Did Ford ever refer to the Flareside as a "Fenderside" on earlier models?

 

No. "Fenderside" was a GMC term.

 

I have always heard... that Ford is the Flareside, GMC/Chevy is the Stepside and Dodge is the Fenderside.

 

If you've always heard that Dodge is a Fenderside, why are you asking if Ford used this term? Ford never did!

 

I sure wish they would just come up with a universal, catchy term.

 

I asked, because it was mentioned in another forum and I wanted verification from someone who has more experience with FoMoCo (thank you, I was hoping you would chime in Number Dummy). I have always driven Fords but,
My working experience was with GM Service Parts Operations.

 

You got Ford and Chevy right. But GMC was Fenderside and Dodge was Utiline. Of course they're all called "stepside" more often than their correct names

 

That does sound correct. Those terms fall inline with the Styleside, Fleetside and Sweptline models.
I'm going to pull some of My old GM Parts CD's and paper catalogs out and blow the dust off just for kicks.

 

As I'm sure you know, the first two are Ford and Chevy. The third sounds right for Dodge, but I'm less sure of that. And I've heard that GMC was "Wideside", but I'm not as sure of that either.

 

So I delved into the darkside and reluctantly stalked a couple of bowtie forums and it turns out that the GMC with bed fenders is termed as a Fenderside and it's counterpart is termed as a Wideside.
I also inquired in a Mopar forum that I frequent (I own a DeSoto), and the Uniline/Sweptline designations were confirmed there.
So....from this, it seems:
Ford: Flareside/Styleside
GMC: Fenderside/Wideside
Chevrolet: Stepside/Fleetside
Dodge: Utiline/Sweptline
Now on to an International.....I recently found a seemly all original '62 International 3/4 ton, 8 ft. (flare,fender,uti,step style) bed with 10 plys for sale close to Me for $2k in very good shape. Looks like I'll be seeking a IH forum....

 

Have the fords always been flare sides? I thought the flareside term came out when they started making the more modern looking one piece bodies. I had always heard mine referred to as a stepside before I got on this forum.

 

Correct. Third generation F series started with the Flareside/Styleside names. 56 and prior were all fendered boxes and no special name was required. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_F-Series_third_generation

 

I think I read the question differently than NotEnoughTrucks. I was reading 4x4man to be asking if they were called Stepsides prior to a much later design (8th, 9th or 10th gen?). By my reading of the question the answer is yes, they have always been Flaresides. The only trucks that were called Stepside by the manufacturer was Chevy (although so many people use Chevy-specific term on all other trucks that you'd think Chevy was the #1 truck manufacturer).

But as NotEnoughTrucks said, back when the only way you could get a pickup bed was with the fenders on the outside they didn't call them anything other than pickups. It was only after the beds with the fenders inside came around that names were needed to differentiate. and Ford always used "Flareside" for that.

 

"But as NotEnoughTrucks said, back when the only way you could get a pickup bed was with the fenders on the outside they didn't call them anything other than pickups. It was only after the beds with the fenders inside came around that names were needed to differentiate. and Ford always used "Flareside" for that."
Makes sense.