Ford Aluminum Body

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Groover wrote:
I have a 40 year old aluminum canoe in my barn right now with no visible corrosion, Yes, aluminum is more likely to burn

Has to be a Grumman? I have a 1978 17' that's been outside it's whole life and other than light surface oxidation that cleans right up if I was not lazy, its perfect. Grumman knew what they were doing.

How do I get aluminum to light? I could save lots of firewood by burning my beer cans.

Lund aluminum fishing boats seem to hold up extremely well but that's fresh water.

I just wonder how the aluminum body is holding up in the extreme salt belt. Anyone that has an aluminum snowmobile trailer can tell you that it is not corrosion proof.

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
I love mine. no issues. bed liner sprayed in. I actually use it as a truck. Love that chevy attacked ford so hard when the current gen came in 2015 and the new Silverado is a knock off f150. Blue oval all the way.

There it is.......ROFLMA.......

Knew it was just a matter of time lol.

Ford and Chevy have been attacking each other in the marketing dept for what? 50 years? Owning both currently, I can assure you a new Silverado is not even close to a knock off F150, that's an hilarious claim and made my morning. These threads that turn into brand wars are the most entertaining reading you'll ever find on a board.

You need to take a closer look at the marketing. GM is notorious for highlighting a competitiors feature and claiming it is not needed. The others tend to highlight what they have the others don’t or a better version. This is in the past decade or so not the like a rock type campaigns where they just talk up their own brand.

wilber1 wrote:
Pure aluminum is quite corrosion resistant but alloys aren't. Alloy manufacturers often put a thin layer of pure aluminum on top of the alloy for corrosion resistance, called Alclad. Even so, float planes in salt water are a continuous battle against corrosion. Still, more manufacturers will be using more aluminum. Land Rover has been using it for bodies since the forties, believe it or not because there was a steel shortage in post war Britain and they have been using aluminum ever since.

Do you really think they haven't thought of this? The F150 is thier flagship model that brings in the bulk of company profits. They aren't going to risk having to replace several million truck beds if they all fail in 5yrs. Aluminum is not a new material.

Also, "pure" aluminum is virtually unknown for most uses. Just about any time you hear aluminum it's an alloy. Corrosion resistance is one of the key advantages of the switch, right after weight savings.

hone eagle wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:

Groover wrote:
...Yes, aluminum is more likely to burn but anybody in the truck at that point probably wasn't going to survive anyway.

What??? Aluminum is not combustible, it doesn't burn.

google space shuttle solid rocket fuel.

While technically aluminum is combustible, when in the form of an F150 body it's pretty safe to say it is not going to burn (in the common ordinary use of the term burn).

My 2015 aluminum ford has served me as well as my 2001 and current 2004 Silverado. Heck the sheet metal on both of the silverados is so thin that leaning against them the beds sides flex and bow. First trip with the '01 as I unhooked the FW I leaned into the bed and caved in the whole area above the wheel. Was able to slide the awning rod inside the bed stake pocket and it popped right out. 2004 has waves all down the bed sides from people leaning up against the truck. Being black paint doesn't help.

As for aluminum being combustible I don't know but can confirm that an aluminum can in a camp fire will melt and disappear.

IdaD wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Even if it dents easier, at least it won't rust away.

Yeah, if you use the bed really hard that's not great but put a bed liner or a sheet of 1/2" plywood in the bottom and throwing cement blocks in the back is not an issue.

Dents don't really bother me. The steel bed in my Ram has some and it seems to dent pretty easily. But who cares? It's a truck bed.

Holes would bother me. That seems to be the bigger problem with the aluminum bed and body, whether it's from dropping something in the bed or tearing off your antenna.

If you are punching holes, a bed liner or piece of plywood takes care of it but in snowy areas where they use salt, virtually every steel body truck 10yrs old has rust problems that leave holes. Sold my last truck that ran great because the body was rusting away.

Someday they will probably be made out of plastic by a giant injection molding machine. 2000# truck with a turbocharged Briggs & Stratton.

nickthehunter wrote:

Groover wrote:
...Yes, aluminum is more likely to burn but anybody in the truck at that point probably wasn't going to survive anyway.

What??? Aluminum is not combustible, it doesn't burn.

google space shuttle solid rocket fuel.

Groover wrote:
...Yes, aluminum is more likely to burn but anybody in the truck at that point probably wasn't going to survive anyway.

What??? Aluminum is not combustible, it doesn't burn.