What happened to Mike Rowe?

Oh I bet the ignorant fanboy comments on both sides will be over their usual amount in this article.

Awsum! Nice to see that Ford still tests these trucks to their limits before they're sent out to the public. I was skeptical of the aluminum body but no longer. This body will be more durable without a doubt.

Autoblog has the same story with videos 2 days ago.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/09/ford-f150-pickup-torture-test-videos/

Lots of promotional activity will be coming out of Ford to 'sell' the aluminium pickup.

How much of a sales drop will the F-150 have?

It will be interesting to see how the 2.7 Eco Boost goes.

I wonder if aluminium is the correct decision, or is it ahead of it's time?

Why in gods green earth are they trying to hide the truck, when they have already revealed it? Makes zero sense!

Just watched the videos, and it's a whole lot of nothing without knowing how long test are run, what solutions are used for the Corrosion Bath. Also the drop test was what 2" then it was stopped before it settled down flat.
It will make the loyalist happy, but nothing to see for the general public.

I fond the power hop hill most intriguing. The body flex appeared to be well controlled even the front bumper stayed reasonably quiet. It will serve Ford well to educate the buying public well in advance. If they pull it off, it should interest even those who aren't interested in a Ford truck. Whatever you do buy will someday soon be very similar. One warning for Ford, don't over promise the truck, keep expectations honest.

hdmax, Becaue the videos were taken over a period of time before the release, duh!

Ford has been testing the aluminum trucks since 2009!

You are an idiot.

Why in gods green earth are they trying to hide the truck, when they have already revealed it? Makes zero sense!
Posted by: hdmax | Apr 11, 2014 2:01:45 PM

You think they just tested and shot these videos in the last couple months? LOL. Wake up.

@ALL1, MARK MY WORDS!!! I AM GOING TO TROLL EVERY FORD BLOG FROM HERE ON OUT. TWO CAN PLAY THIS LITTLE GAME.

Posted by: HEMI V8 | Apr 9, 2014 9:25:13 PM

I can tow and haul more than the CRAPTOR and get me my family and all my gear to places your CRAPTOR can only dream of getting too. I don't blame you for being so miserable. Your FORD has giving up on V8's because they can't compete in the market with Chevy and Ram's V8's POWER and MPG. I don't blame you for being miserable over Ford who was supposed to have power and MPG in their V6 only to find out the 3.5 turbo can't get the MPG that was supposed to beat V8's. know Ram comes out and whips Fords @$$ again with the Eco Diesel. Your only hope for Ford is an all aluminum body that will be as tough as a beer can. I don't blame you for being miserable because your Ford has more Fire recalls than I can keep track of. I will do circles around your 3.5 Ford 4x4 with my new Power Wagon off road. You will be eating HEMI dust and rocks. Just do me a favor. Keep your Flaming Ford as far away from my new Power Wagon. No need to add to Fords collateral damage. Been there done that.

Good day, keep the Ford out side of the garage. Get full coverage to cover the truck, house commercial buildings, and everybody else's property.

"Compared to the GM twins, it does wallow around the road, especially in turns just like someone said above. I rented a RAM 1500 a few months ago to move ceramic tile, approx. 800 pounds of it and the truck's suspension felt like it was at it's limit."

Posted by: Scott Hibbard | Apr 7, 2014 7:18:45 PM

REALLY! READ THIS AND WEEP! RAM 1500 SPANKED FORD 150,G.M TWINS 1500 AND TOYOTA WHILE HAULING AND TOWING. LOL

"The Ram 1500 tore up the 7.2 percent grade, taking only 8.2 seconds to reach 60 mph empty."

"When trailering, the Ram 1500's rear end did a great job of getting the 20-inch Goodyear Wrangler SR/A tires (the exact same tires on the Ford, Chevy and GMC) to hook up and pull the 8,500-pound trailer to 40 mph in 11.3 seconds. The F-150's EcoBoost twin turbo came in not far behind, with the Chevy, Toyota and Nissan following closely.

Oddly, the GMC struggled to get traction with a trailer, ":((

http://special-reports.pickuptrucks.com/2013/06/2013-light-duty-challenge-hill-climb-acceleration-test.html

"The winner of the empty autocross was the Ram 1500, with a time of 46.0 seconds. Our test driver made note of how well the suspension was able to dive and hold the corners and keep the rear end controlled better than any other in the test, especially in tight hard-right, hard-left transitions."

