Daytoman

if all aluminum was the answer, more manufacturers would be making all aluminum trucks. It’s not and they aren’t. Fords all aluminum days are numbered anyway.

WarSurfer

I would think CF would be fine if combined with a spray in liner. Even with the spray in liner, the weight savings would be significant.

Toyota has been using composite beds for years, I think it's a great idea.

bassJAM

I think GM is counting on the Denali trim not being use for any actual work, and possibly using the learnings to see if they can eventually roll it out to the lower trims that end up being work trucks.

What I find interesting is I do see a lot of Denali 1/2 ton and HD trucks in my area that are work/contractor trucks carrying loads in the bed and towing construction equipment, but I almost never see an F150 above the Lariat trim with anything in the bed. When I see the higher trims towing anything it's normally a small 4x6 trailer with a riding lawnmower or something like that in it.

Eduskator

Trucks will not be worth 100k$ (base models!!)

CF is a lot stronger than steel or aluminum, but it comes with a price. I don't think it's suitable for a truck (well, a bed might be OK, but would still be expensive to fix).

idrive

iTrader: (3)

I'd be happy to take that bet.

acdii

Stronger yes, but fragile too. If more of it is used in the body, then an underlying steel structure will be required for the safety cage since the CF will virtually explode on impact. The way vehicles are built today, every single panel, and understructure is designed to absorb impact and remove it from the occupants. It will be quite a challenge they face by going to Carbon Fiber.

It is strong, light, and flexible, but sudden forces like an impact, man it gets ugly. They use CF in F1 cars, and they do well in impacts against the wall, but they are also much smaller components and an F1 car doesn't weigh anywhere near what a 1/2 ton truck does. Also, a crash in an F1 against the wall is quite a bit different than an offset crash against another moving vehicle. Then you have to factor in delamination, and other stresses over time. I just can't see CF a viable material for construction of a pickup.

On one of my planes I had a 28" CF prop, and when landing, the plane dipped its nose when it encountered a mole hole(I have a mole?) and the tip of the prop struck a rock. The prop shattered right down to the hub. There went $110. There were small pieces of CF prop everywhere.

WXman

GM already tried a different bed material as an option. It was called the "Pro-Tec" cargo box, if memory serves. It went over like a lead balloon, and was soon discontinued along with their 4-wheel steering system.

All of this went down about 10 years ago, so I'm shocked they're this quick to make the same mistakes.

Then again, the 2015 pickups still had many of the same issues that the 1988 pickups did, so I guess nothing should surprise me with GM.

ZeroTX

I was literally about to post about this, haha. Yes, GM offered it for a while. In reality, they looked awful. You could tell it wasn't metal, because it was wavy. It looked like complete crap. Oh, it was also really expensive! So yeah, nobody bought them.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...ering-pro-tec/

johndog82

iTrader: (3)

Just read an article on gmauthority saying that GM truck sales are down ever since those dumbass anti aluminum truck bed commercials came out. I love watching their classlessness backfire on them. Serves them right.

lutter5-0

Willing to put that to a bet? What did pickup owners say in the 90's? 40k for a "base model". They would laugh you down the street!