New test shows disparities in Ford F-150 crash protection

Lower-volume 2016 pickups will get 'countermeasures' to improve safety-test results

July 29, 2015 01:00 AM

IIHS

During the crash test of the F-150 SuperCab, “intruding structure seriously compromised the driver's survival space,” IIHS said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Ford plans to add wheel blockers to 2016 SuperCab and regular cab pickups. Ford said it is studying which "countermeasures" to add, and they will vary by cab type.

After a highly unusual follow-up crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has concluded that Ford Motor Co. “shortchanges” some buyers of its redesigned 2015 F-150 pickups by equipping certain models with protective steel bars while leaving them off others.

In separate crashes, a four-door crew cab F-150 SuperCrew aced IIHS’s tests and earned the safety agency’s coveted Top Safety Pick rating. But an extended cab SuperCab version of the F-150 received the second-lowest rating of “marginal.”

Why the difference?

IIHS says it comes down to four protective steel bars that Ford installed on the SuperCrew that are left off the SuperCab. The tubular bars, welded to the frame and placed in the front wheel wells, also are missing from regular cab F-150s.

David Zuby, IIHS’s chief research officer, said leaving the bars off the SuperCab “shortchanges buyers who might pick the extended cab thinking it offers the same protection in this type of crash as the crew cab.”

“It doesn’t,” he said.

“In a small-overlap front crash like this, there’s no question you’d rather be driving the crew cab than the extended cab F-150.”

In an e-mailed response to questions from Automotive News, Ford spokesman Mike Levine said Ford will add "countermeasures to the SuperCab and Regular Cab for the 2016 model year. The type of countermeasure and structure will vary by cab type."

Changing course

The IIHS originally tested the SuperCrew in April under its usual procedures to test only the highest-volume version of vehicle nameplates. The researchers were not planning to test any other F-150s.

The institute changed course after learning from Automotive News that the SuperCab lacks the SuperCrew’s wheel blockers, the term for the protective bars used by the IIHS and many engineers.

The IIHS, a 55-year-old nonprofit funded by auto insurers and based in Arlington, Va., plans to release the results of the new tests Thursday. Automotive News obtained an advanced copy of the report through another source and was granted access to IIHS’s chief research officer.

“Based on these two tests, those structures which extend from the outboard edges of the frame rails seem to do a good job of protecting the occupant compartment from excessive intrusion in this type of crash,” Zuby said.

Wheel protectors

As Automotive News first reported, SuperCrew F-150s come standard with a pair of what Ford calls “protectors” in front of and behind each front wheel. The tubular steel bars extend out from the frame, absorbing energy in a frontal impact and deflecting the wheel away from the passenger cabin.

The 2015 models without the protectors -- the SuperCab and regular cab pickups -- historically account for about 25 percent and 5 percent of total F-150 sales, respectively, according to a Ford spokesman.

The IIHS already had tested the SuperCrew F-150 in April when Automotive News informed it that only the SuperCrew had the protective bars.

The revelation prompted the agency to delay a planned report on F-150 crash safety and to conduct a second test, on June 11, this time on a SuperCab.

In May, when Automotive News asked a Ford spokeswoman why the protectors were on the crew cab but not other versions, she said, “It’s something that we do regularly. It’s to optimize the structure. All of that is to meet regulatory requirements and achieve public domain ratings.”

Asked to clarify what public domain ratings were, she replied, “crash testing.”

Spokesman Levine said Ford had no plans to recall 2015 F-150s without the blockers, which the company also calls Small Offset Rigid Barrier countermeasures.

"We are evaluating which specific changes we will make to the SuperCab and the Regular Cab to improve performance in the IIHS small-overlap front crash test," he said. "It is important that any changes do not compromise performance on other crash tests."

Levine added: “The 2015 F-150 is the safest F-150 ever. It is the only full-size, light-duty truck to earn NHTSA’s highest five-star rating for the driver and passenger for all crash test modes and cab configurations. In addition, the 2015 F-150 SuperCrew is the first large pickup in the industry to earn an IIHS Top Safety Pick in the current rating system.”

IIHS

SuperCrew F-150s come standard with a pair of what Ford calls “protectors” in front of and behind each front wheel. IIHS for this photo painted the added elements red and yellow.

brightcove.createExperiences();

Test results

The small-overlap front crash test has proved particularly vexing to automakers since it was introduced in 2012. The test crashes a front corner of the vehicle against a stationary barrier at 40 mph, simulating the vehicle striking an object such as a tree. Many automakers have had difficulty passing the test.

The two diverging 2015 F-150 crash test results show why.

Comparing the two models, the SuperCrew received a top rating of “good” on every crash test it was subjected to by IIHS.

The SuperCab, however, earned a “poor” rating on structure and “acceptable” ratings on restraints and kinematics, as well as hip and thigh and lower leg and foot dummy injury measurements.

The results all together earned the SuperCab an overall safety rating of “marginal,” one mark above “poor” on IIHS’s four-grade scale.

The SuperCrew’s occupant compartment remained intact, IIHS said, and the crash-test dummy had a low probability of injury thanks to the pickup’s structural and in-cabin safety equipment.

However, in the SuperCab, “intruding structure seriously compromised the driver’s survival space,” IIHS said.

The brake pedals and toepan were pushed back between 10 and 13 inches toward the driver, and the steering column was pushed back nearly 8 inches toward the driver’s chest. The crash-test dummy’s head “barely contacted the front airbag before sliding off to the left and hitting the instrument panel,” IIHS said.

The IIHS does not plan to test the regular cab F-150, which has a very similar underlying structure to the SuperCab.

brightcove.createExperiences();

Important marketing

Pickup safety is big business for automakers, especially because women influence the vast majority -- about 70 percent -- of all pickup purchasing decisions.

This spring, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration subjected all three cab versions of the F-150 to its own battery of crash tests. All three earned five stars, the federal agency’s highest rating, and the achievement features prominently in Ford’s F-150 marketing. NHTSA, however, does not conduct a test similar to the IIHS’s small-overlap test.

While NHTSA’s testing judged all three F-150s as equal, the IIHS’s testing showed that one configuration -- the SuperCrew -- was safer than the others, at least in the small-overlap frontal crash test.

Under IIHS rules, a vehicle must get a “good” or “acceptable” rating on the small-overlap and other tests to receive the group’s Top Safety Pick designation.

IIHS researcher Zuby declined to speculate on why Ford put the protectors on its SuperCrew but not on other F-150s.

“I think automakers are trying to design the vehicles to offer the best protection for their customers,” he said. “But occasionally, we do see evidence that maybe they are trying to get a good rating in a test, maybe without looking for a completely holistic solution.”

Ford spokesman Levine said “the F-150 program was well underway when this [small offset rigid barrier] test mode was introduced.”

Zuby said IIHS is always careful to identify which vehicle variant it is crash testing, but, he said, sometimes consumers make assumptions that might not be accurate.

“Which is why, when we saw this issue, we decided to do the extra test,” Zuby said, “just so that we would be providing complete information to the public.”