'15 F150 dropping 700 lbs

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It's kind of neat thinking that I'm in charge of some of the paint that gets put on these 750,000 or so vehicles/year.
 
they could have saved just as much weight, and probably a lot of money by keeping the truck the same, but giving the fat overweight bastards that generally buy these a voucher for a couple years of free salads and a gym membership for the whole fatass family.

that would probably save about 1000lbs per truck on average.

overall, i doubt that 700lbs is going to make a huge improvement on the fuel economy on these things. yeah, it will help. some. but, aerodynamics and engine design will have the greater impact.
 
It doesn't make manufacturing sense to build two separate frames with different materials on the same line.

but they already have the technology for the old frames, there is nothing new to be done....where is the added cost of building something you have built for years?
 
they have to re-tool the lines to build the new frames. to build both, they would have to design tools that can work both types of metals (not cost effective), or have two separate lines to build the two different frames (not cost effective).

then theres the actual cost of the metal. they wouldnt get as big of a deal from the suppliers if they did half and half. we all know the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. so buying both alloys would actually increase the overall cost of both lines. once again, not cost effective.
 
overall, i doubt that 700lbs is going to make a huge improvement on the fuel economy on these things. yeah, it will help. some. but, aerodynamics and engine design will have the greater impact.
700 lbs is a HUGE amount of weight and it will absolutely make a difference in fuel economy. Less mass, less power required to get it moving and keep it moving. Simple as that. Sure, engines are part of it, but clearly Ford saw an opportunity to make an improvement and they are taking it. Saying there won't be a difference in fuel economy is like putting identical engines in a Civic and an Accord and expecting both to get the same gas mileage.

but they already have the technology for the old frames, there is nothing new to be done....where is the added cost of building something you have built for years?
There isn't any added cost in reproducing the same frames, but I can guarantee you that Ford has a reason for making this change. It's not always about profit, either.
 
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10 lbs = 1 hp as the saying goes.

this is effective as 70 hp.

or, requires 70 less hp to move it from stop to motion.
 
10 lbs = 1 hp as the saying goes.

this is effective as 70 hp.

or, requires 70 less hp to move it from stop to motion.
Exactly. On the highway, unless pulling up a grade the weight reduction will not produce much improvement.

But, in town driving the benefits will be huge.
 
It doesn't make manufacturing sense to build two separate frames with different materials on the same line.

The volumes are so high that they already need more than one line and sets of tooling to build them. Ford sells a huge amount of trucks to fleet sales. These are businesses who would rather not pay a premium for a few mpg. I imagine they will still sell a low spec version. When GM re-did the Silverado in 2007 with the hydroformed frame, they still sold the "Silverado Classic" in great numbers for a few years.
 
i would probably bet that gm continued selling the original frame bc they already had them built and ready, or the materials already on hand so it would have been a waste to not build them.
 
No way. It's lean manufacturing. You buy/build what you need using the pull method. Stockpiling is a way of the past.
 
but they already have the technology for the old frames, there is nothing new to be done....where is the added cost of building something you have built for years?

Economies of scale, simplification of tooling, common processes, standardization of process...
 
No way. It's lean manufacturing. You buy/build what you need using the pull method. Stockpiling is a way of the past.

"Just in time" manufacturing. Only order the materials you NEED for when you need it. That is why occasionally you see manufacturers having to stop a line because they are short a certain part. It helps control cost.
 
"Just in time" manufacturing. Only order the materials you NEED for when you need it. That is why occasionally you see manufacturers having to stop a line because they are short a certain part. It helps control cost.

Just in time is not necessarily lean on its own...
 
Yeah Lean is another beast. It's the new way to do business at all levels. I implement at a transactional/business ops level.

Aka I'm a six sigma junky.
 
Very Interesting. Going to do some reading on it tonight.
 
Hopefully I'll get the chance to take the Principles of Lean Manufacturing technical elective over the summer. This conversation has me quite excited for it :)
 
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