F150 aluminum & resulting MPG

[bmanning]

Much lighter F150

Some "experts" predict 30mpg.

Sounds wildly optimistic to me but what do you guys think?

Can shaving 750lb result in that dramatic an increase?

Will that 750lb loss result in less control when towing?

[mich800]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Less weight might make a difference in town, where lower speed's the rule. Highway driving- nah. As mentioned before, at highway speeds it's almost all about aerodynamics except maybe on long uphill pulls.

I'm thinking the market for this pickup is grocery-getter/town "truck", so the lower weight fuel saving "advantage" will probably appeal to that market.

True, but who drives exclusively expressway with no speed variations. Even someone who drives mostly highway will have statistically significant time accelerating getting to the expressway. After all, what kills average MPG? It is the city portion driving the average down. Increase this part with no improvement in the highway MPG and you have an overall better MPG.

[Groover]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Less weight might make a difference in town, where lower speed's the rule. Highway driving- nah. As mentioned before, at highway speeds it's almost all about aerodynamics except maybe on long uphill pulls.

I'm thinking the market for this pickup is grocery-getter/town "truck", so the lower weight fuel saving "advantage" will probably appeal to that market.

I feel sure that there will be some models aimed at max fuel milage but I want to believe that Ford with have to keep the beefier models to stay in competition with the new offerings from Chevy and Ram. Hopefully it all will become clear within two weeks. Personally, I am hoping for an air suspension like the one Ram offers.

[GoPackGo]

Could never let them sit in your driveway in Florida. Termites.

[Wes_Tausend]

Powerdude wrote:
Why bother with something as expensive as aluminum?

Ford should use duroplast, which is what they used in the East German Trabant.

Duroplast

Won't corrode, can be stamped, and when you want to dispose of it, feed it to pigs or shred it and put it in concrete mixes.

Low weight too.

Gotta love this material. This would make great stuff for RVs. Unless, of course, it caught on fire, was attacked by pigs or got the wrong bacteria on it. :B

hone eagle wrote:

Powerdude wrote:
Why bother with something as expensive as aluminum?

Ford should use duroplast, which is what they used in the East German Trabant.

Duroplast

Won't corrode, can be stamped, and when you want to dispose of it, feed it to pigs or shred it and put it in concrete mixes.

Low weight too.

Ford will go you one better

cellulose fiber

bio degradable , if you get stranded you can eat your centre console

From steel sheeted wood subframe beginnings back to wood fiber again. Bring back the Woody! Well, wood is as strong as steel per weight, when properly used. :B

Wes
...

[APT]

Reduced weight has very little effect on highway FE.

[hone_eagle]

Powerdude wrote:
Why bother with something as expensive as aluminum?

Ford should use duroplast, which is what they used in the East German Trabant.

Duroplast

Won't corrode, can be stamped, and when you want to dispose of it, feed it to pigs or shred it and put it in concrete mixes.

Low weight too.

Ford will go you one better

cellulose fiber

bio degradable , if you get stranded you can eat your centre console

[Powerdude]

Why bother with something as expensive as aluminum?

Ford should use duroplast, which is what they used in the East German Trabant.

Duroplast

Won't corrode, can be stamped, and when you want to dispose of it, feed it to pigs or shred it and put it in concrete mixes.

Low weight too.

[jus2shy]

I have my doubts about hitting 30 mpg... Even with the rumored "Nano" ecoboost coming out, which should be a 2.7 liter v-6. It will be interesting to see how all the aluminum has affected costs. If Ford has figured out a way to keep costs at bay and switch to aluminum, I can see other manufacturers following a similar road. Another rumor I've read is that there will be 2 versions of the frame, 1 version for towing and the other version for daily driving. Towing versions of the frame would have more reinforcement. Also word about dropping fully boxed frames in favor of strategic c-channeling. We'll see if Ford continues to churn out those silver creek videos touting the current gen frame against then Tundra.

[rhagfo]

hone eagle wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Semi truck cabs/bodies have been made from aluminum for years. F150s will do just fine with aluminum bodies. 🙂

I have seen frames as well,not sure why - payload ?

Exactly!
Had a neighbor that was a log hauler, he ran aluminum wheels not for looks, but for the weight savings.

[Me_Again]

I drove a Titan 90 Chevy class 8 tractor. Frame and cab were both alumumin, along with the 8500 gal tanker trailer, tare weight was 15k for tractor and 10k for trailer. Tractor had around 500k on the clock when we bought it. I put about 25k a year on it a year for the three years I drove it. No problems! Chris

[blt2ski]

A lot of tractor trailer flatbeds and cargo box trailers have aluminum in them, on the beds etc also. Many dumptrucks depending upon "WHAT" they are hauling will be made of Aluminum also. It can and will save a reasonable amount of wt in a given rig, allow more cargo to be hauled etc.

On typical DOT class 3-5 trucks, steel wood flatbeds are in the 125 lbs per foot range, as I recall, an aluminum is 25-50 lbs lighter per foot. I could be wrong on the lbs, but still it is lighter.

As also noted, some aluminum frames etc can bend, once bent harder to fix than steel. Also it is typically softer, so other issues depending upon the what you are hauling etc should be avoided.

I would spec an aluminum flatbed on one of my trucks in a heart beat. Issues is, cost is about double$$$$$. Altho with steel right now going thru the roof. may not be as costly today as last time I priced things about 4yrs ago.

Marty

[hone_eagle]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Semi truck cabs/bodies have been made from aluminum for years. F150s will do just fine with aluminum bodies. 🙂

I have seen frames as well,not sure why - payload ?

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Semi truck cabs/bodies have been made from aluminum for years. F150s will do just fine with aluminum bodies. 🙂

[oilslick]

I have owned my current Landrover for over 35 years it's 42 years old and made of aluminum except for the firewall and the frame. With the roof off it's like an open pick up truck and gets used as such, it sits outside nearly the whole time and although I don't drive a lot of miles in it anymore it does get driven often as I use it for shuffling trailers around on the front and back. The paint has faded but the aluminum is mostly like the day it came out of the factory.