Ford F-150 gets mixed IIHS crash test results

DETROIT – Crash test results were released Wednesday for Ford's new aluminum-sided F-150 truck, and the evaluations by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety were very different for the crew cab pickup and extended cab models.

The Ford F-150 crew cab pickup (4-door, full-size back seat) earns a good rating in the challenging small overlap front test, while its extended cab sibling (shorter body with a compact second row of seats) earns a marginal rating in the same test.

IIHS conducted tests of the F-150 by itself, prior to testing other large pickups, because of its top-selling status and its construction as the first mass-produced vehicle with an aluminum body.

The key findings were:

  • While the crew cab's occupant compartment held up well in the small overlap test, the extended cab's occupant compartment collapsed, seriously compromising survival space for the driver.
  • Ford added structural elements to the crew cab's front frame to earn a good rating in the small overlap test, but didn't do the same for the extended cab. That shortchanges buyers who might pick the extended cab thinking it offers the same protection in serious frontal crashes.
  • IIHS also conducted fender-bender tests (pictures below) to compare repair costs between the 2014 steel-bodied truck and the 2015 aluminum version. Repair costs after the low-speed tests were 26 percent higher for the aluminum version.