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Redesigned Ford SUV depends on hydroformed tubular steel - News - Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator - Brief Article
Al WrigleyDETROIT -- Lightweight hydroformed steel sections will account for two-thirds of the rail construction in the all-steel frame used in Ford Motor Co.'s redesigned Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicles coming out later this year as 2003 models.
Built for Ford by Dana Corp., Toledo, Ohio, the frames will give the new SUVs the distinction of having the highest content of hydroformed tubular steel of any line of vehicles built so far by Ford in North America, according to company sources here.
Ford will be only the second domestic automaker to put hydroformed parts-intensive frames into standard-size SUVs, following in the footsteps of General Motors Corp. In the restyled and re-engineered Expedition/Navigator models, the side rails will provide benefits in both weight savings and strength over conventional welded steel channels utilizing stampings, according to Ford engineers.
The hydroformed frame components will top the list of steel applications in the new SUVs, which also will have steel bodies and side doors, steel-and iron-intensive engines, steel bumper beams, axles, door intrusion beams and many other chassis applications for the metal.
Although much is going to be said about the use of aluminum, magnesium and plastics in the new SUVs, two different Ford engineers estimated that the vehicles will have a net steel content of more than 3,100 pounds per vehicle, which is actually greater than their predecessors. The redesigned vehicles will be a little longer, wider, higher and stronger than the 2002 models, and also will have more performance, safety and convenience features, the Ford sources said, which were said to account for the higher steel content
Dana built a 156,000-square-foot extension onto its frame-molding plant in Elizabethtown, Ky., and installed several hydroforming presses in the 10,000-to 16,000-ton range to help in the production of the frames for the new SUVs.
Bethlehem Steel Corp., Bethlehem, Pa., is believed to supplying most of the steel used in the frame tubing, and BethNova Tube LLC, Jeffersonville, Ind., is furnishing Dana with most of the tubing. BethNova is a joint venture between Bethlehem Steel and Novamerican Steel, Montreal. Bethlehem also is a regular supplier of flat-rolled steel to Dana for use in its stamped components.
According to Ford sources, the noteworthy applications for steel in the SUVs also. will include the dash panels, which have been specified in laminated steel for noise-deadening purposes, and the upper control arms in the front suspensions, which will be made as forgings. The steel upper control arms will be teamed with cast aluminum lower arms to help achieve reductions in total mass.
Forgings made from steel bar stock will be used extensively in the powertrains, and two engines familiar to Expedition and Navigator owners--the aluminum block/head 4.6-liter Triton V-8 and the iron-block/aluminum-head 5.4-liter Triton V-8--will be offered. The 5.4-liter engine uses a forged steel crankshaft as well as other forged components in the form of shafts, valvetrain parts and bearing components. Ford's 4R100 automatic four-speed transmissions for the vehicles also will employ numerous forged steel parts, including gears, hubs, shafts, sprockets, etc.
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