Indeed it is....I had been thinking about upgrading my daily driver. Last August I went on a short trip to Colorado. I had reserved a compact car with Avis. When I got there they apologized and said that they were flat out of cars....would I be OK with a new F150 for the same price? It was a brand new red one with something like 300 miles on it. I was ruined for good!! I blame Avis for that.

Now....whenever my wife and I go anywhere and I ask....what car do you want to take...she always says..."your truck". I'm glad to oblige.

 

At 800 pounds lighter it should see an improvement in both gas mileage and performance. My 2005 Dodge started rusting through in 2010 even though I was very careful to wash the truck and undercarriage weekly. If the aluminum body holds up better than steel in road salt I might be a future customer...

 

This thread is timely as Bob Lutz talked about this vehicle this morning at a meeting of Chrysler retirees. He said that he really respected Mullally and Ford for taking such a big step. He said that it will either pay off big or be a real problem for them. He went over many of the issues that any good car guy would think of: galvanic corrosion, damage repair, etc. but followed up by saying that he was sure that they will have addressed these issues prior to launch. It was also noted that a magnet test on the current Detroit Auto Show F-150s revealed that they were made of steel.

 

So are you saying that the trucks they rolled on stage were built to look like the 2015's, but these prototypes were made out of steel instead of the advertised aluminum?

 

Yes! When the auto show comes to your town you may want to take a magnet and check it out yourself.

In Ford's defense it is not unusual for Auto Show vehicles to not be built to production intent, particularly if they are behind ropes and can't be touched by the public. Often the future prototypes shown are fiberglass push-mobiles. But most of the time they are not.

Given the complexities of this aluminum technology I wouldn't say this hiccup is a big problem. Lutz says that if they are successful it will force everyone to go to aluminum. Boom or bust! A bold move . . .

 

They should use stainless. They have the technology if that was a word back when.securedownload2.jpg Photo by Larry48fi | Photobucket" target="_blank">http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg131/Larry48fi/securedownload2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo securedownload2http://s247.photobucket.com/user/Larry48fi/media/securedownload2.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg131/Larry48fi/securedownload2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo securedownload2.jpg"/>.jpg"/>

 

well they were reporting that they were having some kind of problem with the aluminum that would delay that actual launch of the new f150. Could be something to do with that.

 

Can aluminum be stamped, formed and stretched a lot more than steel? Maybe fins or other wild body shapes are in the near future.

 

''

JagRed you are correct .People are the problem . In '04 a mile away at the corner a lady mised the stop ahead sign & the stop sign . She hit me on the left front of the Dodge van with her right front of the Volvo station wagon . When I got out & looked at the wagon the whole front end was mangled . Looked like a yard sale !!! She said " I didn't see the sign " I replied with some choice words about that . I drove the van home ! Case closed .

 

Whenever I drive my '54 IH, I REALLY pay attention to driving, stopping, what's approaching in my mirrors, who's turning towards me, etc.... Cuz I adapt my driving to the vehicle driven. Anything with the most bells and whistles only becomes a distraction to what really matters.... getting from point A to point B. If my truck had a back up camera, I'd more likely be talking on a cell phone, gabbing away, while expecting the truck to park it for me.... so on so forth. Do I need to drive 80mph? No, I need to leave the house 10 minutes earlier, so I can drive the speed limit.

Personally, anything beyond anti-lock brakes and air bags, has become "fluff" to me. Now, if the point of aluminum is to lighten up the truck so it gets better gas mileage, then ok. But make the truck smaller, so it really benefits. Then maybe the automakers can actually meet the CAFE standards as intended, instead of making bigger trucks to skirt around the "system". How CAFE Killed Compact Trucks And Station Wagons | The Truth About Cars

Again,just my two cents.

 

In an article in the Detroit News this morning It was reported that Alan Mullally said that they were going to use 4 different types of aluminum alloys, technology that he knew about from his time at Boeing and that had been used by them for the last 30 years.