More Aluminum in the trucks

From the article :

Part of aluminum makers’ pitch to automakers has been that the material will let them cut weight in two ways. The first comes by substituting their lightweight material in hoods, doors and other parts of the body.

The lighter body then allows other components such as fuel tanks, brakes and powertrains to also shrink, all while maintaining or improving driving performance and fuel economy, according to companies including Alcoa and Novelis Inc.


I was hoping for an aluminum frame too

 

This.

 

So it looks like no frame components will be effected. It will be interesting to see how this holds up under slamming doors and hoods hundreds or even thousands of times.

 

Not in this article per say, but in articles from other sources, just the hood, roof, engine, driveline and bed...nothing about the frame; hence this does little to address rusting of the most important component....the frame.

 

Yeah , I just edited my post , I was hoping for some aluminum frame components , however , having bodywork panels made of aluminum may still be a benefit in weight savings

 

If Alcoa has approached Ford, I would guess they have talked to all the major makers of trucks. You drop 500-700 lbs per truck that's going to change all kinds of things i.e.: body design, engines, transmissions, etc, etc.

 

It would be nice if they dealt with the rust issue, but keep in mind they are doing this because they want their trucks to last longer. They are doing this in hopes of meeting Government's mandate on MPG.
Many years ago I worked for a company which manufactured it own product. We did a study to see which parts on our equipment would wear out the fastest. Instead of making those parts stronger, we made the rest of the parts weaker to wear out at the same time.
The auto industry is no different. This venture with aluminum is not so the trucks last longer. I wouldn't be surprised if the fenders and doors do not start to falling off after a certain period due to stress even with the higher grade aluminum.

 

Turning out to be a very interesting topic I appreciate all the replies

 

Duck shrinking my tank. Keep it the same size so I can get even more mpgs

 

Yea. If the MPG gain is significant enough to offset the price this may work out, but we will have to see if there is enough gain to justify the price change that is coming with this new idea.
The EPA says that for every 100 pounds taken out of the vehicle, the fuel economy is increased by 1-2 percent. They are going to have to drop the weight a lot to increase the MPG any significant amount. If the truck got 30 MPG originally and you only removed 100 pounds it would only increase by .6 MPG. To get an extra 6 MPG they would have to cut the weight by 1000 pounds. I am not sure they can do that with just the doors, hood and fenders.
I read an article about a company that has come up with a way to extract fuel from the air. Now that may be the way to go.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...t-in-fight-against-energy-crisis-8217382.html

 

Really? Wow could that be true? unbelievable to me they would do that.

 

^It's true, though they'd "downgrade" the parts only if there's a tangible cost reduction.

Since they don't plan to use aluminum in the frame, that's not going to help Toyota trucks. Plenty of 1st gens with perforated frames have bodies in great condition. Lighter weight is of course welcome. Most of the 2nd gen Tacoma's performance edge over competing mid-size trucks comes from its 4000 lb weight.

 

Believe it. No manufacturer wants their product to last for ever. They want to sell new ones. They all build into their products a life expectancy. The only thing that will make them deviate from it is if competition makes their product last longer for the same price.
I grew up on the farm and many of the tractors that I used are still around and being sold for more than they sold for new. You will not see that with today's tractors.

 

The Tacoma's biggest achilles heel has always been frame rust, though.
It seems unlikely that they'd started putting aluminum frames under the trucks...

 

Oh hey, look, everybody else already said that...
I guess that's what I get for doing work at work instead of just hanging out here all day

 

So Do we think this would be good for Toyota, good for the customers, or good for both? I've got a 2013, so I'm wondering if steel isn't better for longevity?

 

Your mpg would be the same no matter what size the tank

:notsureifserious:

 

Why does everybody resist change as their default reaction ?

 

....
Wouldn't the extra trips out of the way to the gas station negate any extra MPG's?

 

Up north in Flagstaff, yes. In the valley, never seen rust on a vehicle here in my life of working on cars and this is coming from someone who works for service king as a body tech. Always, always, always check for it but I've never had an issue with a vehicle that's spent its entire life in the valley.