I just found a 56 F100 but it has a longbed and the owner thinks it is worth more because of the long bed. I was told the short-bed is worth more. No matter,it is 1200.00 and well worth the price. It even has extra running boards and tailgate,from his grandpas truck. He has had this along time and runs but needs some tune up parts. Anyway---is it worth more or less than a short bed? Bill

 

IMO it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Personally I like the shortbeds and feel that a longbed would be worth slightly less than a shortbed.

 

Ditto what Shane said.

 

I personally like the long beds better. I do tend to see a higher price for the short beds. They seem to be more in demand then the long beds.

But as 56 said, the value is based on what you, the buyer, are willing to pay for it.

 

Many many moons ago, a wise friend of mine and I were big flea market hounds... He taught me that when the seller and buyer are both happy... then it's a good deal...
Not before, not after, but at the time of the deal....

 

I'm more of a fan of the longer beds, too. One reason: The 8-foot Express bed has been paired with a beefier suspension system in every one that I've ever seen.

YMMV

 

The po keeps going on about the 8' bed being so much better to restore! I think the short bed looks nicer but the long bed has more benefits and it is 67k miles and was in his family a while. I think it will be a deal. That makes 5 again. I still have to pick up a 56 frame,etc down south,but hope to wait till it cools off a little. I will park them next to each other and send some pics-haha!!!Bill

 

Ford made 130+thousand shortbeds
and ony 13+thousand longbeds
Due the there upgraded susp. the were a farm truck and alot have rusted away Iv seen so many people shorten there beds or change them id bet theres not a whole lot of them left
That sayed i love my longbed it looks really long when its lowered

 

Sounds like everyone will be happy! And if you wanted to, you could always shorten the wheelbase by 8" and cut the rest off the end and use a 6 1/2' bed.

No one is making reproduction long bed parts, as far as I know. The bedsides, front panel, cross members, rear cross sill and tailgate are all different. And the running boards are not being reproduced either. Those parts could be sold/traded to the right person.

Good Luck!

 

Demand is what determines price and the demand for short bed trucks is much more than for the long bed. Demand also controls the aftermarket and since the demand for long bed trucks is small so then are aftermarket reproduction parts. Keep that in mind. I converted my F-3 long bed to an F-1 due to unavailability of used/aftermarket parts. All that said I would definitely buy this truck even with the long bed since the price is very reasonable for a '56. Like Kent said you could always convert it to a short bed with a cut here and a cut there. It's not as hard as it sounds....

 

Sounds like a new addition to my truck family is in the making. Cannot have too many trucks!! I take special good care of them too---haha!!!! Hope the extra tailgate will fit it then!!! Bill

 

$1200 for a solid truck with extra parts sounds good no matter what length bed it has on it.

I wouldn't cut the longbed stuff if it's in good shape. I'd put it aside and sell it. As was said, most longbed parts are not reproduced and there are guys like me out there who are trying to restore longbed trucks. Use something cheap (FTE classifieds, craigslist, etc) and get those parts together with the right buyer!

If your heart is set on a short bed, everything you need to build a brand new short bed box can be bought from a catalog. You'll have to modify the longbed frame by shortening the wheelbase (it isn't as easy as cutting two feet off the back...), but you'd have to do that anyway if you cut up the longbed parts.