Good day all.

I am looking for some information on the product that Ford uses to insulate their pillars/posts on their newer trucks (not sure if this was the right place to post this question, but it seemed like a good start).

There is a TV Commercial that shows a ford truck frame and they expose it to flames and a special foam that they put in the Posts/Pillars expands to fill the voids, and thus reduces vibration and noise inside the cab (I am sure the actual procedure doesn't involve fancy flames, but it looked good on TV).

Anyway, I got to thinking about that foam and what it would be like to have to cut through it. I used to be a firefighter (8 years service before I moved/retired) in a department that covered a busy highway and I've been to my share of calls involving extrication. Through experience we learn how to identify various things and learn little tricks to make our job quicker (seconds do count), such as cutting through the weakest part of a Post vs the heavier re-enforced parts (near its base and connection to the roof, for example).

There-in lies my questions about this post filling foam and finding how how it works, what it is made up of, and whether or not we are going to have a b#tch of time cutting through the stuff one day.
Other quesitons are:
- What happens when it is exposed to heat/flames during a vehicle fire?
- When cut, are the fine particles/dust hazardous to firefighters, paramedics, and patients?
- What is the best way to cut through it?
- Is there a way to identify what makes/models have it?
- Will it compact if I try to cut through it with the cutters, aka, the jaws of life (like trying to cut a spounge with a pair of dull scissors)
- Is it plyable (bendable, shapable, etc) or solid/rigid inside the posts?

If anyone has any information, or knows where else to look/contact (The ford websites I found don't have anything either), it would be greatly appreciated (and I'll pass the information on to other Fire Departments... share the knowledge!).

Feel free to post any information/thoughts here, or e-mail me: j_dixon26@hotmail.com.

(side bar) I went to the local ford dealer and they didn't have anything on hand about it other than what I could figure out from the TV commerical. They said they would ask around, but so far, nothing has come my way.

 

Great questions here what I have expirenced. I am a fire fighter in Canada and have done many extrication on these vehicles. The jaws cut through it like nothing, it just compresses and crumbles apart. You can also use a recipercating saw to cut through the pillars. As for fire it does create a thick black smoke that is full of all sorts of chemicals that are not good for you. Which models they are in is another story. All new models from most of the manufacturers contain it in one part of the vehicle or another.

 

Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure it would be easy to cut. I am still hoping to get something concrete to make up a hand out or someting ....even though I am not with a department I still enjoy setting up training scenarios and whatnot. One of the scenarios I was working on involved a truck with this new foam in the pillar/posts... wanted to have all my ducks in a row before a bunch of people start asking questions about the stuff.

I find that the manufacturers are pretty quick to come up with new ways to make things bigger, lighter, stronger, more compact or whatever, but usually fail to realize that there are people out there who have to cut/pry/push/pull/you name it, to this still to get it off someone to save their lives (my biggest pet peve is airbag deployment canisters hidden inside A and B posts....)