Hi Guys:

I am in the process of figuring out what to do with a 1949 pickup with frame issuses. Is there a newer (70's to 80's) pickup or maybe a bronco chassis that I can swap the body onto? Any suggestions?
Thanks;

 

Anothere 49 frame might be a good choice. Seems like there would be a lot of messing with the newer frame to get body mounts, etc. to work right.

 

George speaks the truth.

 

I have the same kind of problem--I picked up a 51 panel truck frame, does any one know how that will work

 

Same issue for me on a '50 F-3. Anybody tried the swap? Worst aspects of it?

Thanks!

 

Similar discussions have taken place on this board in the past with most concluding that a frame swap is just too difficult. I have never done one myself, but have wittnessed and lent a hand in moving a '48 F-1 body onto a full size Chevy truck frame. Probably not the best choice of donors (I've seen Ranger and S-10 frames also), but one of those "I've got this and that and can probably make a good truck out of parts of each" situations. The owner wanted to upgrade to IFS, PS, PB and a more modern drive train and the frame swap provided all of those benefits. I think his truck turned out very nice, and best of all, he got what he wanted and got it on the road with minimal cost.

With that being said, I don't think one of these swaps is for the faint of heart, as there will be numerous issues to work through with sheet metal mounting, steering shafts, brake boosters & linkage, etc. The newer bolt in/weld in MII and derivatives make the IFS swap easier, but you have to pay with your wallet. When compared to doing a front clip/frame graft, I personally am not sure a frame swap might not be easier. It is a definate benefit to have the original frame available for measurements and to scavenge brackets and raw material from.

In the end, I think you have to decide what you want to do with your truck, honestly assess your abilities and talents, and then decide what you are going to do from there. Sorry for the long post, just throwing out some food for thought.
Good Luck,
Kent

 

I'm certainly not George when it comes to the F1 series, but from what I recall reading in othere posts I believe Ford used the same frame in the F1-3 but increased the capacity by adding in doublers to the frame. If that's the case (don't use me as verification of this) you should be able to use an F1 frame you just will have F1 cargo capacity. Ford used the same frames for the pickups as the panel trucks just different body mounting (at least they did in 53-56 so I'd expect they did the same on the earlier ones), so I'd expect you can use the panel frame if you swap over your cab mounts and possibly the bed mounts to that frame.

 

Thank you guys for the info . As usual their is good advise and information, I did measuer a long box Ranger frame and the wheel base is 1'' longer than a50 F1 but about 7'' narrower

 

sanford,

I have a frame from a '50 pickup under my '48 panel. The only difference is I had to cut the third running board brace off of each side and reroute the dual exhaust around the gas tank, the tank in mounted in the frame but you should know this if you have a panel truck frame.