Repair cost for aluminum F-150 body

[Daox]

Edmunds took a sledge hammer to their brand new $50k F-150 to see how it would hold up and also how much to repair it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDQZu8K51ZY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um7UpIA4X0s

[jakobnev]

Better to just splash some mud over the dent.

[Frank Lee]

That expensive and fancy lighting doesn't seem like a good idea on the back of a truck that actually gets used for work. <Ha Ha, What am I thinking???

Decades ago Robert Cumberford wrote an article for Automobile magazine about expensive high-tech lighting in that it would make vehicles basically unrepairable/unrestorable because of the expense... or they may have to make substitutes:


Travis needed to give identical smacks to a steel box for strength comparison.

[ksa8907]

Im impressed, I would have expected it to poke a hole in the panel.

[ME_Andy]

Wow that's an expensive truck and repair! I was also surprised at how small the dents were, though. And the truck looks gorgeous.

[nemo]

$800 taillight = lots of trucks running around with broken lights.

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Travis needed to give identical smacks to a steel box for strength comparison.

I agree. For all we know, it could end up doing more damage and take longer to repair. In any case, I personally wouldn't pay anything to get dents repaired on the bed of a truck.

[pgfpro]

The cost to repair the new Ford F150 is is going to be an issue?

Ford is wanting Body Shops to build special clean rooms, have special tools aluminum specific hammers and dollies etc. that can not be used on any other type of metal due to cross-contamination.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2014/01...015-f-150.html

In my area the shops I sell too, out of 100+ shops only two of them are meeting the Ford requirements. Most of my local area shops don't even want any of the new Ford Truck repair business. One shop that I call on has already over 30k invested in just the clean room for these new trucks.

Galvanic Corrosion is another major concern. Galvanic Corrosion is define as a electrochemical action of two dissimilar metals in the presence of an electrolyte and an electron conductive path. The front frame rails and inner structure parts are aluminum bolt on part's that will require special fasteners to keep Galvanic Corrosion from happening.
My concern is will the tech's repair these vehicles correctly and use the correct fasteners to bolt together these parts. A good example of failure is some of Fords SUV vehicles from the past have rear lift hatches with over 80% of them corroding around latch area, and these vehicles are no longer under warranty. IMO Ford failed in design of these older lift hatches and now decided to build front frame components out of aluminum???

[user removed]

Consider this as a perfect example of why car companies are reluctant to adopt new technology.

regards
mech

[gone-ot]

So, does this make the Ford F-150 a *beer-can* truck...ie: made of recycled beer/soda cans...well, YES!