annnnnd the open door kept me from getting the extra inches to let the tires roll under.
so y wife and I worked together, rolled the wheels under the center of the cab and bounced the front and rear sideways. success!
it looks like the sun going down but it was only a matter of minutes. a storm front was rolling in and we finished in the nick of time. god love mrs joedoh for helping.
now on the 48-52 (and other year) fords. on a 47-55.1 chevrolet, the 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton trucks all had the same front clips, and all trucks had the same cabs, so if you started with a 2 ton cab you could find a 1/2 3/4 or 1 ton front end to bolt right on. the 3000 series trucks didnt share anything in common with the 4000 and larger though, except headlights and park lights.
but FORDS of the era, the only way to get half ton sized fenders was to buy F1 half ton parts. thats it. but the good news is that the grille, hood, upper and lower grille parts, even the inner fenders, are exactly the same parts from F1 all the way to F8. so at least all you need to find are the upper and lower fenders, everything else is the same. I found a great guy in ottawa ks who heard my online plea for F1 fenders and paid his asking price for the very rare parts.
I also found a nice F1 bed (rear fenders are unique to the F1 too!) in coffeyville ks. black like the rest of the truck! this will be great!
so thats today. i would be lying if I said i hadnt already made some preliminary measurements and have some mounts mocked up.
I also need to make the frame longer, its a 108" and the 48-52 fords are 114. lucky me i already have a frame stretch kit designed. more soon!