Chevy steel bed vs. Ford aluminum bed

[angminas]

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AGfV/2016-chevrolet-silverado-steel-bed-outperforms-aluminum-bed

Thoughts? I'm not a truck guy.

 

[SparkyJJO]

As a Chevy guy...

I don't see anyone in their right mind dumping a bobcat load of concrete blocks into the bed from 4+ feet above.

 

[Pulsar]

Yeah, no one would do what they're doing. In addition - anyone doing that sort of work is likely going to have a bed liner. Those fractures don't hurt the integrity of the bed either - it's aluminum so it's not going to rust. You can weld them and be done. The Chevy bed is going to start rusting inside a year from that damage.

But to be fair to Chevy - Ford's done their share of BS comparative advertising too. Back when Ford made a big deal about a 'fully boxed frame' compared to Chevy and Toyota's c-channel frames and showed videos of Chevy's bed flexing when going over bumps. Every vehicle flexes over bumps - people just don't realize it.

 

[Zivic]

Nobody uses a truck as a truck any more.

 

[LTC8K6]

Ford put six aluminum bed F-150 trucks to a severe real world test in 2011.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/ford-s...-150-beds-in-the-real-world-starting-in-2011/

 

[Demo24]

Meanwhile at Honda :

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2...its-bed-in-stiffness-test-passes-108468.html#

 

[slag]

Nobody uses a truck as a truck any more.

What does that even mean?

 

[Zivic]

What does that even mean?

means nobody will use either truck, aluminum or steal bed, like they showed in the ad.

those that might do something like that will have a 1 ton and be pulling an appropriate trailer to haul the block... 1/2 ton owners don't use a truck like a truck. They put a spray in liner than put a tonneau cover on it. the bed never gets used

 

[RLGL]

means nobody will use either truck, aluminum or steal bed, like they showed in the ad.

those that might do something like that will have a 1 ton and be pulling an appropriate trailer to haul the block... 1/2 ton owners don't use a truck like a truck. They put a spray in liner than put a tonneau cover on it. the bed never gets used

I have seen contractors dumping construction waste with a bobcat into a pickup many times

 

[herm0016]

I have seen contractors dumping construction waste with a bobcat into a pickup many times

i have had a loader dump landscaping rocks, dirt into and have scraped construction waste out of my 1/2 ton pickup. quite a few dents from things like a 500 lb drill press and a D60 rolling over and hitting the wheel well. i'll stick with steel.

 

[nedfunnell]

Meanwhile at Honda :

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2...its-bed-in-stiffness-test-passes-108468.html#

:thumbsup:

 

[Drako]

Meanwhile at Honda :

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2...its-bed-in-stiffness-test-passes-108468.html#

So Honda has a built in bed liner? What's the big deal?

 

[NutBucket]

It's not built in, the bed is composite. Toyota did the same thing for a number of years with the Tacoma. Not sure if that's still the case. Seems to me the only reason to use metal is so you can up-sell a liner of some sort.

 

[herm0016]

I have seen plenty of holes knocked in the taco beds. I guess you could just fiberglass it to repair?

the slide in camper manufactures require special installs and backing plates in the composite beds.

 

[Squisher]

I've never owned a truck that didn't have a bed liner. If you use your truck as a truck it'll tear up the bed with dents, scratches, and whole sections with the paint removed if you don't have a bed liner. You're just asking for rust at that point. Steel or aluminum don't really matter under a bed liner.

 

[ElFenix]

Every vehicle flexes over bumps - people just don't realize it.

i'm always amazed watching slow-mo F1 cars flexing on bumps

 

[SparkyJJO]

Yeah, no one would do what they're doing. In addition - anyone doing that sort of work is likely going to have a bed liner. Those fractures don't hurt the integrity of the bed either - it's aluminum so it's not going to rust. You can weld them and be done. The Chevy bed is going to start rusting inside a year from that damage.

But to be fair to Chevy - Ford's done their share of BS comparative advertising too. Back when Ford made a big deal about a 'fully boxed frame' compared to Chevy and Toyota's c-channel frames and showed videos of Chevy's bed flexing when going over bumps. Every vehicle flexes over bumps - people just don't realize it.

