An Aluminum F-150

[geronimotwo]

rusty vehicles in florida?   I'm bettin' that has more to do with northerners moving there than sea salt.

[Boomhauer]

rusty vehicles in florida?   I'm bettin' that has more to do with northerners moving there than sea salt.

I work and live at the beach. We have a fleet of vehicles ranging in age from 1993 to current. None have rust issues, and that fleet includes the maintenance trucks which seldom get washed. They do get beat to hell from the maintenance people being idiots but no rust problems.

[Gewehr98]

Umm, no.  Northern cars rust from the bottom up.  Florida cars rust from the top down.

I was assigned to Patrick AFB for 8 years.  My house was less than 50 yards from the beach.

I had a coating of salt spray on my windshield nearly every morning when the onshore breezes deposited the stuff.

You can tell seaside Florida cars in a New York minute.  The rust begins in the drip channels and works its way down the door pillars. 

You'll have perforation rust in the windshield cowl area, and the door sills where the salt rinses down during rain.  Look where stuff accumulates under the trunk lid, too.

I ended up leaving my Harley slathered in wax when parked in my garage, the salt and humidity would turn the chrome to freckles and the polished aluminum to white powder in short order.

I bought a quart of cosmoline for my drill press and combo mill/lathe. 

The funny thing is, had we lived a mile and a half inland, say in Melbourne or Viera, the problem would've gone away.

[Ben]

I was assigned to Patrick AFB for 8 years.  My house was less than 50 yards from the beach.

That's actually a big difference right there. I parked in a harbor. If you park on a wind exposed beach in a prevailing onshore wind, you're gonna get a whole lot more salt spray. Not to mention depending on the beach component, a mighty fine sand scouring of your paint job thrown in.

[Regolith]

Pretty sure the bed on my dad's 1990 F250 is aluminum. It's definitely non-magnetic (I took a magnet to it after my dad told me it was aluminum; I didn't quite believe it). 

It's held up for 24 years so far. No rust, no corrosion. The interior of the bed is somewhat dented up from use, but not too badly. If the new bodies and beds are built like that one, I don't think that there will be any problems.

Edit: I may be misremembering this. Going to have to check again....

[Firethorn]

Pretty sure the bed on my dad's 1990 F250 is aluminum. It's definitely non-magnetic (I took a magnet to it after my dad told me it was aluminum; I didn't quite believe it). 

It's held up for 24 years so far. No rust, no corrosion. The interior of the bed is somewhat dented up from use, but not too badly. If the new bodies and beds are built like that one, I don't think that there will be any problems.

Edit: I may be misremembering this. Going to have to check again....

On this topic I'll point out that the bed in my Tacoma is actually plastic - I've had lots of people think it was a very nice rhinoliner job, but nope, that's the actual surface.  No worries about rust, etc...  Now, the thing has a honeycomb on the bottom that must be 3" thick, but I've had no problems with it.

[Ben]

Now, the thing has a honeycomb on the bottom that must be 3" thick, but I've had no problems with it.

I think that will, in part, have a lot to do with how consumers will take to the new F-150 if it indeed has an aluminum cargo area. Just how thick (and expensive) are they gonna go on the aluminum? I'm guessing not as thick as the aluminum bodies on military vehicles. :)

That said, when I'm fueling up the F-250 and lean on the outer sidewall, it gives, so they're already not using very thick steel for a good portion of the body, even in the "Super Duty" vehicles.

[Tallpine]

Pickup bed floors used to be wood, so I guess going to plastic for the floor and inner walls wouldn't be too weird ... 

I think the 1971 was the first pickup in our family with a steel floor in the bed.

[Gewehr98]

There's a lot more aluminum being used by Detroit these days.

We had a hell of a hailstorm a couple summers ago.  My neighbor's late-model Buick Park Avenue sustained quite a few dents, especially the hood and trunk.

The hail dents were quite different compared to those on the roof. 

His insurance bought new parts, because they were aluminum.  I wanted the old pieces for projects, but the body shop said no.   

[Tallpine]

There's a lot more aluminum being used by Detroit these days.

We had a hell of a hailstorm a couple summers ago.  My neighbor's late-model Buick Park Avenue sustained quite a few dents, especially the hood and trunk.

The hail dents were quite different compared to those on the roof. 

His insurance bought new parts, because they were aluminum.  I wanted the old pieces for projects, but the body shop said no.   

Since aluminum has to be thicker for the same strength as steel, I would think it might be stiffer and hold up better to hail damage.

