Ford F150 TV commercial

Was watching the NASCAR race today. They ran the F150 commercial about the boxed frame. Then they ran the Superduty truck all in parts going together. No boxed frame. What, the F450 has a weaker frame than the F150?? Another case of the head not knowing what the tail is doing:)

Al

Reply to
Big Al
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On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:26:43 -0700, "Big Al" wrote:

It is all sales hype because Ford is behind Toyota in sales and is very worried about their new truck. It is not the boxing of the frame alone that makes it strong but rather the thickness and grade on metal. They use a thinner rail that is boxed for more stiffness but it is not really any stronger than old one at yeild point and when a box frame fails it collapses while a C channel frame tends to flex more before it yeilds and even then not suddenly like a boxed frame can. Personally I think their 1/2 ton commercail is a joke fore towing capacity because it has same LD rear springs as before and no more power. You tow 11K with that it would realy suck at times power wise were as the Toyota would walk away from Ford with same load (and a Dodge and Chevy too) because it has better power, tranny gears and axle ratio. This is not pro Toyota and anti Ford but rather it take more than a "rating" on a commercail to really make it all happen right. FOrd went 11K becuase Toyta said 10K and some change. If Toytota had said 12K, Ford would have said 13K. The only problem is that while 10K is a lot for a 1/2 ton P/U, a Toyota has engine, axle and tranny to move it very effectively while they other brands do not. I have drive a New Toyota and it is a beast with lots of power more so than any other 1/2 ton I have driven and the 6 speed aito worked flawlessly. If this is any gage as to how they are going to build a truck, when they roll out and 3/4 and one ton model Detriot is going to be scrambling to catch up (word is that Toyota is going to have the option of a CAT diesel in HD 08 P/U's so that they can better woo buyer of these kinds of trucks)

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

Wasn't trying to start a rant. Just seemed funny they were beating their chests about the advantages of a boxed frame, then show their "Super" truck with the "C" frame they were just making fun of.

Al

Reply to
Big Al

"Big Al" wrote in message news:46357ba9$0$496$ snipped-for-privacy@news.qwest.net...

The front portion of the Super Duty frame is fully boxed. The rear portion is open C-channel but very heavy. Different applications have different needs. If you are mounting a fifth wheel hitch, having the open C-channel is better since the fifth wheel hitch mounts to the frame near the center of the bed. For a rear receiver, the fully boxed frame is probably better. However, either design can be made strong. In the end it comes down to production equipment, design requirements, and engineering judgment. The fully boxed frame might be the reason that the F150 can tow 11,000 lbs, but it probably isn't the reason the Tundra can't. I am sure that you could design an open C-channel frame with the same rigidity as the fully boxed frame - however it might be heavier for a given stiffness. For a load carrying truck it is sometimes desirable to have a frame with a very high shear strength (think pressing straight down) but with somewhat less torsion rigidity (think twisting). When you are on uneven surfaces allowing the frame to twist slightly can reduce peak loads on portions of the frame. The Ford F150 commercial is too simplistic in that it leads one to believe that for all conditions one frame design is superior. This is hardly ever the case. I'd probably guess that for a truckoid like the F150 or Tundra, the fully boxed frame really is better. For a real work truck like the F250/350/450, the heavy C-channel rear frame probably has advantages.

When the current F-150 was introduced I read several articles that commented (critiqued really) Ford for over engineering the frame. It was considered too heavy and too expensive for the application. I guess Ford actually knew what they were doing. They had enough over capacity in the design that they were able to just change the published spec as needed . Toyota designed their truck to beat the Ford advertised spec, not the actual engineering limit. For most people who buy a half ton truck, the maximum is irrelevant. If you really want to tow 10,000 lbs. you'd be stupid to buy a Tundra or an F150. For the same money as a 1/2 ton truck equipped to tow 10,000, you can buy an F250 or even an F350.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I understand. A "C" channel of proper thickness, cross sectional area and alloy is the preffered frame design for maximum over all durabilty (just look at dump truack and semi frames). Some makers are going to lighter boxed frames because it looks impressive and allows the usage of less material and smaller cross-sectional areas. It looks good in advetisements too.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

You make a good point. It doesn't matter how the frame is made, really, what matters is how much you can carry. When the heavy duty frame option came out (3000 lb payload) it effectively made the F250 redundant. Ford has to be careful how light they build the F250 for that reason. If you look at the old GVWR's and payloads there have always been F250's with a lot less payload than that. It's not a bad idea, but it just looks embarrassing, as you pointed out.

3000 lb is, after all, a ton and a half. It's overkill for a pickup.
Reply to
Joe

Not a problem for a F350

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Reply to
Rudy

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