Bed/Cab Mounting Frame

[V12Bill]

Oak, ash, maple or any hard wood that you can find.

[40fordpu]

Thanks for the reply. Talked to a carpenter friend of mine and had him look at the pics. He said the same thing regarding the wood. He said the joint for the cab is called a finger joint. Said it is not hard to do and should practice on some cheap wood to get it perfect before trying on the expensive stuff.

[macs67]

The finger joint may not be that easy to the inexperienced beside's being a very intimadating set up (loud & dangerous & can give a hell of a kick back) it must be done correctly to be safe. A decent bit plus the cost of the wood may be pricey......just my 50 year experienced opinion.....but there will be 50 other opinions also. Does it really have to be finger jointed......doweled is also a good joint selection this wood does nothing at all to require strucual integrity, doesnt move or require lateral support it merely is a spacer & holds weight its bolted in position & will not ever move again im milling my own & have the finger joint bits but will do dowels instead ( using tightbond 11 glue)......finger joint is overkill.
Selection of wood. the density of ash 37.4 lb/cu. ft., red oak is 39.3 lbs/cu. ft., white oak 42.4 lbs cu/ft. so if the weight/density of these species means anything here.....weight bearing/support is the answer.....it makes sense to use white oak opposed to say sugar pine that will rot/compress @ 23.7 lbs/cu ft. Also, if my memory serves me correctly HARD/rock maple was 46 lbs/cu.ft=better than white oak but over kill again for the weight it will be bearing, anyway, i wouldnt use any species unless cabinet grade 6-8% moisture content. In another thread? somone made the comment concerning 1/16"-1/8" in thickness will throw off aligning the front end sheetmetal considerably & the shrinkage that wood has between green/air dried and kiln dried cabinet grade is a considerable difference to do exactly that.
If you are anal about any of your work id apply 6 - 8 coats of marine varnish, polyurathane or even automotive urathane, yes automotive, i did a whole wood bed in it looked great for the 3 years i owned it it has the best UV protectent, good luck to all

[40fordpu]

Thanks for the awesome response.

[all4sho]

Does anybody have pattern for the cab wood spacer's for a '40 ford p/u truck?

Thanks,

Kelly

[gassman]

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Just registered and I am needing the same info as all4sho. If someone has it would you please post it. Or if you just could post the height measurements at the bolt holes for the cab mounting wood I can work with that. I plan to order the wood but need correct measurements to keep working while waiting on them.

Thanks

Jeff

[roundbill]

Hello out there, has anyone used a rubber mount system, something like the mounting for the front motor mounts, to mount there cab on a 40 pickup. Any help will be appreciated. Roundbill

[Mart]

The finger joint is not a part of the wood doing it's job. I'm no woodworker and was able to make perfectly adequate wooden support pieces for two 41 PUs. If you need authenticity, you may want them finger jointed, but it is not necessary at all. Ford probably finger jointed them because they already had the necessary tooling to hand. It's also hard to see the wooden cab supports when in place.

No comment on the rubber supports idea, the wood works ok. The cab is flexibly mounted on the 4 corner bolting positions, using springs.

Mart.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by roundbill

Hello out there, has anyone used a rubber mount system, something like the mounting for the front motor mounts, to mount there cab on a 40 pickup. Any help will be appreciated. Roundbill

Rubber mounting would be too soft and flexible. It would be very difficult to keep your sheetmetal aligned. The correct front and back mounting bolts with the springs on the bolts will create all the flex you need for the cab.

[Flathead Red]

Can someone give me an idea how the springs come into play? I have just purchased new cab and bed wood but not bolt kits yet. Thanks

[Mart]

Imagine a farmer in the 1940s driving on undulating tracks with lots of deep hollows (like smooth potholes) the frame twisting from one side to the other continually. The springs are there so not all of that frame twisting gets channelled into the cab. It saves tearing the floor out of the cab by fatigue.

That's why the tank is mounted on three bolts, the one side has a spring so the frame flexing does not tear the tank apart.

Mart.

[Flathead Red]

Awesome Mart, That clears up the why part of my question. Can you tell me how the springs are situated on the bolts? Do they go in between the cab and the mounting wood?

Red

[Mart]

No, Red, then bolts drop down through the cab floor, the wood and the frame, then the spring goes on, a washer, and the nut.

[Flathead Red]

Ok, Got it. On the bottom of the frame. Thanks for the info.

[Mart]

Actually the above is correct for the rear ones, the front ones also get a wedge shaped spacer between the frame and the spring.

(I think.. All this is from memory)

[Tinker]

mart correct, we forget how much a frame flexes under load. They all do. Why a radiator and motor is not bolted tight to frame either. Radiator springs go under the frame, not the top like a shock. 38 trucks had spring under all 3 gas tank bolts.

I was lucky enough to have a nonmessed up truck, so I reused the steel wedges and whatever I could save. Bed on a 38 has no springs under it. Just the cab.

There is webbing on top/bottom of the wood.

You could substitute the original springs with valve springs but not the same totally (bit smaller diameter spring). Springs create a system of flex, Reason for castle nuts and cotter pins.
What I couldn't save, I acquired here http://fordscript.com/