Hello everyone.
We are new to this site and would appreciate any we can get. We are in the process of restoring a 1948 F4 ford truck and are having a hard time finding parts for F4's. We have visited several 48 ford sites and see plenty of parts for the F1's, F2's and even F3's but don't see much for F4's. This is the first Big ford truck that we've taken in for restoration so we are learning on this one. I'm not sure whether this truck came from the factory as a wrecker or the owner converted it into a wrecker because the whole rear towing body is home made. Can anyone tell me what body parts are interchangeable with the F4's. Where do we find body parts for the F4's. Are the cabs on F4's bigger than the the F1's and 2's. Also, if anybody has any other advise we would appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Welcome to the board. It's good to see another big truck person, especially a F-4 owner. There were less F-4 built than all othe models. They fell in between to niches, they weren't big enought to haul the really heavy loads like the F-5 and F-6 but were too big for the smaller loads which were handled by the pickup.

As for parts many interchange with the other models. I have a chart set up on my web site that gives the parts that interchange between the different models:

http://www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/partsinterchange.html

We need pictures of your truck, especially since it's a tow truck. I like tow trucks.

 

I'll ditto Bob's comments. Welcome to the board. Glad to have you.

The main difference is front fenders. The wheel openings on F-2/3/4/5/6s are larger than F-1 to accommodate larger wheels and tires. F-7 and F-8 have their own fenders which are wider. Bob's site will give you a more detailed comparison of the models. You'll also want to be alert to issues with the F-4 wheels. The factory wheels (Firestone RH-5° outer rims) are now called "widow makers" because of the risk of separation. Replacement wheels that use a "lock ring" mount on the outer edge can be found without great trouble and still be used. One piece tubeless are the best alternative, but are very hard to find. Your wheel bolt pattern is a 5 lug on an 8" circle. I'd suggest doing a forum search on your wheels. They've been discussed a lot here. As for body parts I'd suggest Mike Dennis (www.oldfordpart.com) or Glenn Marion (www.glennmarionparts.com). For big truck mechanical parts it's Job Lot (www.joblotauto.com) in New York. You might also check with Chuck Mantiglia at Chuck's Trucks (www.chuckstrucksllc.com). There are also several others that you'll see up in the sponsors section of this site that will treat you right. Stu

 

put up some pics !!!!!!! i just acquired an f-4 from another addict here on the site . it's a grain truck right now and i am contemplating the wrecker thing , i even bought a 77 dodge wrecker , shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!! we dont want the wifey to know i did ! , for the bed and boom etc.. 200 bucks i couldn't pass it up . mines a 49 and there are pics of it in my galleries . now like i said pictures !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

not tryin' to hijack here but seen you're darn near a neighbor there truckdog . hows come i haven't seen you kruizin round in yers ? if ya see me wave and run like hades the other way , i am as frightening as i appear !!!!! LOL

 

Yeah, I'm just east of town. You won't be seeing mine on the road real soon. Maybe one this coming year if I get going. If I see ya I'll be sure to say hey. Stu

 

Welcome aboard there blockerboy. You've come to the right place.

 

Thanks for all the good help guy's. Thats a lot of good info and will come in very handy. I will post some pictures as soon as I can downsize them to a postable size. I'll also post more info on what we've got and what we're doing. This truck is in very rough shape and is taking alot of work but that's what we do. We've got it stripped down to the bare frame and is in the process of have everything soda blasted now. Thanks again for all the helpfull info. The chart that bobj49f2 has is going to be a especially great help. I'll be back in touch in the next day or so.

 

Welcome to the site. F-4's came from the factory with DRW: 7.00 - 18 tires with a 10,000 GVWR or SRW: 6.50 or 7.00 - 20 tires with a 7,500 GVWR. The wheels are most difficult to replace with anything modern. The original wheels, as Stu stated, are dangerous to work on. All F-4's have a 134 inch wheelbase, which is only shared with the F-5 & F-6. F-4's came from the factory as a cab & chassis and were upfitted with aftermarket bodies (i.e. your tow truck).

Does your F-4 have the flathead 239 V-8 or 226 I-6 engine? Is it equipped with the Synchro-Silent 4 speed tranny?

