Test drive: 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor
The 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor is the best version yet of Ford's high performance pickup, but Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu says it may soon be even better.
One of the odd quirks of Ford's aluminum-bodied F-Series pickups is that magnets don't stick to them.
Ford's magnetic pickup bed system would allow owners to secure items without tying them down. (Ford)
It's really only an issue for business owners who hang magnetic advertising signs on the sides of their trucks, but Ford has come up with a new idea for holding other things in place.
The automaker has received a patent, first reported on by Muscle Cars & Trucks, for a pickup bed embedded with magnets designed to secure cargo while the vehicle is in motion without any strings attached.
Magnets would be placed around the floor of the bed. (Ford)
The patent explains a number of methods to achieve this using circular pairs of stacked magnets that are rotated to adjust the strength of their magnetism, either manually or by using powered servos.
Ford's pickups currently offer features like a built-in generator, tailgate workspace and pop-out step. (Ford)
Strategically placed around the cargo floor of a pickup, SUV or van, the magnets can be activated separately or in concert and turned off to release whatever's attached to them. Since the bed is aluminum, it's easy to isolate the magnetized areas.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Ford hasn't indicated plans to put the feature into production, and it hasn't been spotted being tested yet, but the pickup bed wars are in full swing with various tailgate designs and cargo bed storage solutions being introduced in recent years, and a magnetic bed could prove to be an attractive feature to truck buyers.