GM is going aluminum

spoon059 wrote:
Kinda off topic, but still kinda relevant... Isn't there another technology that would work in place of aluminum for body panels? I know at one point that someone (maybe the Toyota Tacoma?) was using composite material for truck beds. I can't believe that in 2014 we don't have more technology that is suitable for truck body panels that is lightweight, inexpensive and durable enough to survive a parking lot ding...

There are pluses and minuses to material selection in certain areas. For example, in reading some engineering rags, Ford selected aluminum because they could light-weight the truck, but at the same time increase panel thickness and rigidity to help prevent dents. I had the opportunity to look at a brand new 2015 Ford. The panels indeed "Felt" thicker as I knocked on the tailgate (part of the truck that was closest to the velvet rope LOL). So I'm sure that Ford is speaking truthfully when they say the new truck will be more "Dent Resistant".

The problem with polymers/composites is their rate of expansion. There used to be a car company called Saturn. When you looked at their traditional cars (before they went to all steel in their last days), you could see expansion joints that are tight in the summer, but large gaps in the winter. Then for the Fiber reinforced polymers (Like Carbon Fiber or Fiberglass), they don't lend themselves to large scale mass production. It's far easier to stamp out metal forms than to have to mold each piece one by one. They are getting closer to making Carbon Fiber and the like more mass-manufacturing compatible, but we're still a ways away. Maybe in 10 years we'll see our first mass-produced CRP cars (I'm talking units over 100,000 per year). And yes, the Tacoma still uses a polymer bed and I believe the Honda Ridgeline uses one as well. I also seem to recall that the Explorer Sport Trac did the same. I thought that was an excellent idea.