Since when did GM ever use a C channel frame? They've had box frames on their trucks (and BoF SUVs) for as long as I remember, unless there is some random model that used a C channel that I am not aware of.

 

[mvbighead]

I've definitely been giving pickups some thought, but that commercial does seems a bit, scary. That said, I can never imagine doing that to a $40k plus truck, let alone without a bed liner. If ever I intend to load a bunch of crap like that into a truck, I'll use my beater that has a value of about $2-3k.

I'd be interested what this looks like when the truck has a Line-X or Rhino whatever bed liner in it. I'd figure it'd absorb enough of the impact that it wouldn't really matter.

I know I have heard people refer to the fact that, in general, GM products tend to have worse paint/rust protection and so they're far more likely to exhibit rust sooner than Ford. I've also heard that the Ford interior quality is better.

While the video is alarming, I don't think it'd sway my decision that much when you consider some of the benefits from aluminum such as no rusting, lighter weight, etc.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I dunno, I see a lot of rusting out Fords around here (rear wheel wells, cab corners). GMs up through 06/07 classic the GM rockers were prone to rotting, 07+ not so much.

I guess I can't really say for certain one is particularly any worse over all than the other, and the newer ones may be a bit too new to say either way yet.

My 07.5 has some rust scale on some places underneath and a few spots that I want to take care of but almost all is minor surface stuff.

 

[darkswordsman17]

What I'm going to find really baffling is how Chevy explains their reasoning for switching to aluminum after they're spending money on marketing to trash it?

They've outright said they're going to switch to aluminum as well. This is better than their absolutely moronic cage commercial, but that's not saying much.

Yeah, no one would do what they're doing. In addition - anyone doing that sort of work is likely going to have a bed liner. Those fractures don't hurt the integrity of the bed either - it's aluminum so it's not going to rust. You can weld them and be done. The Chevy bed is going to start rusting inside a year from that damage.

But to be fair to Chevy - Ford's done their share of BS comparative advertising too. Back when Ford made a big deal about a 'fully boxed frame' compared to Chevy and Toyota's c-channel frames and showed videos of Chevy's bed flexing when going over bumps. Every vehicle flexes over bumps - people just don't realize it.

That wasn't their point at all. Their point is theirs flexed substantially less. I'm sure they went worst case scenario, but the flexing the others showed (I think especially the Toyota) was bad enough that it looked outright dangerous. Which yes, obviously that's not likely to be a common driving scenario but it shows a potential problem.

 

[Pulsar]

Nobody uses a truck as a truck any more.

Uh... just because you live in suburbia hell with soccer moms and dads, please don't assume that means the rest of the country has forgotten how to do real work with real trucks. M'kay?

 

[Pulsar]

What I'm going to find really baffling is how Chevy explains their reasoning for switching to aluminum after they're spending money on marketing to trash it?

They've outright said they're going to switch to aluminum as well. This is better than their absolutely moronic cage commercial, but that's not saying much.



That wasn't their point at all. Their point is theirs flexed substantially less. I'm sure they went worst case scenario, but the flexing the others showed (I think especially the Toyota) was bad enough that it looked outright dangerous. Which yes, obviously that's not likely to be a common driving scenario but it shows a potential problem.

It was never a real problem. The biggest problems Toyota had was the lack of cross-sectional rigidity in their beds that caused the tailgate to jam shut when fully loaded, and the lack of good rust protection that result in truck frames snapping in half.

GM hasn't completely decided to switch. They're also looking at new high-strength steel solutions like bayonite.

 

[NutBucket]

Seems to me Chevy can switch to Al body panels but if I was the engineer I wouldn't sacrifice strength in the bed.

 

[zerocool84]

Uh... just because you live in suburbia hell with soccer moms and dads, please don't assume that means the rest of the country has forgotten how to do real work with real trucks. M'kay?

It's not nobody but I'd figure ~80% of truck buyers don't need a truck. They sure as hell sell great though obviously.

 

[Tweak155]

I have a truck - I definitely don't use it as a work truck. However, I have used it quite a few times to move furniture, small equipment and etc. 95% of the time I don't need it, but I buy it for the 5%. The mileage has become fairly good (I average 20ish) and the gas tank is huge. Trucks don't exist strictly for work, believe it or not. They have convenience factors that are attractive.