Many reports and questions were floating around about the safety of the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 with the aluminum body. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) did the due diligence to come up with the comprehensive results and safety ratings for the new truck. These results may not be the end-all, but IIHS presents their findings in a very understandable and clear way.
IIHS ran a battery of crash tests on two configurations of the F-150: the Super Cab (aka. extended cab) and the Super Crew (crew cab). Why test two configurations? Turns out the extended cab and the crew cab have different structure reinforcements. The crew can is the more popular configuration and it has the additional structure reinforcements to receive the Top Safety Pick from the institute (IIHS).
The story is worse for the extended cab. It received a “Marginal” rating in the front small-overlap crash test. The crew cab got a rating of “Good”, which is the highest. Still, the extended cab aced all other crash tests, which included roof strength, side impact, and more.
The front small-overlap crash test simulates one of the more common types of accidents. One thing you do not want to see is a significant bend in the a-pillar. It’s a first sign that the driver or occupant experience a more severe impact. The rest of the vehicle can and should be destroyed to absorb the impact. However, the a-pillar and the front door should be more or less intact.
IIHS also performed damage repair study. They crashed a 2014 Ford F-150 and a 2015 F-150 into each other at slower speeds. When the “dust” settled, the 2015 aluminum truck body damage repairs cost 26% more than the older steel counterpart. IIHS noted that this cost difference may come down over time.
Watch the IIHS overview on how the Super Crew crash test results varied from the Super Cab (Extended cab) version. The Institute also tested repair costs differences between the 2014 steel-bodied F-150 versus the 2015 aluminum-clad truck. The summary of the results is here.
2015 Ford F-150 Crew Cab
Watch the front small-overlap IIHS crash test of the 2015 F-150 Super Crew.
Here is the Super Crew side-impact IIHS crash test video.
2015 Ford F-150 Extended Cab
Watch the front small-overlap IIHS crash test of the 2015 F-150 Super Cab.
Here is the Super Cab side-impact IIHS crash test video.
