Media General – ARLINGTON – The Ford F-150 is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. and the first mass-market vehicle with an all-aluminum body, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). In recent crash tests, the truck performed differently depending on which version was put to the test.
The F-150 crew cab did very well qualifying for a "2015 Top Safety Pick" award. The "SuperCrew," as Ford calls it, earned good ratings for protecting everyone riding inside in all five crash test evaluations.
Recommended Videos
The extended cab, called the "SuperCab," earned good ratings as well in most of the crash tests. But, when it came to the protection for riders in a small overlap front crash, it only earned a marginal rating.
"Consumers who wondered whether the aluminum-body F-150 would be as crashworthy as its steel-body predecessor can consider the question answered," said David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer.
Beyond safety, another thing to consider with the new aluminum F-150 is cost. The IIHS evaluated repair costs between the new body style and the old steel body. In most cases, it took longer to fix the new aluminum truck and parts cost more raising the cost to fix the new truck by 26 percent.
The results for the Ford F-150 are just the first in a series of large pickup testing the Institute plans to conduct this year.