No, your in good company bro. I can see these trucks being built with a zinc fitting in a few years. LOL.

 

These are the Ford vehicles using aluminum panels. I don't think I've heard any complaints so far.

Expedition (hood & liftgate)
Explorer (hood and fenders)
F-150 (hood)
Lincoln Navigator (hood & liftgate)
Lincoln LS (hood, fender & trunk lid)
Ranger (hood)
Lincoln Town Car (hood)
GT (body panels)
Mustang GT (hood)

 

So Ford is planning to bring this truck to market in 2014, why would they spend as much money as they have to update & change the 2013 only to change the entire truck in less than a year?

Since I use my truck as a truck daily not sure how I feel about aluminum, it's not like you can just have a dent service repair it when you get a door ding or worse. I know if we all want to keep driving full sized trucks we are going to have to put up with some comprimise to get better fuel mileage out of these things.

 

i love the idea, ill take aluminum over steel any day. we have the technology now, aluminum panels can be manipulated just as well as steel, if it cracks its a cleaner fix than steel. steel you always have to worry about rust. if you fix that rust, chances are its going to come back, its a never ending battle. its lighter, may not be as strong but the body on a truck isnt really for structure anyways. thats what the frame is for. i really wish they did this when fords actually had nice trucks (no offense to you guys that own the new trucks) i wouldnt be searching the country side for a rust free 67, or at least one thats driveable until i have the funds to fully restore one.

 

There are alot of people out there with 06-09 Fords that've experienced the corroding hood and rear hatch. I saw it on my 08 Expy and 09 Mustang. Ford has issued several TSB's for it as well

I'm all for the process if the can stop the corrosion issue cold

 

Why paint it?, think Cobra...

 

I like my old steel pickup, i like the feeling of having heavy protection rather then feeling like a soda can on wheels.

 

Question #1: what does it cost? #2 how does it do with hail dents (had a recent experience with these but my E150 got NONE in the same storm)

 

It will be interesting to see what the fuel mileage is going to be on a truck that's going to be approximately 700 lbs. lighter. Tooling cost should be lower because aluminum forming isn't as hard on tooling as steel but I promise any savings will not be passed on to the customer. Which ever model year it happens in, Ford could be re-designing the truck. The existing tooling dies can't be used on aluminum.

 

In theory...this is good. Fuel efficiency should increase and payload should increase too. We will have to wait and see. Im ok with the aluminum panels. Harder to repair though (think dent removal) and that could be problematic.

Due to the increase in safety needs these trucks have become pigs. Im all for something to reduce the weight and gain some relief on a weekly basis at the pump.

 

Freightliners have been aluminum for a long time.

Cost will be a big question. Galvanic corrosion will always be an issue as well. How that works out with the liquid salt up here will be interesting to see. Weight savings is a great thing but pickups already cost way too much IMO.

 

Aluminum may not rust but as mentioned it corrodes and it's the same end result.


Aluminum tooling is cheaper but the material cost is higher so any price saving will be eaten up and they don't tool for every unit like purchasing more expensive material.


I'd just as soon stick with steel.....Land Rover Discovery has been using aluminum for a very long time but haven't really taken the market over yet. I don't see it happening with Ford either.

 

As long as there is a form of material between the dissimilar metals, there should be no galvanic reaction between them. Aluminum is softer than steel, and may need a reinforcing material bonded behind to make the panel less flimsy (many steel panels on vehicles have this). Repairability requires more knowledge to work with, especially welding, but the weight savings should pay off in better mpg, acceleration, braking and handling. I'm sure there will be some good and bad, but aluminum is used in many vehicles with little issue.

 

If there is a 25% savings in the price and a 25% increase in the MPG's and can still perform/function like the current steel ones do, then count me in. I'm afraid it's going to cost more, have very little gains in fuel economy and be about as bulletproof as a beer can. I am skeptical.

 

Aluminum may knock some weight off, but the raw material is more expensive than steel. I don't think the mileage increase would offset the cost. Ford and the rest of the manufacturers have already priced themselves out of the market for the average working person. If the automakers are willing to permanently settle for sales of 8-9M vehicles annually it could happen. But aluminum is more susceptible to stress cracks than steel. Anyone who is familiar with the aviation industry and airplane maintenance knows this first hand. I certainly wouldn't want to have to deal with stress cracks in a roof panel, cowl panel, or someplace that would cause water to leak into the vehicle. And at $40K and up MSRP you can't consider F150's throw-away vehicles.