Just noticed that my '48 F-5 does not have an external lock under the drivers side door handle, yet the passenger side does.
I see in some old photos of trucks of the same era, they don't have external key locks on the drivers side either.
What was the thinking about that?

Reamer

 

U know.. I have the same thing on my 1960 F-100.. And there no way to lock it up..

 

I've always been told it was a saftey feature to prevent you from being out in traffic opening your door. When inside the truck, you can push the drivers door handle forward to lock it. Then just crawl out the passenger side and lock that door. Deluxe or Custom cabs came with drivers side locks..... -4speed

 

.. Only problem I have is no keys and a broken interlink from the lock to the release.. There no way to lock mine...

 

Do a search on "door lock" or "driver side" and you should find at least half a dozen threads in the archives that discuss the issue. I know that doesn't help you with the broken lock, but some of the reasons discussed were pretty interesting.

I didn't see any door lock kits at MotorHaven, but it seems to me I saw some available from at least one of the other vendors. These were complete kits you could add on to your truck. Anybody have experience with something like that?

 

Take the lock cyl to any good locksmith and he can cut a key for the lock. Also, Ford did not put a lock on the drivers side until 1951, and only on the 5 star extra cab series.


Barry

50 F-1.

 

In my case.. the Lock it self can be rekeyed.. But The piece that connects the lock to the door release id broken in 2.. And I had no lock on finding a replacement for it.. I couldget the lock at LMC.com compleat but it dont come with the connecting piece thats broken.. I can even get the driver side.. but still no connecing piece.. I see a tread here LOL.. No wonder why thies trucks where so easy to steal..

 

Madathlon,

Any chance of repairing the part that's broken? Maybe a quick MIG weld job, along with a thorough cleanup of the whole lock and door latch guts, would put you in business?

 

I thought about that.. but there a piece of the piece missing.. So I have nothing to go with. If I did I could machine a new one out of stock metal

 

There's several guys parting out 57-60's in the classifieds, I'm sur they would ask much for the needed parts. -4speed

 

I believe mid 50's does carry the part you need, in there lock section they list it as the part that usually breaks. Don

 

I was told they did that so you would not get hit when you parked you had to get out on the passenger side my 54 is the same way if you fine out some thing else please let us know.

 

Ah yes a sweet reminder of the good ol days of parallel parking. For those who were born after malls were invented: in days long ago people used to have to park in a row one behind the other along the edge of the road. This was called parallel parking. There were cars actually driving along beside those parked cars! If you were one of the people driving along the road, sometimes you even had to stop to allow someone else to park or pull out of a parking space in front you! If you opened the driver's side door to get out without checking traffic another driver may not have been able to stop for your open door. This action sometimes resulted in never having to open or shut that door again because it or it and you, had become a new hood decoration on the other car. Notice how most of the cars back then had these pointy chrome harpoons in the center of the hood. Those served to hold the forementioned newly acquired decoration from falling off and damaging your tires. At that time any decorations you collected that way were yours to keep and display on your trophy wall, unlike today, it was considered poor sportsmanship for the driver who opened said door to expect the "catching" driver to pay anything for the door or the funeral! Ah the good ol days!!!

 

Henry was pretty tight. He wrote the book on minimizing production costs. If he could get the job done with one of anything vs. two, thats the way he went.

 

I was told long ago (in my youth) that it was so that farmers and construction workers of the era would not lock them selfs out in the middle of nowhere. True who knows but one thing supporting that statement they were work vehicles not luxury liners like today (my new one included)

Chuck