus in profit on each of those 750,000 sales in 2013 (Ford has already sold 300,000 F150s in 2014). You do the math and tell me if it makes sense for Ford to risk its next F150 not living up to customer expectations.
Ford tested its all-new F150’s aluminum construction at a gold mine in Nevada.
Ford tested its all-new F150€s aluminum construction at a gold mine in Nevada.
Which brings me to the topic of today’s post €” how is Ford testing the durability of its aluminum F150? The fascinating answer is that, beyond all the standard durability testing the company has used in the past, it’s added some real-world tests that included racing a stock, aluminum F150 in the 2013 Baja 1000 last fall and putting an aluminum-bed in six otherwise stock F150s back in 2011. Ford supplied these six F150 prototype trucks to real-world fleet customers, but didn’t tell them what specifically had been altered (the trucks’ exterior panels looked like a standard 2011 model). Two of the trucks went to a construction company in Pennsylvania, two to an energy company in North Carolina and two to a gold mine in Nevada (the latter pictured above). You can read more about it on Ford’s site.
The aluminum bed showed no signs of structural weakness along with exceptional corrosion resistance.
The aluminum bed showed no signs of structural weakness, along with exceptional corrosion resistance.
All six aluminum beds have shown as much or more resistance to wear in these real-world conditions than previous steel versions. Ford even took a small group of journalists to the Barrick gold mine in Northern Nevada to witness the trucks in person and talk to the fleet customers driving them. I was part of the group and, after closely inspecting the beds, I confirmed the advantages one might expect from aluminum over steel. Not only did the beds show a strong resistance to dents or deformation, they also showed zero signs of rust or corrosion, even in the areas of the bed where the paint was scratched through to bare metal (a common occurrence for trucks in fleet use). Given the amount of salt and other corrosive materials at a gold mine site this is impressive, and an example of how the aluminum construction will provide a real-world benefit for end users.
Ford understands some customers will question the strength of aluminum construction in a full-size truck, which is why the company is putting the new F150 through this kind of real-world testing on top of the standard simulated testing it’s used for previous F150s. Before the 2015 F150 hits showrooms late this year it will have gone through over 10 million miles of combined real-world and simulated testing. It will also offer the smallest engine available in a full-size truck, a turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 that is supposed to provide V8-like performance with much higher fuel efficiency. Between its advanced engine technology and all-new body construction Ford is making a lot of sweeping changes to the next F150. To suggest there’s zero risk with this level of change would be unrealistic, but it seems Ford is doing everything it can to ensure its most important model meets or exceeds customer expectations.
