I thought when I looked/watched the advertisements for the 2017 superduty trucks they said the doors are now aluminum. Since then, reading different forum threads I have gotten the impression that more of the body than just the doors are now aluminum. Are more of the body than just the doors aluminum than in previous year models?

 

From my understanding, all of the skin on the truck is aluminum minus the fuel door which is plastic.

 

Everything but the frame...give or take.

 

I think almost all of the panels are aluminum

 

milkweed, virtually all of the truck's body is aluminum. The hood, fenders, doors, roof, cab structure and floorpan, pickup bed, etc...all aluminum. It is much easier to identify what is not steel: the firewall, the frame, and a couple of braces are pretty much all that is steel not including the drivetrain.

 

Troverman's description is correct. Steel's for suckers!

 

I had spoken with a local chain that does rust proofing, because I am interested for the steel parts on the underbody and for road noise reduction. They sell a package deal that includes some sort of oil'ed spray they apply to the body, such as the door wells. I mentioned that I thought (at the time) much of the 2017 superduty where they would apply this spray that the parts were aluminum, asked whether that was even necessary/feasible. The guy said that even aluminum can still tarnish... but what does it matter if it tarnishes where it cannot be seen? I don't think aluminum loses integrity if it manages to tarnish... not like iron/steel and rust. Thoughts?

 

Related but not entirely, I spent the past 2.0 hours separating a steel wheel bearing hub assembly from a aluminium steering knuckle. Does not happen every time but when it does these two metals do not like to let go. 2014 Explorer Interceptor.

 

Aluminum can corrode, which is basically white rust. It can perforate when it corrodes. However, aluminum typically only corrodes when it is touching dissimilar metals. The new 150 and Super Duty are quite good in this regard.

livkot, how do you think the Explorers and Tauruses are holding up as police cruisers? They seem to be very popular.

 

This department has one Taurus, it had problems with brakes early in its career. Problem is not wear but deterioration. OEM materials or raw materials rather or sourced from recycled rubbish with too much contamination I believe. Eldest Explorer in fleet is a 2012 I think, 90k miles? I only see normal wear items despite the severe abuse they subject them to.

 

The big difference between steel rust and aluminum rust is that when steel oxidizes, the rust layer is repelled by the base metal which exposes new steel to rust which is repelled which exposes new steel, etc. Think of rust-through warranties which only take effect when the base metal is completely gone. Aluminum oxide binds to the base aluminum layer and prevents new oxidation until that oxidation is removed by something else. Like cleaning, scraping, damage, etc. As Trov said, dissimilar metals contact is a different issue especially when electrical current is involved. Aluminum will corrode more quickly in that case. Ford has carefully engineered all contact points between the body and frame and suspension components to prevent these issues.

 

What of future service work? Would the technicians accidentally undo these contact points while reassembly?

 

It's a new world we live in and very few technicians right now understand the requirements of fastening to aluminum. As an informed consumer, I just assume it's my responsibility to make sure they do their jobs correctly. That's why we're all here, to learn from and contribute knowledge for everyone.

 

I live in a small town, we have 6 Tauruses and 2 Explorers, and 1 F-150...all purchased in 2014. That, and unfortunately 2 Impalas left over from the newest of the previous fleet. The Fords are all naturally aspirated (truck is a 5.0L). So far, it seems the department is pretty happy with the vehicles, especially the fact that they are all AWD...although they definitely like the Explorer better than the Taurus. Thanks for your insight.