Ford Goes Al In For Next F-150
Published: July 15th, 2013
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No, that’s not a typo. Al is the periodic table symbol for aluminum – the stuff that the next F-150 will be made of.
TTAC’s “industry informant program” has already proved fruitful. A supplier source let us know that the aluminum construction of the next Ford F-150 is going just fine. Ford was so worried about the possibility of things going awry that they developed an all-steel body-in-white alongside the aluminum version. Turns out it won’t be needed.
Our source says the next F-150 will stay close to the looks of the Atlas concept. Powertrains include the 5.0 V8, the 3.5L Ecoboost and a new 3.5L naturally aspirated V6. New for 2015 is a smaller 2.7L Ecoboost V6. Good news for Raptor fans. It will be back in 2016.
More by Derek Kreindler
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As rnc has pointed out, Ford owned Jag and Volvo, but they also owned Aston Martin (notice the similarity with some of Ford's new cars?)and Range Rover. IIRC, all use aluminum body panels. The F150 has for a long time been the biggest and heaviest 1/2 ton. Shaving 700 - 800 lb with minimal increase in costs gives Ford and MPG and performance advantage. It gives them 3 choices when it comes to suspension tuning: 1.Use previous suspension settings which will allow a corresponding increase in cargo capacity 2.Leave settings alone and easily meet J2807 ratings and tune for better ride (like Ram) 3.Do a blend of 1 and 2. MPG and emission standards are going to be toughened up and unfortunately USA EPA rules are footprint based. It is rumoured that the Atlas is physically larger than the current F150. Ford could up the tow/haul ratings along with a larger "footprint" to push it into a light 3/4 ton class and it would not have to meet 1/2 ton mpg/emission ratings.
Whatever they make it from, that front end looks seriously ugly (at least in this picture)
Hopefully they use better primer than GM did on some of their hoods, as they started to corrode pretty good in the rust belt.
The Atlas concept shows some pretty sharp creases, might that have something to do with it? Most Aluminum bodied cars tend to be rather smooth and rounded.