Aluminum Revolution: Ford introduces a new F-150

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-EXCITE

By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Ford pickups have been doing the country's work for 66 years. They've hauled grain, towed logs and plowed snow. They've cleared debris after tornadoes and pulled floats in the Rose Bowl parade.

They've shouldered those loads with parts forged from steel. Until now.

On Monday, Ford unveils a new F-150 with a body built almost entirely out of aluminum. The lighter material shaves as much as 700 pounds off the 5,000-pound truck, a revolutionary change for a vehicle known for its heft and an industry still heavily reliant on steel. The change is Ford's response to small-business owners' desire for a more fuel-efficient and nimble truck - and stricter government requirements on fuel economy. And it sprang from a challenge by Ford's CEO to move beyond the traditional design for a full-size pickup.

"You're either moving ahead and you're improving and you're making it more valuable and more useful to the customer or you're not," Chief Executive Alan Mulally told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140113/DABA3DJG0.html

[NoOneMan]

1. So is the final weight 5000lbs? or 4300lbs?

I have an 80's model V8 that is 4800 lbs. I'd expect a bit more innovation in over 3 decades.

[Major Nikon]

2. There were already significant weight reductions in the 80's

They started using thinner steel, a lot more plastic parts, and aluminum transmissions. Safety improvements in the 90's and beyond added weight also by beefing up certain parts of vehicles.

[doc03]

3. Why in the hell did they discontinue the Ranger then? They still sell them in other countries

but they want americans to buy a full size truck with a higher profit margin, assholes. I have to buy a Toyota if I want a
reasonably sized pickup.

[NoOneMan]

5. That's what everyone does who wants a pickup

I wonder if maybe they simply couldn't compete against the Toyota for that market share


I see the shiny new F-150s as jokes since the 90's. They are made to look pretty and be big for absolutely no point and no real usage (what's up with all that damn plastic in the bed these days?). If you just want a pretty truck with occasional light work usage (hauling now and then), there is no reason to not grab a pickup. If you want a real farm truck, you can find tried and true--and cheap--low mile 80s truck if you look hard enough (for under 2 grand). I'm not sure why anyone who isn't a contractor (or something similar) would be buying these full-sized these days

[doc03]

7. I have a 2006 Toyota Tacoma, it actually has about the same dimensions of

what they called a full size truck back in the 90s. The American auto industry will never learn, every year they make their vehicles
bigger then the next time there is a economic slow down they will want the taxpayers to bail their ass out when they can't sell their behemoth
vehicles.

[happyslug]

13. To many people the idea size pickup is one with a 4x8 foot bed

So they can lay 4x8 foot plywood on the bed. The Ranger can NOT do that, the Dodge Dakota can, but only with care and not flat on the bed. What people on the farm and in construction wants is that ability and that requires a full size "light duty" trucks (most purchasers then opt for a 3/4 or one ton version, for those have actual truck undercarriages as opposed to a variation of the undercarriage of an automobile given to 1/2 ton pickups).

Thus Framers, Constructions workers and other people who do outdoor work and have to haul things to a work site, prefer full size trucks for the bed size. You can NOT get that bed size with a smaller truck

Now, you use to only be able to get 3/4 and one ton trucks with full size beds, but today you are seeing many with shorter beds (for who knows what reason, if you do NOT need 96 inches of bed length why buy a 3/4 ton truck in the first place?).

AS to "Never learning" the problem today is that the big three have learned, but are stuck with 20-50 years of product line that prohibits them from going smaller quickly AND one of the biggest buyers of vehicles are people like farmers, construction workers and other outdoor workers. They need a truck for their work and will buy one for that reason alone.

These people need full size light duty trucks and an all aluminum one will make it easier on fuel. Mix that with a hybrid system you can have a pick up with a full load getting 30 mpg (Which is good for them, they are noted for getting 10 mpg today in real life with a FULL LOAD).

Side note: The six speed Automatic Transmission that is being pushed in today's large pickup is a variation of the US Army six speed transmission. The army decided in the 1980s that it was easier to develop a six speed automatic transmission rather then train drivers how to drive Standard transmissions. Thus the Army spent a lot of many and the big three are now selling six speed automatics. The Post Office and UPS has also opt for Automatics for the same reason. Standard transmissions are still preferred by people who know what they are doing, but such people are rare today (less then 7% of all vehicles in the US are sold with Standard Transmissions today). NASCAR still uses standard transmissions, but then those same drivers push automatics for that is what the large auto makers want to sell.

[doc03]

14. Not exactly, from my observations a pretty good percentage of pickup

truck owners never haul a damn thing. Oh and I had a Ford Ranger and hauled 4x8
sheets many times. There are two notches in each side of the bed, you can cut a 2x6
and lay it across the bed in those notches and haul up to 800 lbs of plywood. Why would 20 to 50 years of product lines keep them from going smaller, when twenty years ago a full size truck was smaller, the size of the Tacoma today? I was forced to by a smaller truck because my house was built in the 40s with an integral garage and it will not accommodate any of todays full size (american?) trucks in width. I read a column in one of the auto magazines a while back on why the American auto companies dropped their smaller trucks. It said one big reason was the smaller trucks didn't sell. The reason for that was they didn't want to put fuel efficient engines and transmissions in them because it would compete with their full size trucks. The Ford Ranger didn't get the gas mileage that a F 150 does now. They put a V-6 turbo in the f-150 that will get 21 MPG on the highway but they kept an inefficient V-6 in the Ranger. I think they could easily put a turbocharged 4 cyl in the Ranger and get close to 30 MPG, they get well over that in a Fusion on a 2L. But no if there was a smaller truck that you could get 30 MPG with a lot of people would buy them instead of the F-150 that has a huge profit margin. So they just surrendered the small truck market to the Japanese. I certainly will consider buying a Colorado if they make a competitive truck. Ford sells a modernized Ranger in other countries but won't offer them in the US, can't make $5000 per unit on them.

