the brace that goes on the lower front of the front fender bolts where on the truck? Mine are missing and when I put the fenders on today I see there are places on the fender to bolt them up,but not sure where the other end goes,

 

It bolts up to the front air deflector/front pan. I believe its the middle bolt hole. I cant say for sure with out looking though.

Kevin Bigwin

 

Don't mean to hijack this question.,butalong the same line..How about the REAR brace, I know it bolts to the fender .., but how about the other end??? Does it bolt to the Bedwood???

 

Yep. It goes on the bottom side of the bed.

 

Hope this helps:

 

bobj49f2 , Thanks! That's the 1st time I've ever seen that PIC , Never noticed/knew about those two struts..8270,8271...inside the fenderwell.
Makes me rethink the opening thread.
Everybody else installing these??...they were not in my parts pile.
Just goes to show , You learn something new everyday!!!

 

My 55 has only the 16010/11 and that is all. It was all original when I bought it.

 

Ditto on the 16010/11. Not sure which truck had those other bars. Maybe those are the ones crossed in the radiator saddle. Pick up a catalog from Mid-Fifty they have a lot of good breakdown pictures and tips about parts in it.

 

I wondered the same thing about the 8271, 8272 bars the first time I saw that pic, but I haven't found anyone who has them on their truck. May have been deleted in a last minute production change after the illustration was made? The crossed bars were riveted in place on the radiator saddle. The other end of 16011 and 12 goes to one of the bolts that attach the inner fender to the air deflector, it should be pretty obvious which one.

 

It's the first I seen of these braces as well, but seeing as you (AX) have mentioned the the cross bars on the radiator saddle is there any way of shortening those bars the one I have seem to be too long and the saddle seems to be fine, the rad bolts in and the holes line up, was wondering if they could be heated and shrunk some how?

Sorry for the hijack

 

They bow outwards to crisscross and I'd guess to give a little flexibility. Why would you want to straighten them?

 

There is one of them that seems to be much longer than the other, may have been that way from the factory but just seems odd. I don't think you would see it that well behind the grill. I think that I'm more curious to know if the heat and quench method would work on a steel bar or not. Just a willingness to learn some more I guess.

 

No, you cannot shrink a bar like sheet metal. You would need to cut and weld to shorten it. Have yours been removed from the radiator support? I removed mine and put bolt on tabs on them so I could install my AC condensor behind them. They are needed to keep the support from wracking and damaging the radiator.