Is there anyway do to a truck rod right?

Pork'n'****** & 29nash are a couple sages to be sure and i agree with thier message. I am doing a big truck and the trick is to make an exotic look traditional. People have a concept of what a hot rod needs to look like, if you stray far from that concept then you have built a pile of junk that everybody can critisize because it is safe for them to do so without being actually intelligent and an informed observer (i think all hambr's are intelligent and know what they're looking at, i am speaking about the yahoos walking thru a car show trying to impress thier girlfriend).
Set it aside for a couple months and then come back to it, if you still see something there try to capture it.

 

So I guess this means that Nash is going to pick me up on his way to Virginia for Cheese Burgers?

I actually know where I can pic up a '36 Ford pretty cheap if I don't want the fenders. Like I need another project. Ah forget it. I better just finish what I got then go looking for more misery.

 

"Is there any way to do a truck rod right?"

Yes there is.

Here's a 42 that doesn't need fenders.........it's in my shed and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

thanks man. proportion is the key thats for sure. we looked at lots of trucks before we started as a kind of what not to do. front axle placement, wheel base,box length, where the rear tire is placed between the front and rear of the box,box and cab body lines,grillshell height. any of those can make or break the project. also,the parts you use is a huge factor. all the stuff we used is ford or vintage speed shop stuff with the exception of the gs tank (1938 farmall tractor) and battery box (small vintage metal cooler). using a model a front crossmember and a 34 truck grill kept the front end proportions right. we built the frame, but first out of wood 2x4's and mocked everything up before any metal was cut. thanks for the compliment.

 

First off, thanks for all the pics and help guys! I really appreciate it. But I do want to get something out in the air, I'm not afraid to build this thing, and I'm not afraid that you aren't gonna like it. I don't care if you like it. My past hot rodding has been 80's k-cars. I don't care what you think, and if you flip me **** I will show you my taillights !

I do have the fab skills to do this. Easily, in fact I think I have a great background to start building rods. I went to college for auto body and did that for about 5 years before leaving. I just couldn't make any money at it. Then I moved onto fixing semi's and doing lots of fabrication. In my spare time I was building turbo 4's and drag racing the **** outta them! My lack of tools and a small shop will be all the holds me back. But, I have access or can borrow everything I need. I do have access to a 8' metal brake too!

I guess I'm saying that I didn't come here looking for you guys to tel me it was okay to build a rat/bobber. I don't want a rat bobber and was looking for other ideas and I just couldn't find pics of anything other then bobbers on here or the net. I am STOKED about that old picture I found thou. Its perfect. Gives me a nice "trad" theme, and a guy using what he has to go fast, and not going out and spending a fortune is me 100%. I'm really leaning towards a truck with almost stock proportions, no fenders and a hot v8.

The deal that does **** thou, and is really gonna hold this project back isn't time or money, as much as it will be my health. . I have been diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, more or less no cartilage in my lower back. I'm only 25. LnI is fighting me on my claim of course, so when I should have already had surgery, I haven't even seen a Doctor yet!


Maverick
Do you have any more pics of that truck? Other then the ford susp, and it being a little to low for ME (don't get me wrong, it looks great) thats exactly what I want!

 

DDD isn't the end of the world. I've been fighting that and a degenerative nerve problem for years. I never had surgery by the time I got to a real doctor it was too late, my vertibrae had already self fused. Well at least the lower 3 vertibrae. It doesn't stop at the bottom.

I'm not making slight of the problem its damned painful and that's a fact. I'm just saying that you can make it. You just have to make some lifestyle adjustments. You will find yourself buying tools to help you lift things that you wouldn't have otherwise. But you'll be alright if you just don't quit. Trust me.

Build it the way the picture in your head says to and let the chips fall where they may. That's what I do.

 

I know its not the end, but somethings got to be done. They've got me on nasty drugs just so I can move around and they are only good for about 4 hours. Then back to the pain. I just cant work on cars right now, its really that simple. I will do small stuff once in a while but I pay for it later. I really miss wrenching . I cant work anymore either, and that kills me. But my Doctor told me if I kept pushing myself I may end up doing permanent nerve damage, and ending up in a wheelchair was a possibility. I just want to get better and get back to work...

Do you have any tips for me? Like exercises you do/did? What helped the pain for you other then the drugs?

