Ford aluminum truck beds are strong how?

[Industrial Toys]

As usual, repair costs are never mentioned. Repair and painting costs are astronomical!

 

[kc5dlo]

I am 6'4" and I would have trouble setting a loaded tool box on the side of the bed of a new truck.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Just get a steel bed liner,

A plastic bed liner would serve just fine. All it needs to do is distribute the impact.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Me neither, especially the empty toolbox putting a hole in the bed. Yikes! How many of us have ever put a cordless screwdriver, ax, chainsaw, etc... on the edge of our bed and then accidentally knocked it in? Plenty of us. Wonder what those would do?



I've got an 85 Chevy 1/2 ton with a plastic bed liner in it. We drove it from about 1993 until about 2010, so about 17 years (it's still sitting in the back yard collecting scrap steel). When I bought my tractor in 2001 I removed the plastic liner to see how the bed was doing. Other than paint rubs, it was fine. Surprisingly dent free. So I put it back in. That truck was abused by me. Rock, wood, etc... just tossed in. The plastic did a great job in my opinion. A con of a plastic liner is things slide very easily. Its a must to tie stuff down. A pro of a plastic liner is you can back up fast in reverse, slam on the brakes and the load unloads itself! :laughing: But seriously, its very easy to sweep or hose out.

I have a textured plastic bed liner that keeps loads a lot more secure than bare steel ever did. I have driven pickup trucks since 1973. The beds collected the occasional dent, but the real damage was to the sidewalls and tailgate, as slamming on the brakes or doing sudden swerve with a 600 lb. piece of steel in the bed slammed the sides. Plastic bed liners have really preserved the metal. I like the ones that cap over the side rails too.

 

[Egon]

A sheet of plywood works well.

 

[sd455dan]

I can recall the I beam suspension. Bending for a wheel alignment was interesting. They went through a lot of bushings as I recall. Front ends always seemed out of alignment. Those trucks did see some rough service though.

Yeah the one in the movie Mr. Majestyk held up pretty well to it's light duty use Ford Truck is Ford Tough in Mr. Majestyk - YouTube


Our 1967 F 250 had the twin I beam and never replaced anything- but the front end did have a little wonder once it got over 100k.

 

[MossRoad]

I used to treat my 70 Nova the same way! :laughing:

 

[dragoneggs]

The first year that the 777 came out they were all grounded because of corrosion in the galley from flight attendants spilling OJ. so it does happen. As for different grades for different metals that is true, given that as agreed, why did they use a soft version in the bed? You can bet on the Ford engineers or any other maker to design as cheaply as possible for their maximum profit.

Was trying to refrain from replying directly to this... but can you back up your aircraft grounding due to OJ corrosion story? I was a little more than close to this design. First of all the supporting structure was Titanium and Graphite.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/word/********-bs-smiley-emoticon.gif

 

[MF283]

How well would the spray in liners work? I've heard good things about them, no actual experience though.

Ronnie

 

[check]

How well would the spray in liners work? I've heard good things about them, no actual experience though. Ronnie

I have had them and I love them. I don't have to worry about scratching, and the rough surface keeps things from sliding around. However, I also have a rubber bed mat, which I enjoy a lot. And it will ansorb a fair amount of shock. Have used the same one and three F150s now.