What happens when a New Aluminum Ford F-150 Crashes into an older Steel Body Ford F-150?

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Here’s a interesting question: What happens when a new aluminum Ford F-150 crashes into an older steel body Ford F-150?

The answer is in the video below from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety which was published this July on YouTube.

Spoiler Alert: The cost to repair the new Aluminum body Ford F-150 truck is 26 percent higher than the old steel body truck. But you probably already guessed at that answer.

Aluminum while being lighter and longer lasting, is also more expensive to repair as it takes special tools bonding techniques.

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Perhaps more interestingly the Insurance Institute of for Highway Safety also crash tested both the Crew Cab version of the new aluminum Ford F-150 and the Extended Cab version of the truck.

Surprisingly, the Crew Cab did much better in the test than the Extended Cab in the new small front overlap crash test. In fact the Crew Cab earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick Rating while the Extended Cab version of the truck did not.

Simply put the IIHS found that the Crew Cab has “Extra frame components to help it while these components are not present in the extended cab version” that make it a safer truck in the difficult small front overlap crash test.

The IIHS further says the Extended Cab version of the truck suffered from potentially dangerous damage because “the toe pad and pedals moved nearly a foot back towards the (test) dummies legs and the steering column moved eight inches toward his chest coming dangerously close.”

The take away from this testing is pretty straightforward. The new aluminum F-150 is 26 percent more expensive to repair and if you want the safest possible version of the truck, the Crew Cab is the way to go according to the IIHS.

What has been your experience with repair costs of the new aluminum Ford F-150?

We’re sure that our readers would love to know just how easy or difficult is has been for new Ford F-150 owners to repair their trucks. Please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Roman Mica
Roman Mica is a columnist, journalist, and author, who spent his early years driving fast on the German autobahn. When he’s not reviewing cars or producing videos, you can find him training for triathlons and writing about endurance sports for EverymanTri.com as our sister blog’s publisher. Mica is a former broadcast reporter with his Master’s Degree in journalism from Northwestern University.