In what areas and in what years was wood used for mounting? Such as Bed, Cab, Core Support or other areas.

 

Ford cars/trucks 1903 thru circa 1931/34 had an inner wood framework to support the body's sheet metal.

All Ford trucks had wood bed floors exclusively thru 1956.

Wood was used for flooring on Stake and Flatbeds, on Flareside beds.

Ford factory station wagons from 1929 thru 1948 had wood bodies. 1949/51, the bodies were steel with wood veneer used in the front doors and on tailgates on 1949's.

1952 and later wagons were all steel.

I've never heard of...or seen any wood used with core supports, or anywhere else other than what I typed above.

btw: Not only did Henry Ford own the forests in Northern Michigan the wood came from, but the sawmills to process it and the ships to transport the wood to the Rouge.

 

My 66 styleside box which is the 58-60 style uses wood blocks inside the stamped crossmember sills where it sits on the frame, four are drilled for box mounting, 4 are not. They are also there so when you clamp down on the bed mounting bolts, it doesn't collapse the sills. I'm not sure what type of wood it was originally, it was a hardwood of some kind. Maybe Maple or Oak, I made my replacements out of mahoghany.

I'm kind of surprised ND left out the history lesson about frugal Henry's sawmilling operation, where he would take the mill ends and make charcoal out of them, known as KingsFord briquettes.

 

There is very limited knowledge between his ears, he just thinks he is a know it all.



John

 

John...you are wrong as I for one know for a fact also about him owning the forests and the ships to transport it...

As for the bed blocks...Ive seen those but never taken one off to cut it up to see what mat'l its made of...but there are positively blocks in the hat frame sections of the BED framework to keep the bed either just off or just on the frame so as not to distort the hat sections when the truck is loaded to the gills. Ive also never seen one of these blocks thats been rotten or shown any signs of deterioration.

- cs65

 

[ Yes...I forgot to mention it. Today they're known as KingsFord Charcoal Briquettes...because Ford later sold the operations to King.

But back in Henry's day, the briquettes came in a 10 lb. canvas sack that had a Ford part number on it...and were sold at the parts counter.

Ford's lumbering operations were headquartered in Iron Mountain, MI.

Ford also owned his own bulk ore carriers that picked up raw ore (taconite iron pellets) in the port of Duluth that came from the Mesabi Range in MN. The ore was then shipped to the Rouge.

 

Please be careful or you might look like a know it all want to be.



John