OK, here's a question for the '55 Experts. Did the 1955 Ford F-100 driver's side door come from the factory with an outside key lock? Some trucks I see have one and other's only have one on the passenger side door. I think the ealier (53 and 54) only had one on the passenger side. I have outside doors locks on both doors so I'm wondering if in '55 that was on option.

Thanks,
Ray

 

It was an option in '51-52. Most trucks didn't have the driver's side lock. If you have seen some with the lock only on the passenger's side then I would assume the driver's side was an option on your truck too.

 

Custom Cab 55's came with a lock on both sides. Std's passenger only.
My 55 Dealer Brochure does not list a drivers lock as an option.

 

Thank you. Mine is a custom cab so that explains the locks on both sides. I knew I could count on you guys! Thanks again.
Ray

 

Does anyone know exactly why Ford put the key lock on the outside of the door on the passenger side. I mean if you're going to only put one lock cylinder on a truck, why the heck wouldn't they at least put it on the darn drivers side?????

 

Scottm1-
It was a safety feature back in the days. The powers to be wanted people to lock the drivers door from the inside and slide across and exit the passenger side, then lock that door. They assumed people would do this activity in reverse when reentering a locked vehicle. GM trucks only had a passenger side lock also for certain years. I added a drivers keylock to my previous 56 and plan to add one on my current 56 if I don't shave the handles.

 

I keep hearing it was for safety , most people back then got out of the vehicle from the passenger side , so they would not get run over in the busy, narrow streets ,.. whatch an old 30's movie, and you will see alot of that,..nowadays people open their doors..,without looking..and traffic takes themAND their arms off,..or they just do a " U " turn in the middle of the road...of course it seems the older folk actually THOUGHT about what they were doing then ...Now???
Cars were a bit narrower then..sliding across the seat was maybe 40 inches and not 80+ like we see in our full-size pickups.

 

I guess that makes a little sense. But then some things that came out of Detroit I never understood......I never understod why they ever made a car with suicide doors either. Or at least after just one year, they should have realized it was stupid. Actually the first test drive should have proved that. I know they didn't make them very long, but they made them a lot longer than they should have. My 34 Dodge is a 4 door and all 4 of them are suicide. I know they look cool and all, but they are the biggest pain in the rear I have ever dealt with. Always have to make sure the safety pins are extended before driving. Hard to get in and out of. Not to mention down right dangerous and will simply destroy the side of yur car if it comes open at highway speeds. Oh well, no point trying to figure those engineers out on some things. Sorry, I didn't mean to go on and on about it.

 

Hey, how many farmers and contruction workers locked their doors in the 50's and 60's? It was a cost cutting measure for Ford. Perhaps those that could afford to buy the Custom Cabs (the name Custom Cab was first used in 1955, in '53 and '55 they were called Deluxe Models) then they might have had stuff inside worth locking up.
I am wondering how many times my Grandfather locked his truck? The only time I lock mine is when I am in a town with stuff I don't want stolen.

 

Quick question, Is the door latch mechanism on a 1948-1950 have a lock on the passenger side?

 

No malls back then. One usually parked at the curb. So most danger of a break-in would have come from the passenger side. A least that,s what I,ve been told and it does make sense. A simpler time.

 

Most all streets were 2 way back then and it was illegal to exit from the driver side. When cities got busier with more cars and trucks, streets were turned into 1 way to speed traffic along, so folks started parking on both sides of the street and most traffic laws were amended (1973 in CO) to allow exiting from drive side. And many still on books as the Col Flashman states below. (This is to generate revenue when needed.) Thus locks were added as standard on trucks. Oddly enuf, lots of municipalities are reverting to 2 way streets to slow down traffic in historic residential areas. As a side note, turn sigs were not mandatory until 57.
Jon

 

The majority of the States have Laws that are Still on the books to this day that make it Illegal to Exit from the Driverside Door when Parallel Parked.