3 speed transmissions, floor, column
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From: SE Wisc. (the Rust Belt)
3 speed transmissions, floor, column
There's a discussion on FB about three speed transmissions. When did Ford offer three on the tree? I thought it was in the mid 1950 model year. The FBer has a '48 he is selling the three speed and it has the column shift. I thought maybe someone over the years used a '48 title to sell a '50 truck. I could understand that maybe it was possible if the truck was a '49 it might have have gotten the column shift if it was closer to the switch but '48 seems to be a ways from the mid '50 year. My panel has the floor shift 3 speed, the chassis is from a pickup but I think the guy I bought it from said it was a '49.
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From: Kalispell, MT
The 1948 Operator's Manual states "...f. Gearshift Lever. The gearshift lever is located to the right of the driver. Figs. 6 through 9 show the position of the lever for the various gear ratios."
Picture 6 shows a floor shifter with the std 3 speed shift pattern. I'd say it's safe to argue that no 48s came with column shift from the factory.
I'm under the impression with you that mid-50 was when column shift was added.
From the data 48-50 serial numbers: (Approx 1400 trucks in the 48-50 data log)
NO 48s are noted with column shift.
A couple of 49s are noted as having column shift (It would compare to a few guys who upgraded their trucks maybe?)
A few more 50s had column shift (around serial number 315000) but floor shift is still predominate
It isn't until serial number 470,000 that column shift becomes common in the data log.
Picture 6 shows a floor shifter with the std 3 speed shift pattern. I'd say it's safe to argue that no 48s came with column shift from the factory.
I'm under the impression with you that mid-50 was when column shift was added.
From the data 48-50 serial numbers: (Approx 1400 trucks in the 48-50 data log)
NO 48s are noted with column shift.
A couple of 49s are noted as having column shift (It would compare to a few guys who upgraded their trucks maybe?)
A few more 50s had column shift (around serial number 315000) but floor shift is still predominate
It isn't until serial number 470,000 that column shift becomes common in the data log.
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Tim, do you have date codes that would correspond with the serial numbers for the shifter change?
AFAIK, common understanding is the column shift feature was a running change at some point during the 1950 model year for F1 trucks with the standard, light duty 3 speed transmission. The HD 3 speed was still floor shift through 52. The LD trans was never used in F2 and larger trucks. It's likely that the change date was different among the dozen or so assembly plants across North America based on parts availability, so some dealers could be selling column shift trucks while others were still getting floor shift.
Steering parts are easily interchangeable from 48-52, so it wouldn't be hard to add the column shift mechanism to the earlier trucks, if one had all the donor pieces to do it. The title swap theory isn't out of the realm of possibility, either.
AFAIK, common understanding is the column shift feature was a running change at some point during the 1950 model year for F1 trucks with the standard, light duty 3 speed transmission. The HD 3 speed was still floor shift through 52. The LD trans was never used in F2 and larger trucks. It's likely that the change date was different among the dozen or so assembly plants across North America based on parts availability, so some dealers could be selling column shift trucks while others were still getting floor shift.
Steering parts are easily interchangeable from 48-52, so it wouldn't be hard to add the column shift mechanism to the earlier trucks, if one had all the donor pieces to do it. The title swap theory isn't out of the realm of possibility, either.
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From: Kalispell, MT
Earliest is June of 1950 and was a Minneapolis/St.Paul truck 297K
314K and I don't have firewall code for date
320K - no firewall code, Chester PA truck and surrounding dates look like September/October 50
329K on they become more common and most have November/December build dates
The box style change? I can't really pick out a specific point in time as different assembly plants must have been using old stock. There are a few late style boxes mixed in but I can't say factories switched over at any specific time. From what I see in the data, column shift was a running change for 1950, but box styles didn't become common until 419K and build codes indicate August 1951 assembly.
1950 was almost a double model year - I think Ford was trying to catch up to the fall car model year. Remember Ford kept using the 49-50 style data and rating plates until sometime Sept 1951.
48 and 49 saw 140K units each year. 1950 saw around 230K units. There is printed material that disagrees with this. I'm only reporting on the data I've collected over the past 20 years. The highest typical 49/50 serial number I have is 510K.
314K and I don't have firewall code for date
320K - no firewall code, Chester PA truck and surrounding dates look like September/October 50
329K on they become more common and most have November/December build dates
The box style change? I can't really pick out a specific point in time as different assembly plants must have been using old stock. There are a few late style boxes mixed in but I can't say factories switched over at any specific time. From what I see in the data, column shift was a running change for 1950, but box styles didn't become common until 419K and build codes indicate August 1951 assembly.
1950 was almost a double model year - I think Ford was trying to catch up to the fall car model year. Remember Ford kept using the 49-50 style data and rating plates until sometime Sept 1951.
48 and 49 saw 140K units each year. 1950 saw around 230K units. There is printed material that disagrees with this. I'm only reporting on the data I've collected over the past 20 years. The highest typical 49/50 serial number I have is 510K.
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