Ford’s new Super Duty truck’s cargo box, which is made from high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy, has been tested to the toughest durability standards. The cargo boxes were subjected to repeated use by various pieces of equipment ranging from glass racks to salt spreaders.
During the design of the truck, Ford body structure engineers ran countless hours of supercomputer simulations with various aftermarket equipment examples to predict box load performance.
“Our modeling analysis enabled us to improve the structure and strength of the box in the design phase,” noted John Comiez, Ford body structure engineer.
Kirk Leonard, vehicle integration engineer, said, “Our team of vehicle integration engineers worked together to develop a unique design approach with the Ford truck body engineering team to drive optimized panel shape, added reinforcements and up-gauged materials into the pickup box – all of which were proved beneficial in our evaluation.”
Extensive physical testing was also carried out, Leonard added: “We drove prototype vehicles over the durability roads of the Ford proving grounds fitted with common aftermarket accessories to test the fitment and capability of the pickup box.”
December 7, 2015
