Ford aluminum truck beds are strong how?

[Gem99ultra]

Whoa now. That smacks of a biased Chevrolet advertisement. I can't imagine where they found such fools as to go dropping blocks from a skid steer bucket at full height. And I wonder how many tries it took to get the results they were looking for?

Oh, and BTW, I do have a Chevrolet. It would kill either demonstration though - I did buy a $35 conveyor belt type bed mat. And zero dents after 19 years of use.

That kind of advertising turns me off.

 

[SirReal63]

Whoa now. That smacks of a biased Chevrolet advertisement.

Are you accustomed to seeing advertising that isn't biased towards the product being advertised?
They all do it.

 

[outinthetalgrass]

Several have stated they though bed liner might help.
Here is proof of bedliners abilities.
? Bomb Proof Truck Bed-Liner - YouTube

 

[Sysop]

Are you accustomed to seeing advertising that isn't biased towards the product being advertised?
They all do it.

That isn't biased toward their product, it is biased against another's product. "Like a Rock" was biased toward their product. Ignoring all the typical material handling standards to disparage a competitors product is "bad form". I cannot recall any Ford ad that included destruction of a Chevy through misuse/abuse.

 

[SirReal63]

Ok, but the whole point was to highlight the weakness of the aluminum bed, people may not drop a load of stone or brick from that height, but they will have things fall into the bed, fall over in the bed and the chance for damage is real. The other point is that the steel bed can take a lot more abuse than the aluminum bed. The high stone drop showed this beautifully. It would have been pointless to drop a load of foam blocks into the bed. People do use their trucks for work, contractors especially and even new trucks get a lot more asked of them than the manufacturers recommend.

At the end of the day it just another commercial.

 

[DrRod]

Man, you guys are posting faster than I can read them.

In any case, you can talk about not abusing your truck all you want but in my experience the greatest threat to pickups is the "borrower." No matter what you say, they will load and drag from the sides and scratch and dent the rails, wheel wells, and bed. They will toss and dump in ways you never would. Virtually every major dent in my various pickups came from a neighbor or relative. After all, "its just a truck." Hate that.

 

[k0ua]

Accidently dropping an empty toolbox and having it land on its edge is a definite possibility. And having it knock a hole in the aluminum bed is a very bad thing. I am not impressed at all with the drop of the concrete blocks into the beds of trucks. That is just stupid, and no owner in their right mind would do that. But how long before you drop something with an edge on it into your bed.. Just a matter of time. Get a horse stall mat like they sell at tractor supply. If you already have a spray in bed liner there should be no problem with the moisture that accumulates under them. And even if you don't with the aluminum bed you probably don't have much of a problem with it anyway. Denting/holing problem solved, and more stability for your cargo anyway.. Win, win.

 

[murphy1244]

Accidently dropping an empty toolbox and having it land on its edge is a definite possibility. And having it knock a hole in the aluminum bed is a very bad thing. I am not impressed at all with the drop of the concrete blocks into the beds of trucks. That is just stupid, and no owner in their right mind would do that. But how long before you drop something with an edge on it into your bed.. Just a matter of time. Get a horse stall mat like they sell at tractor supply. If you already have a spray in bed liner there should be no problem with the moisture that accumulates under them. And even if you don't with the aluminum bed you probably don't have much of a problem with it anyway. Denting/holing problem solved, and more stability for your cargo anyway.. Win, win.

How bout giving the chevy bed a good salt bath? I own a 95 chevy with a very rusted bed and frame. Maybe the whole truck is bad. But it still runs and works.

 

[KennyG]

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.

I think any of the rubber bed mats are about the same. I don't know the brand I have but it's been in the truck for 12 years, often parked outside and no changes. On my next truck I will probably get a plastic liner, but I will probably add a bed mat also. As mentioned it keeps things from sliding around but what hasn't been mentioned is how much easier it is on the knees. It seems like I'm always getting on my knees to load or position things in the bed and a bare bed or a bedliner is painful.

 

[bigdeano]

As a machinist I made many aircraft parts from aluminum. Most were made from 2024 or 7075. Both corrode badly and must be protected by coatings. Aluminum skin is usually 2024 alclad which has a thin coating of pure aluminum.

6061 is very corrosion resistant and strong in the T6 grade and very commonly used for consumer items. I don't know what Ford is using now, but I've seen they're using a special forming process where they heat the aluminum to a high temp so it's easy to form. Possibly it stays in an annealed state when it's finished.

I read that the model T had an aluminum hood.