Daveleeander

Go to you tube and watch an F35 put through it's paces. That is what military grade aluminum is all about.
If you all think that the aluminum is just ole soft pop can aluminum, then you don't know about the metals industry. There are tons of different alloying agents. I work with a company who makes Beryllium,which is lighter than aluminum, and stronger than steel. And it is used as an alloying agent in copper, as well as the prime metal. Most aluminum has several other additives, you should see a 60 ton overhead crane twirling a 10 ton ball around in the melter mixing the batch just like your mother or wife or you maybe would do with a spoon on the stove. Takes the crane operator many hours of operating to make it smooth and not hit the sides of the melter with the ball. What I'm saying is the aluminum being used is tough, and somewhat hard, but it still has to be malleable in order to be stamped.
I'm getting ready to trade my 2012 4X4 XLT with 165k miles in on a new one. I'll support Ford and Alcoa that supplies that material to them. I agree they need to up the QC, but if you'd ever walk through those plants (yes, Ive worked in all three big ones in Detroit, and Ford was probably best, but they sucked) you'd wonder how you get as good as you get.
D

billt460

So... Let me get this straight. Every single truck bed out there, except for Ford, is made from steel. But "they're a dying breed".

Again, Ford is the only company going with Aluminum. But if you buy anything else, you're thinking "backward". If you say so Bunkie. And here's a clue. Aluminum isn't "the latest tech".

billt460

This is where I stopped reading. And you think the Silverado commercial was bull? So now you're comparing an Aluminum pickup truck bed to a F-35 fighter. In order to try to sell it as "better". You should work in Ford's advertising department.

I'll give you that both the F-35 and the F-150 are horridly overpriced for what they are. As several government officials like Trump, and many F-150 owners on this thread, have successfully pointed out. So in that regard your post has some truth.

Averysm09

Aluminum was a big reason I purchased mine. I had a 1993 F250 as well at the time and it had rust EVERYWHERE! Just the piece of mind that nothing will happen to the body of this truck is awesome.

Chevy has put out 2 commercials bashing Ford aluminum. The one where they're dropping the block and "lightweight" 30lb metal toolbox in the bed of the trucks. First off, billt460, I understand what you're saying here. I know you're just trying to say that whether it was real-world or whatever isn't your point, it's that it doesn't help people's mindset on aluminum. I also like how the blocks are dropped in.....don't those typically loaded on pallets? No one would ever drop landscaping block in a bed of a truck for fear it would destroy the block they just purchased.

The Second commercial is with a guy, a bear, and 2 cages; you guessed it one aluminum and one steel. It wasn't an outright "this is Ford and this is Chevy" commercial but the comparison was impossible to not notice.

Chevy host with quite a hipstery vibe: "Which cage would you choose when faced with a bear?"
Random person with no idea it's a Chevy commercial: "The steel one!" as he runs into it.

The funniest part of all of this is that Chevrolet plans on putting out a Silverado made of aluminum by 2020. I don't see their marketing team's strategy here. It's all good, they'll finish 2nd again. Hypocrisy really bothers me, I appologize for the off topic ranting.

Sorry off topic, but had to put that in there about those stupid commercials. I hope that aluminum wasn't a part of the reason for the low 'estimated' reliability. And as someone else said, I used to see the F150 get low reliability marks for the MyFordTouch system. I don't see what was so wrong about it, and have no idea why the bad scores for "ease of use" causes the "Reliability" score to drop......

One more thing, if anyone is tired of the Ford bias on this website, I'm sorry but it is the F150 forum...I understand people come here for research on vehicles and that's great, but people tend to really post on here to show off mods and to try and find a fix for something that has gone wrong. I'm sure the same as the Tundra, Ram, and Silverado forums.

Rant over, sorry.

Martian

Arguers and fight-starters: Are you guys aware that we DO have an Official aluminum vs. steel fact checking thread where you can have a Q&A with an actual head mechanical engineer? That'd probably be better than arguing with each other, you could ask a no-sh** expert (who does not work for Ford) in the field. Any arguments about metals without verifying them there are really just stupid, in my humble opinion, when you have such a great resource at your disposal.

billt460

So, you claim to understand that the point isn't trying to relate the commercial to real world. Then in the very next sentence you go right back to comparing the results to real world.

acdii

Was going to mention this, but you beat me to it. Ignorance is bliss, until you try to make a point and fail.

