Not crazy about this model run again. I will say the current models out now are definitely a step up from when first released in 2009-2010. So, it'll probably grow on me within 3-4 years

 

I doubt that much will be the same on this truck. If they are now going aluminum, Ford isn't going to spend millions of dollars on new tooling for it to mimic the old design. I bet this truck will look totally different than the current models. That is just a test mule. A lot will be changed on it yet.

 

I thought about the aluminum and was talking to someone about it, and salt will still eat it alive. It's better than the steel currently used, but I don't know how much better. Apparently VW and Volvo used some kind of galvanized steel and have 10 years rust warranties. This supposedly holds up really well in the north.

I need to look some of this up!

 

My buddy has an Eos and the aluminum mirrors corroded and the paint came off. It was under warranty still I found out after he took it to the dealer and they denied him. He ended up getting it fixed after complaining to volkswagen directly..

 

Well the guy I talked to has a 12 year old Volkswagen that apparently has zero rust on the frame and key components under the car. Not surprised about the mirrors though, I thought the warranty was only for the frame and some other components. How old is the car?

 

Is it me or is that guy flipping us off or is he pointing to the coyright sign

 

All metals will corrode when they come into contact with salt water, some are just better at resisting it than others. The aluminum can be alloyed and treated so that it is pretty resistant to salt water much better than steel. Porsche and Audi have been using full aluminum bodies for years. All the Porsche bodies since the late 70s have either been aluminum or fully galvanized steel. How many rusty old Porsches do you see? Of course this adds cost which will be hard to justify on a vehicle that starts around $20k.

If I was in charge of the F-150 design I would focus on using the aluminum for all brackets, clips etc as well as a more efficient design to reduce weight without giving up strength. There is a ton of weight that could be saved here since most of the body brackets are not a high stress part and switching to aluminum would not require a much thicker part to make up for the loss of strength. Doing this alone would cut 2/3s of the weight from these parts. The frame would look like swiss cheese because of all of the lightening holes it would have. These cut weight and make the part stronger. The problem is these all add cost which will be passed on to the customer. I doubt many people care enough about the increased fuel mileage to pay the extra. Also, very few people in the truck world seem to understand how adding weight kills economy. Look at how many people throw Ranch Hand bumpers and load range E tires on their F-150s because they look cool. Adding these two items will negate a very large portion of the weight savings Ford is aiming for. Outside of chasing unobtainable CAFE numbers what's the point? The buyer will throw hundreds of pounds of useless crap onto the truck then complain how they can't meet the numbers on the window sticker.

 

When Ram trucks and government motors 1500 series start stealing big number sales away from Ford with there diesel engines then maybe ford's f150 chief engineer will get his head out of his a$$ and stick his ecoboost up there!! Ford always hire's these people that jump the company two steps forward and three steps backwards!!! unreal why?? Stay ahead of the game Ford and start out the 2015 model right and put a diesel in the dam thing!!

 

Umm, GM has put their small diesel back on the shelf.

 

G.M will take there diesel off the shelf soon after they see there customers standing the Ram 1500 line waiting for there diesel truck. Ram just upped Ford and Chevy for 2014 model year. Ford could steal the show back in 2015 with a brand new f150 with a diesel engine. But I don't think there smart enough to do it !!!

 

Yeah, because Ford offering a gasser with more HP, similar torque, similar fuel economy, costing $1k less, and burning fuel that is $0.30/gallon cheaper is not being smart.

I know, Ford, what the heck are you thinking?

Oh, and Ford will have the 3.2L I5 diesel from the Transit just waiting to be laid as the trump card if necessary.

 

Ford has a plan in place for the Ram diesel... The Transit diesel. BUT the wildcard this week is the Nissan/Cumin's 5.0L V8 diesel with est 550 ft lbs of tq. The transit diesel is single A ball vs that MLB unit. (same for Ram)
Perhaps I would suggest a small V8 EB would do the trick.

 

Yeah that Nissan with the 5.0 Cummins is a game changer. I was reading about that a few days ago. If Ford had the Cummins motors in their trucks, game over.

 

Ehhh, The Nissan/Cummins combo sounds good on paper but in reality I doubt it will be that great. The Titan was/is/always will be an also ran in the truck market unless they throw a ton of cash at it and try to steal sales from Toyota. I don't see that happening. They don't have the sales to justify spending the billion or so needed to develop a real threat in the full size market. This means the body/driveline around the Cummins motor will still be junk, worse than Mopar trucks are now.

Also, the problem with today's 1/2 tons isn't power all the big motors have more than enough oomph to pull a big trailer. What they don't have is the payload rating to pull this much weight. The Nissan will be a 1/2 ton truck with 1/2 ton ratings with a 7/8th scale 3/4 ton truck motor in it. What's the point of it? If you need something that big get the F-250 etc and be done with it.

 

Doubtful. The new 3.0L Ecodiesel has 240Hp/420Tq and adds $3000 over the Hemi and will get mid-20s and will require the urea solution etc to meet emissions requirements. Compare it to the EB which has 120Hp more and the same torque, only add a few hundred $$$ to the sticker, runs on 87 octane and has simple maintenance costs. Do the math, you will pick up 3-4 MPG tops but will require a fuel that is ~$.40/gallon more expensive, the motor price will be several thousand dollars more expensive and the maintenance costs will be higher on the diesel. The break even point on this motor will be somewhere north of 10 years and 300,000 miles, by that time the Mopar body that contains it will have rusted away twice.

Go ahead and keep preaching about how foolish it is not to offer something that will never pay itself off. The rest of us will mention something about a fool and their money...