I just bought a 2011 Supercrew Ecoboost Lariat. This is the first Ford I have owned. I was wondering if anyone who has had older model f-150s has noticed that the sheet metal on the body is thin. I had a 2005 chevy and by comparison, the body of the chevy seems alot thicker when you tap on the side of the fender, or when you shut the door, you don't see the outer skin of the door shake.

Just curious.

 

My '04 F-150 had thicker metal on the door's that's for sure.

 

I've definitely noticed the warping effect when closing the door. I can't comment on the actual thickness of this material though.

 

My guess trying to reduce weight to get other specs of the truck better....

 

^^that^^ but it is no guess to me.
Ford wants to keep the 150 as the best selling truck and they are overspeccing/underspeccing/adding/subtracting everywhere they can to stay where they are.

 

I tried to google some info and couldn't come up with much but I think that is designed that way for a purpose because I remember reading somewhere that the new F150s have dent resistant door pannels.

 

Nothing is dent resistant when the f*@#$!g fat person in the beater decides to park next to your truck and kicks their door open. They deliberately seek out new vehicles to park next to, even out in the outer reaches of the parking lot.

 

Material costs down, profit and mpgs up. Buyer gets the short end of the stick, he pays more $$ and gets less product to show for it. That's the beauty of the program.

 

This is so true, a tip I use often is pay attention to the wind direction, and park with your nose pointing into the wind, and if the vehicles that park next to you park the same direction there is less chance of the wind grabbing their door.

Just something I do, but it is true there is nothing you can do about people who just don't give a sheet.

Mark

 

B.S. its called high strength steel it costs more than than the thicker steal used in older trucks. It is lighter in weight and stronger than older trucks and you have wider spans..with government cafe standards they have to reduce power or wt. take your pick. It isnt just ford its all makers. Bubbabud