Trucks are meant to be tough, capable, and long-lasting, and YouTuber Whistlin Diesel’s latest video provides some non-scientific evidence of just how strong modern pickup frames can be. Host Cody Detwiler is, as our very own David Tracy put it, entertaining and “in some ways – insufferable (no disrespect).” Detwiler is an entertainer (who, many say, puts on a persona for his channel), not a journalist, and he himself literally calls this video “unbiased bullish!t” so keep that in mind.
[Ed Note: Note that this video isn’t a scientific test and to some it’s a bit insufferable. If you’re going to be bothered by this particular YouTuber, you’re welcome to read our story on tire wear pollution capturing devices instead. But if you just want to see someone beat on a Ford F-150 and be amazed by the concept of ductility and material toughness, here you go. -DT]
That doesn’t mean that he isn’t capable of demonstrating certain automotive design features, though. After breaking the rear chassis casting on his Cybertruck in what he called a durability test, commenters said that the Ford F-150 in that same test would’ve suffered a similar fate had it been subjected to the exact same abuse.
That abuse, in the eyes of those commenting specifically, pertains to a moment where the hitch of the Cybertruck lands on some concrete. Critics claim that the casting actually fractured at that moment and then only broke when subjected to a towing force.
This did not sit well with the Whistlin Diesel host, who decided to submit the Ford to far worse punishment to prove a point about the differences in construction. That punishment involved lifting the rear of the F-150 up in the air via the hitch and then dropping that area of the truck on a concrete wall.
That’s right, he rented a crane, hooked it up to the hitch of the Ford, lifted just the rear up in the air, and then released the truck when its rear end was just above a concrete wall. This isn’t a scientific test by any means but there’s no question that it’s a wild spectacle.
The hitch nor the frame seem to suffer any noticeable damage after he does it the first time so he repeats the test over a dozen more times. It’s unclear exactly how many times the F-150 was dropped on its rear end but damage does occur over time (the counter in the video is counting the “feet dropped onto concrete,” which reaches 40). Shocking, I know.
Instead of snapping or fracturing, the frame bends. That doesn’t stop the truck from functioning, though, (ditto with the Cybertruck; it still drove afterward) as Detweiler does donuts with it looking sort of like a shoe I’ve had stuffed in a bag for a week. Then, the host attempts to yank the hitch off by driving away from a concrete block that he’s chained up to.
If anything, the frame begins to straighten back out and that trend of automotive chiropractic care continues when he drops a concrete block on the hitch from roughly 15 feet in the air. Detweiler attributes the difference in performance between this frame and the Cybertruck to Ford’s use of steel rather than aluminum.
No doubt the metallurgy plays a role in the way the two handle abuse. There are clear benefits to each way of building a vehicle. The Cybertruck saves weight with its cast aluminum frame but it does appear that it gives up toughness in a silly ‘test’ like this. In fact, it’ll be interesting to see if he tries this same thing with the Tesla when he gets it back.
It’s also worth noting the castings are indeed repairable, so we’ll have to wait to see what shape the Cybertruck is in when it returns from service. Ultimately, this is entertainment, not a realistic test that we can actually pull real data from but it’s an interesting way to show just how strong a steel frame can be.
[Ed Note: Again, there’s plenty of dumb stuff in that video, including discussion about how the host feels an obligation to test whether the “government-required electric trucks” are better than gas trucks. This test he’s doing is less about EV vs gas, and more about different manufacturing methods, but again, it’s a silly video. Rivers and I still enjoyed watching it, which is why we’re sharing it. We share things with you that we’d share with our friends, even if some of our friends might say “Uh, not my thing.” -DT]
Screenshots: WhistlinDiesel (YouTube)
The fact that the editors had to put several disclaimers just shows how afraid they are of the readers who hate on Cody.. just because.
Love him or hate him, he’s a brilliant businessman and entertainer.
This guy is just hilarious.
That boy ain’t right.
Really.
screw the haters! this video is rad!
That guy again?
*be nice, now*
>wanders off to check for unviewed Cody’s Lab episodes…
Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Is he still going?
He is! The Chicken Hole Base vids are long and infrequent, but he puts out others in between.
What’s Above This Square Meter? and Using Thermite to Cast an Iron Pan are two recent ones I enjoyed
Thanks!
Whistlin’ Diesel is like Limp Bizkit- you won’t admit it openly, but you really do enjoy them.
