Independent front suspensions were around before 1949. My 37 Chev for example.

 

IFS is a lot older than 49, except for Ford where 48 was the last year for the buggy spring suspension. My 36 Chevy had IFS. I've heard many varied explanations for the 48 date, but all are arbitrary if investigated. Oops! GLR beat me to it.

 

I do not consider a Chevy "knee-action" front suspension as an independent front suspension. 1949 was the year that Ford, and possibly others, went with a-arms which permitted the front wheels to move independently. Arbitrary or not, 1948 is the accepted cutoff year for street rods.

 

Sorry Charlie, (couldn't resist, my bad) but no matter what you believe, the GM "knee action" or Dubonnet design was indeed by definition an IFS. To be historically accurate GM used the Dubonnet trailing arm IFS from 34-39 on the high end Chevrolet and Pontiac models. It was plagued by rampant seal leakage problems that doomed the design, and GM abandoned it in 39 for a more conventional, in the modern sense, unequal length double A arm (UAA) IFS design we still embrace today. Cadillac and Chrysler used the UAA IFS starting in 1934, and most other manufacturers followed suit except ol Henry who staunchly stuck with the beam axle/buggy spring design of the past until 1949 when post war era higher speed, smoother, more far reaching roads and the eruption of suburbia with daily commutes demanded better ride and handling along with more "modern" styling.
In my readings, I believe it was the influence of Robert E. Petersen's auto enthusiast publishing empire that defined hot rods as pre 49, and customs as post 49 as to which of the titles in his magazine realm would provide coverage. At the time (mid 1950s) the magazine's rather mioptic opinion was that only Ford based cars were true hot rods, and 1949 marked the year Ford changed to the modern slab sided, perimemter frame, integral rear fender, running boardless, IFS equipped design which was considered no longer suited to be the basis of a hot rod.

 

Thanks for the update. The point of the discussion was to determine some rationale for a 1948 cutoff date for street rod designation. A failed attempt at an IFS by Chevy in the 30s is not relevant to cars in the 40s and later. Nothing about the knee-action design was in use in 1949 and certainly not today. That said, production vehicles (cars) in 1949 had accepted the a-arm and coil spring front suspension...a design that has been in use successfully until this day. THIS is the IFS that makes the 1948 date relevant.

 

48 was generally the last year for fat fenders for cars. My 37 Buicks came with factory IFS. I was always told the body style was the reason, not the suspension.

 

Charlie, re read my post above. ONLY Ford switched from beam axle and buggy spring to IFS in 49, virtually all other manufacturers had adopted IFS well prior to 49, Yes, I believe 49 was the "chosen" year based on Ford's design change because Petersen and many of his faithful readers did not consider any other manufacturer's offering to be a true "hot rod" so they were irrelevant. IIRC it was his Rod and Custom magazine that first established the '49 year as the point where a vehicle was labeled a rod or a custom. There was even a monthly editorial column call "Across 49th Street". That dividing line was also adopted by the car show promoters for categorizing show entries.

 

Very nice looking truck, but what is the seat in the bed?

 

Nothing too cool ...Just moving a riding mower to do a little work.

Ben in Austin

 

ok..I thought it might have been a mother-in-law seat...lol.

 

I am thinking of cutting my frame horns back and "tucking" a 40 ford bumper tight to the valence on my 51. I may just remove it but I am leaning into just bringing it in closer right now-
sharp looking truck Ben, and a usable one too!

 

I cut the frame rails back about 8" and filled the opening.

 

I put some driving lights from an 08 F250 in the holes on mine. Found them on Amazon with smoked lenses. They fit really well, and the smoked lenses help them blend in a little better...