Hi all,
I am new to this forum, it looks like a really good place to aquire information with some of these vehicles. I am in the process of acquiring 1 1940s 2 ton truck, and 2 1950s 2 ton trucks. One is a 1950 Ford F6 the other is a 1952 Ford F6.
The 1940s and the 1950 truck both have flatbeds on them, but the 1952 does not have any type of bed on it at all. I was going to build a gooseneck or some type of hitch on it so I can tow our trailers with it and that would be all that I would use it for. What would be some good ways of building a strong type of hitch to attach to this truck? Or is this just a bad idea all together? This truck has the original 239 Ford flathead engine in it with the original undercarriage under it. Thank you in advance for any help. Hope you all have a great day!

 

Welcome to FTE,
I'm not familiar with Gooseneck setups but I think it's a great Idea.

If it was me and all I was going to use it for was towing I would want the shortest wheelbase truck, (and or the 52 cause their better looking than the 50 )
I wouldn't think adding the setup would be too tough, in fact you could probably just add it to an existing flatbed, then you have potential to haul hay or other things on the back??

I have a 52 F6 going back together (slowly)

 

Hi Chicken, nice to see somebody as crazy as me. I've got a 48 F6 and a 52 F6. My 52 sounds like yours - nothing on the back except for a homemade sand box. I use it to plow snow....

I run a gooseneck on my 3/4 ton pickup and it is nothing more than a heavy piece of steel bolted across the frame rails with a 2 5/16" ball on it. That and a couple of rings for safety chains is all you should need.

I use my pickup to pull a 26' dovetail tandem dually gooseneck trailer and the trailer alone weighs 6500. Add a 16,000# backhoe and it comes right to the gvwr of the trailer. The ball hitch handles it in great shape.

 

No one has mentioned the widowmaker wheels. Those will need to be the first thing replaced.

 

Thanks all for the reply's. So I should just make a STRONG mount for the ball to go with some sort of hooks for the safety chains, then bolt this mount to the frame, with the hitch problem solved that makes me think about the next question. Should I cut the frame of the truck down and make it a little bit shorter? Would that make it easier/safer to tow a trailer behind it?
As for the widowmaker rims, I read on here that there was a few options I had, one was to take the centers of the old widowmaker rims up to a company in Washington that would make those into a one piece rim. The other option would be to try and find rims off of a 1970s dodge motorhome or a 1950s Ford schoolbus. Which of these do you all think would be my best option? Again thank you all for the help!!

 

Cost and availability of replacement wheels becomes a factor when you're dealing with widowmakers.

 

Hi ..stockton wheels is restructuring after thet death of the owner..I have a pair of their rims and they are awwsome!!!are your rims the 5 bolt or 6 bolt pattern ??..my custom rims were 265 each for a 19.5 rim ...

 

The rims on my truck are 5 bolt pattern. Where is this Stockton wheel place at?? Do they have a way to contact them? $265 seems like a lot of money though, but I guess if they work good, then they would be well worth the money. Thank You and have a great day!

 

they are in California type in Stockton on your web search and thy will come up ,,I have the split rims on my truck "widow makers " I am saving them for use later ..and the crew here is heavy into safety..I just have high respect for screwing up and hurting anyone..anyhow ..given that your truck wheels are replaceable why not go for the best you can...

 

Thank you for your help, I will look into there company. You have a good point about getting the best that you can. Thanks again and have a great day.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Dick Cutting has a 1941 Ford MH truck, and he has pics of it pulling a semi trailer, so a gooseneck shouldn't be much of a problem. In fact, I'm looking to do the same thing, but I'm a long way from finishing. I have a 1950 F6 w/134" WB, and a 1949 F6 w/158" WB. Looking to put it on the 134" one.

 

Spending money at Stockton is senseless. You need either 19.5" or 22.5" used Budds. Here are two Craigs List ads for 19.5" sets, one is even in Oregon, plus one of our members last I knew had a set of 22.5s for sale. Another member just sold a set of 22.5s this week. Here's the CL ads. If you want contact info on the 22.5s please say. Stu

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv...393669146.html
http://bend.craigslist.org/rvs/2362360005.html

 

Is that a misprint on the LA ad ??? $40??

 

6 hole wheels are really getting to be a pain...

 

Even if it's $40 each it's a deal. We had the member from MI a couple months ago that got a similar deal. Even that Bend, OR, deal isn't bad. Yeah, Ken, finding good 6 x 7.25s looks to be a pain. Stu