“Aw no man, I can’t stand Limp Bizkit”
*listens to “Break Stuff” on full volume when stuck in traffic coming home from work*
Nope. Don’t watch/listen to either for the same reason. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go clean my Nickelback and Creed CDs.
Werd.
Cleanse with fire, I assume.
False, I use isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth.
Add a glass bottle & you’ve got everything you need for a classic, thrown cocktail!
I gathered no benefit from my exposure to this child.
Agreed. Not good content here at all. Sorry guys, just sayin’.
There are pictures available online where a guy was towing a trailer within the weight limits on the highways and the hitch ripped free from the cyber truck. What I don’t like about this video and others are claiming the frame broke in half. It didn’t, namely because there is no frame. There are also videos of the cyber truck doing truck pulls and doing great at them. It’s either a defect in manufacturing on these trucks from the casting or additional reinforcement is required.
I see Model Ys and Model Xs towing a lot throughout California but have not seen a single report of them getting the rear casting ripped off like that.
It’s a truck. It’s sold with the claimed ability to tow things.
To truck people, the trailer hitch is attached to the frame of the truck. Regardless of what Tesla wants to name this casting, it’s playing the role of a frame when it’s the attachment point for the hitch.
I imagine somebody will come out with a supplemental bolt on steel reinforcement structure for these to tie the hitch to the structure farther forward. If they put the Tesla logo on it, the Tesla fans will stand in line to purchase it at 3 times the price you’d expect.
I haven’t watched the video and could care less about the YouTube, however, I’m here to protest this sentence:
“…test whether the “government-required electric trucks” ”
Are you making the point that EVs are not government mandated? Because, they are! With literal dates to sunset ICE vehicles in most countries.
There are many differences of opinion about all kinds of things, but I wasn’t aware that ‘EVs are a government mandate’ was up for discussion!
Show me the federal mandate.
Here’s the gist of what he’s referring to, and why it’s effectively the same as a mandate: (This is the most clear and concise summary I was able to find while on the clock at work): https://www.nada.org/legislative/epas-de-facto-electric-vehicle-mandate-too-far-too-fast
I do not think NADA is a reliable source for this at all. Dealerships are widely known to not be fans of EVs because of the required investment to sell them, lack of ongoing service revenue, and the fact that they are accelerating the trend of transferring margin to manufacturers instead of the point-of-sale owner.
The word “could” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that article.
Huh didn’t even know, thanks for posting that, and 2027 as the date? Ouch.
It’s an odd statement to make in the context of the Cybertruck.
Tesla never made ICE pickup trucks. The CT was made because Elon wanted to make it. Nobody made him do it. There was a lot of chatter around the interwebs begging him not to build this thing.
I’ve done a fair amount of off-roading in my life and these hitch drops aren’t uncommon. Most people try to avoid them, but you can’t control everything off road. My 1962 Willys CJ5, my 2002 S-10 ZR2, and countless friends’ vehicles have all experienced the same. None of them suffered frame failure.
I once jumped my stock 1995 S-10 single cab off a small jump and landed with the front tires in the holes left by much larger tires. The front tires contacted after the frame did. The frame horns punched through the lower valance and into the raised hump between the tire tracks bringing the truck to an immediate stock. The impact straight up hurt my body, but the frame was fine and didn’t fail. I drove that truck another 50k miles before I sold it.
I’d expect any truck to take similar punishment (excluding the frame horn impact) without mechanical failure. It doesn’t seem like the gigacasting is designed for that abuse though. I’m coming away from this ridiculous video series (which I love) thinking the gigacasting is more of a car application and not a truck application.
I didn’t watch the video. If the same thing were presented by three British gentlemen, one of whom made veiled racist remarks while the other two stooges chortled, would we consider it top gear entertainment? It’s all in the packaging.
The test to destruction they did on the Toyota pickup was quite similar.
When the previous video by WhistlinDiesel was posted, there was an awful lot of protests that that was different but no explanations for why.
It seems that legacy manufacturers know how to make products that are hard to beat, no matter who you are or what you believe you can force into being.
No. No I will not.
As I said with Cybertruck video. I will not provide clicks to chuckleheads who only produce wanton destruction. The only way these people will ever go away is if we stop rewarding their atrocious behavior.
Agreed, and I don’t plan to click either. However, chucleheads (loved the term!) exist in sufficient numbers in the wild to make wanton destruction videos a sustainable business model. I fear for the future…
As I say to my daughters, all we can do is be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Amen!
