Why are there so little cars made from Aluminum?

Why are there so little cars made from Aluminum?

There are a few that use all aluminum body panels, and Audi made a few all aluminum monocome frames, but why is this still not a metal that all cars are made from?

I understand that its harder to work on, weld, repair.

How is carbon surpassing it? Its just as hard to repair, and probably as expensive.
Why dont we have lightweight aluminum frame 2 seaters?
Or super light fuel efficient city cars made form the stuff?

probably safety, it crumples differently

Why would you want a 2 seater when you can have a van?

You'd also think they would use it more since it doesn't oxidize as badly.

But if bicycles have told me anything, it's that aluminum is *not* preferable for high load joints, which are much, much more prone to cracks than steel.

That's probably the main reason.

more expensive and not much weight saving.

You're an idiot.

Obviously it's some bean counter thing that's way beyond our paygrade, but as someone that's done a bit of bodywork on aluminum and works on all aluminum cars all day I really don't like it, it's really unforgiving as it gets work hardened when you bang on it so you have to really be good with a hammer and dolly. I see cars that have been hit and "fixed" but it's immediately noticeable if you know what to look for because no bodyman on earth can repair certain types of damage back to factory.

The weight savings aren't as much as you're imagining they are, it has a shorter fatigue life than steel, its more expensive than steel, and it requires specialty tooling for dealers, manufacturers, and body shops.

Expensive and difficult to repair. Generally the cost isn't work the money unless you're looking at serious performance in which case you'd go carbon fibre. Also safety is compromised, which is why we can't have aluminium roll-over protection in Australian motorsports any more (dunno about elsewhere)

it fatigues much quicker than steel and can oxidise just as bad
worse if it gets electrolysis

its like how people think chrome is better than nickel
or that stainless steel does not need care

>expensive
>difficult to build with
>difficult to service and repair
>weight savings aren't all that significant and generally don't much matter anyway
>being weaker means it requires more material to reach the same strength, furthering issues 1 and 4
>work hardening increases likelihood of unexpected catastrophic failure

>Why are there so little cars made from Aluminum?

By far it's safety.

There is also the problem of YOU having an all aluminum body and then the guy that hits you has an all steel body weighing 2.5 times as much as you. What's going to happen?

After that accident, you will switch to a steel body and feel AND be safer. It's that perception that is going to convince a lot of people to stay with steel even if aluminum gives fuel savings, allows faster acceleration, and improves agility in cornering.

Another problem with aluminum is that the girl in this picture will come sit on your car and crumple your aluminum hood.

bamboo frame gusseted by epoxy and flax
just for a giggle

costs too much
Ferrari has the 2 seater you're looking for

The ALL NEW FULL ALUMINUM FERD EFF TEN FIDDY that really only has an aluminum box is a great example why nobody uses it.

Because its nearly impossible to fix to any half decent degree, insurance companies have found it easier and cheaper to either write the entire truck off or buy a new box.

Imagine a uni body car that only has cosmetic damage to the panels on one side. With a steel body, you can take the panels off and hammer and wield in what you need to make it right and bolt it back together. An aluminum body would require replacing all those panels because it would be easier then playing the "what if" game.

The new f-150 weighs only 70 pounds less than a similarly optioned silverado

cost to work it into car shapes.

Both my front hood and rear trunk hood are aluminum in order to save weight. Unlike steel, they bend and stay bent easily if you put weight on them. I leaned a little bit on one edge while reading mail I just picked up from the mailbox and it bent downwards and stayed bent. Gotta love that aluminum for flimsy hoods.

>The new f-150 weighs only 70 pounds less than a similarly optioned silverado
To get enough strength out of aluminum, it would have to be a lot thicker than steel. That extra mass apparently negated a lot of the weight advantage.

>that pic

made me rage a little

>and can oxidise just as bad
Only in marine environments because salt water destroys fucking everything.
>worse if it gets electrolysis
I would love for you to explain how a car is going to be in a condition of mass electrolysis without already being a total write off.

>much more prone to cracks than steel.
Yeah, aluminum doesn't recover from plastic deformation like steel can. Once it's deformed, it's deformed for good and it adds up over time.

When I was in grade school my dad had a saturn with plastic body panels. I used to kick the shit out of it for fun because it wouldn't get damaged or bent. As cheap as it feels, plastic body panels would be fucking fitting for a pickup. For something that sees so much (potential) damage and work, why wouldn't you want durable and lighter body panels?

>I sit on things that aren't mine

Dumb bitch.

The Silverado lost a lot of weight in the frame and bed. The engine block is also now alumnium. The bed is rolled steel and the frame is hydro-formed. The Silverado lost weight while improving strength.

As a valet i can easily say that i'd be pissed if some landwhale sat on a ferrari and dented the hood and we got blamed

because that makes sense.

do car companies do anything that makes sense?

it would make the most sense to have the cab built like a tractor with a dedicated non crumple roll cage and plastic body pannels that are quickly removed for service and repair.

but no

that makes too much sense

how about an aluminum truck?
got to support the dying aluminum smelter plant workers and their exorbitant union dues.

>When I was in grade school my dad had a saturn with plastic body panels. I used to kick the shit out of it for fun because it wouldn't get damaged or bent.
Nor would good metal. When I was in grade school I took a BFH to the trunk lid of a rusted out Torino. Didn't leave a mark. Plastic would never hold up to such abuse, especially if it's repeatedly.

Ford made the body lighter, then made the frame beefier.

If you look carefully, she is still wearing her shoes while on the hood. To scoot her butt up that high, she probably pushed off against the hood with her heels.

Kinda this.
After a certain degree of bending, the aluminium doesn't just keep bending with less resistance, it completely gives up and almost turns to cheese once it has done so. I'd say the largest impact that has is simply on manufacturing processes.

>Veeky Forums making inappropriate generalizations about aluminum based on what they think they understand about a few specific alloys

They don't use aluminum for two main reasons:
1) it costs a little more
2) their entire product chain, from material sourcing to post-sales maintenance, is based around using steel

It has nothing to do with fatigue, or plastic deformation, or repairability, or whatever other nonsense you've read in this thread.

yes Audi ade the 80 and 100 as well as others out of aluminium. however those cars were rated the two worst vehicles to be in when involved in a crash.

Audi then ceased production for around 2 years and cae back with the A cars, a new seat belt mechanism and the tag line Vorsprung durch Technik.

during the 2 year hyatus Audi managed to narrowly pass Volvo in the safety stakes by dropping the whole aluminiu body idea and sales have been on the up ever since.

Alloy breaks, it doesnt bend.
a steel chassis crumples and designers want that, you will find alloy in the chassis of some performance cars but that is about it.

>alloys break
>steel doesn't

here is the hint that this guy doesn't know what he's talking about

>he thinks they use high speed steel in a car chassis
Yes user they use soft steel that bends before it breaks.

hey retard, steel is an alloy

harder to weld.

Why no one makes plastic body panels, plastic doors and none load bearing things?

retard banged up your door?
just heat gun it back into shape.

it's a conspiracy by the car manufacturers and oil corporations..

guys,
listen,
listen guys,
what if,
what if galvanized steel car?

plastic doors wouldn't meet side impact regs and would have shit nvh
also stigma of having clarkson make fun of your plastic car

make a frame, reinforce with steel tubes.

well carbon fiber and fiberglass are both just plastic parts (fiber reinforced plastic, but, plastic nevertheless). so, we're kind of there.