The Rodding Roundtable
Motorhead Message Central => Rodder's Roundtable => Topic started by: purplepickup on June 26, 2006, 10:30:40 AM
I know it seems like a stupid question but my grandson asked me why trucks had wood in the box instead of metal and I found that I wasn't really sure. It's one of those things I'd never thought much about. I assume they used wood because it could be replaced easily if it got all banged up but there's probably more to it than that. :?
easier to replace than rusted out metal?
I don't know why. My '81 Chevy Stepside had wood in the bed. It rotted and so when the truck was repainted in 1992, I had the guy that was painting it swap the wood out for a piece of steel I bought.
AL
I don't know all the reasons pick ups used wood in the beds. But I do know of one.
Farmers used to hauled livestock with side boards or a stock rack in the stake holes. Animals hooves don't slip around on wood floors as much.
Carl
Carl has the correct answer.
It probably has something to do with, "Because we've always done it that way." And before car manufacturers knew about anti-rust materials, steel would rust out and wood was replaceable.
I wouldn't be suprised if had someting to do with the size of the stamping and the gauge of metal that would be involves. GPster
When I was in Idaho I worked on an early '80's long box, stepside Silverado that had a wood floor in the box. The rancher special ordered it to haul his horse around. Takes a well trained horse to get in a pick up even when you back into a ditch!
Does that mean the trucks with wood floors in the cab were meant for occasional use by the cattle? LOL
Quote from: "Leon"Does that mean the trucks with wood floors in the cab were meant for occasional use by the cattle? LOL
well, only in wyoming and it was for sheep..
When I was younger I had a few heifers in truck cabs with me ... a few cows in later years ... all two legged tho.
My trucks were all metal floors so I can't give you a traction comparison verses wood floors.
Quote from: "Scrap Fe"Carl has the correct answer.
Yes he does! GM refers to them as a "cattle floor" option.
Another bit of pickup trivia: I had an El Camino brochure years ago that listed a "grain-tight tailgate" as one of its features. :lol:
Mike
Hi Mike ... did you get your wood from Vern yet? I hope it works for you.
Quote from: "kroozn"Hi Mike ... did you get your wood from Vern yet? I hope it works for you.
Yes I did! Thanks.
Mike
You are more than welcome ... now you can have your own wood bed floor and give us traction reports ;-)
Thanks for the answers guys. I might have to wait a couple years to explain heifers and traction to my 13 yr old grandson.
If you see toe nail gouges in my pickup bed you'll know I've been testing for traction. :shock:
Was it so Henry Ford had a place to put all the shipping crates rather than throw them out?
Quote from: "Leon"Was it so Henry Ford had a place to put all the shipping crates rather than throw them out?
I saw a show on PBS about Henry Ford. He had his suppliers make shipping crates to his specifications and they had to be bolted together, using specific bolts, instead of nailed. He would then use the pre-cut pieces of wood from the crates for floorboards in Model T's and bolt them down with the same bolts he saved from the crates.
He was a "waste not, want not" kind of guy. Some more Henry trivia....his sawmills in the upper penninsula of Michigan were producing huge piles of scrap and sawdust. Instead of just burning it or hauling it away, he and a relative, Edward Kingsford came up with a way to make charcoal briquettes and they sold the scrap as bags of Kingsford Charcoal.
See this picture of the only car that's legal to drive on the roads in Mississippi. The law is still on the books that states that you cannot open a driver's side door when parrallel parking on a street. This car has no driver's door.
If you remmember from watching Andy Griffith on TV, they always scooted across the seat of the patrol car from the passenger side.
The wooden crate lumber story is factual.
My grandfather Harry, and his brother, my uncle Walt, bought a new 1914 Model T that was totaled with about 3 miles on her for $25. The guy that bought it got a belly full of beer at the tavern, celebrating the purchase of his first new Ford, and got hung up on the Inter Urban tracks in Grand Rapids, MI. He lost the dual with the electric train, and got the steering column shoved thru his chest, dying instantly. Walt saw the car on the wrecker's boom being towed to the scrap yard, and flagged the driver down, and had it delivered home, after stopping by the place where my grandfather worked and getting the $10 he was short for the purchase.
They ordered a new body from the dealer in Grand Rapids, Universal Ford, and in a few weeks it arrived on a flat car at the railroad station. They took the body out of the box and saved the crate, where Walt cut it to fit using the templates provided, using the band saw at the furniture factory where he was employed.
Believe it or not, after 14 years of service, they buried this car behind their house, to fill in a low spot in the yard. (Harry bought an Essex sedan) It was still a running, servicable car. But T's weren't worth anything then. It's still there. I always wondered how much of it is still intact. They also buried a Star touring car, which is missing the ring and pinion gears. The guy spent the entire afternoon removing the parts, only to find out it was in worse condition than his gear set.
I've still got my uncle Walt's valve grinder they used on the T.