RAM "In first place after the loaded runs, the Ram posted a loaded best time of 47.1 seconds. This time, it was Ford in second place with a time of 48.5, and the Chevy came in third again with a time of 48.8."

http://special-reports.pickuptrucks.com/2013/06/2013-light-duty-challenge-autocross.html

Another full of $#!^ fan boi. What a SURPRISE! LOL

"Our Hemi- and eight-speed-equipped ($500) new Ram 1500 came to us with the second-lowest base price of the group while still meeting our requirements. This half-ton SLT crew cab lists for $38,295 and allowed Ram to include probably the longest list of options of any competitor."

MORE GUTS!

MORE GLORY!

LET RAMS @$$

KICKING COMMENCE!

@ALL1, Seems Ford is willing to risk more if something does go wrong and you end up in court.

Lets not forget Fords magic spring dust. Lets not forget Ford is HUGE compared to Chrysler. Lets not forget these numbers are on PAPER! In reality which is where i live, the manufacture is the one setting these ratings. And most importantly, lets not forget that these companies are making enormous amounts of money and will kill their moms (ie G.M) for more share of the pie. Corporations are GREEDY. Anything for the O mighty dollar.

Lets not forget the F 150 is FORD'S everything. It's the crown jewel of the company. Ford besides the mustang have NOTHING that excites me.

Lets not forget who out performed ALL others in towing and autocross with a 1,000lb payload. Ram may NOT be able to haul more than FORD. I can't say. NEED TESTING. but out performs all others in the rate Ram has set. That is a FACT.
FORD OR CHEVY DO NOT HAVE THE RIDE QUALITY OF THE RAM 1500. THEY WON'T HAVE IT FOR 2500 EITHER.
I DON'T NEED FORD AND PAY MORE FOR MAX TOW.TO HAUL MORE. I CAN BUY A 2500. FROM RAM.

@All1, HOW COME FORD WITH THEIR MAX TOW 150 DIDN'T OUT PERFORM RAMS 1500. TOWING AND HAULING?
Posted by: HEMI V8 | Apr 9, 2014 10:04:16 PM

Ford fans and friends, Watch out for HEMI V8. He is going to attack and keep coming!

I love aluminum as a engineering material. I don't trust it in anything that is exposed to cyclic loading that promote fatigue failure, but it should be good for body panels. Tons of pluses and minuses, but its certainly a solid solution to weight reduction.

HEMI V8 came here for one reason. To attack. To troll with the power of RAM. HEMI V8's goal has been to send the power of Ram down everybody's throat on the blog until they become sick of it.

We'll you guys are going to get sick of it because this freak of nature, HEMI V8, is just getting started and will be trolling every blog from here on out and he can do it all day long.

And when HEMI V8 really gets going with the trolling there isn't going to be room for anybody else on the blog, but him and all the Hemi's.

HEMI V8 will not stop until the blog is 100% pro RAM and everyone else is just sick of it.

GUTS
GLORY
HEMI V8

Thank You pickuptrucks.com for bringing that to me! I was impressed!

POWER HOP HILL makes the F150 look worse then the Toyota lol the bumper looked like it was gonna fall off LOL!
The barrel drop video is funny wow a big 3 inchs of drop and the bed still dents pretty badly.

Am I the only one who saw the front section of the truck (meaning the actual cab) twisting in that third video (Power Hop Hill)? I'm not just talking the front clip, but if you follow the line from the top of the fender back through the doors to the back of the cab, you can see an inch or more of real body twist.

I was thinking aluminum would be fine for outer panels, but had concerns about the inside of the bed, but then I remembered all those Aussie utes had "aluminium trays" for years, and they're tough as nails. Big Al and Robert Ryan know what I'm talking about.

That handling on Power Hop Hill was very bad thanks to the very stiff Rear Leaf Spring Axle outdated design.
The truck didn't even keep it straight. It would end up in the ditch if in the curve.
I wouldn't give up safer and better handling in critical situations for more payload .
But I understand, that somebody has different preferences.

Truly, guys, aluminum has been a part of auto manufacturing for a very long time.

The industry has increasingly applied new technology for weight reduction ever since the 1970s.

Hats off to Ford for this new approach to the body, but in reality the trend has been underway for a long time.

