Ford introduced its next-generation aluminum chassis cab designed for its all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty. The F-350, F-450 and F-550 chassis cab lineup is optimized to help commercial customers be more productive on the job – from clearing snow-filled streets to rescuing stranded motorists to restoring power in a storm.
“Commercial truck customers need tough, capable trucks that can haul heavy equipment to crush challenging jobs,” said Craig Schmatz, Ford Super Duty chief engineer. “The innovations our team has put into the next-generation Super Duty chassis cab are paying off by delivering capability that surpasses the competition.”
The company recently announced a $1.3 billion investment plan at its Kentucky Truck Plant to support the launch of the all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty truck.
Weight Savings Reinvested
Using advanced materials, Ford is saving up to 350 pounds of weight in the all-new F-Series Super Duty. For the first time, the Super Duty body uses high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy throughout the cab, which improves dent and ding resistance while saving weight for significant increases in towing and payload capability. Lightening the weight with aluminum enables the company to translate that savings into stronger components in other parts of the vehicle.
“We are reinvesting the weight saved by using advanced materials, giving that savings back to customers with more capability and performance than ever,” said Schmatz. One area of improvement is the heavier-duty fully boxed frame under the cab, which features 95 percent high-strength steel with eight times more torsional rigidity than the previous frame, through-welded crossmembers, and fully boxed rails under the cab and forward for strength and safety. In addition to the new frame, many components are more robust in the Super Duty, including axles, suspension, driveline, and towing hardware.
All these improvements help deliver a 40,000-pound maximum gross combined weight rating and a 500-pound increase in front gross axle weight rating, along with increased towing capacity over the previous Super Duty chassis cab.