I have a question.........Whay are truck beds always a separate en***y from the cabs? Is this just a cheaper way to manufacture trucks? is it just to protect the cab from cargo loads? or do the frames of trucks flex too much to connect the two?.......any thoughts?.....
Good question. Aside from el caminos and rancheros, which aren't really meant to be much in the way of work horses, there was those uni early '60's ford truck which rule. I always figure it had something to do with the idea that them being separate allowed for any one truck to be configured different ways; with a regular bed, flat bed, water tank, whatever.. And, if a bed was damaged from actually being used as for work, you could just replace it instead of the whole vehicle.. I dunno..
A couple of random thoughts. 1) When the concept of the motor truck was first introduced, most manufacturers offered them as ch***is only, and a separate coachbuilder or wagon builder would construct a body to the customer's needs. A bit later on, as certain common necessary features became evident, manufacturers started supplying cabs, and a few basic "beds"- flat, stake, (or sometimes a flat with provisions for stake or solid sides). Nevertheless many trucks received custom cargo beds up to WW II. As trucks evolved, also, it became obvious that more than one size of ch***is were needed to do various jobs. When you look at trucks built from the early 1900s to well into the '30s, the saying "no two look alike" comes to mind. Every one adapted the truck to his own needs...at least the cargo area. 2) The one obvious exception, the early '60s Ford unibodys, are notorious for cracking behind the cab. Ford light truck frames from '53-'64 are very similar & were deliberately designed to flex...and, while that may have worked very well for the purpose of being a truck, it didn't do so well for those loooong expanses of sheetmetal. I don't really consider El Caminos or Rancheros to be trucks, though they are very cool. Their rated load capacities don't really meet what is considered acceptable for even a light truck, and they were not built on truck frames, but rather car frames that were slightly modified (if at all). I always get a laugh out of the Bond film Goldfinger, where the crushed/compacted Lincoln Continental is dumped into the back of the Falcon-based Ranchero with no apparent ill effects. (If you look at the "car" carefully in crushed form, it can be seen that it's not the actual Lincoln. )
I'm no ford expert, but I think they had some kind of uni cab something pickup... Like this... ***EDITED TO ADD*** That totally didn't answer your question. Sorry. I'd say yes, yes, yes and yes.
My old hot rod neighbor told me, a friend bought a 61 unibody new, within a month of dirt road driving all the gaps on the doors had changed and wouldn't line up. No flex in the bed/cab area and the frame not being boxed caused the gaps to close up! He told me my 62 unibody was junk!
Take a look at the Aussie utes. Sort of a car/truck mix with the bed and cab as one unit. Not exactly a pick-up but serves the same function and something to look at while you're pondering this. There's one in my profile and several threads here on them. As far as the reasons for separation, I believe you answered your own question.
You need to have the bed able to move some with the flex of the frame or heavy loads will cause stress,bends and cracks on a solid cab/bed truck. Remember, they were built to haul stuff other than ***.
The Picture of that Ford Truck. I owned a few of these years ago. They Break where they are attached to the back of the cab. Guaraneed. With flex they crack and then work into a Big Crack.Well that is if you use it as a truck. An El Camino is not a truck it is a car with the truck lid removed
" An El Camino is not a truck it is a car with the truck lid removed " Well, I have hauled home a flathead, 2 trannies and a Winters quickchange in the back of my '85 Elky. Bring your car around and we'll try that with it and see.
My understanding with the 61-63 Ford unibody truck was that when loaded the body flexed enough that the doors could pop open, and most didn't have seatbelts.
The body flexing and doors popping open was a problem on the long box version. The short wheel base was OK. Full size Bronco's and Blazers are just SWB unibody pickups with a fibergl*** top.
Trucks are utilitarian and need to be able to accept flatbeds, service bodies, etc. Couldn't install those on a truck were the body/bed was one piece and bed not removable. Bob
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