HEMI V8 can spew all he wants, I really don't give a sh*t. Not buying a ram to replace what I got now. I can select shift my trans, see around the A pillars & not have to worry about things rusting off the truck after a few years. The Hemi is a very dated platform, throw all the cylinder deac you want at it, they really still aren't that great on the mpgs. I'd rather see an updated 360. the coil spring rear ends are flimsy & unstable under load. the payload & towing capacity is lower because of it. been around them all, you want a real work truck to beat the hell out of it, Ford sells work trucks that take a hell of a beating. Ram charges a lot for their trucks. GM too. F-series & 2500+ with Cummins are about it, the rest just don't hold up that well.

unless the bed floor is 1/4 or 3/8 cold rolled, it's going to dent. & if you drop anything heavy more than a few inches, you're just an idiot anyway. I didn't see where it dented that bad or more so than other trucks.

exThe aluminum bed will be stronger than the steel beds.

The point of the video is to show how they are testing the beds to make it stronger.

In the video they are showing a steel drum dropped with full force on an angle to make sure it dents the bed. Then the engineers measure the dent and then adjust the material to make it as tough as needed.

I wish my bed was going to be this tough. Even my steel bed has dents and I don't recall dropping anything heavy on it.

They tested both steel and aluminum beds. The dents on the steel beds were bigger.

Keep in mind a 55 gallon steel drum weights like 500 lbs filled. Dropping 500 lb an agle with the sharp rim full force on a panel is extreme.

Hemiv6 must have gotten a few days off from school. I think they caught him drawing pictures of that power wagon he hopes to own one day, he even tried to cram it down several peoples throats so they had to get him outta there. Poor little hemi now he has to stay at home and watch his daddy work on the ram, the one he might get when he gets old enough to drive. Sorry little hemi but you'll have to wait till and hope daddy fixes the dodge but if you keep getting in trouble at school he may take away your dukes of hazard bicycle too.

Funny to see all of the stupid posts. Someone could do a Doctoral Thesis about the dysfunction seen on this site.

Funny, people tell me to drop the payload thing yet people want to bring up leafs spring in multiple articles. I guess I will not be droping the payload thing......

Also, for those that say the wobble down power hop hill is bad, what is it bad in comparison to? No other trucks have went down that hill so how does one know how other trucks will react? You don't, and you can't say with 100% certainty that you do. Other trucks may perform better at that test at the sacrifice of other things like payload.

I am holding off judgement on this truck because not enough information is out yet. I know enough about aluminum to not be scared about it and to know how strong it is, but I am not sure how it will work in such an application. It cool be good or it could be bad since decreasing weight in a tow vehicle is not always a good thing. I don't have the specs yet, but one thing is for sure is that I will be bitching if they are decreased.

One thing is for sure is Ford will have to market the hell out of this thing due to all of the ignorance about it. Just look at the Ecoboost, they marketed that thing to no end so people will know facts yet you still have people to this day spewing false assumptions. Luckily Ford has a good marketing department even though there is no amount of market that will even get some to even sit in a new Ford product yet they will tell you how crappy it is. All brands have these types even Ford, they are called fanboys, and some are worswe then others.

Hey FORD will the AC be any tougher or status quo underperforming pos since 2010. Fan boys dont believe me go read the forums, anybody in a hot and or hot humid climate states ac sucks

I wanted a ford F150 bad in 2010 so tested 6 trucks at different dealerships and they all performed the same, bad compared to any other truck

@Lou, it's Skinner's teachings. People troll or try to get negative attention because it's reinforced by a reaction.

The title of this article says "Ford video Aim to Prove the Toughness of the F150". I want to address the issue of what do these videos prove. We see these same kind of videos from GM and Ram. I will assert that these kinds of videos don't prove a damn thing about any truck. The reason I want to take up this issue is because the general public may be easily persuaded by such videos. Of course, "fanboys" might also attempt to use such videos as proof of their arguments. BTW, I'm not accusing anyone here of doing that, but I can of some who do, even a certain Ram guy here.

So what do these videos attempt to depict is a good question to start with. The videos in this article appear to be "raw" footage of torture tests, background noise and everything. Another noticeable thing is that the trucks are still camoed. It begs the question of whether or not these videos were taken during actual torture testing or not. We could debate all day whether or not these videos were actually taken during real testing, but given that no noticeable defects or damage occurred during testing, it would be safe to say that they were taken during or after final testing. What does this mean? It means these aren't actual test videos, but simply depictions of what kind of testing is done on the trucks. This might sound like an insignificant point. I don't think it is because this brings up my main point. It's only a cinematic depiction of what "tests" Ford wants you to see. This is truck for any other "test" video out there by either GM or Ram.

