Aluminum body damage video

I thought I saw recently GM was going to carbon fiber, for the beds anyways. The article was talking about when they dropped bricks into the bed they had to chain them together because they were bouncing out and almost hitting the observers.

Bill

"Sheetmetal" includes any kind of metal...aluminum too... :S


Military grade is similar in misconception...6061T is used by the military and can be marketed when used in non-military applications as "military grade" aluminum...pure marketing to those not in the know (not educated on the matter)

As said in the initial days of Fords announcement...aluminum is a GREAT material in the proper application, but...IMHO...not for a pickups bed

Why Ford made (according to this video) made the bed thicker than steel 'sheetmetal'... :R

Tensile strength and hardness/toughness for this application is not up to that task

Anyone have a aluminum shovel used for dirt/gravel/etc...other than one made for snow/horse poop/etc ?

Or a chisel, center punch, hacksaw blade, pocket knife blade, etc ? There is a reason for that...

Carbon fiber is nothing more than fiberglass (think window glass spun into fine fibers), but with a higher tensile strength fiber. The binder resins are better than the stuff in fiberglass, but still a resin Bill thanks for bringing that into this discussion...and wonder if folks believe every word... :B

Ditto any of the other materials that are *WONDERFUL* for another application, but IMHO, not a good idea for a working pickup bed

Maybe we should go back to wood PU bed floors!

Carbon fibre is rayon cooked in a de oxygenated oven (from memory) not fibreglas which is pulled /spun glass ,it can either be E glass -think glass fibre insulation or S glass (structural) which has the properties of carbon but heavier .

Sounds and looks like it did a fine job and I think it's a good application for it.

The new Fords have the best crash performance in the industry and having thicker aluminum panels is much better than very very thin steal panels that have been the trend the last few decades in order to reduce weight.

Reality is they usually replace whole panels if there is any significant damage (steel or aluminum), so not a big deal from a repair point of view.

If someone dumps a palette of bricks from 5' up into my steel truck bed, I'm going to be ticked off. 99% will never see that kind of use. Most construction guys if they use the truck bed hard will put a bed liner/mat or a piece of plywood to take the brunt of the hard abuse.

On the other hand, try to find a 8yr old truck in the midwest where the wheel wells aren't rusted out. Aluminum will eliminate this issue.

PS: Fiberglass in common usage reference GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic). Carbon Fiber is a specialty product used to replace the glass fibers for more strength and in common usage is often still refereed to as Fiberglass. Honestly, it's surprising they don't use more GRP. Love em or hate em, look at the Pontiac Fiero or the Corvette. 30-40yrs old and the bodies still are perfect if they haven't gotten into a crash.

rhagfo wrote:
Maybe we should go back to wood PU bed floors!

I threw a sheet of osb in the back of my truck when I got it. I like the wood as much aa a spray in liner

Aluminum good or not, I wouldn’t want that truck back.

Anyone recall that GM DID offer a composite box option several years back. At least I think it was composite. Want to say it was a 1 year offering or 2.