If you were a chemistry teacher, I hope you would have made the obvious joke.
Alas, I am not.
It’s still better than 80 percent of what’s on TV.
Damning with faint praise.
I’m curious what happens to Cybertrucks over the long term, even without hard use. I agree with the prevailing opinion that these trucks will generally not live hard lives (i.e. won’t be used for truck tasks), and obviously Whistlin Diesel’s videos are intentionally ridiculous. But what happens to Cybertrucks after thousands of miles hitting potholes, driving over imperfect payment, going over speed bumps, etc.? If the problem is that aluminum does not flex to any degree, I would think even minor impacts encountered in daily driving could lead to failures over time. Also, while the casting can be repaired, it seems unlikely that the repaired casting will be as strong as the original.
I know the original video was a stunt for views, but it unintentionally brought up a serious concern with these trucks.
GM, Ford, Chrysler and others over the years have used cast aluminum spindles. I’d think that these have proven reliable through hundreds of “thousands of miles hitting potholes, driving over imperfect payment, going over speed bumps, etc.”
I don’t think aluminum spindles are a reasonable comparison. Smaller parts are easier to cast (there was an article here recently about how difficult it is to cast large parts) and are designed to handle very specific forces. The Cybertruck is a 7,000 lb. vehicle designed to tow 11,000 lbs, haul 2,000+ lbs, go off road, and accelerate rapidly. These vehicles will be primarily used for normal driving, but they will occasionally be used for heavier tasks than a typical car. These frames will be subjected to strong and highly variable forces over the life of the vehicle. Plus, it sounds like a few other trucks have had similar failures without being abused.
I think Tesla makes some great products (I drive a Model 3 and would be very interested if Tesla ever makes a more conventional truck), but on occasion they appear to innovate first and make things work later. I hope the frames aren’t a problem, but it is reasonable to question how they will hold up over the long term.
Agree. I do hope that the engineering has been done properly in spite of elon. Based on anecdotal and other information presented here, the extremes that the trucks were subjected to are far outside the design envelopes. They actually appear to have survived quite well.
I don’t think anyone is purchasing the CyberTruck for heavy duty work, right?
From everything Tesla hyped I got the impression they were after the truck buyer who uses it as a grocery getter and occasionally moving around large objects.
Don’t forget the Chechen warlord! /s I wonder if he is still looking for his missing cat.
Yeah, but it’s rated for 11k lbs of towing. Whether it will be used for that or not, it needs to be strong and durable enough to do so reliably. Is it strong enough? Maybe, but there is some doubt that has been introduced.
After the article, I don’t feel the need to watch at all as the important points are covered. Thanks for the time saver!
Not gonna watch it, but the main difference in why the Cybertruck frame bits snap and why the F-150’s frame bits bend is the difference between steel and aluminum.
F-150 has a steel frame, Cybertruck has an aluminum one.
Aluminum doesn’t like to flex, when it flexes it develops microfractures that turn into full on fractures leading to usually sudden catastrophic failure, this phenomenon is known as stress fatigue.
Steel on the other hand doesn’t mind flexing, and if built to the proper thickness it has an unlimited fatigue life, and can flex a good amount and return back to its original position without bending, and chromoly steel even more so.
I have grown to like aluminum more over the years, but for some applications there’s no replacing steel. I used to use Helinox camping chairs at home on carpeted floors and after ~3 months of daily usage with my 175lb 6ft tall self the tubing would deform and the chair would fail. While their repair service was good (you have to pay for the shipping there though) after the last time one of the chair frames catastrophically failed I damn near got a gobstopper sized biopsy of my ass from a jagged piece of aluminum tubing I decided not to buy aluminum framed folding chairs anymore.
Now I use a powder-coated steel frame folding chair from Lafuma Moblier (Chair Balcony II) and I’ve yet to have problems with it and I’ve had them for over a year.
Elon should have went with a structural aluminum body if he was going with a cast aluminum frame (which he did), and my guess is that there will be a lot of Cybertruck bodies sitting in scrapyards with broken frames, kinda like all the old Land Rover bodies sitting on rusted out steel frames (dissimilar metal corrosion is rough).
this gets discussed in the video as well! the video is mostly entertainment like “top gear” but he does mention a bit of science in there.
While I will be the first one to admit that Cody’s kind of a putz…..there ARE some interesting things that can be gleaned from these videos.