So you may be asking why does this matter? Why is HEMI MONSTER making such a big issue out of test videos? Well, given the "realism" that is depicted in these videos, it may give the viewer the wrong idea that any of these test might actually be relevant when it comes to a real world buying decision. Torture testing is good, don't get me wrong. The problem is that torture testing isn't exactly relevant for the average truck buyer. Who goes and drops a 55 gallon drum in the bed of the brand new $40k truck? Who goes and drives their brand new $40k truck on the surfaces seen in those videos? My point is that those videos tell us nothing. They may have some implication about the limits of the trucks, but not much for the typical use cases of your average Joe.

Now lastly, lest I get too word, I want to emphasis that the ONLY test videos people should attach any meaning to are ones done by reviewers such as PUTC or neutral parties. Back in '11 I think, GM release an updated HD chassis. At that time they got a 3rd party involved and release some comparison videos which were later released on chevrolet.com and other places. The problem with those videos is that even though the tests were performed by a 3rd party, the tests all depicted the GM HD trucks outdoing Ford and Ram. Sounds a little suspicious, doesn't it? Well it definitely was. That is why I say that anytime a manufacture gets involved with releasing their own videos, don't read to much into it. It doesn't really mean much. A year ago you could go to chevrolet.com and gmc.com and see the exact same kind of videos as this article today when their '14 trucks were released.

@Alex - true.

BF Skinner meets PUTC

all i can say is they tried to prove the ecoboost to be "torture tested" yet look at all the issues with overheating and shutting down the turbos under hard load and the limp mode issues from condensation......... who would EVER trust these guys???

I'm all for the F150 doing well and making the truck market even more competitive. It is commonly known in the business world that competition makes one better. If it weren't for fierce competition, improvement would take much longer. Each company has their own approach to things and that is precisely what makes the market so interesting. The 2 things that I am most curious about is to see some actual real world tests of the 2.7 Ecoboost and customer acceptance of Aluminum. According to Ford's claims, the 2.7l Ecoboost should have the power output of a small V8. If this is indeed the case, then GM should have much to worry about. Their whole business strategy of their new trucks as to stick with V8's and try to make them more efficient. How they will compare in the real world remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain. A small V8 will never be able to match the fuel economy of a small displacement V6.

Here are some videos that are more informative than the Ford "test" videos:

On the Ecoboost:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejvamI6cp04

On the F150 as a whole:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLUxjX54MgM

@hemi lol
Exactly my point. They can do as many tests as they want, but tortue tests do not emulate real world conditions. They are a type of bounds testing, that is what limit the trucks can be pushed to. If by chance, they focused on real world driving and use cases, many issues and the need for recalls would be eliminated. I'm talking about the auto industry as a whole. It's a problem everywhere.

@hemi lol

I have heard of the EPA mandated limp mode to save the emissions system due to a CAC condensation misfire(which was fixed), but I ever heard of these mass instances of over heating or turbos shutting down under load you speak of.

well the Drum drop was "ok" to fords Credit... Im a chevy fan but beieve my 2014s bed would have suffered far more damage than this video shows. the Hill Hop.. well the truck sounded like it was ratteling apart and the bumper, hood, even the head lights if you watch close enough all moved all over the place... the bed well that was to be expected... Not overly sold, but dont think its a bad step forward for Ford.

I am not big on these I much prefer the Mike Rowe Tests https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ford+super+duty+Mike+Rowe but this just fall under neat to see.

The barrel drop makes no sense? and the bumper looked like it was gonna fall off! I've seen older trucks drive smoother than that!!

I think the drum drop is a very impressive test. It is unlikey a pickup bed is ever going to experience more of a hit than that even under heavy working conditions. That is pretty abusive to do that to a bed and I know a thing or two about pickup abuse. I haul those 55 gallon drums of oil in my super duty a few times a year. The video doesn't make it look like much, but even just a few inches is a hell of a drop for that. Don't get your toes caught under it! I would not put one of those barrels in my ram 1500 cause I know it would damage the bed just rolling it on the barrel edge (let alone dropping it on the barrel edge). Heck I can hardly put a 100 pound gearbox in my ram without it denting the bed and I've read that the pre 2014 chevys were even worse. I would love to see some GM and RAM videos showing how they test their trucks. People say they put out videos like this but I've never seen one except for some little stunts here and there- not durability testing. Makes me wonder if GM goes to the length that ford goes to. I'm sure ram doesn't. It is pretty evident from these videos that ford spends a lot of money on these tests. What would really be impressive is if ford showed all of these tests being done live side by side with gm and ram. I do hope they show some gm and ram trucks going through some of this stuff like they did with the previous generation trucks.

