Chevy aims to demonstrate F-150's aluminum bed is pathetic

[Chevy Joe]

The bed trunk... With the donut spare

 

I was thinking "wow, kind of cool bed trunk", then I saw the depth of the bed.... no way...

 

 

If you get 14 years out of your $60,000 truck up here, you're extremely lucky.

 

That pic of the cab corner is of a 2001 2500HD extended cab, taken in 2015. Wasn't much left of the rockers either. Rear half of the bed was rotting through too.

 

I live in PA and even our 10 year old salting truck doesn't look that bad LOL

[Jsdirt]

MA goes pretty heavy on the salt. Pampered poodles demand clear, wet roads, even in the middle of a raging 3' snowstorm ....

 

But even still, when my ol' man owned that thing, he washed it a few times a week in winter, and always kept a good coat of wax on it. Was very well taken care of. That truck was never dirty.

 

You'd think after 40 years of GM products losing rockers and cab corners, they'd come up with a solution. But no ... the used vehicle market cuts into their sales, apparently.

[sk]

To everybody saying most new trucks have bedliners (either drop-in or sprayed): have you looked at any major construction/utility fleets? I can't remember the last time I saw one of their trucks with a bedliner or plywood in it ...

[sk]

In the other threads somebody ask "who doesn't have a bedliner these days?"

 

All the construction and utility fleets who buy large numbers of trucks, that's who ...

[sdeeter19555]

GM's stronger steel is great and all, but my last 2 GM's trucks have rusted to shit, both on the body and in the bed. I'm looking forward to aluminum just so I can stop having to repair rust bubbles in my paint.

Aluminum will corrode just as bad...

 

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[sdeeter19555]

Following my previous comment, the PA DOT started with steel beds back in the 70s, changed over to aluminum, and I believe some of their trucks sport stainless steel beds now because of the salt and corrosion it caused. Aluminum and salt will corrode, it turns white/gray and swells. I see trucks with aluminum beds corroded out from salt a lot around here...granted they start as raw aluminum and are never coated, but the aluminum used also starts a lot heavier.

 

And as far as the toughness of aluminum, that's all in the alloy. There are alloys of aluminum out there that easily rival steel, it's all about cost.

 

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[Jsdirt]

Yep - and we know full well Ford is going to use the cheapest possible formulation there is. GM will do the same when they see the cost savings, and start copying Ford ... I predict in 2-3 model years ...

 

Can't have a truck that's not full of holes after 10 years. That might cut into their sales.

[white1500]

I couldn't imagine driving a vehicle I care for in those salty winter conditions!

 

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[Jsdirt]

I park our '86 Grand Marquis in winter - wife drives the '93 Volvo 940 then. At least that one was built to handle it. My truck I oil down every fall, and don't drive much to begin with, so I might actually get 20 years out of it ... if the electronics don't melt down.

 

Lots of people up here have no choice. Got one vehicle, and an endless treadmill of bills to pay. Gotta "drive it into the ground" as we say ... literally.