I’ll admit to being one of the skeptics of the new aluminum-bodied Ford F-150. I could just see them getting banged up real easily on worksites, and being extremely expensive to fix. This video shows some surprising resilience in the F-150’s aluminum body panels, even after being pounded with a sledgehammer. No word on the repair bill as of yet, so we’ll have to wait and see. But thus far, I’m definitely impressed.

UPDATE: They got the bill!

So the aluminum body panels are sturdier than many had thought, but you won’t want to have to fix them. They are quite expensive, more than double the cost of repairing steel body work. Aluminum costs substantially more to work on than steel, and it takes more hours to do the work.

In a nutshell, it’s a good thing that the F-150’s aluminum body panels are pretty robust because many customers may find it a better idea to just live with a few dings and dents than spend the big money on repairs.

-Nick