While the debate over aluminum and steel will likely continue to rage on for years, Ford has begun to notice the pros associated with the material in a number of ways. Even General Motors is on track to use aluminum extensively in its next generation of pickups and SUVs.
The thought of aluminum not being able to protect properly in a collision seems to be overthrown with the latest findings by the IIHS. The Ford F-150 edged out the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra for the “Top Safety Pick” title, and is the only pickup truck to earn the honor, according to Ford Authority.
“From the moment our team set out to design and build the new F-150, we knew it had to be best-in-class,” said Ford Chief Technical Officer Raj Nair. “This Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick is another example of Ford’s commitment to building the toughest, smartest, most capable and safest F-150 ever.”
Chevrolet and GMC will continue to maximize safety, technology and fuel efficiency with its current genration of pickups before a new generation arrives towards the end of the decade. In the meantime, Ford has something going when it comes to safety.
Comments
Excellent job Ford! I gotta admit, I didn’t expect the aluminum body to do much for the F-150 in terms of safety. I’m glad to see Ford proving me wrong! Awesome!!
Your move GM!!
The real difference is in repairability. Aluminum alloys can be very stiff, but when they break, they generally must be replaced, especially in structural members. Honestly, though, I don’t know how many accidents occur where the frame needs repairs and the truck is not totaled.
Aluminum body had very little to nothing to do with crash rating Ford received.
It was actually an extra metal support beams in front and behind the front wheel wells that were installed on 2016 model year extended cab F150s that let the truck pass the small-overlap front crash.
Let me remind you, 2015 extended cab F150 failed miserably the same test. It was than discovered that Ford didn’t value their extended and regular cab F150 customers as much as crew cab customers since they didn’t take the same safety counter measures for all cab configurations.
Here is a video of ’15 F150 crash test. It folded like a lawn chair.
Heads up the double cab GMs get a acceptable safety rating while the crew cab GMs get a Marginal like the Ford did in the 2015 crew cab.
Just a note, the 2015 F150 supercab didn’t fail miserably, it just got acceptable where the Supercrew got good.
The Ram is an example of fail based on the 2016 test.
The aluminum on Ford’s truck is thicker mil spec than the steel (many refer to it as tinfoil now) on Chevrolet’s truck. Because of CAFE regulations, all trucks including the previous 09-15 F-150 had to resort to extremely thin and rather flimsy steel. The only exception I’m aware of is Nissan. They still have fairly thick steel bodies like the old American trucks once had. Their trucks sell in such small numbers however that it doesn’t affect their CAFE numbers like the Big 3.
I’ll add, aluminum can be welded. The ‘high strength’ steel used for the other trucks cannot be welded. For instance, the gmt-900 beds have a bad rust problem over the rear wheels now up north. Dealers have to replace the entire bed. GM was actually going to do an all aluminum truck body before the BK. It’s been in the works for years.
Well it is not true you can’t weld Boron Steel. You can Mig weld it and that is how they hold it on the truck.
Boron is cheaper than aluminum and lighter than normal steel. Now that is all good but it does have some issues.
It is heat sensitive and can become fragile if heated too much.
It can not be galvenized so special treatments need to be applied to where you do weld it.
It is damn tough. It is hard and not easy to bend but that also means it is difficult to straighten out or to drill out spot welds.
You also need to use care as Reciprocating Saws will not cut it.
Now you can work with it and you need to learn some other skills to do so. You do not need a separate set of tools to work on it like Aluminum though.
Now Aluminumis more expensive and is lighter. But you do need to use a separate set of tools to work with it. The aluminum also is not easy to fix a dent in as it has no memory. Often this leads to panel replacement.
Aluminum may not rust but it can corrode and do it pretty badly at times. My buddies Lincoln SUV has the paint flaking off as the Aluminum hatch is corroding and there is no fixing it at this point. It will need full on replacement at a very high cost.
GM has gone to a hybrid system on the Omega where they have perfected welding Aluminum and Boron steel. It is tricky but makes of a much stronger platform and lighter. That is why the CT6 is about the same weight as the CTS.
In the end both materials have strong points and weak points. The crash testing is more about engineering than material.
At this point the Ford should be the best as it is the newest. The Dodge should be the worst since it is the oldest, nothing new there.
GM as like the others are working on new things. GM has invested heavily in molded Carbon Fiber and it should cut the cost as it is much faster to make and less labor. Also they are working on Micro Metals that are as light as aluminum and as strong as regular steel and as cheap and normal steel. I think this is where they will go with many items.
As for replacing beds it is more to do with labor cost. Be it Aluminum or Boron steel the labor cost are higher. For all the time they would put in at $100 plus an hour you can just replace the bed much easier.
Note too these test are often the offset and they are right on the edge of the vehicle. Not many vehicles fair well in these. Even the Ford here took major damage but was just a little better due to the newer engineered cab.
I would recommend to read up on the topic here
http://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/working-with-boron-steel/
Very informative. I would also read up on the aluminum as the marketing for both is pretty aggressive and so many people have no clue about them since they are new to the market.
I’m glad they made the change for all models, I’m curious how Ram and GM truck would have done with all there cab styles.
Nice to see Ford to step up and make the necessary changes to improve the safety performance of their truck. They are setting the bar for others to follow.
Ford didn’t step up. Ford was forced to make changes. Up until last year IIHS only tested the most popular cab configuration of each model. That being the crew cab model since that’s what each manufacturer sells the most. Ford thought they’re going to sneak one past everybody and save a buck and skip some very important safety hardware on extended and regular cabs but IIHS decided to test the extended cab and that’s how Ford got caught with their pants down. Question was raised how come the extended cab fared so much worse in front over-lap crush test comparing to crew cab model. Only then Ford came clean.
Now the others have to fix the difference in there models including GM.