Assembling Ford's Aluminum Wonder Truck - Assembly Magazine
The past and future met recently as the first aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup rolled off the assembly line at Ford Motor Co. ’s Dearborn Truck Plant. In fact, some experts argue that it is Ford’s most important product launch since the Model A sedan superseded the Model T in 1927. Ford spent $3 billion developing the new F-150 and the automated production processes used to assemble it. The... The auto industry’s best-selling vehicle now features numerous aluminum body parts, including doors, hood, fenders, floor, roof, side panels, load bed and tailgate. Roughly the same number of body parts are used in the aluminum version of the F-150 as in the older steel design. However, Ford decided to insource many of the stampings and subassemblies to control production quality. The switch to aluminum required Ford engineers to undertake a massive plant retooling effort. When production is fully ramped up by this summer, Ford plans to assemble as many units of its popular pickup in a month as all. Source: www.assemblymag.com
