FWIW, the dealer spec book I have does not list the 118" wheelbase frame being available on the F100 in '54. (I have most of a '54 and portions of the '53 book.)

That said, I would not be surprised to find an authentic '55 118" F100. It seems that they were willing to custom build vehicles if the customer ordered a bunch of them. The 4 door railroad trucks come to mind.

 

<b>Carl,

I'm not trying to give you any grief - just trying to help out somebody who needs information. The previous post was from a 1956 Ford brochure, as I said. The picture below is from the Parts and Accessories Catalog. Again, Carl, this is not an attempt to put you down at all. </b>

Actually George, I think you enjoy giving me grief, it is not the first time either.

For the final time, THERE IS NO listing of a 118" wb 53-55 F-100 in any of my literature.
That includes the 48-56 Ford Truck Chassis Parts Manual, a 1958 Hollanders and 53-6 sales brochures.
If there is an error it is in your manual.

The F-100 frames are:
TAAA 5006-A 1953-4
B5C 5006-A 1955
B6C 5006-C 1956 110" wb
B6C 5006-B 1956 118" wb

BTW, The B6C designation means 1956, it wasnt used before that.


As far as custom built by Ford pre 56, anything is possible since something prompted them to introduce it in 56.
I wouldnt be at all surprised if a bunch were driven around to gauge customer interest and/or were displayed at auto shows.

If SVOOM truly has a 55 F-100 118" wb I would be interested in the part # that is stamped on the rear crossmember.
Another possibility that has not been mentioned is that it is a 56 MODEL but built in 55. Some states titled them as year built, not model year.

 

Whew
I guess we all learned someting form this post, now didn't we.

 

I agree Carl, it's probably a typo in the literature. As I mentioned, Barry and others have previously noted other typos in various catalogs.

svoom, it would be great if you could check your VIN on the frame as Carl suggested and let us know.

 

I've been playing phone tag with the owner, but in his last message he informed me that the tag in the glovebox says that it's a F-250 (much to his surprise of course). He apparently took it on trade for another truck and didn't know anything about it. I'm still not sure wheather I want to tackle a project this big. It wouldn't be such a hard decision if there were more of these trucks in my area.

To hack the frame or not to hack the frame, that is the question.

 

Why do everyone with the 8 ft box always what to make it a shortbed? I personally like the 8ft box over the 6 1/2 ft box.

 

Nathan, as someone who wants to shorten his 8ft bed I can tell you why I want to. It would look a lot cooler. I think a shortbed is more visually appealing. A long bed is good for hauling and work, but they look like work trucks. Short beds look sporty. If I am going to spend the time and dinero to fix it up I want it to look as cool as possible which means a short bed. If I want a work truck I'm not going to spend a huge amount to make it look great just to haul stuff that will tear it up. I can spend less for a newer truck to use as a beater.

That's a little insight into my little brain.

 

Comparing my 8ft box to my 6 1/2ft box that I have. I think the 6 1/2 ft box looks just to short. The 8 ft box gives it character and the fender isn't as long as the box.

 

To each his own.

I have seen some long-bed trucks featured in classic truck magazines, they look really nice, but they are shaped like my weiner dog. I would rather have a bulldog stance than a weiner dog stance.

 

Hack the frame if you know what you are doing, if not leave it to some one else


Each to there own i would rather have a short bed, well in fact i have 2

 

Just some fuzzy logic:

Say if you are a mailman. What dog would you want in the yard. The bulldog or the weiner dog?

Some of us grew up with that old longbed. It treated us well and did it's share of work. Now you just want to chop, section and cut it so it can look cool. Wouldn't you want it to be the same lovable truck you grew up with and used?

In high school you tried to be cool but when you graduated you were just a regular Joe trying to make a living. I'd rather hang out with Earl than the jerk who thinks he is cool. Normal people are the friends you have forever.

 

Whoa, there Nathan.

I understand your passion about your truck - it's a good thing. Try to keep in mind that most of us feel that way about our own trucks. I'm keeping the long bed because I'm doing a restoration. If I were not doing a restoration, I might consider shortening the bed. Remember, everyone is entitled to their own view. It gets messy if you try to make someone else adopt yours.

 

Like I said, to each his own.

I drove my old truck in high school and regreted that I wanted to restore it to original because it is a 1 ton with terrible suspension and not as driveable as I thought. It served me well for driving around my little town, but the one and only time I drove it on the highway I knew that I wanted some modifications. I don't think any less of my truck, but for what I want (a truck I can around town and on the highway) I need to modify it. If I'm not going completely original, why not change the bed length.

Here's an other anology, no dogs this time. If you were going to buy a car that comes in both 2 dr and 4 dr models which would you pick and why? 2 doors are more sporty and look cooler for that reason they are more valuable to collectors and those who want to show them off. A 4 door is more practicle for carrying more than 2 people and getting stuff in and out. I bet there are some people with old 4 door cars that wish they could easily convert it to a 2 door just because they don't need it to be practicle any more, but want to have it for car shows or parades. It comes down to what you want out of your truck.

 

Sorry for getting steamed. Sometimes I just get mad when someone does something irreversible for style.

 

Nathan,

Don't worry about it. You are going to freak out then if I do shorten mine. I figure if I'm going to shorten it I'm going to REALLY shorten it. I'm thinking about 5 1/2', just longer than the fenders.

I used to think a number of modifications were stupid and ruin a vehicle, like chopped tops, low riders, fast & furious imports, etc. Now I still may not want to do any of that to my car, but I don't think it's stupid and appreciate the work done by the owners. After all, we're all car buffs, can't we all just get along?

Seriously though, once you modify your truck would you really want to take it back to original? After some serious soul searching I have decided that I would not. If I decided that I wanted something original I would get an other one.

I do have to echo what rtcalabrohr said, don't do it without consulting with those who know what they're doing and getting a lot of help.

Someone asked kciv00 about not welding the ends of the scab plate and I don't think anyone has answered that question yet. From reading other strings on the forums (check this one and the Bodywork forum, I started one on each) welding all the way around the plate can actually put stress on the frame metal. welding thicker or stronger metal to a thinner or weaker metal makes the thinner/weaker metal more likely to tear or crack around the new piece. I have read not to weld it at all, weld everything but the corners and just welding top and bottom. I don't know which is best, maybe someone else can explain the way they have done it or seen it done and why.