So today I went out to the farm to soak the flathead in the F4 and to get some measurements. The frame has been cut by the po and all that remains is 8 feet from back of cab to the end of the frame. So my plan now is to cut the 12 foot script bed I bought from Josh down to fit. Easy enough. While I was measuring I noticed rust in the custom offset Coleman rear wheels. So now I have to decide if I find another pair of lockring 20's and change the offset like Coleman did or run duals which would probably look better than srw with the flatbed.

Another thing that threw me off was the lack of info on the data tags. The Vin is F4R1SP***** which from what I understand is F4 V8 1951 St. Paul build plant. And then the 5 digit sequence number. Then it has Model - 1RTL. That is all the info other than the gvwr that is 10,000 which indicates the truck was born with 18 inch duals and changed by Coleman to lockring 20 srw. There is no gear ratio info, paint color info, etc. I have only found 2 data plates. Firewall has the Vin, glove box has the Vin and model #. Thats all I can find.

I'm really just looking for ideas. Keep it true to Coleman with srw? But cutting the 12 ft bed down to 8 throws "true" out the window, or just build it to look good. Drw and a 8 ft bed. I could also paint the grill white to offset ALL the yellow paint. The entire truck is yellow except the short boards being black. Could also do 22.5s if I could find them or 19,5s if they would clear the drums. And if you read this Stu I have also thought about the guy in Cali that bought the truckload of MH stuff. Iirc he had a pair of 5x8 inner and outer rear spacers. MH and Coleman mix and match?

 

That is the stock length of the frame... 8' behind the cab. The wood bed frame pieces were a foot longer for the 9' bed and 4 feet longer for the 12' bed.

 

The guy in California that has the dealer inventory sold those special spacers already. I tried to buy them too. The 1RTL just means 1951, R for the V8, and TL the Ford model designation for an F-4.

From what I've read body color grilles were common on the base 5 Star model early in the '51 model year. My '51 R3-4 was green all over.

If it was me (yeah, it coulda been me) I'd dual the rear and make it look right. You don't know what bed was originally on the truck, and was the reason they used the custom dished singles on the rear. Since you can't replicate the original bed, your 9' flat bed needs the duals to look right.

Edit - the question about final drive ratio is one to first sort out by jacking/blocking and spinning a wheel a couple of rotations to see what the drive shaft tells you. Then you now whether Chuck's statement is right about the standard 6.67/1 ratio that Coleman probably installed. And if so I'd go back to Craig Trout and see how he reconciles that with his 4.87/1 statement in that 1998 article he wrote.

Here's the pic of Mark with Josh's 12' bed after we got it moved from my trailer to his. It'll soon be 9' long. Stu




For guys that didn't see the original discussion of this truck, here it is. Stu

 

Thanks for posting this. That is one very nice truck you have there! Looks like build thread soon to follow!

 

Joe, my F4 must have had a longer than 8 foot length behind the cab because the po had cut it off at an angle. Kinda like /. It kinda looks like the rear of a big truck, aka peterbilt or kenworth. The 8 foot is on the top, The rear of the rail is probably 5 or 6 inches longer. I plan on just cutting it straight at 8 foot.

I was also planning on making the script bed 8 ft but maybe it should be 9? At least then I could say it is a factory 9 foot bed. Nobody would look under it to verify. When I soaked the flathead all the plugs were out already, 1 was broke off in the head. Hopefully thats why it got parked and all I have to do is get it unstuck and install plugs. I have my fingers crossed thats all that is wrong with it.

And I will say Stu, thats one of the better pictures I have seen of myself! So I'm not missing any data tags?

 

Good luck with the broken plug.

My frame looks like it was cut off too. But in the drawings I've seen, they look like that's where the frame ended.

Yes, the F4 bed was 9 feet. I don't know if you could get a 12 foot bed on the F4 or if you could get one with the 158" wheelbase, but they were definitely available on the F5 and up.

This drawing shows the frame ends where the taillight mounts. On my truck, that's at 8 feet behind the cab. Maybe yours had a dump bed that required the angle cut???

 

Thanks GB. I think I'm gonna take a cue from you and just leave the patina and try to enjoy the truck the way it is. Get it running, stopping and wheels and tires. Mount the flatbed and call it good. Thanks for posting the flatbed diagram Joe. You guys have pretty much helped me figure it out today. A drw 9 foot flatbed Coleman F4 sounds pretty good to me. Now to fire up the sawzall and search for some 20 inch lockrings. We have time, this project will take place in the spring of 16. We still have to button up the F2 MH frame. That gives us plenty of time to soak the engine and find the wheels. Maybe come up with some money to bank roll the project. Thanks for posting the pics Stu. Ryan and myself unloaded the flatbed tonight. More like slid it off the back. You would have been proud.

 

F4 was only available with the 134" WB

 

Thanks Joe. I thought that was the case, but wasn't sure.

 

Looking good. That bed will look good on there.

I got lucky and got the bed loaded on there by myself without injury! Those extra wheels laying around sure paid off.

 

Here's the frame cut.

I can't imagine that you loaded the 12' by yourself, Josh. That sucker was heavy. Stu

 

Your the man Josh if you got that beast loaded by yourself! I cant imagine what that must have been like. Thanks for the frame cut pic Stu. I forgot i sent that to you. It clearly shows the torch work. I also never noticed that extra piece welded in there. Nothing a grinder and sawzall can't clean up.

 

Be careful now Mark, that's no doubt a Coleman factory original piece of angle iron. Just like your factory correct frame to transfer case spacer. Stu

 

Dont start messin with me Stu. I don't think Coleman would have been building pieces for the rear of the frame. We know the special Coleman 2x4 is factory. I wonder if Coleman send that board with the kit or if the kit directions told the buyer to get a 2x4 and mount it there? Finding directions for a Coleman mail order kit would be amazing. I will have to ask Craig if he has ever seen any. I was on "justoldtrucks" last night and it seems they have a parade in Littleton CO every August. I think they said there were 6 Colemans in the parade. Who knows, maybe someday?

 

No promises about messin' with you.

Here's a file pic of another Coleman showing the factory correct wood spacer. But this one has an indent for the rear mount. Almost makes the clunkie stuff M-H did look state-of-the-art. Stu

Edit - oh wait, (look at the picture, Stu!) yours has the indent too. Has to be part of the dealer kit. Stu