This is a South African built ford f500 truck I bought from a farm manager but traced to the original owner just a hill away
These are the before pics prior to a light resto I kept the patina but needed to do a bit of cutting and brazing, work done on rusted doors and corner bits
came out well, now to get it registered for on the road use
I am informed that the wheels are "widowmakers" not knowing what the implication thereof is.
There are a few other bits and pieces i am looking for if anyone has it lying around they are the side steps .
I have not seen many of them on the road still in south africa but this one was built in south africa according to the vin no and plates in the cab yep we are right hand drive here.
Before

 

I'd suggest doing a Google or Bing search using the Firestone RH-5° trade name and widow maker common name. You'll find a lot written, and pictures, on FTE as well as on other truck sites. Stu

 

Very cool truck and great pics. So glad you are trying to save it.

There are several places that offer some aftermarket sheet metal, here is one for example. Ford - Ford Pickup Truck Door Step Plate - Left - Macs Auto Parts They are a good company to deal with from my expirience. They also have the riser piece that goes above it.

Enjoy your truck

 

Looks familiar

 

That would be a 1960 model here by hood and grille. The "widow makers" refer to split rims. Rims with a separate retaining ring. They could blow off during inflation or tire mounting, injuring or killing the person. Most tire shops in US won't touch them. Some old shops still have the metal cages outside they used to inflate the tires.

 

widow makers don’t have a retaining ring. They are split in the middle. A split side ring wheel can still be serviced by many shops today

 

I sit corrected. I had to Google it to see the difference. Crazy design. Were trying to make it easier to fix a tire on the roadside?

 

I suppose that was possibly part of it. Not really sure what the engineers were thinking. They really aren’t a problem design until you take into account corrosion

 

No to fix/replace tires period, mechanical tire changers were few and far between when these were designed and they all done manually.