For one, while his methods are extreme, this is not terribly different from destructive testing that automakers do. In this case, he is pushing the limits pretty damned far, but still, it’s interesting to note JUST how much abuse and mistreatment the Ford will take as opposed to the Cybertruck on an aggregate scale. While I do admit that the Cybertruck handled the “achieved altitude” test better, that was largely a function of more motive power and more advanced suspension technology.
Granted, neither truck could be considered safe transportation, but it does demonstrate the limits of the vehicle, and just HOW stupid you can be before something catastrophically fails.
This guy looks and sounds like a jackass… and does jackass-like things to vehicles that they’d never be subject to in the real world.
I will not give him the clicks.
top gear did the exact same stuff and everyone loved it because it was three old british dudes …
I’m comfortable with my hipocrisy!!
I just said the same thing before I read your comment. Sorry for the repeat.
Disagree. Those idiots were entertaining at times.
This guy is just a sad redneck.
There is a difference….
+1
Hate that Cody gives any kudos to Elon…but yeah, still plenty of humor and still says something for how much the F-150 puts up with and not the CT.
Still, thanks for sharing.
Like lots of YouTube comment, there’s nuggets of useful info under the clickbait.
I know these videos probably feed into themselves in terms of profits from a video letting you do silly things for the next one but man, all I can see is two very expensive price tags getting thrashed for content
I agree on a broad basis, but…it’s one of each, and they’re more or less “mass market” vehicles…it feels like a drop in the bucket.
On the other hand, I’d be very annoyed if someone was destroying them en masse “for fun”.
he has a full staff, editors, camera people, support people, his own land, TONS of overhead you have to be over the top to get the views to make the juice worth the squeeze. But cody did say he would still make the videos even if he was not profitable because it’s his passion.
If that’s what he likes, I guess.
That’s easy to say while you’re profiting. I bet he’d change his tune almost immediately when that stops being true.
Ya ever notice how to sound “unbiased” you must first praise Elon? Weird.
Post has been up for 20 minutes, David even put a special note and asked you guys to not hate so much, in an effort to avoid the absolute shitshow of 100 hate comments on the last post.
There’s already two comments hating this guy.
Classic case of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.
Please don’t leave 98 more unfounded hate comments guys. Please. I beg you. The last post was exceedingly horrible and greatly lowered my opinion of the average Autopian.
To the contrary, I think higher of this site and its members than to feature stuff like that.
Guys, I’m sorry to be that guy, but… there is so much interesting stuff on YT, why this? You had a post a few days back about how you won’t write about a casuality in a Cybertruck because it’s neither informative, nor entertaining. How is this either of those things? I think you feel the same way judging by the ed notes. Look up ISO Rivolta Chronicles for a change if you want to feature/boost something cool.
Because it IS informative.
No, it’s mother of all clickbait.
I learned exactly how more resilient to abuse a steel F150 frame is compared to an aluminum cast Cybertruck frame. That’s information, which is legitimately interesting and useful. Meaning it’s informative. You don’t have to like the video, but you DO have to admit that there is real information contained within.
I get what you’re saying, and it would be nice if this was the case, but sadly it isn’t. There is nothing exact or even slightly scientific about this comparison, dude is counting/adding number of feet F150 was dropped from?!?! And this compares to the other one how? He’s recklessly ruining two trucks for clicks.
To each his own, but the fact that this can be seen as any sort of comparison is misleading at best, and probably is the number one reason it shouldn’t be featured here (compare to Huibert’s excellent articles for example).
For the record, I don’t mind one truck or the other proving better or worse.
Anyway, if you found it entertaining or informative, that’s good for you and it’s not my place to judge. Just my 2 cents about being careful with such content.
Oh, this A**hole again?
You already made your opinion known last time, and David politely asked you not to do so again. Why did you leave this comment?
Who died and left you the job of being “the gate keeper?”
We have the right to comment about stupid people, and the stupid stuff they do for clicks….
If the site does not want to hear comments, maybe don’t post stupid shit?
Not to be “hard” here, yet it is what it is amigo. YMMV
You have the right to comment whatever you want. But repeated hatred of some rando on the internet doesn’t do anyone any good. You made your opinion clear.
It’s nice to have at least one comment like this that people can click the smiley face next too. Otherwise we feel obligated to leave our own comment which is not constructive. So… click smiley, feel like I’m heard, move on.