Maybe the hail actually crushed/cracked the aluminum parts instead of just denting 

[roo_ster]

Since aluminum has to be thicker for the same strength as steel, I would think it might be stiffer and hold up better to hail damage.

Maybe the hail actually crushed/cracked the aluminum parts instead of just denting 

Aluminum is just plain harder to work with, to include popping out dents.

[Gewehr98]

My guess is that it didn't rebound or spring as well as the steel roof, because the paint chipped considerably more on the aluminum hood.  

[dm1333]

The article states that the bed won't be aluminum.

" It will also have a steel cargo box into which owners will load lumber and bricks and other cargo"

[Ben]

The article states that the bed won't be aluminum.

" It will also have a steel cargo box into which owners will load lumber and bricks and other cargo"

What? You expect me to read my own link?  

[Tallpine]

The beds on pickups are crap anyway.

If you really want to haul anything, you need an aftermarket flatbed or utility bed.

[MechAg94]

The beds on pickups are crap anyway.

If you really want to haul anything, you need an aftermarket flatbed or utility bed.

Well, yeah.  They don't call it a half ton for nothing.  Not really made for industrial transport.

[Jamisjockey]

The beds on pickups are crap anyway.

If you really want to haul anything, you need an aftermarket flatbed or utility bed.

Lulz

[AJ Dual]

If you buy an aluminum F150, you'll HAVE to name it "Falcon".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1d3QWsyk0#t=0m39s

[Firethorn]

Pickup bed floors used to be wood, so I guess going to plastic for the floor and inner walls wouldn't be too weird ... 

Thinking about it, I think a steel floor actually has a lot against it.  For example, if you're actually using it for hauling it's highly likely that it'll get scratched, and once the paint is scratched off you have corrosion starting.  So you're looking at an expensive lining system that is more capable of taking scratching and such, and even that adds weight. 

With wood, any imperfections(within reason) can be sanded out, and if it's like many of the wood bottomed trailers I've worked with in the past, even swapping the wood wouldn't be a difficult task.  Plus, depending details it can actually be stronger for the weight.  So it's more failure tolerant...

Go to a composite bed like the tacoma, from what I'm seeing it can be much stronger by weight than steel, though it take up more volume.  Failure modes are a bit different, of course, but proper design can mitigate that.

[Tallpine]

Lulz

Not sure what's so funny 

Most of the ranchers up here put flat beds on their pickups.

[zahc]

All those millions of aluminum semi truck dump trailers have aluminum "beds". Many have liners but many dont.

[Tallpine]

All those millions of aluminum semi truck dump trailers have aluminum "beds". Many have liners but many dont.

I imagine that those are made just a bit stronger than a standard steel pickup bed 

[Ben]

I imagine that those are made just a bit stronger than a standard steel pickup bed 

Yup. The discussion re: the cargo area is not really aluminum per se, but the thickness vs strength and durability of whatever material goes back there. Especially for lightweight pickups vs dump trucks, tactical vehicles, etc.

[Northwoods]

A similarly performing aluminum component will be roughly 1/3 lighter than its steel counterpart.  Aluminum is roughly one-third the volumetric weight of steel, but it takes twice as much to mimic the structural strength/characteristics of steel.  Structural engineering makes a big difference, too, and modern engineering systems can easily maximize characteristics to take advantage of metallurgy.

Brad

Umm, sorta.

Al has 1/3 of the stiffness (Youngs Modulus) of most steels, and it's about 1/3 the density.  But, there are some Al alloys that have a higher ultimate strength than some steel alloys.  Total weight savings depends on which alloys are being considered and how well the structure is optimized.

Heavy duty tractors use some Al.  Al for frame rails is problimatic.  It does get used a lot for floor panels, trim panels, and such.  A lot of hoods, doors, fairings, etc are made from SMC (a type of fiber reinforced plastic) and Metton.

Biggest reason Al isn't used more is cost.  Most of the time steel is cheaper, especially with all the cheap Chinese steel out there.  Other factors are the steel is more repairable, and most steels have better fatigue resistance.

Al can be done, but there's a reason that it, along with carbon fiber is only found in large quantities on high end cars.  Be interesting to see how a lower end vehicle like an F-150 holds up, and how Al will impact sales and profit margins.

[Tallpine]

Heavy duty tractors use some Al.  Al for frame rails is problimatic.

I don't know how common, but I knew of an IH cabover with Al frame.  It was made in the 1970s or maybe 1960s.