Anyone who has worked with steel and aluminum would know the differences and their strengths and weaknesses. I worked on a 70 year old B-17 that sat in a junk yard in Maine for 50 years. There was a lot of corrosion, but there was also a lot of clean metal still, and it sat in rain, snow, freezing and hot temps with moss, trees, plants, mud and all kinds of harsh elements attacking it daily. I have no issues with aluminum lasting, especially after seeing how well this old bird held up over 50 years. Any place that there would be dissimilar metal contact, Ford most likely uses a barrier of some type, whether its a plastic shield, or an adhesive, to prevent electrolysis.

As for those stupid GM commercials, guess what, drop a heavy tool box on a steel bed ant just the right angle, and it TOO will put a hole in it. Saw it happen myself. The hole wasn't nearly as big as the one they made, but it was a hole none the less.

Besides anyone who abuses a truck like that deserves to have a few holes in it.

billt460

All of this drunken, brand loyalty bias is all but laughable. You have guys on this thread who have gone out in good faith, and purchased these horrifically overpriced wonders. (And yes, $55+K for a half ton pickup is ridiculous). Only to complain about all of the issues they have had with them. These people aren't lying.

You then have a leading consumer magazine drop the F-150 from it's list as, "the most reliable truck", in favor of the boring reliable Tundra. Others here who own these things have verified many of those same issues. A new truck either works, or it doesn't. Many of these don't. At least not to the degree of reliability they used to. Enough to at least prove that quality doesn't appear to be, "Job #1" at Ford any longer.

Then there is the whole Aluminum issue. Ford is trying to sell it as the greatest thing since Monday Night Football, and 3 men in the booth. In reality it's nothing but a weight saving attempt to get better federally mandated mileage. Now, many are seeing it as a weakness instead of an "improvement". The response by these brand loyalists is to call those people, "backward thinking morons, who are intimidated by the latest tech".

I own a F-150. I bought it new over 25 years ago. It's been a very good running, dependable vehicle. That in itself isn't going to make me follow Ford around, praising it like a blind Scientologist praises L. Ron Hubbard. My truck, along with how it has operated for me, has no bearing what so ever on what Ford is pushing off the assembly line today.

It is also worth mentioning that I live in a large area of the country where rust and corrosion is a non issue. So Aluminum offers nothing to the tens of millions of people like myself, who live in these areas. Because of all of this, if I were in the market to replace it, I would consider other brands before I jumped on the Aluminum Ford bandwagon. And the fact is it wouldn't take Consumer Reports to do that. Just what I've read here would convince me to consider other brands and options. That is called being an educated consumer. Not a, "backward thinking moron".

Axxion89

It's very simple I you don't like the Ford, don't buy it. Not like they're hiding the fact they use aluminum. If you prefer steel then buy a steel truck. For me the aluminum benefits far outweigh the negatives.

If aluminum was such crap they wouldn't be using it in cars for decades. The reason why steel has been used for so long is because it's cheap, that's it. If aluminum was cheaper than steel I'd guarantee you every vehicle on the market would be made from it.

As for Consumer Reports, their recent scoring has gone off the deep end by focusing much of their rankings on things like the infotainment system vs mechanical reliability. Perfect example of this was with Honda taking a huge drop because their systems removed a volume ****. The F150 took a drop because of fit and finish, something you can see before you buy the truck. I'd take these issues over buying a Tundra that gets 13mpg or a Ram that needs drivetrain components every 3 years

solarity

I have no brand loyalty, I was looking at a Silverado, before I went the SUV route. If GM came out with an AL body, I would be on their forums right now. The fact is my AL alloy wheels are great and my SUV body gets rust on it, which is a pain in my butt is personal proof for me. The AL body isn't only just a great protector against rust. It also is lighter, which means better MPG, faster acceleration, and it can tow more. Power to weight ratio can give you more in a pickup, than a Civic. That being said there is no denying that a F-150 forum is going to be bias towards Ford. I will be completely objective and say I think it is the best truck out there right now. Also there are no denying that there is some disadvantages of AL, though the advantages for me far out way the disadvantages.

I do like how I got people to stop bashing CR and talk about steel vs aluminum instead.