If this is true then we can forget about the Atlas being on sale by Memorial Day 2014.

Next Ford F-150 delayed for aluminum body panel issues?
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/11/n...-panel-issues/

 

Hmmm ... whenever I see a car rag quote Wiki, I suspect they have NFC.

If you hit Wiki with a lookup on formability, there is NO reference to Young's Modulus whatsoever.

Wiki as an info source leaves a lot to be desired...

Here's something a little better: http://www.keytometals.com/page.aspx...ite=ktn&NM=156

To me, This smells like a smokescreen for another delay reason. Forming aluminum sheets for automotive use is not new ground - just ask Audi and many, many others. Heck - the hood of yer F150 is already aluminum.

And if the arsty-fartsy Millennial designers who came up with these panels created unusually difficult or unformable shapes just for the sake of differentiating design, they need to be held to account. First you need to understand the limitations of the material you wish to rework, THEN create the design that adheres to those limitations.

Jeezzz... sounds self-inflicted to me - and totally avoidable. No sympathy here.

What I found real interesting was this:

" ... with the new F-150 said to be late availability in 2014, with Ford’s Kansas City plant said to be cranking out current generation trucks, which will now feature a frame that is one full gauge thinner on “non-tow” models."

WTF?

MGD

 

Good! Hope they delay it until Labor Day. I should be able to get a hell of deal on a 2014 6.2L SCAB then.

 

I like the way you think!

I'm betting on next Christmas, lol .... this'n ain't gonna be the only delay. Hopefully the wingnuts in the Panel Design Department didn't exchange any DNA with the folks in the Drivetrain Design Department.

Here's the thing. We make steel for the auto industry. And There is a very close cooperative & synergistic relationship between the folks in metallurgy and the customer's production dev & prod teams to ensure ALL the requirements have been tested - iteratively - until there is total agreement on both sides.

And it STAYS IN-HOUSE.

You've never read or seen Toyota, for example (one of said customers ), go on record online in a freakin' BLOG about how Supplier XYZ effed up their body parts, oilpans, etc, causing a massive scheduling nightmare.

That's simply not how it's done. Customer/supplier relations at this level of co-dependence and long-term commitment don't tolerate that sort of fingerpointing nonsense.

That's why this smells like total boolsheet to me.

This is the now-familiar lame automotive media same-old garbage to sell 'copy'.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.


MGD

 

Yep, I'm in the automotive R&D industry as well and there are ALWAYS delays. I am sure there is a delay with the new F150 (please people stop calling it "Atlas") and I'm sure there is an issue with the body panels, but I am also sure that it does not take 3 months to fix a single issue with body panels this late in the R&D. Some one who works at Ford probably told this reporter that there is a delay and that there is a problem with the aluminum. But I am sure there is more to the story then that.

 

There is no truth to the TTAC story on delays.

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums...sues/?p=885379

"We received a note from Alcoa, a supplier of aluminum, regarding our story on delays with the next Ford F-150. Alcoa’s Monica Orbe sent us this note. While details of future programs and timelines should come from automotive OEMs themselves – regardless of the platform — we can say that Alcoa does not have any issues with its automotive production lines. It is important to note that aluminum is the second most used material to build cars today. Automakers have successfully used Alcoa materials to produce aluminum-intensive vehicles since the mid 1990s."

"Pioneer
Posted Yesterday, 10:24 AM
Haven't heard of any delay here."

 

na....the "man step" is being re-engineered as a mini spoiler....lol



J/K....

 

Might want to look into the Navistar/Ford divorce, or the Chrysler/Nissan truck design thing going south... this stuff is not without precedent.