I do paintless dent repair, mostly hail. Currently working at a ford dealership and had a chance to do new f150’s. One thing for sure is they dent like soda cans. They dent up easy but repairs much much harder, bedsides are the only panels that are as strong as steel, everything else takes longer and harder to repair. Roof rails can’t be repaired with pdr method like steel and had to be muded with body filler and painted. There were 2014’s standing right next to the 2015’s and you could clearly see that 2014’s had less and smaller dents then 2015’s.

Maybe that explains why when they,(ford) showed 'how strong' their aluminum panels where they whacked the side of the bed.Good info Fred,thanx.

That's a lie and an off-topic comment not about the specified topic in the blog post. GM fanbois and F-150 haters are getting desperate. smh.

Calling me a liar??? It's a hail season right now, and encourage you to visit a ford dealership next day after at least golf ball sized hail and see for yourself.

Back on topic. If investing in a truck is a good idea, why doesn't Mark buy one and show us the way?

TFL bought a new Raptor. Why can't you or at least cars.com buy a truck, clean it up and flip it? Bet you could do it a lot faster than waiting 5 years if you bought it right. You could sell it almost immediately. It would make for a good story at least.

@Fred

I'm calling you a liar as well. I too work in dent repair and have worked on these new trucks. The aluminum Fords are much stronger and more dent resistant than the Chevys for example, which use "high strength steel" a fancy way of saying thinned out steel that bends like paper.

Fords aluminum is superior and you're just trying to pass your BS lie off to further your own agenda.

@Fred, Not only that but Ford issued a new TSB for the Eco boost problems. Ford still hasn't figured out the problem. Now they are Recalling 2015 for FIRE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozZd0oK-86Y

http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2015-ford-f-150-recalled-for-fire-risk.html

2012 models going up in smoke.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/2012-ford-f150-fires-still-unexplained/29462000

2011 the F 150 was burning on the assembly line.

@Mark Williams, not being a stock broker I have no professional standing to lecture you about investments, however, as they say, past results do not guarantee future performance.

Gun collections, paintings/sculpture, Rolex watches and old cars can all be bought as an investment, but the ability of a collector to hold these luxury items and sell at the optimum time to assure a profit is about like playing roulette at the casino.

Buying old pickups, sports cars and 19th century Colt revolvers should only be done as a hobby or a diversion. Investment?

@papa jim,
I do think you are very incorrect and I do support Mark William's comment.

Keep these types of articles coming Mark.

It appears Mark Williams is much smarter than yourself and Matt the Ford dealer of future aluminium pickups;)

You and I have had many discussions on PUTC involving money and investment. Your views are generally tainted and will misinform others if they follow your advice.

As in any investment plenty of research is needed to lift your knowledge in what you are investing in.

Any moron can invest money like you via investment houses.

If your knowledge is anything like Canadian Ford Dealerships you will lose out.

Good story Mark.

Everyone prior to an investment, use logic and not emotion. Do plenty of research. This will minimise exposure to risk and poor investing.

Don't listen to papa jim's advice as he has problems with procuring Ford pickups.

If you want a nice old pickup, because you can, I encourage you to go out and buy one.

Old pickups are cool.

Roger,
Every dent guy knows what it's like to work with aluminum! I with other dent guys saw these trucks standing side by side and we all agreed that 15's had more damaged compared to 14's, they even had damage on door frames (something that is rarely get damaged on steel). 15's had more cracked paint compared to 14's. Out of 20 techs, no one wanted to do these trucks and demanded more money.
No where in my statement did I mention GM trucks! Why is that I'm automatically a GM fan when I found something wrong with ford?? 14 Silverado has soft fenders, otherwise rest of panels are not bad, besides aluminum hood. If you are dent guy, and defend these trucks, you must be a ford lover!!

Even though this is off content.

The aluminium Ford will sustain higher impact loads than it competitors that are built out of steel. This is irrespective on how the damage occurs, generally via impact.

Aluminium will be more prone to stress fracturing than a steel pickup. But this type of damage takes longer to make itself evident. Stress fracturing can cost considerable sums to repair as this generally occurs in areas that are structural.

The difference is when the damage occurs to the Ford it will cost lots more to repair.

Big Al,
No steel or aluminum are same from manufacturer to manufacturer.
It all depends on the quality of that metal and formula when produced. there are high strength steel, ultra high strength steel, etc. I come accross some thinned gauged steel that is super tampered and repairs as hard or even harder then aluminum. And again, aluminum to aluminum is not always same. As I said earlier, 15 f150 bed is strong aluminum.

