I am looking at a '51 F-1 but the running boards stop at the rear of the cab. They do not go to the rear fender. I have looked at a lot of photos and do not see any trucks with running boards this short. Was this an option?

Thanks
Mr. Ed

 

Short boards came on trucks that were not equipped with the traditional pickup box, ie, cab and chassis or platform/flatbed. It's rare to see that on an F1, more common on F2/3, and all F4 and larger had short boards. My Mercury M1 was one of the exceptions and was ordered that way. But don't confuse true short boards with long boards cut off by a previous owner. They should be formed rounded on the ends, not cut off sharp.

 

My 55 has the short running boards. Mine had a Knapheide bed put on it one time in it's life.
I don't know for sure, but maybe if the truck came without a bed they put the short running boards on it. Although I would have thought that would have for at least f2/f250 and above.

Here are mine, I will probably need to find replacements, which might prove difficult.

 

Well Wayne beat me to it.
At least we are consistent, that's good.

By the way, mine had a battle with a tree stump one time in it's life. Which is the cause of the battle scars.

 

I was able to repair my long boards so selling my shorties


I was going to use them for patching but I didn't need to

 

Any truck that came from the factory with a flatbed, or no bed, came with short running boards. F1's and F100's did come with Flatbeds.

 

Thanks for the replies. It does look like the bed on the one I am looking at might be something that was not stock, hence, the shorter boards.

Later!
Mr. Ed