Impact of Lighter, Alum. F150 on Towing

Aluminum will corrode just as fast as steel in any place the states use Salt or that liquid crap. We owned a Peterbilt with Aluminum cab and hood. and an aluminum trailer and corrosion running between Baltimore and Seattle was problematic.

It wouldn't surprise me if payload numbers stay the same as we have now and the trucks GVWR simply goes down. I have heard that the 7 lug axle is gone and the HD payload package will be on the same rear axle as the other F150's. I am not sure of that's correct or not.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

I hope the reduced weight will save fuel. Drivers of the Ram Ecodiesel are claiming every bit as good fuel economy as drivers of the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same powertrain. I am sure there is probably 500 lbs more weight with the Ram. I know when I carry my Quad and some gear in my Ford F150 Ecoboost it adds 700 lbs weight. Yet my fuel economy is no different than when I run with an empty truck.

With a lighter body is Ford going with lighter springs, shocks, axels, etc to reduce the weight even more? Or are lighter components part of the 700# weight savings. As to the corrosion question, Semi tractors have had aluminum cabs and other components for many years and even with a million miles still look good. I am sure Ford has learned from the corrosion problems in the past and hopefully will use better paint to solve the problem. They have a lot riding on these new pickups.

Bamaman1 wrote:
Ford is betting the company's livelihood on the new F150, and they're willing to sacrifice (crunch and recycle) up to 20,000 test bodies while they're fine tuning their production lines.

Not only is Ford designing and engineering a truck, they're building the next generation presses, dies and machinery for the car factory of the future. This truck (and the paint on it) is going to be a turning point in the history of modern manufacturing. Have you ever seen the quality of the paint on an aluminum Jaguar sedan or A8 Audi--superlative.

With future EPA directives, every auto body shop is going to have to retrain and retool to do aluminum body repairs. Every manufacturer will be building aluminum bodies in the future.

The present F150 will do 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds--faster than a 65 GTO. Imagine how a new truck 700 lbs. lighter will perform? They're coming out with a mini-Ecoboost engine for high gas mileage @ 325 horsepower--plenty enough power for 90% of owners. It'll be the highest technology motor every put into a mass produced truck of any brand.

I'd put my order in for a 2015 F150 if I was in the market. If I was towing 9K or more, the order would be for a SuperDuty Ford diesel.

So what car lot are you a salesman on?

Ford is betting the company's livelihood on the new F150, and they're willing to sacrifice (crunch and recycle) up to 20,000 test bodies while they're fine tuning their production lines.

Not only is Ford designing and engineering a truck, they're building the next generation presses, dies and machinery for the car factory of the future. This truck (and the paint on it) is going to be a turning point in the history of modern manufacturing. Have you ever seen the quality of the paint on an aluminum Jaguar sedan or A8 Audi--superlative.

With future EPA directives, every auto body shop is going to have to retrain and retool to do aluminum body repairs. Every manufacturer will be building aluminum bodies in the future.

The present F150 will do 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds--faster than a 65 GTO. Imagine how a new truck 700 lbs. lighter will perform? They're coming out with a mini-Ecoboost engine for high gas mileage @ 325 horsepower--plenty enough power for 90% of owners. It'll be the highest technology motor every put into a mass produced truck of any brand.

I'd put my order in for a 2015 F150 if I was in the market. If I was towing 9K or more, the order would be for a SuperDuty Ford diesel.

Reduced weight is going to cause some loss of traction. Basically, you will have a little less room for error when setting up trailer brakes and you might be a little more prone to spinning a tire in poor traction situations but I have to agree with Sport45 that reduced weight is a good thing overall.

I have a different thought on the aluminum body. Corrosion. Take a look at 2007 - 2014 Ford Expeditions and note how many you see with bubbling paint on the rear liftgate and the hood. This is a common problem and I know from first hand experience on my TV. I am replacing the hood with a steel hood and at the same time the corrosion on the liftgate is being repaired for the second time and the vehicle is a 2009.

I would wait on the 2015 to see if the problem has been resolved, I love everything about my Expedition but this one thing. The PO of my Expedition traded it off when the warrantee was up and I did not notice the first small bubble on the liftgate until I was washing the Expy in the driveway for the first time.

My shop does warrantee work for the local Ford dealer and working on the aluminum body parts is a common piece of his business. Ford does not cover this corrosion, it only covers if a hole develops. Believe it or not.

My $.02

No need for a 3/4 ton for that weight. Yes, some extra mass doesn't hurt when towing, but the 2500/3500 trucks that weigh maybe 8000 pounds empty are rated to tow as much as 2-3 times their empty weight depending on configuration. Towing 7000 pounds with a correctly set up 4500 pound tow vehicle should not worry anyone.

I wouldn't worry about the lower weight.

I've never heard anyone claim bolting 600# to the frame a truck makes it a better tow vehicle. Why would removing 600# make it worse?