Ford aluminum truck beds are strong how?

[ultrarunner]

You guys with falling apart trucks must be hard on them or climate is taking a toll?

25 or 30 years is nothing for a Ford or Chevrolet truck where I live in California... my daily work truck is my 1985 3/4 Chevrolet Van and it is loaded with tool boxes, welder, air compressor and supplies... has been outside since new.

I still see my brother's 1977 F250 around... he sold it about 20 years ago and no rust.... used it to haul horses for Endurance Competitions...

 

[Sysop]

Sales are not an indication of quality, good, better best or anything other than sales.

Junk generally doesn't sell so well for so many years. Resale value is a better indicator of quality, higher quality vehicles known for longevity generally hold their value better. But that is a much deeper subject with lots of data to parse.

Yep, and it's been that way for a long time. That is often overlooked, but I think it's the reason GM is not in any panic over truck sales. I don't think they ever have been. The only time there have been huge gaps is when there were supply/demand constraints on new models (goes both ways for Ford and GM).

Double-check those May numbers again. Ford sold 67,412 trucks in the same time GM sold 62,677 combined GMC and Chevy trucks. 5000 units isn't a "huge gap", but it is about average. The only time a manufacturer turns from touting their own advantages to bashing the competition is when their advantages aren't selling product... Their ad was not to tout some nice feature of their truck, it was to try to make their "same old-same old" seem better than "the new innovative product" from the competition.

You have to know that the plans for the super duty were made many many years in advance, and certainly not as a reaction to how the F-150 is doing.

Sure, but I also know auto makers often make plans they backtrack on. Do you honestly think the F150 wasn't a "test" to see how the sales would be affected before rolling the aluminum bodies out across the entire F-series? If the F150 wasn't doing as good or better than expected, they wouldn't be so quick to move ahead on the other trucks.

 

[Fordman1981]

Something that hasn't been said in this thread and I think the point I take away from the Chevy commercial. No people aren't going to drop a load of blocks from that height in their truck and I think they done more harm than good with that part of the commercial because like the ford fanatics have pointed out no one would ever do that. But the empty tool box dropped on it's corner show's it really doesn't take that much to tear a hole in the aluminum bed and once a hole or a tare is started it's only going to worse. The aluminum rips very easy once breached. There is a video on YouTube of a body repair place ripping the aluminum on the F150 door like a piece of paper. I've had enough issues with fords that they have been moved the the bottom of the big 3 when I look into a new truck now. Ram is on top for me then Chevy/GMC and ford would be a much distant 3rd consideration.

 

[ultrarunner]

We did not know for sure so opted to buy a 2016 F250 and go with tried and true... never been much of an early adopter when it comes to expensive items.

Maybe our 2016 steel body will be very much sought after or not in terms of resale?

 

[Sysop]

I've had enough issues with fords that they have been moved the the bottom of the big 3 when I look into a new truck now. Ram is on top for me then Chevy/GMC and ford would be a much distant 3rd consideration.

There is no big 3 in Detroit anymore. Ford is all that's left. Ram is Italian, GM is Chinese. Honestly, the Tundra is the second most "American" truck being sold in the USA.

 

[Fordman1981]

Still called the big 3

 

[zzvyb6]

So you are saying that the GM Flint truck plant just up the road from me is in China ??? I thought I lived in Michigan ! Geez, I've been paying Michigan Taxes to China !!!

ALL the posters so far have missed all the important points about the use of aluminum in the Ford trucks. There's a bigger story here, but the low end debate going on here probably can't fathom the 'driving forces' in the aluminum decision. Stick to tractors and the debate about weight boxes and front end loaders. That was more amusing.

 

[Sysop]

Still called the big 3

Force of habit, reminiscent of better days, wishful thinking, whatever...

 

[Fordman1981]

So you are saying that the GM Flint truck plant just up the road from me is in China ??? I thought I lived in Michigan ! Geez, I've been paying Michigan Taxes to China !!! ALL the posters so far have missed all the important points about the use of aluminum in the Ford trucks. There's a bigger story here, but the low end debate going on here probably can't fathom the 'driving forces' in the aluminum decision. Stick to tractors and the debate about weight boxes and front end loaders. That was more amusing.

Please enlighten us oh holier than thou one.

 

[Bird]

You new F150 owners better be investing in a bed mat. That is what I would do. Problem solved.

So what bed mat would you folks recommend? As I've said, I think my 2015 F150 has the spray in LineX liner. It's a fairly hard surface and I doubt that I'll ever haul anything that might damage it. BUT . . . I have considered a mat that would keep things from sliding around back there. I would guess a thin rubber mat, but don't really know.