If you haven't heard yet, the new 2015 Ford F-150 is going to show off some pretty unique changes, the most notable of which is its use of an all-new aluminum bed and body. Ford says the military-grade structure will be just as tough, if not tougher in some instances, than the previous model and these torture tests prove it. Look out for the 2015 Ford F-150 in Duluth, Ga., this fall!
Seven-Channel Input: Ford uses a special kind of torture rack to simulate the pressure that roads put on various parts of its vehicles. In the following test, F-150 was placed on the rack for five days straight - all day and night - to recreate what the truck would be subjected to when traveling about 225,000 miles.
Corrosion Bath: Now that F-150 will be composed mostly of aluminum, Ford couldn't use the old-salt bath and humidity-chamber corrosion tests that it relied on in the past. Instead, because aluminum does not produce red rust, engineers used an acidified spray as a replacement. They exposed the vehicle with enough of the liquid to replicate a 10-year exposure and, surprisingly, the truck shows almost no signs of wear.
Paint Test at Stone Peck Alley: No aspect of the 2015 F-150 escaped abuse in Ford's durability tests - not even the truck's paint. In the next video, the truck is seen traveling on loose gravel in Romeo, Michigan. Engineers drove it 150 miles over the gravel, then another 150 miles through an area full of sharp scrap iron, with pieces flying up and hitting every surface of the F-150's exterior.
The all-new, next-gen 2015 Ford F-150 goes on sale in Duluth, Ga., at the end of the year. Keep an eye out for its upcoming arrival at Gwinnett Place Ford.