Let me slam my door into the side of it and see if it dents.

How about a hunting trip through dense brush, or moving some heavy paving stones that are hard to keep from shifting in the bed? They could park it outside a little league ballpark and let it get hit by fly balls.

Let me try again Ford, see if I can cause the head gaskets to blow with a Cold Air Intake kit? That is what one of your dealers told me was the cause in mine! The first time was with 1400lbs of firewood, in a F-150 HD package with 2800lbs capacity, Ecco-Boost 4x4 reg cab 8' bed with a CAI kit, and not one, but two head gaskets blown in a mater of 24k and then the second at 28K while MT, and had to fight customer relations to get the truck fixed! That might be the biggest reason I do not buy the new Tremor, that and the dreaded excise taxes!! Sure is a nice new truck though!

Is this going to be a one time test or simulation of 10 years of usage?

ANY pickup out there will last 15 minutes of torture.

And of course, Ford will pick what they want their truck to be put thru. We'll never really know what others submitted other then the "lucky" 5.

This is just another marketing campaign for ford. ford will pick it's "testers" and try to make it look like it's "real world tests".

Want to test it, send it up to Canada's Arctic where we can really put it to the test.

We'll see how she operates in -50 below winter weather (wind chill), gravel roads, off trails, tundra hopping, hauling and towing over rough conditions, etc. We'll see how she does in REAL winter conditions, driving through 3 foot snow drifts (hard/soft), etc.

Ford did build some trucks using the current model, but used aluminum beds, and provided them to contractors and construction companies to test. They didn't tell them they were aluminum. It was through those tests, that they continued to make changes to the aluminum composition until the got to the tough one they are using in the new model. I think they did more homework on this new truck design than people realize.

@Gregory J... even if it was one of those simulated 10 years of wear and abuse tests, it isnt the same. All of those simulated tests dont account fo rthe age of parts. The fact that rubber and steel and aluminum work harden and become brittle over time. You can torture test an engine or component for a simulated 200k miles and it will still be a part that other than having lots of wear will still contain materials that are less than 1 year old. See how well an aluminum door is after it has been slammed for the hundred thousandth times after years of no grease, the rubber door seals aren't as resilient as they were 10 years ago etc etc The hinges have been carrying the weight of the door for 10 years etc. It isnt the same. It isnt even close. All it shows is a brand new part can withstand high levels of abuse. Spread that abuse out over 10 years though and let the natural deterioration and stresses of the materials play in and we have a completely different story.

Dents: A few days at the Galleria, or Brea Mall parking lot should do it. Let's see if the wife can back it out of the garage, w/out shearing the mirrors off. :-)

Park it by the golf course.

LOL they try to prove the Eco Bust was tuff, but if you go read the forums its not that tuff. Now they going to show how tuff the new old 2004 AL body is? You know its going to be a Epic fail!

Not to be off topic, but here's an interesting find for Raptor and Raptor-like truck fans:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140127/CARNEWS/140129810

Back on topic: Let me drop some mini boulders into the back unsecured and take it out back over bumpy trails.

Suddenly a new light-duty truck comes out and you all expect to be a Komatsu. Go back and play with your Tonka trucks.

@Devils Advocate, if they did that, we would get 2015 technology in 2025. Who does R&D on a product 10 years out? Simulation and some real world testing (but not 10 years) is the only way to do it that actually gets the products out to the consumer. Can you imagine if we were buying those 2004 models right now?

I think this truck will give Chev/GMC a better chance with the Colorado/Canyon, especially in diesel form. They will carry as much including the average 1.8 kids in the American family. Tow as much or more than most Americans ever tow as well and do it far more efficiently than any current US pickup.

One engine I would like to see in the global Ranger is the 2.7 Eco Boost. I think this is more exciting than the aluminium truck.

I would like to see a better and newer more powerful 3 litre class diesel from Ford as well.

I hope the trial truck has the 2.7 litre Eco Boost in it.

I would also like to see some hinting of projected pickup prices from Ford.

Like I mentioned maybe Ford is having bonding issues already with this truck. 'Gluing' or bonding aluminium isn't as easy as pasting two pieces of paper together.

It's funny to read the negative comments claiming Ford will fail because they didn't do "xyz", or test for a decade.
First of all, no one but Ford knows if they have done this, and second, did GM or Ram do any of these things before their "all new" designs?

With a week to test the truck I'd run it 24/7 start in South America. Start Off Roading And run it all the way to Northern Canada. Find a few places like MOAB or Rocky Mountains to test its off roading. And whenever the truck hits asphalt test its towing to the max.

@Ford850
I think there is much unknown about this truck. We even saw a similar response to diesel pickups, even though diesel pickups are available globally.

Its funny to me how you guys say noone tests stuff for many years before they bring it to market......... Toyota does, maybe thats why they last so much longer. Current today our 01 parts truck a heavily abused 01 Tundra has 619,742 miles on the original trans with only maintenance and one set of piston rings at 500,000......

