Aluminum body on F150
I'm skeptical of new things. Engineers and marketing experts sometimes make mistakes. I suppose the Ford 6.0 diesel being such a problem makes me this way. It chased me away from Ford trucks when ...
Forum Discussion
First...I'm not a fan of ALU for pickup truck beds. Have been around
ALU automotive body parts and whole bodies for decades. I've designed
ALU industrial panels because the customer spec'd it out.
Many of my partnerships had sheetmetal shops, welding shops and paint shops
My guys said they could weld/paint ALU, but they couldn't and were
'learning' on the job. Told the shop foreman to call the union for a
temp 'certified' ALU welder
He told me our TIG was not good enough and authorized the purchase of
a MILLER and high freq stabilizer. Both variable and boy are they
expensive. Cannonade's (bicycle) proprietary TIG and wire feed system
is wonderful, but too much manual labor (hands on...robotics can't
do this well enough)
This is for 16GA and thicker...can't imagine how they do it for the
automotive gauge...guessing in the 24-22 gauge range or even less
Ditto the paint guys...a VERY expensive learning process when the
customer's QC guy told us the paint hadn't adhered correctly
ALU 'can' be made to work and current success story is Audi. But they
have proprietary 'lugs' between major structural panels that they both
weld to and glue (epoxy)
Talk to your buddies who own boats...big boats. Ask them about catalytic
or galvanic issues. Worst for them if they are ocean not fresh water
guys
All it will take is for someone adding a stereo, alarm, or any after
market doodad who might drill into the body for a 'ground'...using
the wrong type of fastener...leaving steel metal drill shavings around, etc
I live in Calif and folks back east or anyplace that has snow and
the obligatory salt or whatever chem to melt snow always say how
could any of my vehicles NOT be rusted down there???
All of my vehicles are steel...
Folks here on this forum from the snow belts...inevitable talk about
undercoating (AKA corrosion protection...AKA galvanic action) and
the 'best' is Ziebart...only know of that from buddies from the east
coast.
Am sure Ford's engineers have education and training in galvanic action.
Hope they remember those courses...
Am not up on laser welding, so another thing to bone up on when time
permits. Know enough about laser cutting, but to weld...the modulation
must be very, very good...wonder if they are as good as our controllers
back in the 60's through 80's???
Aluminumleader.com: Aluminium in the automotive industry
Am amazed that Mazda has a body made up of both steel and ALU...they
they welded those panels together...but wheels have had ALU spiders
welded to steel rims a long time.
The following is only a partial list of manufacturers who use aluminum body panels
Automobile Bodies: Can Aluminum Be an Economical Alternative to Steel?
Best I've found to date on this topic...but still not swayed to think
or change my opinion for ALU pickup beds...they should be steel...IMHO
ALU automotive body parts and whole bodies for decades. I've designed
ALU industrial panels because the customer spec'd it out.
Many of my partnerships had sheetmetal shops, welding shops and paint shops
My guys said they could weld/paint ALU, but they couldn't and were
'learning' on the job. Told the shop foreman to call the union for a
temp 'certified' ALU welder
He told me our TIG was not good enough and authorized the purchase of
a MILLER and high freq stabilizer. Both variable and boy are they
expensive. Cannonade's (bicycle) proprietary TIG and wire feed system
is wonderful, but too much manual labor (hands on...robotics can't
do this well enough)
This is for 16GA and thicker...can't imagine how they do it for the
automotive gauge...guessing in the 24-22 gauge range or even less
Ditto the paint guys...a VERY expensive learning process when the
customer's QC guy told us the paint hadn't adhered correctly
ALU 'can' be made to work and current success story is Audi. But they
have proprietary 'lugs' between major structural panels that they both
weld to and glue (epoxy)
Talk to your buddies who own boats...big boats. Ask them about catalytic
or galvanic issues. Worst for them if they are ocean not fresh water
guys
All it will take is for someone adding a stereo, alarm, or any after
market doodad who might drill into the body for a 'ground'...using
the wrong type of fastener...leaving steel metal drill shavings around, etc
I live in Calif and folks back east or anyplace that has snow and
the obligatory salt or whatever chem to melt snow always say how
could any of my vehicles NOT be rusted down there???
All of my vehicles are steel...
Folks here on this forum from the snow belts...inevitable talk about
undercoating (AKA corrosion protection...AKA galvanic action) and
the 'best' is Ziebart...only know of that from buddies from the east
coast.
Am sure Ford's engineers have education and training in galvanic action.
Hope they remember those courses...
Am not up on laser welding, so another thing to bone up on when time
permits. Know enough about laser cutting, but to weld...the modulation
must be very, very good...wonder if they are as good as our controllers
back in the 60's through 80's???
Aluminumleader.com: Aluminium in the automotive industry
Am amazed that Mazda has a body made up of both steel and ALU...they
they welded those panels together...but wheels have had ALU spiders
welded to steel rims a long time.
The following is only a partial list of manufacturers who use aluminum body panels
Automobile Bodies: Can Aluminum Be an Economical Alternative to Steel?
Best I've found to date on this topic...but still not swayed to think
or change my opinion for ALU pickup beds...they should be steel...IMHO
