Chevrolet Pokes Holes - Literally - In Ford F-150's Aluminum Pickup Bed In New TV Spot

 

It'll be interesting to see if Ford answers back with a "shot across the bow" to attempt to dispel this ad or redirect our attention to a GM weakness. Or, will they just answer back with a sales leadership slogan. Hmm, can't wait for this one.

 

Autoweek. I can't copy and paste a link to the article with this tablet I use.

 

here's the article...

Forbes Welcome


My take on this: Chevy has shown that under certain conditions, their bed is more puncture resistant than Ford's. I know the bed on my 2006 Chevy has held up well. However, their demonstration was not real world for the way I use a truck. What is real world is how rust resistant the bed is and what the fuel savings are due to the lighter weight.
I'd never let anyone "dump" a load like that in any truck I own, so none of this matters. And if I'm setting tool boxes on the top of my fender (instead of the tailgate for instance) I'm probably not going to care too much about what my bed looks like.
Nice try Chevy.

 

^^^^^ That article doesn't give the specifics on the number of tests, results and weights.

 

I was able to cut & paste the Autoweek report.


Chevy takes on the best-selling pickup in new marketing campaign

Once again, Chevrolet is turning its guns on the Ford F-150, and this time it means business. Chevy’s aim is the aluminum bed of the F-150, and in a couple tests (of Chevy’s choice) it comes out as the clear winner between the two.

The goal of the tests run is to show the superiority of the Silverado’s roll-formed high-strength steel bed over the stamped aluminum of the F-150. They start out by dropping 825 pounds of landscaping blocks from 5 feet above each bed. This, of course, damages both beds, but leaves the F-150 a little more “holey” than the Silverado. Chevrolet claims to have run the test 12 times and not one of them produced more than dents and scratches to their bed. On the other hand, Ford’s bed received an average of 4.3 punctures per drop. While this experiment certainly tests the strength of the materials, we hope you don’t go around dropping 825 pounds of concrete blocks from height into your truck bed regularly.

Something you might experience on a regular basis is the next comparison test. This time they shoved a 28-pound handheld toolbox off the rails of each truck. With every shove, they made sure a corner of the toolbox hit the bed first so as to provide the sharpest of impacts. The F-150 received a puncture in the bed in all but one of the 14 tests they ran, and the Silverado bed finally relented to a pinhole puncture on the last two of the 14 trials.

Chevy claims this isn’t an attack on Ford and aluminum, but it’s hard to watch the video and believe a word of that claim. Rumors from last year also point to the next Silverado sporting a fair bit of aluminum as well, so we wonder if the marketing team is talking to the engineers. Regardless, the truck wars wage on; let’s wait and see what Ford punches back with.



Read more: Silverado versus F-150 truck bed strength

 

Not sure how Ford is going to spin this one. They already did their bed durability video on the aluminum bed in two separate video's, but the GM video was a punch below the belt for sure.

 

I guess I'm just too lazy to lift my tool box up to load it via the bedrails, I find it much more convenient to open the tailgate, I guess that's too many moving parts for GM drivers!
Seriously, I have never purchased any vehicle based solely on a commercial and any competitor's ad will be biased........can't wait to see how GM spins their aluminum bodied trucks

 

After this video you can bet GM won't be using aluminum on the bed interior. Having said that they never did say they were going entirely over to aluminum but to use lighter materials where they made sense.

 

Looks like this is Fords response....

 

What I do like here is that Ford didn't resort to exploiting another's weakness(es) to show it's strengths.

 

They don't need to

 

You guys do realize that the amount of energy it to to make those holes in the bed was only a measly 35 joules of energy?

Wanna know what else and deliver 35 joules of energy? 3/4" to 1 1/4" hail.

I wouldn't reccomend riding out an hail storm in your pretty aluminum truck....

I can tell by the comments that most haven't been to the local quarry to pick materials with a pickup or use their bed for more than a few grocery bags. Might as well own a SUV with a small trailer.

 

Oh please you must not watch the ford commercials.

Remember the whole bed bolt issue a few years ago?

 

Agreed....