F-150 Assembly (2016

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I've toured the Dearborn plant twice. Awesome stuff.






Some of the best pics I was allowed to take.
 
Pretty typical of American Plants plants these days. But the press did seem to be running slower that industry standards. Maybe they just switched dies and were just running a few parts for a quality check.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Skimping on the glue.


Too much adhesive and it will interfere with the welds. Just because a little is good doesn't mean a lot is better.
 
What would these guys think if they were alive to see the F-150 factory today ?

fordassemblyline.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Skimping on the glue.


Too much adhesive and it will interfere with the welds. Just because a little is good doesn't mean a lot is better.

Yep - in in Ford as well as Toyota's case, the structural adhesive is there to supplement spot welds as well as provide more NVH control.

Toyota is using adhesive as well as laser "screw" welds on most of the Lexus lineup and now the new TNGA-based Prius/Camry to help stiffen the bodyshell and provide NVH control. BMW and Mercedes are almost weldless these days, the new BMW 7 Series uses a hybrid Al spaceframe and carbon fiber elements all held with adhesive, rivets and some welding.
 
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Originally Posted By: PimTac
I think most automakers are using glue now plus the new welding techniques. Interesting stuff.

More use of ultra-high strength steel and Al. HSS does OK with welding but the less heat with UHSS steel the better since it's brittle compared to HSS/standard steel. It allows the automakers to save weight but also have a sufficiently rigid passenger cell and "programmed" deformation in the crumple zones.

Al is tricky to weld, especially in an aftermarket repair environment.
 
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