SCORGE

I don't own one....but have test driven both a EB and Coyote 2015/16 respectively.
man...they ride good.

justbillin

Sorry for the misunderstanding and me acting like an A-hole. I sort thought acdii was implying that I was jealous and bashing aluminum because I didn't like my current trucks. I do realize now that was not the case!!!

I've got an old 2001 F150 Lariat beater truck and just made my 28 y/o son a super-duper deal on my 2013 Frontier (which I don't like...HAHA) in order to make room for a 2018 F150 in the Fall.

sonar1

Yeah, if I need my submarine to bash through artic ice sheets, or drop rip-rap into my bed from a skip loader, I'll be glad my 2013 is steel.

And so will the Chevies be in future iterations!

Reginald Wang

MrMeeseeks:

You mentioned due to the yield strength of aluminum, the "design" has to be changed to accommodate that, you mean that if a 2014 body design is made out of aluminum, there would be structural issues? In other words, the material is a constraint to the aesthetic and perhaps safety considration of the design?
A drastic hypothetical example, based on my logic, a current RAM truck, for example, may not be suitable to be made of aluminum due to the way the hood is curved, side panels is molded etc etc.

Intuitively, I think my logic makes sense, although the 2014 F150 body just may not be the best illustration considering they did experiment on it secretly. So, let me change it, say a 1979 F150 body, maybe it has to be re-contoured to be suitable for aluminum.

SixShooter14

I'll throw in my 2cents on your thoughts.

It's not going to so much be an aesthetic or safety constraint, but definitely a consideration. They can probably make the exact same body contours with Al as steel. But under the skin will need different supports in different places. And the Al body will have different 'crush-patterns' compared to the exact same steel body.

I've seen many MFGs that misjudged the need for support under the body skin. One such case saw a 70% incident rate of door dents on the production line. It turned out that when they changed the model for a redesign, they relocated a support inside the door a few inches. So now a big resting pad that the door just rested against as it hung in a carrier was causing a good sized depression in the middle of the door panel. They relocated the front door pad and just removed the rear one. It was just a case of bad luck that the pad touched at the furthest point from a support. This was on a steel door.

So the skin contour could most likely be molded/stamped into about any shape regardless of material. But the underneath support will most likely be different. The materials will also act somewhat differently in certain shapes. So that support can be molded into several different shapes from tubes to channels to complex struts with many bends and surfaces to increase stiffness depending on the location and the structural needs.

acdii

Aluminum also forms differently than steel as it rebounds when formed, so some patterns would take more time/effort to recreate in Aluminum that is easy to do in steel, like the tailgate of the 09-14. Aluminum also has a breaking point where sharp bends can cause it to crack, again like the tailgate panel with the grooves.

There are also different grades of hardness used, the harder the metal the easier to crack when formed, so the make a panel with curves they use a softer grade and ack it up with stiffer supports.

You should see some of the parts made for the B17. Parts are formed of soft grade and then heat treated and reformed to straighten to harden them. Some parts, like fairings with domed curves are done this way too.

I doubt that any of the parts made for the F-150 go through that sort of process since it is time consuming to strike, treat, restrike, then clean, but use a grade that is hard, yet easy to form.

I was trying to find the How It's made that showed the pressing and forming process for an exotic car fender, but ran across this one instead.

roxbury29

^ 2 thumbs up !
Lightweight High-Stength Steel

I love my 2014 F150 ( STEEL ) Love all fords - Lifetime several generation ford family,
but still not sold on All Alum F150, yet....

acdii

I'll take the aluminum Screw over steel, and the reason why is that it will absorb more energy than the steel will. Having been in a frontal crash in a 14, hitting an 04 broadside at 47 MPH, that is one hard hit, and having more to absorb that energy will help reduce how hard the impact is to the occupants.

As far as damage, who cares as long as you can walk away. That's what insurance is for.

What I take away from the offset crash after that one is that I am glad I have a Screw and not a Scab.

As far a steel, I hit a deer and had to have the right fender replaced, it was steel, so can't really say steel is better.

roxbury29

^ glad all were OK in the crash.... no accident is good, but yes we all want to walk away unharmed....
regardless of steel or alum / my wife bumped someone in my Jeep Wrangler,
going about 7-10 MPH, NO Damage to my JEEP and no one hurt..., but being lifted it destroyed the Kia minivan it hit with nearly $7000 worth of damage.. I had a Deer hit me broadside in my 91 Mustang - no damage to my car, Deer wasn't hurt either ( except the deer threw up all over my car )

jetjoe

Just my two cents here. Again! I now have 40K on my 16 XLT. This was a summer of unscheduled travel which started out with a visit to our son's family in Minnesota. (From Naples Fl) We weren't back more than a week when a death in the family required a return trip. Got back from that and wouldn't you know Hurricane Erma sent us fleeing once again. Back to Minnie for a third trip. All toll, about 18k miles in three months.

In discussing ride and comfort on this post I wonder just how many find themselves sitting this long in their truck? Being over 70 years old, this is not something most folks look forward to but I continue to be totally amazed at just how comfortable this truck is. Even compared to previous Fords we have or still own. Cars and trucks. The highway noise level at highway speed is better than that of a Cadillac. Ask my daughter who owns two high end models. One trip included an in-law, in her upper seventies and she too was totally amazed with the comfort and size of the rear seat.

Best of all, and something not mentioned in this blog all that much is the 600 mile range between fills and the 24.5 highway mileage. That with a box full of luggage and tools. What more could one ask for.

I would suggest those who claim to be open minded on this subject take the time to really look over the choices available today. You may split hairs and find little things that one brand has over another. Like an 8.2 in Nav screen vs. an 8 in. But after you own one of these late model F150's for a few years you will find little to complain about. Ford did their homework well on this truck. Aluminum in my mind is a non-factor to the owner. I would really doubt that anyone who didn't know could tell the difference other than at the pump! And you won't feel like the **** roach in "Men in Black" when you crawl out.