IIHS was just about to release its findings on the crash test results and evaluation of the 2015 Ford F-150 Super Crew, but decided to go back through the testing procedure with a second cab configuration to verify and compare the results. This move was prompted by Automotive News, who pointed out that the crew cab version of the new F-150 has steel bar reinforcement in the front area to prevent the front wheels from intruding into the passenger compartment in an event of a frontal crash. They report that this reinforcement is not available on extended cab and regular cab models.
It means that IIHS will crash test two cab configurations of the same model year pickup truck for the first time. The Institute has tested various cab configurations in previous generations of the F-150, but never two variants for the same year.
IIHS representative said that the organization plans to test multiple cab configuration of other trucks starting next year.
IIHS usually publishes crash test videos of various vehicles to their Youtube channel. However, they do not have any videos on the latest 2014 and 2015 trucks from Chevy, Ford, or Ram. TFLtruck reached out to IIHS for comment and received this answer “IIHS plans to test large pickups during 2015, but we don’t have a firm schedule yet.”
The crew cab version of the truck does represent the bulk of the sales volume, but it does not mean that other cabs should be less safe. It’s good that the IIHS will verify by testing the second time. Testing done by the NHTSA showed that various cabs of the new F-150 performed very similarly in their crash procedures.
And here is the 2015 Ford F-150 Super Cab Lariat 4×4 bashing through a Colorado snowstorm.