frame twisting
 

There is a video put out by GM testing the Superduty & 1 ton & 3/4 ton Chevy. It shows driving on uneven stand the frame twisting so bad on the Fod that it damages body, compared to no twisting on the GM products. GM contributes this to their fully boxed hydro-formed frame that they say Ford doesn't have.
Is this true, as I don't see any videos or articles disagreeing with this study?

Yup, here's the one you're talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuqESiO_MFM

There really isn't anything to refute here, just like every other marketing company does when they are trying to promote a product they exploit any strength they have over their competitors. In this case their frame is stiffer so they take that to the extreme and put weight in the bed and see how far they could twist it.

I've taken my F350 across ditches before without bending anything, and I think that you'll have a very hard time replicating that in any real world scenario.

:-X22

I wonder if the F-150 videos Ford did a few years back, showing the flex of the Toyota vs. F-150 gave GM the idea. Somehow when I had my dually I never managed to wrinkle my tailgate when off road in the sticks.

Lots of arguments regarding rigid vs. flex with respect to engineering.

If GM thinks rigid is the answer then why did it take them so long to change their design; just about as bad as the Dodge add I heard on TV this morning about not having to stop work to fill it with DEF like the Ford and GM. All marketing bull........

Bob

I came from that camp...the trucks are stiff. Great. When I was shopping for a new GM 3/4 ton Duramax, I brought my trailer and test drove 2 different Duramax configurations. I then hooked up to my Ford and found the ability to pull the trailer in the areas that I tow in much better. I pull a 6000 pound parachute (enclosed trailer full of ATVs and gear) into muddy, bumpy terrible sites all the time. The Ford>GM equivalent in my testing. I don't care about the rest of the hype. Ford out performed the other guys in my real world testing.

Can't believe Dodge is still supporting their non-DEF stance.
You have to stop and sleep eventually, add the fluid and get on with your life.
There isn't any stopping.

Of course we all know that but it gets me fired up anyways...lol.

Yeah, at the auto show here a few weeks back the guy at the RAM truck display was going on and on about how messy and complicated exhaust fluid is, how much of a hassle it is, supposedly that you can't find it sold anywhere, and how it freezes when it gets cold. Then I said why do the RAM 5500 chassis cabs use it? Couldn't get a good response.

2012 Ram Chassis Cab Diesel Exhaust Fluid | Clean Deisel | Ram Trucks

(Oh, it looks like they can't spell Diesel correctly either.)

hmm.. yes the SD's tailgate buckled..i'm sure they found a way to fake that.. but notice how ALL FOUR of it's wheels are on the ground firmly.. unlike the GM with one wheel hanging in the air..after driving a single axle tractor trailer, I can tell you that having some frame flex is a good thing.. the frame did not flex on the single axle tractor, so if you got one drive wheel off the ground you were pretty much stuck..

I do not think that this was faked. You really can't compare a class 8 road tractor to a dually pickup truck, they are totally separate things. The tailgate denting is plausable because when latched the tailgate acts as a structural member of the box. If the box is being torqued by the frame something is eventually going to give a little, and that appears to have been the tailgate.

No big deal though, if someone is planning on driving over ramps in that configuration with a ton of stuff in the bed I would recommend the Chevy. The rest of us love our Fords! :-X22

one thing that really bothers me about our Ford's is how THIN the sheetmetal is..i dented the floor of my bed when I jumped into it...how the heck could I haul something heavy in that bed, like an engine or something?.. I guess i'll use my 88 Ranger for anything that will beat the bed up..I had an old 460 tip over in the bed of my Ranger and it made a small dent in the floor..with the new truck, the engine probably would've gone through the floor and fell out on the road.

The tailgate in the test probably dented because it's not reinforced as well as the GM, or they shot it with a fast moving rubber bullet.. who knows..I still wouldn't buy a GM.

The GM frame may be stiffer then the SD's, but the GM front end is nothing to write home about.

*Wasn't anything to write home about. 2011 saw a complete redesign for the GM front ends; time will tell if they are worth anything or not. :-X22

I talked to a guy at the campground with a brand new ram 3500 big horn edition.

He went on and on about how he got it because it did not need that dang urea.

It's extra money.....
Can't get it everywhere yet......
Freezes.....
Ridiculous......

Shakes head and says "my 7.3 was the best and last ford I will ever buy"

I didn't even try. I understand a little stress over freezing problems if you are in that kind of climate but everything else is just cliche type stuff older know it all types can hold on to and complain about around the campfire.

Truthfully, the cost and effort of urea is negated by having an engine that is allowed to run better because of it.

Well I am new to the forum and have to admit that I found the video a little disconcerting, especially since this is my first Ford truck. I had a Tundra which I liked, but sold it when we decided to plunge into the RV world and get a cabover camper. I don't know if I could ever go back to a non-diesel truck again. I'm convinced I could pull stumps with this thing if I needed to. Over 2 tons of payload on this truck, cruise control on, and it only downshifts out of 6th on the steeper hills. The 6.7 is a torque monster.

Agreed.....no refuting what was demonstrated in the video. I confess I do not know nearly as much as most of the rest of you about truck frames and how much flex is desirable, and if the Ford's tailgate buckling and jamming is even relevant for the real world driver. Has anyone had this happen to them? If it has in real world driving, I personally have not hear about it.

As far as DEF.....big deal. It's not like you have to top it up at every fill-up. And as far as it freezing? I can tell you that my truck, being "Interior Alaska Tested," I have had no such issues. Unfortunately, my truck won't fit in my garage, and if my DEF hasn't frozen during a Fairbanks winter (30 to 50 below), I think that puts that issue to rest.

So far, really liking my F350 Lariat.

Welcome dahardy!

For 99% of SD owners who take their truck off-road, I think the tailgate issue is a non-issue.
GM has put themselves in the same box as Dodge's DEF fuss.
I've put my suspension to good use one or two times out in the woods and my tailgate is fine.
Epic recorded a video awhile back playing around in the desert and last time I saw pictures of his truck, his tailgate was also fine.

Just like it's possible to run out of DEF, driving in what I call the "GM configuration" it's possible to bend the tailgate.
Like the rest of us, I am keeping my Ford.

For DEF, you have the ideal test with those temps.
The DEF system is simply not used if the fluid is frozen so you shouldn't ever notice, just as you have reported.

One day you're bored, throw some pictures of that F350 in a new post.
We like pictures around here!

when i saw the video i figured that engineers carefully studied and calculated the load to be applied to cause a failiure. not hard to do. besides if a super duty has some allowable flex, its by design. good example is aircraft wings which are designed to flew to compensate for turbulence. those with rigid wings are not as comfortable to passengers and experience greater transfer of vibration and stress.