@Beebe
GM and Ram put out the same kind of videos, believe me. I watch all the "durability" test vids that GM put out last year when they released the '14s. You post points out exactly what I'm afraid of seeing, that being that on manufacture puts out a bunch of vids of tests so the assumption is made that they must do the best or most testing of anyone else. I guarantee you both GM and Ram do just as intensive tests whether or not you or anyone else knows about it. I think that one problem is that everyone uses their truck differently. No single set of tests can validate all possible ways a truck will be used.

@Beebe

Here is a link that has some of the Chevy torture tests, it doesn't have all of them that I've seen, but it should give you an idea that it's all the same thing:
http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado-1500-pickup-truck/videos.html

I don't know where to find the Ram one's I've seen. I was searching for them and then got distracted by this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GlkRUIEl2c

Hemi V8, That's more like regular testing, not extreme torture testing. I've never seen anything like the Ford torture testing videos here from any other manufacturer.

Thanks for the Chevy videos even though they don't really show much. Actually I think it's possible chevy does as much testing as ford, but I'd never heard much of their tests before other than that they have a large proving grounds. As for ram, based on the many design flaws of my truck that are so evident after only 120,000 miles I have a hard time believing they do as extensive testing at least on the little things -like my ignitions switch, worn out drivers seat, rubber coating wearing off the door, esp sensors all going bad, etc. What is really impressive about the ford tests is that it covers so many areas of the truck -they test all the basic things in many ways like engine, differential, suspension, frame. But they also test more minor things like the paint, the door hinges, the radio buttons, the seat, even the freakin badge.

Perhaps pickuptrucks.com can add the gravel road mayhem to their next shootout. Also add the silver creek trail.

@Chris - I am pretty sure that I could come up thousand mile (or more) test loop that is mostly gravel roads and not go over the same dirt road more than once.

I hope all the pickup formulae between Ford, GM and Fiat/Ram work.

If they don't you can kiss full size 1/2 ton trucks goodbye.

Personally, I think Ford will make a profit from these aluminium trucks, but sell quite a few less. In other words costs might crimp numbers.

Here you go again with your goodbye to full-size trucks jibberish.

So you think sales will decrease or that is just you trolling against full-sizers again. Fat chance Big Al from NJ.

Sales +20% at least.

Lou, send your gravel route recommendation to pickuptrucks.com if you know of any. Must be US location only though.

@chris
If you spent the time learning instead of dreaming or probably sitting on your smart phone you would expand your mind.

Many of you guys who blog on this site don't know what effects your vehicle regulations will have on your vehicles.

This is evident by some of the uneducated comments I read.

Ford will sell aluminium pickups, but how many?

If you think you are so clever you tell me what implications and impacts will occur with Class 3 and under vehicles regarding CAFE, let alone EPA? Then explain to me the impact on Class 3 and over vehicles regarding your vehicle regulations?

You can't because you don't have a clue, and like many on this site you tend to eat up this marketing hype, from any manufacturer.

Look at the previous article and what do you see? I even provided a link for cutaways and cab chassis variants of the Transits.

Tell me about the footprint of the Transit? Then look at the engine configurations.

This will end up becoming US Fords work truck, not aluminium pickups.

Aluminium pickups will be mainly SUV style vehicles. Some will be used for normal SUV type activities. Pickups are already nearly all SUVs. 50% are private sales and a huge part of the business sales of pickups are used as SUVs.

Read, research then comment.

I've stated many of you don't like my comments because it goes against your paradigms. Or what you discuss in class at high school.

But I think I'm spot on in my assessment.

Oh, I'd even bet the Transit will come with a 2.7 Eco Boost as well.

@chris
How did Ford sell 20% more aluminium pickups?

The closest Ford pickup with the most aluminium is the Australian global Ranger with an aluminium bed. I don't know if they have increased sales by 20%.

But, it's construction is of thin high tensile steel.