eye.surgeon

My guess we will see a traditional steel frame with increased use of aluminum in the suspension components and key body panels such as the roof, hood, doors and tailgate. I'm not worried about safety, aluminum is safety neutral compared to steel IMO. I'm worried about cost, both manufacturing and insurance. Aluminum is expensive to repair.

KingRanch4Life

iTrader: (2)

We speak of German ingenuity but the results I see are less than perfect... Any car can be voted "car of the year" but actual results tells the difference

KILOFINAL

Here's an article from Pickuptrucks.com that gives a few good closeup shots -

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/06...ed-weight.html



Spy shots by KGP Photography
We've just heard from one of our deep-cover spy photographers who recently found a heavily camoed 2015 Ford F-150 running the streets of Michigan. Here's what he wrote us:
The F-150 is expected to follow the design lead foreshadowed by Ford's Atlas concept, which bowed during January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Elements of the Atlas concept can be seen peeking through bits of the camouflage.
As important as the next F-150's styling is what it will be made of. We hear rumors of extensive use of aluminum, which could result in massive weight reduction. Questions remain as to just how far Ford is willing to go in its use of the expensive, tricky metal. We see some interesting things around the rear wheel wells of this F-150 prototype — unpainted metal with the look of untreated aluminum around the rear bed — which may give us our first clue to the metallurgical makeup of this massively important product within the Ford empire.
Sources tell us that this next F-150 will utilize Ford's new range of V-6 engines (being developed under the codename "Nano"), likely displacing 2.9liters in the F-150 range. Direct injection and dual-stage turbocharging are rumored to be part of the Nano's defining technologies. A diesel engine is also a near certainty for the next F-150 range.
No doubt we'll be hearing and seeing more about weight-saving technology from all the big (and midsize) truck makers as they come to market with their newest models. In our 2013 Light-Duty Challenge, due to go live next week, the new GM half-tons were almost 400 pounds lighter than the heaviest trucks (can you guess which ones they were?). It doesn't take much imagination to see that if Ford wants to get serious, it could possibly double that number.

Rooskibar03

Willing to be the occupant walked away with "minor" injuries.

RES4CUE

This is just the end result, what did it go through to get to that state?

KingRanch4Life

iTrader: (2)

Looks like Driver side had to be cut open.... I don't think minor injuries apply here but I certainly hope they are ok...
http://tsikot.com/forums/land-rover-...gnition-36792/

HCFX2013

You do realize that that is a Range Rover from about 10-12 years ago? That one is made of steel just like the F-150. Vehicles built out of aluminum are not deathtraps. I was in an accident in a car made of alot of aluminum and I was fine. With that said. I don't really think the next 150 will be made of 100% aluminum. Maybe the hood, door skins & bedsides.

RES4CUE

Looking at the other pics and doing this for a living, I can tell you this was most likely a roll over and the land rover did as it was designed to do. It was designed to absorb impact and transfer energy away from passenger compartment. You can tell this on its side when the fire department got there and they did was is called a roof flap to get the occupants out. This is the easiest method as the one side is on the ground and the other you would have to climb on top and hold door open.

Due to severity, I would opted to collar and backboard occupants and to do that you need to open it up and flap the roof. With all the airbags in the vehicles now many people walk away from these types of wrecks with minor injuries. We run them weekly on I-95!

hallenfe

I sure hope it's the atlas.

ReactiveD

The front fender still has the same indent around the wheel well, the headlights look to be the same, you can see the amber to the right and below. The bed appears to be aluminum?









Just not seeing the atlas in the spy photos...