@Fred,
The conversation above was driven by hail damage. In Australia we have severe storms called super cells that cause havoc for vehicle owners with hail damage.

My comment is leading to paintless dent removal. I wonder how well aluminium will adapt to this particular repair process?

I do know aluminium when it distorts deforms greater than steel. If the thickness of the aluminium is greater than a high tensile steel vehicle this would reduce the effectiveness of paintless dent removal on aluminium.

In other words, hail damage (any impact damage) on an aluminium vehicle will cost lots more to repair.

Fred
Thank You for the information.
Don't worry about the regulars here calling you a liar cause that's all they have cause those same regulars never contribute any valuable information to this site.
All they have is to point fingers and call you a liar.
I too have been called a liar pointing out the eco-boost and the windshield cracking problems

I don't want to pay $45K for a truck with known issues and I Thank You for pointing out valuable information.

I love the older pickups, in my opinion the 1997-2003 was the best F-150 made !

Big Al,
Aluminum been around for a while now, there are all aluminum Jaguars, Range Rovers, and few others. It's not new for us, and most cars these days have aluminum hoods. However it's much harder to repair. With current insurance and body shop standards, we are not suppose to drill holes for acces. There is also a glue pull method for dents that are not accessible for push, but it's less effective then push method. If we can't fix it, then it goes for conventional repair ( body and paint). We charge a certain percent more to repair aluminum panels. Aluminum won't repair with glue pull method especially with rails and door frames, plus aluminum panels tend to have more cracked paint which in result will increase a repair cost for aluminum vehicles significantly.

Juggernaut,
He was talking about its bed. I know companies marketing scams!!
I saw this with my very own eyes live (not on video, or picture) so who should I believe??

Still waiting for some long term evidence on how the F150 aluminum holds up. From the test edmunds did, it looks like it is stronger then steel at least in the thickness Ford is using.

Thought this was an article about older trucks. You got these guys or girls talking about the F150 again. Jealous of it I guess. Gimme head fred started it and the you have this pea brained tom#3 jumping in. Must be the same idiot. Stay on topic or just don't say anything. I for one like the older trucks and glad to see no mention of dodge.

for the millionth time, Big Al is answering all of the questions that no one is asking.

He refuses to get any kind of professional advice or counsel. There is even no hope for him in religion because he's already convinced that he's god.

Investing in old cars and trucks is a rich man's hobby now. There was a time you could get a nice original muscle car and/or classic truck and restore it and make some money. Not these days.

Everyone who owns a rusted out old clunker with a swapped out non original drive train thinks their vehicle is worth a fortune. And, the already restored examples with the correct matching number engines and parts are going for a kings ransom only to be scooped up by rich private collectors to be stored in their huge classic car garages never to be seen again.

The older pickups that most normal people could buy and fix up, mid 90s models, are not that desirable yet (if they ever will be) except for the more rare specialty models like the Lightning, SS 454, Syclone, etc.

No thanks from us that's for sure.

This article is a little short on the details, but "Make Money With an Old Pickup...guaranteed to pad your bank account"

Is that a guarantee? Are those results typical or is PUTC or Mark Williams personally liable if someone buys an old truck and doesn't get their money back?

Just wondering.

Yep! I love old pick ups! Hence the name "OLD GM GUY". Im only 45 but one of my favorite memories is going to the car lots with my dad and looking at the first Silverado trimmed Chevy! I believe it was 1975 or 1976 I was around 6 and I fell in love with Chevrolet! I still love those old 73-79 tucks and even the 80-87 trucks but ironically a Ram Longhorn reminds me of those old trucks more than anything from Chevy now

As for aluminum or steel, there so thin now that an old truck could plow right thru them! hahaha

Oh, one more thing. I've never really liked Ford but the 87-96 trucks are beautiful and old F1 is too! Those 64-66 trucks are pretty and this new 15 is a really good looking truck.

If you think about it, all the manufacturers have had some sort of iconic truck model that transcends brand loyalty and just makes you appreciate a fine vehicle. Like a Power Wagon or the original little Bronco or the Suburban or even the Scrambler or Scout!

Running your vehicle's air conditioning is no worse for your gas mileage than driving with your windows down. As your vehicle speeds up, air flow creates a drag against the vehicle, making the engine work harder and hurting gas mileage. In fact, air conditioning can be a more efficient option at higher speeds.