Kschwennsen
Silver Member
I've heard about doors drooping over time on the aluminum bodied trucks. Guessing big 'ol farm boys using the door to climb in!
Fords aluminium body
- Thread starter Rustyiron
- Start date
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front and rears
Yes rotors. But they did pads and calipers as well.
MHarryE
Elite Member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2009
- Messages
- 2,970
- Location
- Northeastern Minnesota
- Tractor
- Kubota M7-171, M5-111, SVL75-2, RTV900XT & GR2120; CaseIH 1680 combine
My 2015 is coming up on 7 years now, Northeastern Minnesota where salt begins in late October and extends into April. No body rust - major advantage over the 2005 it replaced. Backed into side of bed with my RTV and body shop was able to repair without replacement. Crunched tailgate too bad to repair - normal thing here is for farm pickups to have different color tailgate than rest of the truck but mine was too new when it happened so I got a new tailgate. My major "didn't think of that ahead of time" issue has been my magnetic mount amber flashing lights I use when towing large equipment - that was get 400 miles away from home, hook up disc, slap lights on roof and oops! Ratchet strapped through doors, closed and it worked.
Paystar
Elite Member
That's good to hear. That has been my biggest fear, LOL
Honestly, I don't know if the Ford's are any different, but I made a living in aluminum cab class 8 trucks and I've never had a problem with aluminum bodies.
I do though, love the fact that this F150 is not going to have the body rotted off it in all this road salt in the next 5 years like all my past vehicles.
fishdrivel
Gold Member
Oh, ya!Bet that was a nervous ride home.
fishdrivel
Gold Member
What is going to happen when these trucks crash and burn?
Carbon fiber becomes a serious environmental hazard when it burns!
Fire apparatus was notorious for rusting out in the 60's and 70's so one builder started using all aluminum bodies and aerial ladders in the mid 1970s. Basically it changed the entire industry so within a few years no one used steel bodies. So, at least in that industry, aluminum bodies have been used successfully for close to 50 years now.
The early versions did have a problem with corrosion popping up under the paint, but I believe that was mostly due to poor preparation before painting. Where I worked we had a fleet of over 100 vehicles and as best I can recall none of the rigs produced from the early 80's on exhibited the paint popping and the problem of body corrosion disappeared.
They were also quite a bit lighter which made the braking on the big stuff much better. We had on group of five pumpers that were delivered with steel bodies and you basically had one good stop in them before the brakes faded. We had them re-bodied with aluminum bodies after they rusted out and braking was not issue with those rigs from then on.
The early versions did have a problem with corrosion popping up under the paint, but I believe that was mostly due to poor preparation before painting. Where I worked we had a fleet of over 100 vehicles and as best I can recall none of the rigs produced from the early 80's on exhibited the paint popping and the problem of body corrosion disappeared.
They were also quite a bit lighter which made the braking on the big stuff much better. We had on group of five pumpers that were delivered with steel bodies and you basically had one good stop in them before the brakes faded. We had them re-bodied with aluminum bodies after they rusted out and braking was not issue with those rigs from then on.
WM75Guy
Elite Member
The way the salesman explained it to me was the GM body is steel but anything that attached to it with a hinge is aluminum, i.e. doors, hood, and tailgate.
WM75Guy
Elite Member
But the problem with the aluminum bodies was if the truck got hit. Get hit in the left rear, it would flex the compartment body and pop welds in the right front. We saw that especially with the ambulance bodies when they moved away from steel frames. Have a major impact and you had to pull the skin off all 4 sides to check for frame damage.