You surely have seen the Chevy commercials comparing the aluminum Ford bed to the steel Chevy bed.
Chevy will be building the next years modes with aluminum too. GM, always a day late and a dollar short.
I wonder how they will advertise that!
Yup. Ford made a huge mistake.
Dumb. They're going to chase people to the Japanese trucks.
Ford is comming out with a brand new F150 next year (don't know if it's AL). This model didn't last long.
It is a refresh, I think the aluminum is going to stick.
Either way I was a GM man for years until I had to take the brunt of the problems, Service Sales manager for a GM dealership, I went Japanese as soon as I could. Still drivin an 07 Tundra.
The Japanese trucks were a good $15K-$20K more than I paid for my F150. Not close to competetive.
I drove GM cars for years as did my father and brother. Every one had to go back to the dealer for adjustments. The last one was falling apart in five years. I switched to Korean cars 10 years ago. After nearly
60k miles one had to go back for a minor repair under warranty.
Same way our aluminum is tougher, but I alway wonder why the guy dumping into the Ford jerks the controls?
I know "everybody" likes to bash on something, but otoh, after the big ice storm I got out the '58 Chebby C60 grain truck that's not had a major repair needed in its now 59th yr of use...and while it's not been used as much in recent years as was when new (first 20 yr or so :) ), it's still in the rotation as the seed tender during planting season...
Last spring a roofer was re-roofing my house. One of his crew called and said they were having problems with one of his trucks. He said, "I can't imagine what could be wrong--it only has 350 thousand miles on it". It was a Chevy.
...
No idea on mileage on "Big Blue", one flaw to pick on is the nylon speedometer gears weren't up to the dirt of SW KS farm use, apparently. We had three in the '58/'59 year model and each lost speed/odo-meter at around the 40K mark; I think this one still has 39,998 on it if I remember correctly... :)
It was never over-the-road truck rather "farm-to-market" where our farmstead is
If only they would build them like the use'ta.
I had a friend that put 250K on a Suburban. He had to use fuel additives to get it to pass emission inspections and it looked like Fred Sanfords vehicle. ;~)
They all will last, regardless of brand, if you continue to repair what breaks.
The problem I have with aluminum is its ability to be repaired by the corner body shop. Any idiot can pound steel. AL is a lot more difficult. More difficult to paint, too.
As far as tearing up the bed, I'd be warry of dumping a load of gravel into it.
Until you can't. The rear frame, where the wprings connect, rotted out on my '00 Ranger. There was no fix, well, that anyone would stand behind with their insurance, anyway. Salt is really tough on vehicles.
Yes but aluminum is not a foreign material, It has been used on vehicles for decades, just not this much. Hoods are an item that are aluminum on some vehicles and GM was using aluminum on the bumper reinforcement bars as far back as the late 70's.
I recall our body shop manager talking about the difficulties and the need for special welding equipment to handle the aluminum, that was in 1984.
While the Chevy commercial indicates the little tool box tearing a hole in the Ford bed, I do not see a problem with that. And I am not sure I believe that, the thin walled tool box did not seem to have any damage at all, surely the corner that pierced the aluminum bed should show some damage.
That damaged bed is not going to rust so there is no need for a bed liner to prevent damage from turning into a rusted bed.
In '58 the cars were built by car men, not accountants. They had fixable problems. My 2001 LeSabre had many expensive problems. Replaced the tranny once. Climate control would give you heat from one side, cooling from the other. I guess I should not complain as it was switchable. There is a long list of other things. I gave the car away and the new owner ditched it after a few months too.
All my GM cars were sold for next to nothing or junked. My Hyundais all went onto the dealer's lot for sale. I'm now driving a Genesis with the Ultra package. Better than any of my previous cars including a Mercedes.
I'd rather buy American owned and built but you get poor quality and poor warranty.
True, just that some break more frequently
Frames are replaceable and costly to do so. There does come a point that it makes sense to buy new.
And repeatedly.
My last GM truck a 97 Silverado, had the water pump replaced two times, the intake manifold gasket replaced one time, the special heater hose with a special intake manifold fitting replaced 3 times, alternator one time, blower motor one time. And that was with less than 70K in a 10 year period.
My 07 Tundra had the brake switch replaced in the first week. I could not take the shift lever out of park. It had a leaking water pump that was replaced under the drive train warranty about 5 years ago. And that is the only major things.
For a while I was not sure American built would be dependable but our
2012 Camrey and my 08 Tundra are American built and with the dependability and lack of even little things going wrong has pretty much turned me off to alternatives.I really like the looks of the Ford trucks but I know that more repair bills are pretty much a given. Not saying that I will not have future problems with another Toyota but problems with Toyota's are less.
I have strongly considered Hyundai but they don't offer trucks and the vehicles don't quite fit what we are looking for.
Sure, SHMBO's Mustang has an aluminum hood. You don't fix it, just unbolt it and bolt a new one on. That's going to get expensive for a bed, just bacuse you dumped a load of rocks in it. Minor fender-benders will get expensive.
...and skills.
Perhaps. I'd put one (spray-) in anyway, unless it won't stick to the Aluminum, of course.
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