1999-2016 Super Duty Cab Issue

[7Mary3]

A potential problem for Ford my be in the fact that the F-150, which had to meet certain roof rollover standards, used a different cab than the Super Duty, which did not have to meet those particular standards.  Could the plaintiffs say that Ford intentionally made the roof weaker on the Super Duty to save money because those trucks didn't have to meet the same standards that an F-150 did? 

 

I understand about plaintiffs in product liability cases trying to use product improvements as an admission of guilt, but in this case they seem to be saying to roof was actually made successively cheaper and weaker after the original design.  Of course 2017 was a completely different design but the question is what changes were made between 1999 and 2016.         

 

 

 

[silvrsvt]

4 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

A potential problem for Ford my be in the fact that the F-150, which had to meet certain roof rollover standards, used a different cab than the Super Duty, which did not have to meet those particular standards.  Could the plaintiffs say that Ford intentionally made the roof weaker on the Super Duty to save money because those trucks didn't have to meet the same standards that an F-150 did? 

 

I understand about plaintiffs in product liability cases trying to use product improvements as an admission of guilt, but in this case they seem to be saying to roof was actually made successively cheaper and weaker after the original design.  Of course 2017 was a completely different design but the question is what changes were made between 1999 and 2016.         

 

Why would Ford spend money to make something cheaper when leaving it as is would be the cheapest/easiest course of action?

 

The Cab of the F-150 and Super Duty forked in 1999 and the F-150 got more updates and new cab in that time frame. 

 

IIRC the 2017-current SD is using the F-150 cab structure. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by silvrsvt

[7Mary3]

Leaving it alone would not necessarily be the cheapest course of action.  The savings of using less/less expensive materials may offset the expense of redesigning.  

 

Yes, I believe all F series trucks (except for the 650 and 750) use the same cabs now. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by 7Mary3

[silvrsvt]

1 hour ago, 7Mary3 said:

Leaving it alone would not necessarily be the cheapest course of action.  The savings of using less/less expensive materials may offset the expense of redesigning.  

 

But that would also require retesting of the crash structure...to many unknowns to make a guess at this