[rotorwrench]

I'd be very skeptical about Ford Motors taking extra energy to make different frame rail gauge thicknesses between the passenger and commercial vehicle lines. Due to the need for different dies and possibly larger presses, this practice would increase the manufacturing needs/costs and bottom line, it would make the vehicles a bit more expensive to produce. From all the information out there so far, convention points to the rails being the same gauge thickness. Replacement frames maybe. Larger trucks would be different size & shape but may still have the same gauge steel in some cases. I'm not from Missouri but my Grandmother was and I'd say "Show Me" on this subject.

Frame rails manufactured between the 1935 and 1940 plus early 1941 for commercial pickups all had their own subtle differences in the location of punched holes and brackets and such due to multiple configuration changes in that time frame.

Another factor is the ID numbers stamped in frames makes each one individual. When I hear folks mentioning replacing frames with another year model frame, I always wonder what the difficulties they are going to have in maintaining legal identification documentation for the vehicle. Especially when it comes time to sell it and the identification becomes very important part of the transaction.