A 3-minute video released by Chevrolet yesterday calls out the Ford F-150 directly, purporting to demonstrate in a pair of tests how easily the full-size truck’s “military-grade” aluminum-alloy bed can reportedly be punctured by the sort of payloads that it might regularly encounter.
By contrast, the Chevrolet Silverado’s roll-formed, high-strength steel bed is much more resilient to punctures, implies the video.
This video comes our way from our sister site, GM Authority. To make the video, Chevrolet rounded up a few hard objects a pickup truck bed might encounter in the course of regular use, a Ford F-150, a Chevrolet Silverado, and several ordinary folks to bear witness. Neither of the full-size pickups was fitted with a bed-liner.
First, Chevrolet dropped a load of landscaping bricks into each truck bed from a height of five feet. The Silverado’s bed, while dented and scratched, survived mostly intact. The Ford F-150’s bed, on the other hand, was badly punctured. After that, Chevy decided to demonstrate their point with a less-threatening, more commonplace item: an empty toolbox. Knocking the toolbox into each bed from atop the bed walls, Chevrolet showed that the Silverado again mostly withstood the impact, while the Ford F-150 was riddled with holes.
Although it pains us to say it, Chevrolet rather has a point; as a rule, steel bends and stretches where aluminum is more prone to cracks and tears. On the other hand, it seems farfetched that any responsible pickup owner would task their Chevy Silverado or Ford F-150 with accommodating either of the above items without having any sort of bed-liner installed, and believe it or not, bed-liners can add a significant amount of resilience.
As a matter of fact, an even older video from Ford shows a rigorous test of the Ford F-150’s aluminum truck bed as it hauls a strenuous 51 loads of rocks in a single day, each load weighing close to 2,000 pounds. In all, the aluminum-bodied full-size pickup transported a total of 100,000 pounds of jagged rock, without any sign of duress (thanks, in part, to a bed-liner). You can check that video out below.
Your response, Chevrolet?
Comments
I guess if one uses their pickup truck like a dump truck.
I drive a Silverdo (Company truck) but have owned both GM and Ford trucks previously….for my own money, it’s Ford for sure!
The unforeseen sometimes happen. I like the steel for insurance.
In 10 years Chevys and Rams Will have enough rust holes to outpace the Ford accidental or abusive use.LOL