More like, we will use the 5-best results that they come across.
I doubt that they will use only 5 trucks to do this with.
I don't think anyone is unsure of the trucks durability.
The question on everyones mind is, how well will the aluminum hold up until the truck is paid for & how well the resale value will be.

Dakar Race - Have a completely stock class for half ton trucks, and enter the F150 as the sole contestant the first year.

I would like to test it in the rain. Let's see if the egoboost still shakes and chokes.

Drive it through the midwest with our salt. Every time I see an F series truck the drive shafts are covered in surface rust. It's especially bad with the Super Duty pickup trucks here in the midwest.

Surface rust does not hurt anything, just cosmetic and its under the truck so who give a crap.

Have the trucks for a week??

I would think at least 6 months with 5 different small businesses.

A farmer, builder/plumber, construction company, miner and delivery company.

Seems more of a marketing exercise.

Wow look like ford built nice truck but quality is not the priority go check all the complaint about this truck wow,,

Hoo. Yes you call this a new design or refresh ,,,???

Just 1 week of testing ? Why start in September ? Why not to start to test it today to the end of October ?
I am not buying one week tested car.

So ford thinks it will last a week, one week? Wow, what could you do in a week to see if the new f-150 will last as long as a Chevy or GMC pick up. Been testing my GMC for 15 years now and it is still better than any brand new f-150 with no miles on it.

Put it in the hands of a farmer/mechanic for one week. Loads of logs for the winter stove (I'm talking the wood-burning furnaces very commonly seen in rural Pennsylvania); engine blocks and body/suspension parts for other vehicles and implements; rough, almost ancient roads that see minimal maintenance for decades; roads that NEVER see winter plowing. In other words, trucks that really do get used as trucks and not just as showpieces.

Looks like Ford will be taking a page out of Ram's book and add a 3.0 diesel later on.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/01/ford-f-150-offer-diesel-v6.html

@The Big O
That's really funny now. Even ford doesn't trust this new egoboost line and is working on 3L diesel .By TTAC it will appear in 2018.
10 speed trany is in the pipeline as well.
Ford is 4 years behind the RAM already. What's next. Coil spring rear axle? Air ride?
RAM is selling every truck they build and considering new plant.

http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2014/01/ram-capacity-new-plant

That's what you call customers proven reliability. Not e week testing new aluminum truck.

Next-Generation F rd F-150 Delayed By Nearly Three Months Due To Aluminum Issues.
According to TTAC
Ford will have already blown their Memorial Day launch target, 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.
Why do you need a truck then? You can buy a Prius and call it a ford truck.

@zviera: To be quite blunt, not everybody tows or hauls heavy loads; a half-ton truck that's actually rated at and capable of just a half-ton will meet the needs of many older pickup truck owners and users. I need a reasonable open bed for large loads, not heavy ones. Twice a year I carry 22+ heavy duty plastic event tables for a charity that all told may weight in at 400 pounds. Sure, they may hang out the tailgate of the typical 6.5-foot bed, but they certainly don't weigh it down. What you describe--if the price is reduced to reflect the 'reduced' capability--could actually engender Ford more profits by more sales. A "Prius" can't do that.

@RoadWhale
Yes Prius can pull 400 pounds twice a year. Easily.

It is impossible to prove any Ford is tough!

Maybe they could close the hood several times and see if the grille surround still breaks at the places where it is screwed together. 7000 miles, dealer broke it when performing oil change and Ford would not replace it. The Ford crap will never be tested by me again.

@Zviera: True, a Prius might PULL it, but it can't CARRY it. Not when the tables are bigger than the car all together. I don't need to pull and I have no place to store a lightweight trailer; I only have room to park two vehicles and due to necessity one of them MUST be a pickup truck. The other one is noted for its ability to drive over bumps in the road--like a Prius.

I think it is interesting that FORD is giving the chance to test this new alum. FORD, the F series has been #1 for 37 year's because of toughness, style, exc, exc, I've been driving them for over 40 years if their was one made any better I'd own it. I'd like to be one of the LUCKY one's for the test, Truck people if FORD build's it buy it, It will always be FORD tough

Give one to Top Gear and let them put it thru the torture test they did with the Toyota Hilux.

As an owner of a 2013 F-150 I get a lot of road noise cause of the tempered door glass, if Ford would use laminated glass that would quiet it down!

An aluminum bed floor? Yikes! I think Ford should have went with a (SMC) sheet molded compound for the bed floor and inner bed sides like the current Tacoma. Pretty hard to damage that stuff. It makes me wonder why they haven't progressed into making more cars and trucks with plastic composite body panels like the old Fiero and early model Saturn's. It seems using it on a truck would be a no brainer since they typically (at least on the fleet units) have a somewhat harder life. Heck, even the old 4th gen F-body (Camaro and Firebird) had extensive use of composite materials for the body panels. I think this would have been a far better solution than using aluminum for everything.

Easy test. Ship it to Iraq or Afghanistan and let the local government use it for a year. Guaranteed that they will absolutley beat the hell out the truck and do no maintenance.