Todd B Posted December 23, 2011 Report Posted December 23, 2011 I was just down stacking wood near my not restored trucks {my wife thinks they are for parts}. and I noticed a difference in the 1/2 ton box sides from the years 49 to 52. Any one know the difference in the sides? I have seen these trucks side by side for years and I never noticed this before. Todd B P.S. Merle, give the rest of them a 3 hour headstart. Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted December 23, 2011 Report Posted December 23, 2011 one less stake pocket per side.. Quote
Todd B Posted December 24, 2011 Author Report Posted December 24, 2011 not what noticed. but I will check when its daylight. Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 24, 2011 Report Posted December 24, 2011 The tapered rear section at the bottom for one and I think the front section at the bottomis different too, assuming high side boxes. Quote
Todd B Posted December 24, 2011 Author Report Posted December 24, 2011 What I noticed is on the 49, just behind the fender there is a removable panel to grease the zerks. On the 52 they bumped the metal out so there is no removable panel. Merle disappointed me. He has been the Pilot house go-to man for years. Oh well, I still respect him and think he is the man right uder God when it comes to trucks. Merry Christmas to all, and I hope my wife caught my hints about a dodge tow truck in Minnasota. Todd B Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 25, 2011 Report Posted December 25, 2011 My '51 was also bumped out right there and now there is no grease hole, front or rear. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted December 25, 2011 Report Posted December 25, 2011 I have noticed that Todd, but I had forgot about it. Were both truck the same weight class? I've noticed differenced in that area between the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks too. I believe it's because of the width difference between the two. The narrower 1/2 ton has the removable panels, from what I've seen. The 3/4 tonners just have the bump out. Merle Quote
Todd B Posted December 25, 2011 Author Report Posted December 25, 2011 Merle, I went down and looked to make sure and they both are 1/2 tons. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted December 26, 2011 Report Posted December 26, 2011 I remember discussing this with Dennis Sullivan one day when I was up at Mopars in the Park a few years ago. We looked at several trucks that were there. It's all coming back now... I recall that, like Todd says, the B1 & 2 half tonners have a removable cover over the rear spring shackle whereas the newer B3's and 4's don't. And none of the larger 3/4 - 1 ton Express bodies have a removable panel. I think it was to allow removal of the shackle without removing the box, but I've been wrong before. We also noticed that the low side beds have an exposed shackle. There's a notch in the bed side without any cover. Merle Quote
Todd B Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Posted December 26, 2011 Is there any pictures showing the difference in high & low sides, I am not sure if I have all low or high sides. I have 4- 1/2 tons and they are all the same height. Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 26, 2011 Report Posted December 26, 2011 this is a high side. side panels have a pattern pressed into them and stake pockets are rounded off at the bottom. Low sides have flat side panels and stake pockets are squared off at bottom. Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 26, 2011 Report Posted December 26, 2011 Hank's truck in Post #16 of the "Old NOS Battery " post is an example of the low side box. Quote
Todd B Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Posted December 26, 2011 I have never seen a low side, I actually thought Hanks was a fabricatd 2011 model box side. Very Interesting. Quote
Reg Evans Posted December 27, 2011 Report Posted December 27, 2011 Here's a photo of my low side from several years ago. The exposed rear shackle is visible. Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 27, 2011 Report Posted December 27, 2011 I have never seen a low side' date=' I actually thought Hanks was a fabricatd 2011 model box side.Very Interesting.[/quote'] Hank's box is aftermarket but it's low side design. Quote
HanksB3B Posted December 28, 2011 Report Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) [/i] The exposed rear shackle is visible. and Sexy as all hell as far as I'm concerned. The removable panel attached just next to it is my favorite part of my truck. I think it is because it reminds me of my first experience with a wrench...removing my chain guard from my Huffy at age 5. (go figure) I wish it were so simple that my bed was "Aftermarket" and I guess I'll have to explain it with some history and help with attachments. I purchased my 1951 B3B for $400 from a roofing contractor 1981. I remember the first time I drove the truck. I was at a red light and when I accelerated the young woman waiting at the bus stop totally disappeared in a black cloud of smoke. The truck looked like hell. The home-made square tube roof rack had all but ruined the bed metal where it joined the stake pockets. Instead of the round fenders it had two metal shop fabricated tool boxes either side of each rear wheel with a flat piece of metal bridiging the top acting as a fender. Worse than drilling a million holes in the bed sides to secure all this was the fact that someone had the bright idea of cutting the right angle section of the bed side just above the rear axle to (my guess) allow the bed to be overtloaded with pitch containers. The combination of these two knucklehead ideas coupled with the ficticious fact that on some lunchbreak, the driver of the truck must have had one too many beers and backed into a tree, tweeking things a bit more. In attachment (1) you can see how the structural integrity of the bed was severely warped and compromised making it near impossible to restore without major surgery. Attachment (2) The only parts worth saving were the stake pockets as the tooling to stamp these no longer exists. The stake pockets were Fedex'd to Bruce Horkey in Windom Minnesota where they were reconditioned for re-use. Attachment (3) Is an actual mockup showing my stake pockets now attached to new 12 gauge sheet metal. The tough part of this is the angled roll over (top edge) portion takes some real metal working skill to duplicate to Mopar factory specs. Attachment (4) shows my mockup once the polturethane primer was applied over the zinc chromate over the raw metal. I also applied 5 coats of Horkey's UV resistant Spar Varnish. Attachment (5) The completed bed. New sides with original stake pocket, new back panel with correct factory stamped raised panel, New Script Tailgate (the die is still out there) New tailgate chain with factory correct hooks (but all stainless) Hank Edited December 28, 2011 by HanksB3B Quote
Dave72dt Posted December 28, 2011 Report Posted December 28, 2011 One of the few times when "aftermarket " is as nice or better than the original. Beautiful piece of craftmanship. Quote
Todd B Posted December 28, 2011 Author Report Posted December 28, 2011 I certainly did not intend to insult anyone when I commented on the low side boxes, I have never seen a low side box. Sorry Todd B Quote
HanksB3B Posted December 28, 2011 Report Posted December 28, 2011 One of the few times when "aftermarket " is as nice or better than the original. Beautiful piece of craftmanship. Thanks for the compliment! Hank Quote
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