The Lewis Automotive Blog

Safe? You bet. The 2016 #F150 is the toughest, smartest, most capable and safest F-150 ever. https://t.co/Vt9mvSkJMD

— Ford Trucks (@FordTrucks) April 12, 2016

When you describe a full-size pickup truck, you use words like, "manly," "rugged," and "tough." When it comes to safety in a collision, though, how safe is a truck, really?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) cast light on some major shortcomings in the large pickup segment. When subjected to a small-overlap collision -- a much more common type of full-speed collision than a direct hit -- almost every truck examined

Last month, five real-world customers were invited to get a behind-the-scenes look at the new 2017 Super Duty. These people rely on quality trucks to get their work done, and had a vested interest in the changes Ford was making.

One of the first stops was to see the new aluminum body work. Each customer got to heft an aluminum door, and one of the old steel doors. The difference is huge, and it adds up, particularly on a SuperCrew cab with four full doors.

The lighter weight on the truck's body allows for reinvestment in performance-critical areas, like…