Thanks

 

Posting this pic for F-6Garagerat

 

just gotta say this is a beautiful truck that's nailed it- has anyone got a pick of the navy late 30's ford truck with the flat firewall and the straight 6 chev in it, was in a mag not long agog- now that is a ***ty truck, and as someone said before- as i'm 6'4 too, and you sure as hell don't want to chop to the point of not seeing out of it!

 

very easy to make disproportioned.

Take your time and stand back and look alot.

 

This one was at back to the 50's this year. I thought it had very good proportions.

 

its knowitalls like you who **** and bring the forum down....why dont you apologize to the man and offer some constructive help

 

hey turboshadow....take the fenders you have and cut on em til you like em....build a wood flatbed and make it a dually...run a big external tank on the frame and under the bed...any trucker chrome shop sells fenders for duallys(the ones the fit the wheel/tire and are universal)....cut the front end and block up the rest of the truck at the ride height you like....then move the front end til you like it...make your patch and weld'r up....bet it'll be beautiful....put whatever motor you want in it....some of these guys are so negative, i think they need a tune up often

 

I'm building a 39 fenderless truck. It's going to be one of the nicest fenderless hot rods out there. Here's how it looks mocked up. I've got a ways to go. Its got a 6" chop and a 6" channel. Its all about the making it look in proportion IMO. If its done right these trucks look great. It will have a Early nailhead and the front axle will be in the original location. The truck will be on bags to get the right look. The front crossmember has been romoved and a custom one for bags is being made. Bags will be hidden. This is my first scratch build and I have very high expectations. I try not to listen to the na sayers.

 

need more pics of this truck, i am building a 46 ford bobber truck.

 

Does anyone know if there are more pics of this one out there? It's sitting on an S10 frame which I'm not too sure about, but I'd like to see the nose and front end. Built by Gas Axe Chop Shop in TN?

 

Front wheels too far back for my taste. Sectioned cab without a chop makes it look like it was designed for Big Bird to me.

 

My avatar is a 37 Ford 1.5 ton. I shortened the frame and kicked up the rear section. Used 40 ford front end with dropped axle. I set out to build a decent truck using what I had on a low budget. Hope to finish it this year. It is NOT a Rat Rod.

 

This isn't meant to instigate anything and has no bearing on this thread but this truck would rule with fenders.

 

Found another shot, not really my cup of beer.

 

Mine was a big 1 1/2 ton to begin with, with the big fenders so I just switched the front out to a willys race weight fibergl*** one piece tilt. Still have to figure out what rear fenders to use. Still not that hard and done in my spare time. Same as my avatar.

 

My buddy Alvin has a '48 Ford that is just excellent. It sits right and it looks great, chopped, channeled and open wheel. I'm pretty much convinced that anything can look great if you think it through and you watch proportions. I have a '35 and I think the proportions are spot on. Don't worry about what anybody says, just please yourself and make 'em jealous.

 

I saw this one over the weekend...

 

Laroke to be one the safe side of everyone liking it you are absolutely right.

Sometimes I like the look of a section without a chop. It makes them a little cartooney a lot like a Roth-esc caricature. But it is not a mainstream taste for sure.

Even at that it would be hard to get everything just right, you still have to get the proportion or ratio of section to roof just right. Too much section you you broke the bank.

I think one of the things that breaks many trucks or rods in general is that they go too extreme. When slicing and dicing more often than not a little goes a long ways.

 

I have to admit I've seen a few sectioned shoeboxes without the chop that seem to have found the magic formula of correct proportion.

 

How hard was it to fit the willys clip? Ive read the thread on the guy using the Dodge cab, and it looks like a nightmare. The more I look at the "style" I want to build, fenders do make more sense. In my head, this truck has went from a lowered un bobbed bobber to a mild g***er. G***er trucks had fenders, So some hunting may have to be done. That, or extreme secotioning and reworking of the front fenders I already have.. A tilt willys clip would be great, and probaly greatly increase value.

 

Here is my truck. It started out as a '46 Ford 1/2ton. I ended up building my own frame, chopping 7" out of the cab, shortened the box to 4'9" and am running '34 Plymouth grill & headlights.

Theres a truck running around near me thats similar to this but was not chopped, It just doesnt look right to me.

 

That thing is busier than a ***** at a republican convention.

 

A while back you said what you really wanted was a 27 tub on an A frame. Sell the 39 cab and start looking. Building what you really want goes easier, faster, and is just more fun. Everything costs money to build, and chances are you'll be in too deep to quit on the 39 when a great deal on a 27 comes along, and you'll be too broke from the 39 to buy it. Trust me, you'll be happier in the end.
Ralph