HTH, Fran

 

Thanks for the wheel and chasis info Fran. Our F4 has a flathead 6. We're not sure what the transmission is but we think it's got a 4 speed with a granny gear, which might make it a 5 speed?? Anyway, we'll find out for sure when we talk to the owner again. We are in the process of rebuilding the brakes now. I hope we can find the rear axle seals, wheel cylinders, brake shoes and all the other stuff that we will be needing to rebuild the brakes. We are trying NAPA auto parts. They said that they can get some stuff for the old trucks but when I mention "F4", it seams to throw eveybody off. They start asking all the questions that I have no answers for. So far I've found out that the F1's are 1/2 ton, the 3/4 tons are F2's and F3's (200-250), But the 1 ton up is what I need help with. I guessing that the F4 and F5's are the 1 ton (300-350) and the F6, F7, F8's are 450-500-550.

Sorry it takes me a couple of days to respond to your replies everybody but we are so busy around here I have to respond when I get a break. I'm still going to post some pictures also but it may be after Christmas.

Thanks again for all the good help and will be in touch.

 

boy if your napa has the stuff good googly moogy for you . the ones here have gone the way of autozone unless you know when you can catch one of the old timers . they all are hiring people who's experience with cars seems to be limited too wrong wheel drive and vinyl graphics ... such a shame . i have a hard enough time finding parts for the 53 nonetheless when i start on my f-4 . been doin the bop , dennis carpenter boogie , as well as other advertisers here for a bit now . case in point i needed simple wiper arm refills and number dummy gave me the no.'s and they were used on many different models for a long time . the guy's at napa looked at me like i was a freakin ' idiot and tried to give me the wrong ones !!!!

 

One way to find parts for these old trucks at the local NAPA or good auto parts store was mentioned, find the old guy who has been around a long time. My local NAPA used to be great on finding the old parts but the last time I went there the counter guys were lost. One of them asked the others if "Joe" took his catalogs with him. I assumed "Joe" must have been the old guy and he either quit or retired and took his own set of parts manuals with him, too bad, all along I thought the books were NAPA's. So try to nab as many old parts manuals as you can find, eBay's a good source.

The second way to find parts at these local sources are to use the catalogs you can get from places like Carpenter's, either by mail or on-line. These guys use the original Ford part numbers. Get the number, take it with you and the parts place should be able to cross reference the number to what they have.

NumberDummy is a great source for this parts numbers but I feel he should be a last resort so we don't wear him out answering the easier questions, save his talent for the hard to find parts.

A third way to find parts, and this has worked for me a lot, is go to the places that sell the specific type of part you are looking for. I've gone to places that rebuild springs and they had the pins for the rear springs for my F-2. I have also gone to a place that sells bearings and they were able to match up the bearing to one they had in stock. If you don't know where to find these places start at the big truck or farm equipment repair shops. They should be able to tell you of local sources.

As for brakes, Job Lot automotive has a complete brake kit consisting of four wheel cylinders, master cylinder and three brake hoses for around $250. All new parts, not rebuilt. You will have to find a place to reline your shoes, no one makes new or sells rebuilt shoes. Ask you NAPA store, mine told me where to go to have mine rebuilt.

The synchronized tranny might have been an option in '48-50 but was standard for '51-52. You can tell if you have a synchronized tranny by the shift pattern. If reverse is over to the right and down you have the non-synchro tranny, get familiar with double clutching. If reverse is over to the right and up you have the synchronized tranny.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

 

double clutching ? we dont do no stinkin' double clutching !!!! remember i drive fer a livin' i learned a long time ago how to floats them there gears gas or deisel . aint no other way as far as i'm concerned . of course you'll have the courtesy not to tell anyone how many tranny parts i left layin ' by the roadside before i got it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????

 

After driving my F-2 for a while I can shift without double clutching, it takes some practice though and I still miss a gear so I don't do it too often. The funny thing is now when a drive a newer vehicle, especially a truck, I tend to double clutch even though I don't have to.

 

Just an update on our project. NAPA was able to get us the master cylnder, wheel cylinders, flexable brake lines and the clutch, pressure plate, release bearing kits for our F4. Bobj49f2 was right on the brake shoes. We had to have a shop that relined brake shoes on big trucks to help us out with the brake shoes and they had to send them off to a place in NC to have them relined. We are now trying to find the wheel bearing seals. Does anybody know where to find them? I think we are going to end up taking them to a place that sells seals and try to match them up but I'm afraid that I will mess them up taking them out and then not be able to find them, then we'll be in a mess. We can't see where they were leaking but since we are putting everything else new in it, we would like to replace them also.
Bob was right again about NAPA. They had to call the an old guy that had retired from NAPA but still worked part time about getting the old parts ordered. The new people looked at me like I was crazy and didn't act like they were interestd in looking this stuff up for me.
I'm still going to post some pictures fella's but I hadn't had time. Please bear with me.