1951 Ford F-1 Door Lock Question
 

Ok, now that I have the cab off of the frame and in my garage, I am preparing to tear it down and send it out for media blast.

I have been studying the floor for potential replacement pannels and how I am going to fix the rusted pannels. While doing this and thinking of all the modifications I want to do to the truck, I realized there is no outside door lock cylinder on the drivers door.

So, naturally, I walked over to the passenger side and there it is - an outside door lock cylinder.

Being the rocket scientist that I am, I thought - well, that's odd - shouldn't the lock cylinder be on the drivers side.

So, I decided that I needed to ask the question - Why did Ford put a lock cylinder and key on the passenger door instead of the driver's door.

So, I am posing this question to all of you who have a vast knowledge of Ford vehicles.

Why would Ford choose to do this?

There must be a reasonable answer.

So, anyone have an answer to this strange question?

Thanks

Dan

back in the day, it was only respectable to let the lady exit the passenger side first. Then lock the door behind her. Exiting the driver's side meant stepping out into traffic. No gentleman would ever let her do such a thing.

Safety issue to keep you out of traffic. Before malls and mega parking lots we had parallel parking on the street. The proper (safe) way to get in and out of a car was from the curb or passsenger side. It wasn't just Ford, I just walked out and looked at my bro's 37 Chev coupe... there's only a tumbler in the passenger side handle. I actually remember the old driver ed movie's showing such unusual, by today's standards, behavior. Nothing like sliding in wool suits across a mohair seat, then saying goodnight to your date. Maybe that's where the term "sparking" came from....

I think Henry was just a cheap SOB and knew he could charge extra for it. If he only put one on the driver's side, no one would pay extra for one on the passenger side..

Door lock on the driver's door was an option on standard trucks. 5 Star Extra Cab optioned trucks had the driver's door lock.

To convert yours, you'll really just need the latching mechanism from a 5 Star Extra Cab truck driver's door. Then you'd just drill a hole in your existing door for the tumbler to fit.

The latches come up on eBay from time to time. Matter of fact, in the last month, there were two. The first sold for $50 (a steal) and the other sold for near or over $100.

Click on the link to see differences between standard vs 5 Star Extra Cabs. Photos in modelking2's '51/52 Std cab vs 5 Star Extra' album

Gee it's been a while since this question has come up - at least a month now.

These two links will probably answer your two next questions about door locks:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...door-lock.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...handles-2.html

Post #3 of th esecond link has a picture of the door lock mechanism that has the extra "tungue" for the exterior lock....it's labelled in the photo.

Thank you all for the replys.

The answers actually make sense when you think about it.

I forgot about the search feature - I should have looked for the answer first.

Thanks

Dan

I have been told by a few people who remembered when the truck was new that in some cities they had laws that you could not get out on the side of traffic (ie parked in a downtown area) so thats why you only needed one side. I met a really nice older woman who graduated college in 53 and was telling me all kinds of stuff about that time frame.