The Wall Street Journal reports that GM is building their next generation Silverado out of aluminum for 2018. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the guys at Ford must be blushing furiously right now. The potential hassles of switching to aluminum have been well documented at this point, but Ford is probably the […] More »

We’re pretty excited about the new F-150’s intensive use of lightweight aluminum. Less weight means more of everything else, like towing, payload, acceleration, responsive handling, fuel efficiency … and insurance costs. Uh oh. That’s right. Ford estimates insurance rates for the 2015 F-150 will be 10 percent higher than rates for the 2014 model. In addition […] More »

The moment Ford let slip the rumor that their new F-150 would be built of aluminum, the industry watchers, truck lovers, body shop owners, and anyone else paying attention, immediately began to worry about what that would mean in terms of cost. Not just the initial price (that we still don’t know), but the overall […] More »

This is probably the best example of hiding in plain sight I’ve seen from a manufacturer when it came to testing. Normally, you’ll be able to identify test mules on the road because of some poorly fitting body panels, or a cabin full of electronics. Ford took a slightly different approach. In addition to driving […] More »

Oh no! The launch date for the 2015 Ford F-150 has been delayed by up to three months. Blame it on the aluminum. Rumored to lighten the 13th-gen F-150 by 700 pounds, aluminum body panels may make the next F-150 lighter, but the material is causing a heavy burden for Ford’s product planners. A report […] More »

  The word from the Wall Street Journal is that Ford’s planning to build the next generation F-150 with a largely aluminum body. Their goal is to cut down the weight of the truck by a whopping 700lbs. Ideally, this would increase gas mileage significantly, and allow for the use of smaller engines.  In addition, […] More »