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Ford F-150 gets highest rating in new insurance crash tests

DETROIT – The 2016 Ford F-150 is the only full-size pickup truck to score the top rating in new front crash tests performed by the insurance industry.

Rival pickups from Chevrolet, GMC, Ram and Toyota didn’t fare as well, according to results released Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The institute evaluated 2016 models in a small overlap crash test, which replicates what happens when a vehicle runs off the road and a portion of its front end hits a tree or a pole at 40 miles per hour.

The tests evaluated both crew cab and extended cab versions of each truck, since those are the most popular body styles. A crew cab has four full doors and two full rows of seating. An extended cab has two full front doors, two small rear doors and smaller second-row seats.

The institute also evaluated different body styles because past tests have shown varying results. In tests last year, the 2015 F-150 SuperCab – the extended cab version of the F-150 – lacked some of the structural elements of the larger F-150 SuperCrew so it got lower safety ratings.

Ford responded by adding reinforcements to the 2016 SuperCab, including high-strength steel tubes in the wheel wells and aluminum rocker panels on the sides that help absorb energy from a crash.

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