a week ago i was hit by a semi and flipped onto the roof...it was pretty bad..but i was wearing my seat belt..and walked away.{click here }..what i want to know,....... do the 4-door supercab trucks have issues of the doors opening during a bad crash...like mine....{97F250 lightduty} but it only has 3-doors...the newer trucks 98-on up have 4-doors....any info on this would be helpful.

 

Ford has been taken to court several times concerning occupants who were thrown from their trucks when both doors opened in a roll over, even though they were wearing seat belts. The offset front collision test will also make the door come almost completely open.

Quote from Blue Oval News article:
The F150 rolled over three times where upon the driver's side door opened ejecting both Paul Alaniz and Laura Benavides who were both riding in the back seat on the drivers side. Neither were wearing seat belts. The two other passengers riding on the right side of the truck were not wearing seat belts either; however, survived with only minor scratches.

The plaintiffs' attorneys presented: 1) A Ford Motor Company video crash test which showed the driver's side door opens during a rollover and 2) A Ford memo discussing an F150 side impact test at 20 MPH on the passenger side upon which the driver's door opened.

From another article:
Critics claim the Ford F-150 SuperCab appears to have an abnormally high rate of ejections in rollovers. (The lawsuits against the SuperCab predate Ford’s redesign of its F-Series lineup for the 2004 model year.)

A total of 134 people were fatally ejected from F-Series SuperCabs from 1998 to 2001, according to a Ford internal document introduced at the Benavides trial.

The CrewCab version of the F-Series, which has four conventional doors with front hinges, accounted for 71 fatal ejections during the same period.

Even if an occupant is not ejected, the lack of B-pillars in the SuperCab weakens the overall roof structure, said Houston plaintiff’s attorney Mikal Watts.

“Everyone, including everyone at Ford, knows the roof structure on these trucks simply will not protect people in rollover accidents,”




Just do a "google" on "f150 supercab rollover accidents".

Before I get flamed, I like these trucks, and I am just copying from news articles available to everyone.

 

You were very lucky to walk away from that. Someone up high must have been watching over you.

 

Yes, it is hard to believe you made it out of that ok.

 

Wow......It's great to hear you made it out of that in one piece. But....if you're gonna do something, might as well do it right. If you're gonna break it.......

 

Wouldn't any SuperCab type truck without B pillars have the same roll over issue? Or do the other companies reinforce the roof better?

 

Wow that a bad one glad to hear your ok !!!1

 

Thank God for seat belts. I know, seat belts aren't the definitive safety item, but we see a lot of traumas come though the ER, and those not wearing seatbelts fare much worse on the whole, even in minor accidents.

Those windshields and steering wheels are very unforgiving to the human body. Being thrown from that truck would have been too horrible to contemplate.........................

 

I completely agree about seatbelts. Back in Jan '03 I was in my '02 Neon, and I was hit head-on by a dodge intrepid going close to 50 mph as I was going through a turn..... Both of us walked away. If I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, I probably wouldn't be here right now.

 

I don't know about other companies rollover test, but in offset collision test, the last version of the Dodge supercab was the poorest ever tested by the Insurance Institute. They said most of the supercab 4 door designs were bad, I think Toyota did good, but Dodge was by far the worst as far as structural integrity, and that normal collisions could be very serious, or fatal. This was before the new Dodge or the new Ford came out.

I guess that is why Dodge went to four full doors with a B-pillar, even though their cab is not really a full size crew cab. I have read a lot articles, and looked at a lot of pictures of supercab trucks that have had collisions. With the weak roofs and so-so door latch designs, it is quite scary.

Even with these shortcomings, which with a few more dollars spent could be easily fixed when manufactured, the trucks are still much safer than my 87 with no air bags, plus the roof looks like it would be very weak mine also.

The thing is, all these companies have come up short on roof support because of money savings. There is a lot of talk about regulations to toughen standards. Something needs to be done.

Today's trucks have a swept back A-pillar and windshield, which is designed for looks and lack of drag. This also leads to less load carrying capability in a rollover. With this design the truck will roll on over quicker, with less lateral stress on the cab roof, but if it stops upside down, or rolls very slowly, then the swept design will not hold the weight without more reinforcement than is there now.

One of the main things is, the doors have to stay shut to add strength to the overall roof, and if they don't, then there is little there for support.

Most all companies come up short on this, not just Ford. I do believe that Ford cut the strength of the A-pillar on the Expedition and F150 in the late 90's because it saved a couple dollars per truck, and a pound or two of weight. I can't find the article now, but I will look for it to make sure my facts are right on this.

I would rather these companies leave off a couple of doo-dads and make these vehicles stronger, but until they are forced to, then money will talk.

DISCLAIMER:
These are my observations, and are based on what I have seen and read. I am not, nor have I ever been, involved in scientific test or studies conducted on any roof structure at any time. The previous post is opinion only, and should be taken as such.

I hope I covered myself with that statement. You know how it is these days, you can never be too careful.