New Ford F150 body repair cost

GBCMAN

Member
This is interesting on repairing the new Ford F150
aluminum body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1033534643&feature=iv&list=PLsSQoIGhBLpTEbV4Y5GFNbmvvhQidvm0Q&src_vid=oDQZu8K51ZY&v=Um7UpIA4X0s
 
My dealer's body shop employee said to purchase the tools so they could work on aluminum bodies was about $50,000!
 
I find it interesting that all of a sudden aluminum body work is so difficult. Freightliner and White were building aluminum cabs in the 80s. Some how we managed to fix those years ago, and I guess nobody told us we needed special equipment.
 
I was working on aluminum boat hulls 40 years ago.

Biggest problem then was treating the aluminum so paint would adhere to it.
 
GM motor coaches were using aluminum bodies in the early 1960s.

The difference is unit volume.

There will soon be millions of Ford 150s on the road. The body repair business is not yet prepared for such work.

Stay tuned for large insurance premium increases.

Dean
 
That was not really a surprise to anyone was it??? The aluminum is harder to work with.

I think Ford went the wrong way in lightening up the pickups. I have a Saturn Vue. It has the Plastic/fiberglass body panels. They are light, cheaper to make and not real hard to repair. They are also corrosion resistant too.

How do you like the $800 tail light assembly????
Link to Edmunds badoy panel test/repair.
 
I thought that's why you pay insurance???

That being said, there are two other companies that haven't done this YET so you have buying choices to stay away from the $$$ aluminum ones.

At least for a little while 'til GOAT and Chevy get their ducks in a row and build copies of the blue oval stuff.
 
The difference is those semi/trucks had flat panels that where riveted together. They are much different to repair than a formed panel.
 
Bingo.

Plastic rather than aluminum will ultimately become the body panel material of choice.

Dean
 
I don't know why everyone in so excited a out aluminum bodies. The B series Mack was available with an aluminum cab and frame over 50 years ago. Land Rover has also done aluminum for years. I just hope Ford got the paint process better, they have had corroding hoods for the last 10 years, as some were aluminum. It is just something for the uninformed buying public to get excited about.

As for the $800 taillight, price one for any car made in the last 5 years, espescially LED ones. Hint: You may want to sit down and it has nothing to do with aluminum.
 
They called a comparison test but they didn't wack a 2014 150. They had to hit it twice to do significant damage, they were surprised how little damage the first hit did, I think if the hit a 14 150 like that the damage would have been much worse. The taillight was so expensive because it had special sensors in it that are part of an optional package. The panel could have been repaired much cheaper as you can simply unbolt it and install new one which costs $1000.00 the same as a steel one but they wouldn't allow that. Chuck
 
Some people must be blowing smoke up the publics pant legs.

What $50,000.00 worth of special tools needed to do aluminum body work might look like.
Look Here
 
(quoted from post at 23:30:39 02/13/15) The difference is those semi/trucks had flat panels that where riveted together. They are much different to repair than a formed panel.

Also, semi trucks were not prone to being involved in fender benders or parking lot collisions.
 
Four grand to bondo a dent? I wonder what it would have cost to replace the skin? Of course, a good portion of that cost was to replace the taillamp assemby, which has nothing to do with aluminum repair.

Why should it be more expensive to bondo aluminum versus steel?
 
At coffee last night 2 of our local body shops guys said they would be reluctant to work on them at this time.
 
Owner of a local bodyshop went to special school on those new Fords. Ford wants a special room for body and paint with no contamination from the rest of the shop. He's thinking maybe the Ford dealer can have his work...
 
WG and WIA Whites were all formed and welded aluminum cabs. Out of 20 trucks, it was not often a week went by when one didn't get dinged somehow. Usually was fiberglass bumper of fender, but plenty of metal damage too. See Jonfmn's post from a couple of days ago, as to semi's not getting banged up. Also our fleet ran in Boston, NY, and NJ which probably had something to do with it.
 
Don't know.

Can bondo be used to repair aluminum?

Special "bondo?"

I'll let the dust settle for 10 years or so.

Dean
 
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Same high strength aluminium as used by Ford?

Process meets Ford requirements for Ford franchise?

?

?

?

I'll let the dust settle for 10-15 years. By then most body panels will likely be made of plastic.

Dean
 
A skin patch can be tig welded in as easy as steel.
If you watch Boyd Coddington's American Hotrod TV show thru a few builds you will see some of the most high dollar cars built with aluminum while building steel body cars are being built at the same time. Kinda blows holes in the need for special rooms.
Just because someone said something does not make it fact. People trying to dig out a special pay out place for themselves. Looks like the smoke blowers are winning though. If they say it enough the higher costs will come to pass the same as climate change.
 
There's obviously no 50k worth of special tools but there's DEFINITELY 120/hour worth of knowledge there... That right there is a craft.

Rod
 
Yeah, we all need $800 tail lamps. :roll: Saying "hey, they're expensive on cars too" doesn't make it economically sensible.

I buy the fewest whistles and bells that I can. Now have 2 newer vehicles with the backup cameras. Biggest waste of money, IMO. Narrow range, still need to look out the rear and use side mirrors to make sure nobody is about to walk behind me. By the time they get in camera range, I've probably hit them. Backing out of a parking space, the camera shows it's clear but doesn't show the guy speeding down the aisle.

Plus, the backup cameras are projected to cost the public $2 billion /year to save 800 lives, or so they say. They're assuming that EVERY backup death will be prevented, which is probably not the case. Don't get me wrong, if you want them, get them.... as an option. But the government Nazis cram this stuff down our throats.
 
I suspect they didn't use K-mart Bondo, but it sure looked like a filler repair. That said, I don't see how they racked up 20 hours for a filler repair.

As far as filler goes, Bondo is sometimes used for aluminum aircraft repairs, although the preferred filler material (to save weight) is a mixture of epoxy and microballoons. You can buy enough of this material to do several repairs for less than fifty bucks down at West Marine.
 
>Ford wants a special room for body and paint with no contamination from the rest of the shop.

If I was paying for a paint job, I don't think I'd want the work done in the same room used to overhaul transmissions or do anything else which might put oil or dust in the air.
 
Injected molded panels. Think Pontiac Fiero.
I had one and it was in a HD parking lot when a violent thunderstorm hit, in Orlando. After it passed all the customers ran out to see their vehicles. The BMW and Dodge caravan on either side of me were demolished, mirrors broken off, stainless knocked off, golf ball size dents throughout. The guys looked at my Fiero and said, did you just get here? The only damage I could find were a few small dents in the drip rail over the drivers side door. That is made of steel.
 
Ford should be able to get it right, they owned Land Rover for the better part of 10 years, so they should be use to Aluminium...
 
It wouldn't be too much better for the guy overhauling a transmission breathing paint fumes and sanding dust, especially with paint mist drifting on to all the other cars and tools in the shop. Haven't paint booths been either standard practice or a requirement for several decades?
 
I think the issue is particles from grinding and sanding on steel get painted in and corrode the aluminum. I read a while back that was supposedly the issue on the older cars and trucks with aluminum hoods that the paint flakes off.

I was trying to decide whether to repaint our exploder hood or just find a decent one at a junkyard. I chose option b.

I saw it on the internet, so it has to be true...
 

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