There's probably some confusion between posters as to what is the front and the back. So for clarification, the lamp bracket attaches to the forward side of the rear stake pocket, opposite of the tailgate hinge. And yes, ford did make different beds for the half ton and the 3/4-1 ton trucks. It's quite probable that the tailgate hinges are different since the tailgates are larger. That would explain a different bolt pattern on the lamp bracket.

My suggestion would be to make your own brackets that would closely resemble the ones you have, in a size and length that meets your needs. It'll look original and no one would know the difference.

 

I have a 48 F-3, it has the original bracket, I will take a picture and send it to you

Ed
near Philadelphia

 

This question caught me by surprise since I had assumed all the pickup brackets fit. I looked the tail light brackets up in my 48-55 Ford Truck Chassis Parts book and the results are a little confusing since I am missing the first few pages with the model and group codes! Anyway, here is what my parts book says:

50-52 (Pickup, express) C, D, Y with bumper use: RH 81Y 13470 and LH 81Y 13471

48-52 (Express without bumpers) D, Y use: 92Y 13471 both sides

48-52 (Pickup) C use: RH 7C 13470 and LH 7C13471

Y indicates 122" wheelbase and express is the 122" wheelbase pickup. This coupled with the facts that Ford changed the 3/4 and 1 ton pickup bed design very little from 1938 to 1952, 81Y is the designation for 1938 1 ton, and 92Y is the designation for 1939 1 ton lead me to think you need the 81Y part numbers.

I will also need brackets since my F-2 only has one tail light right now and the bracket looks strange to me, see picture.


edit: After posting the picture I looked in my parts book again and it looks like I have a somewhat bent version of the 92Y 13471 bracket. From what I can tell from the sketch in the parts book the bracket is supposed to be straight, but maybe not since the light looks straight?

 

I read this and had to look at my stake pockets. I also have the holes on the frontside of them. I will need to watch this thread, even though I am not all stock. I still want it to look close.

 

92Y-13471 is what you have on your truck. They are supposed to be completely flat. You just flip it over to use it on the other side. I have made these before. Not that big of a deal, just time consuming.
The 81Y-13470 & 81Y-13471 brackets are cast with an offset in their mounting surface. I do currently have repros of these. They are to be installed on the back side of the stake pocket. The lower mounting hole sits on top of the tailgate hinge top hole. A longer bolt is used to hold the 2 of them. The upper hole steps down off of the hinge, onto the stake pocket. You have to drill this mounting hole in the stake pocket. I have never seen any mention in a service bulletin or whatever that explains what to put in the hole! Today we have thread inserts that can be installed in sheetmetal, so it's no big deal. This setup is correct for all pickups with a rear bumper from 1938-52, 1/2 or 3/4 Ton (& 1 Ton pre 1948). They were even listed for 1948-50, even though there was no factory rear bumper available for those 3 years. This arrangement moves the tail lights high enough so that the license plate isn't obscured by the bumper.
Chuck

 

My 52 F3 and 52 F1 have them on the front edge of the stake pocket. I go to Back to the 50's Carshow every year and have been for almost 30 years. Every 51/52 Ford pickup I see there has the taillights mounted on the front side of the stake pocket instead of the back side with the tailgate. However, I have gotten my problem with my brackets fixed. I've ovalled out the mounting holes on them and am just currently trying to get what's left of the 60 year old bolts out of the truck to get them mounted. I've also custom made some small brackets that bolt to the taillight that will hold my amber turn signals directly above the taillight. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them done and mounted. I even got my old turn signal switch working again and have that in the truck

 

Here's the finished product of the turn signals and brack I mentioned. I used 1/8" sheet steel cut to 3.5" x 4", cut a half moon in the lower end to allow placement over the taillight wiring, then simply drilled 4 holes (2 for mounting to the taillight bracket and 2 for the turn signal). Then I simply painted them black to hide them just a bit. As of now I've got all wiring done, turn signals all work with the use of the original aftermarket turn signal switch from 1952

 

Was looking for the left side bracket and found this thread.....were you able to find the correct bracket for the left side?
Ed