Well, Im trying to think ahead and plan for the worst, It appears Ive got a bent frame. Just looks like the PO overloaded it, Hopefully I can lift the bed or something to even it out, but if not, My crazy idea is to put something heavy like 2 of my other cars on each end of the frame and jack it up where its bent with a 5 ton bottle jack while heating it up. Its probably a stupid idea but I cant figure out a easy way to straighten it out.

Any thoughts??

 

of course doing it with everything striped off the frame

 

The truck has a wrong 53-56 bed on it. That being the case, I'd first look to see if the bed is just sitting uneven on the frame. The fact of it having the wrong bed, or just having rotten wooden supports could result in something that would look like this. I doubt you've got that much frame sag. I've dealt with several trucks with junk frames, and none caused the bed to sit like yours. Another possibility is that the rear cab "bones" are trashed causing the cab to sag on the back side.

In exchange for such superb advice, would you give me your rear bumper? Stu

 

That rear bumper appears to be the wrong one too.wanna trade your bumber for my bed???

 

You mean this is a 53-56 bed or wrong bed for a 53-56? Because it is a 52. The wood in the bed is pretty much gone from being so rotten. I know for sure that the cab mounts are solid.
As for the rear bumper, Yes I would, But its a little bent up tho :P

 

It appears these bumpers are rare, Right?

 

That is the wrong bed for your truck. That bed has the square stake pockets, yours had round stake pockets I believe. Before you go pulling, jacking and heating things up check out the bed mounts as Stu said and make sure thats not your problem...

 

The bed is for a 53-56 truck the rear fenders too and the tail gate.
Never give that bumper away they are hard to come by and expensive.I would keep it or sell it for a good profit even if its bent.
I hope that you can fix that bed or find the right bed.
If you dont want a stock truck I would just keep the bed and make sure the frame is right.
You can shim the front mounts on the bed or modify the rear mounts to lower the back.
nothing wrong with having the wrong bed.
Hell i have the wrong motor in mine.
Good luck.
If I was you i would straighten that rear bumper and weld the SOB to the frame.

 

also it may be higher in the back to clear the bumper mounts/brackets.
If thats the case its easier to neatly notch the bed than make new bumper brackets

 

Alright, Thanks guys, I'll check it out to make sure its not just mismounted or something. I never realized it was the wrong bed I kinda feel stupid for not noticing it but oh well, Im stuck with it now, so might as well make it work. I'm gonna take the bed off this week so we'll see how bad it is

 

No need to feel that way, work with what ya got man thats all ya can do...

 

It was only a joke!! Two separate '51/'52 bumpers have sold on eBay this month for +/- $750 each. And IMHO, welding it to the frame would wreck its value. Straightening it shouldn't be too hard. And I wasn't ragging on your bed, just saying it wasn't correct for your '52.

Something else to look at when you get the bed off the truck, the wheel base of a '48 to '52 F-2/3 is 122". The wheel base on a '53 to '56 F-250 is 118". Right now out in my shop I've got what's left of a '52 F-2 rolling chassis that I bought from a guy. The frame had been shortened and had had a '53 to '56 bed mounted by the prior owner. I got it because the p.o. decided to move the sheet metal to a Chevy S-10 chassis. So you may have no choice but to leave that bed on the truck. Stu

 

First of all, I don't think you have the wrong bed. The round stake pockets disappeared in late 50 or 51, so the square stake pockets are correct for a 52. The fenders are definitely 53-56 though. Rather than a bent frame you probably need to either shim up the front of the bed or raise the rear of the cab. Before I got it, the bed on my truck had rubbed against the cab so long that it wore a hole through the back of the cab. Even with new mounts the gap at the top was much smaller than at the bottom. I had to move the rear cab mounts higher up the frame to get the gap between the bed and cab close. I don't have a closeup before picture but you can still be how much the cab was sagging...



After...

 

If the man's truck was an F-1 you'd be right, but it's an F-2/3. So the bed is not original to the truck. Stu

 

I stand corrected...thought it was an F-1!