[CANDO]

16. Geez Doc, must people "always" be hauling something to justify owning one?

I own a full size 2011 Ram 1500 with the 390 HP Hemi engine. Yeah, it pretty much blows the doors off most passenger cars. It's a rocket ship on wheels for sure. And you know what? I rarely haul anything but ass(speed). It's a free country, last I checked. I went without a pickup for a couple years some time back, and you never realize how damned handy they are until you don't have one. I was sick and tired of begging and borrowing other's pickups for hauling stuff. Dear dog, now do we have to please the pickup police?

[doc03]

17. I was responding to #13 that basically says everyone needs a full

size pick-up because they have to haul 4x8 sheets. I hardly ever haul anything in mine but maybe some mulch, fishing rods and tow a boat trailer. The point I was trying to make is some of us want a smaller truck that is easier to handle and more fuel efficient and also fits in the garage. But the American auto companies deliberately made their smaller trucks uncompetitive with their large ones because they make a fortune on the full size ones. The American auto industry is going right back into the same rut trying to force larger vehicles on everyone and leaving the smaller market to the foreign companies. One of these days we are going to have another, fuel crisis, war or recession and they will get caught with vehicles they can't sell then be back at the trough for more taxpayer money to bail their sorry ass out. I don't care if you drive a 18 wheeler empty, I don't want to be forced to by one though. A lot of the pick-up owners provide great entertainment. Their is a kid out the road that has a Ram 2500 I think 4x4 with a diesel and big stacks coming out the bed that smokes like a freight train. He never gets it out unless the sun is shining and it doesn't have a scratch in the bed from hauling anything. If that makes him happy I don't care. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and works at his daddy's paving company.

[happyslug]

18. I know about the notches, the Dodge Dakota has the same thing

But when it comes to people who actually USE their pickups (other then to show off), they want that larger bed.

As to smaller trucks (and smaller cars) the smaller the vehicle the more price sensitive is the market. i.e. if the dealer down the street is selling Toyota for $100 cheaper, many small trucks buyers will go. On the other hand, large truck buyers want a Ford, a Chevrolet or a Dodge and will NOT go down the street if a dealer of another make is cheaper. In many ways these type of trucks buyers are who the auto makers are gearing to, for they will pay a premium for what they want and thus higher profit for the car makers.

The Dodge Dakota, the Ford Ranger and even the Toyota pickup tend to be aimed at that price sensitive market, and why Ford pulled out of it in the US Market. Gm kept the S-10 Pickup till it was replaced by the Colorado, but again it is in a tight market with much smaller profit margins then larger pickups.

[One_Life_To_Give]

24. Tow Capacity

When I traded in the old half ton this year I upgraded. There is a huge difference in how 9000lbs tows behind a 3/4 ton vs the old half ton. With the Crew Cab and 6-1/2 ft bed I am already 160+in wheel base. Keeps it a little more compact when I have to fit into a parking lot.

[Union Scribe]

22. Silly comments.

You clearly don't know anything about the situation. There are tons of American small and midsize cars out there. Ford's Focus is the best selling car in the world. For another thing, the trucks you're disparaging sell very very well, and had nothing to do with the necessity loans (not "bailouts" Mitt), which Ford didn't even need largely because of the success of the F Series.

[Ned Flanders]

15. Nice truck, sorry about your penis...

You really have to ask why so many men buy big, macho trucks?

[NoOneMan]

20. Women buy them too

Its just a culture thing.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. Or a Nissan.

Frontier is not bad, and you can get it in a 6-speed manual.

[doc03]

8. I like the Frontier also. GM is bringing their Colorado back next year though.

n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

9. I test drove a Colorado in 2006.

It wasn't horrible, except, no manual transmission option.

Disappointingly, on the outside it was a very modern truck. On the inside, it was generic early 90's GM product. The knobs, the e-brake, etc. All very retro, in a bad way. I hope they've updated it.

[doc03]

10. I test drove one too, it had the 5 cylinder engine and it just didn't

seem adequate to pull my boat in these hills. I drove it a few miles and every time I made a turn there was a loud
clunk on the passenger side. I stopped twice and checked to see where the noise was coming from and couldn't
find anything. The third time I stopped I found the rattle was coming from inside the door. It sounded like someone left
a screwdriver or something in it. Well that was the day I went back to Toyota and bought my Tacoma.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Flux capacitor anyone?

[Paladin]

11. I bet the F-150 TV ads stay just as obnoxious as ever. (nt)

[reddread]

12. they were building aluminum body vans 60 years ago

not too mention REALLY cool Panel Trucks outta steel

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. I hope the aluminum performs better than the aluminum hatch on the back.....

..... Of the expedition.

Next time you are behind one, pay attention to the bubbling paint around the latch hatch handle.

[flvegan]

21. So lighter, better MPG and allows for higher towing and etc? What's the problem?

Shit, lighter truck with a stronger chassis...can I get a Boss150 with the aluminum GT500 engine? 550 horsepower in such a beast would be awesome.

But would be the death of the Raptor. I love the Raptor. But I'd love this more.

Is it the issue of not using steel? Get on the bus kids, I'm looking forward to mass-produced, non-shattering carbon fiber.

[kristopher]

23. I think one of these suzukis would do me fine

I've had my f150 for 15 years now, and it's still doing what I need, but the gas mileage just chaps my ass. I don't it will be an option here when I finally replace it, but if it is I'd go with one of these. They are everywhere in Japan.





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