In the annals of American automobiles, few, if any, vehicles are more iconic or ubiquitous than Ford's F-Series pickup trucks. In 2013, it continued its amazing run of 32 consecutive years as America's top-selling vehicle.

Within the F-Series line, the F-150 is the top-selling model. According to a recent Associated Press story, 1 of every 25 vehicles on the road in the U.S. is an F-150. Despite its status as a sales powerhouse, the flagship Detroit truck is undergoing massive changes, positioning itself as a leader for a new generation of automobiles and automotive technology.

The most high-profile change the all-American truck is going through is its switch to an aluminum body for the 2015 model, which will go on sale later this year. Ford is currently rolling out the truck to its sales personnel in a 26-city tour.

Lighter than incumbent body material steel, the aluminum will shave 700 pounds off the 5,000-pound 2014 model. This is projected to give the 2015 F-150 a significant boost in fuel economy from the 21 to 23 highway miles per gallon in most 2014 models to an estimated 27 to 28 highway mpg, which would put it around an industry-best among pickups.

While the F-150's aluminum switch is unquestionably significant and marks a possible turning point in the way automotive bodies are made, aluminum as a body material isn't all that new. Luxury brands such as Audi, Land Rover, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz have used aluminum before.

However, the high-production use of aluminum by Ford has shined the spotlight on another new use of technology: industrial-strength adhesives, rather than traditional welding, to join pieces of body work together.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal said the new F-150 will contain three times as much souped-up superglue as the normal vehicle. At Ford archrival General Motors, Cadillac models CTS and ATS use five times the adhesive as the standard GM auto, per the Journal piece. Steve Henderson, head of the automotive unit at chemical giant Dow went so far as to say, "Bonding [with adhesives] is the new welding."

The adhesive bonding — eliminating the need for many welds, rivets and bolts — further decreases the weights of autos, which in turn increases fuel mileage and the power-to-weight ratio. With the federal government mandating an average of 54.5 mpg for vehicles on the road by 2025, every ounce matters.

A further benefit of joining by adhesive is that it allows for a progressive introduction of nontraditional body materials. As body materials like steel, aluminum and the ultraexpensive carbon fiber aren't the best to weld or bolt to each other, adhesives potentially allow automakers to use varied methods to build a vehicle's body.

While Ford says that the transition from steel to aluminum — which involved switching production of the top-seller from Kansas City, Missouri, to Dearborn, Michigan — is going smoothly, some are skeptical that the unprecedented move to aluminum for the highest of high-production autos will go off without a hitch.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note this summer to investors, "We've been told every piece of equipment that touches the body of the car has to be significantly altered. On many different levels, it's not just running the aluminum through the same machines. With the increased focus on quality, Ford can't deliver trucks that are anything but perfect." Jonas also said, noting all the balls Ford has to juggle for a successful launch, "This cannot be easy."

Ford President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs admitted as such to Automotive News earlier in September, "There's not a lot of buffer, trust me. Because every day we don't build F-150s means a lot," says Hinrichs. "No one has been given a lot of extra time. We have laid this out hour by hour, day by day. We have all the company's resources at our disposal. There's nothing more important than this."

Then there's the issue of getting repair and body shops ready for aluminum. Earlier in the year, one dealer-based Michigan repair shop was given a $50,000 to $100,000 estimate on the cost to prepare itself for aluminum.

As of January, Automotive Service Association Chairman Darrell Amberson estimated fewer than 10 percent of the nation's repair shops had the necessary training and equipment to work with aluminum body parts. That number is bound to come up with such a well-known vehicle making the switch, but customers simply won't be able to take their new F-150 to their favorite small mom-and-pop shop.

Ford's switch to an aluminum body and accompanying industrial adhesives for the F-150 represents possibly the riskiest move by an American automaker since the 2008 global financial crisis that brought the industry to its knees. But it's also a move that could pay incredible dividends and turn the industry on its head should it succeed.