Ford Aluminum Bodied F-150 Makes Debut

I worked at the Ford stamping plant when they introduced some aluminum body panels, this gave the Diemakers fits.

I wonder if I could just by the Body?

The reporter dropped the damn show car's fender!

What...a...goober!

He did seem to be a little overexcited...but then the other guy just stepped over it,,,what was he thinkin'?

I wanna see MPG info along with insurance collision cost??

I wanna see the performance stats with the 5.0 engine....

I would guess handling would be on par with an '86 Mustang (pursuit package)

I certainly don't want to see the price tag for it!

Good Luck, Old Salt

Panel replacement seems to be all the rage, but subframe?

I had an acquaintance who was rear ended in their Audi TT, and the space frame re-do was horribly expensive. It was almost totalled, save for the value which was quite high anyway. Repairs were well over $10,000.

Fully insured then no problems......

...watch this guy drag the body across the floor with one hand....

Who does that guy think he is, Ray Rice?

"drag the body across the floor with one hand"... Well the body IS mounted on a roller platform. You could probably do that with a steel body.

How much would that weigh if it was carbon fiber and how much more does making that out of aluminum cost compared to steel or the gas savings for that matter?

Well I guess you can use these figures for the 2014 models and subtract 700 lbs....add a couple mpg's...Carbon fiber I think would be considerably lighter, but probably much more expensive....I don't think they would have jumped in with both feet on their best selling model if it was going to mean a substantial price hike....I think all the engine blocks are aluminum already except the 6.2....So I think we are looking around 4000 lbs, give or take 100 lbs....

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/view-all/

Is this the first time a vehicle body has been made out of a lighter material than steel?

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No, but first American truck to be all aluminum.

Fiberglass and plastic are old hat for vehicles.

This was Oscar's first prototype the "Teeny Weeny" Mobile:

Looks like the first Airstream.....

Don't know if this is aluminum, but what a look....

http://www.sportscardigest.com/history-of-sports-cars-speed-records-at-daytona-beach/

Judging by the "dapper" appearance I would guess a rolls Royce V 12. The leading nacel for the front wheel is missing.

The mostly aluminum aircraft I worked with used zinc chromate as a primer. I wonder what process is used to paint these trucks?

I can't imagine this would be a strong selling point to people like Farmers, who need a truck that can get traction and pull. If that body is aluminum and lighter, it might get better gas mileage but I think it will reduce its towing capacity, especially in loose dirt environment.

Agreed - when pulling weight is your friend...along with gobs of torque!

The market for these trucks seems to be the "wannabe" farmers/truck drivers.

I have an F150, I once hauled a whole bushel of tomatoes. I like pickups because they have the ability to center-punch dillweeds that pull out without looking.

How would 10KW of audio affect the aluminum. What? WHAT?

Is this "stealthy"?