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So I have the floor installed in my cab. While putting all the braces and brackets in I noticed the stiffener running across the center doesn't fit. The floor has a curve to it and the stiffener doesn't. There is about a half inch gap between the floor and the stiffener. So how critical is this stiffener?
I'll tread water until the smarter folks arrive. Assuming we're concerned with a 56, the real issue would seem to be flatness of the floor. The stiffeners lend rigidity and the middle area pieces may also support the seat frame. My first thought is to revisit the fitment of the floor panels.
I thought that maybe it was how I installed them. I looked at the old one and there is a crown to it also. The front half is flat and the back is flat. It's just in the middle where the stiffener goes.
My truck did not have the brace installed. I ordered it thinking that I needed it, but had the same issue. It was flat and the floor was not. Since it was never installed and the floor pan in that area was intact, I just put it aside and did without.
I have noticed that this brace comes only on the 56 model F100, the slant cabs do not have the cross brace. Here is a photo of a 54 that I installed a cross brace on...I welded the ends to the angle braces and I filled the gaps in the center with 3M panel adhesive. I am not sure how much structural rigidity this adds to a stock F100 but on this particular truck cab the owner was installing bucket seats and a console that put a bit more stress in the center of the floor pan.
BTW - this was a brace that I fabricated, not one bought from a vendor...that said it is a straight piece
Did 56 cabs have it because of the gas tank moving to the cab?
I am not sure about the "why" Abe...mine are but observations. I could hypothesize but that would just be a guess. Year models evolve as manufacturers see problems arise in earlier models, this may be one of those instances. From an engineering standpoint, the design of the angle braces in the 53-55 cabs was done to strengthen the rocker panels. Whatever forces were applied to the rockers was then transferred to the floor pan. The Ford engineers may have found that a cross brace would better distribute these forces across the cab floor. It is obvious by the shape of the "dimple" in the center of the rocker panel that the engineers spent some time on this area of the cab. How many truck owners have noticed that dimple and not realized it was put there to provide a flat mounting surface for the floor bracing?
That may be the case as far as spreading the "energy" from the rocker to the floor pan. Charlie what you did there with the panel adhesive doesn't sound like a bad idea. Might not transfer the "energy" as well as being right against the floor pan, but I'm sure it's better then not being there.
Jeff
I added one to my 53, Mine is made from square tubing, I slit three sides of tubing and bent till matched floor and the tig welded the slit up. It seemed to take the flex out of floor.
The 3M 08115/8116 adhesive cures to an almost rock hard material. Given the 1/8-3/16 thickness and width in the gap I would say that the filled portion exceeds the strength of a piece of 16 ga steel by quite a bit.
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