How much will the lighter hood/bed material affect overall durability?

I've watched a few review videos of the new '24 model and they talk about the hood being lighter and the bed, liner, and tailgate all being much lighter than previous gens. That's probably nice for fuel economy but how will it affect durability? I'm kind of concerned about denting the bed, or what it will be like in a crash.

 

Ah....just get that spray liner option and it will be all good. It will be fine regardless of the changes.

 

I remember people freaking out about the F150 going aluminum. Somehow they still sell those pop cans to this day despite the naysayers.

 

This summer, I had to replace a fender on my truck due to off-road damage. The replacement fender was lighter than the bubble wrap it came in. Toyota has been thinning down on the steel it uses for years for weight reduction. A switch to thicker aluminum may be a good thing.

The Jeep Wrangler had aluminum body panels since the JL's introduction in 2018. It's been holding up well.

 

The bed is glass fiber reinforced now, so it certainly could be lighter and just as strong, or even stronger. Or it could be weaker if they screwed the design up. Nobody really knows for now

 

Composite beds on the 3G are pretty sturdy. Takes major abuse to bust through, and more resistant to minor dings than aluminum. And it won’t corrode.

 

Over the years I have seen threads about cracked 3rd Gen beds. The OP said it could have been caused by wood.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cracked-truck-bed.653613/

 

lol are all those panels load bearing surfaces? i dont think so. will you be loading the hood full of cargo on a daily basis? i dont think so. have you seen how easily the STEEL 22 gauge body panels on the tacoma bend? which by the way on the Boeing 777-200 the thickness of the soft aluminum sheet metal is a whopping .040 inch thick. which is responsible for holding back 9.1 PSI of cabin pressure at cruising altitude which equates to about more than 1,300 POUNDS PER SQUARE FOOT. Not to mention pretty much everything else on that behemoth of an airplane is also aluminum, (steel, titanium, other stronger metals reserved for where its needed). So for automakers to employ the use of lighter materials in areas that could use it is of no concern to durability at all.

 

The 1300lb/sq ft is a tension figure. Aircraft are very susceptible to compression damage. So while I’m sure the aluminum parts will be fine, this comparison doesn’t really make sense

 

Agreed yield and compression figures probably make more sense. But automotive body panels are under no stresses at all which makes the original question pointless

 

They will be when they get dented. That’s usually the issue people are worried about