Pick up cabs on big rigs

[richellis]

Hi,

Ive been looking at pictures of 1950's Ford F-800, that had a pick-up cab and hood on a heavy truck chassis, was there any other trucks like this?

Im thinking the Revell Ford F-100 would be a good cab on an AMT truck chassis I have with some work, is there any other kits I could do this with?

Thanks

[Superpeterbilt]

There were a lot of trucks like this in the 40s and 50s. Dodge, Chevy, and Ford used pickup cabs for medium/heavy duty trucks. Keep a keen eye though, in most cases the front fenders are wider (across the width of the axle)than that of the pickups. This can be fixed by cutting and splicing in some styrene stripping to widen the front. All in all, there are a bunch of pickup kits that can be sourced to make a heavy truck conversion. I, myself have used the 50' & 56' fords, 56' & 72 chevys, and a 57' dodge diecast.

[guitarsam326]

I've been pondering the same thing, so do you just ad styrene down the center of each fender?

[Superpeterbilt]

I've been pondering the same thing, so do you just ad styrene down the center of each fender?

Depending on the truck in question, yes. Some just need a fender "flare" which also be made with styrene and putty. On the 57 Dodge I just made a flare, on the 56 Ford I widened the front.

[Jim B]

Here, this might help: http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/model_magazine_articles/scale_auto_enthousiast/sae_2000-2004/sae_2001_12__december/

[Chuck Most]

Here, this might help: http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/model_magazine_articles/scale_auto_enthousiast/sae_2000-2004/sae_2001_12__december/

Very nice conversion, but he did get one detail wrong. The F8 DID have wider grille bars than the F1 through F6 trucks.

Take a look at the panel with the FORD lettering- it's the same width on all models. The F1 grille bars fit between the gaps at either end, while you can see that the F8's grille bars extend past it.

[Fabrux]

Pickup cabs on medium duty trucks (up to class 7) were used by GM up until 2002 and Ford still uses them today. Mind you, Ford switched from the F-150 cab to the Super Duty cab in 2000. The cabs themselves differ slightly from the pickup versions, usually having a flatter floor. They also tend to keep the interior from when the cab was first introduced until a new cab design is used. For instance, the Chevrolet Kodiak used the same cab and interior from 1990-2002, even though the pickup interior changed in 1995. Ford also used the same interior in the F-600 from 1980 all the way up to 1999, even though the pickup interior changed twice in that interval and the F-600's front clip changed as well.

[lapazleo]

Of course it goes the other way IH and Diamond T used big truck cabs on pick ups.

[Chuck Most]

IH used the A-series cab on quite a few of the heavier trucks and semi tractors. In fact, they kept using it on some of the heavier rigs up until 1977, even though the light-line trucks were redesigned for 1969. The medium duty cabs had a raised roof, and a flatter floor than the pickup cabs. Then there was the extreme example, the IH 'big cab' as used on the ACO Sightliner.

And in Australia IH and Dodge used the IH A/B/C series cab for many years on a variety of different trucks, but I'm guessing that's a story for another time.

[Fabrux]

Of course it goes the other way IH and Diamond T used big truck cabs on pick ups.

Now that I didn't know!

[Chuck Most]

And so did Mack, when they got into the pickup market for a very brief period.

[Aaronw]

Ford also used the same interior in the F-600 from 1980 all the way up to 1999, even though the pickup interior changed twice in that interval and the F-600's front clip changed as well.

I ran into an unusual 80s extra cab F-800 this summer which showed just how much that is true. The guy bought two salvaged trucks and combined them to make something the factory never offered. The cab firewall forward was F-800, firewall back F-250, well done conversion, it looked stock.

[richellis]

Depending on the truck in question, yes. Some just need a fender "flare" which also be made with styrene and putty. On the 57 Dodge I just made a flare, on the 56 Ford I widened the front.

Thats just the sort of thing I wanted, what cab is that? Sorry Im not an expert of US trucks or pickups!

[Chuck Most]

Thats just the sort of thing I wanted, what cab is that? Sorry Im not an expert of US trucks or pickups!

That's a '56 Ford.

[Tesla]

Very good info...thanks!

[Aaronw]

I've been pondering the same thing, so do you just ad styrene down the center of each fender?

It depends on the truck.

On the '41-47 Chevy trucks you can just open up the wheel wells. They just cut the fenders out to fit the larger wheels. If you look at a 1/2 ton and a larger 1 1/2 ton + side by side you can see this difference fairly easily.

On the later 47-53 Chevy's they are longer, wider and taller although not by much so it isn't that noticeable. The fenders are 2" wider (individually each fender is 1" wider) and sit 2" higher, the headlights 2" further apart and 1 1/2" higher, the grill 1 3/4" higher. Overall length firewall to grill 3" longer.

Broken down to scale you are looking at 2-3mm, so a lot of people just fake it and few notice.

I've got a 50 Chevy I've been making the correct modifications to and it is a lot of work for little noticeable difference. The hardest part is the hood due to the angles. Everything else is a cut and splice in some styrene, but the hood requires a lot of reshaping because you get a step where you splice in the added length.

[Aaronw]

Here is a website that breaks down the 1948-52 Ford trucks. Short answer F-1 has different fender openings from the F-2 through F-6, but the same fenders. F-7 and F-8 have wider fenders. Lots of little differences.

http://www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/partsinterchange.html