i PURCHASED a 78 F150 Lariat Ranger last year. the odd thing about this truck is that it has an 8 ft stepside box. If anyone has any info on this it would be appreciated.

 

Hello, I tried to email you but they say I need 15 posts before I can email anyone

Please email me at rdminbinghamme@yahoo.com

I read today where the 8 foot step sides could be ordered up through 1979. I would love to see some pictures of yours!

 

OH WELL, looks like we 2 "newbee's" can not exchange emails, or email each other! I want to build a 8' stepside for my 1978 F250 and would like to see some pictures. I have the Step Side Ford fenders I originally purchased for a 6' truck 8-10 years ago, but I need the measurements for the pockets, frame crossmembers, etc. Thanks!!

 

I'm not sufficiently up on Ford history to tell you specifics of when and how many, but 8 foot stepsides were common in the past. I have a stepside box and fenders from a '58 or '59 Chevy in my junk collection now. What I consider a "true" stepside, is a straight sided box with fenders bolt on. Many of today's trucks or just a "squished in" version of the wide styleside box. If it's a true stepside, you can put fenders wherever you want them, so it's easy to adapt to different wheelbases (I'm thinking of using that old Chevy box on a 134" WB '56 Cornbinder that had a 9 foot stepside from the factory (yes, nine footers were once fairly common, too. I recall one on a 1950 GMC one ton). I'd say a guy with some time to weld and and a decent shop, could stretch a short stepside to whatever length he wanted. But it would take some work. Might be easier to make a long one out of two short ones, if that's what you can find.

Gee, and to think, private parties created pickups, until the perceptive Henry Ford saw the demand and came out with a production Model T pickup in 1925. It had a 56 inch long bed and all of 20 horsepower.

 

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I picked up an 8' stepside off a 70ish pickup. I plan on shortening it and putting it on my next project..... 56 F-100

 

These trucks are called flaresides. They were around before the styleside except they weren't called flaresides then. Ford actually came up with the name flareside later after they introduced the stylesides.

Just a tiny bit of Ford truck history for you.