A bit of Ford history

[97RangerXLT]

I did not know about the Wrong bed. A few weeks ago someone in Indianapolis had a unibody Ford F100 for sale. Never heard of that either until I saw the ad.

Ford's '61-'66 'Wrongbed' History - FORDification.info - The '61-'66 Ford Pickup Resource

AJ

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I did not know about the Wrong bed. A few weeks ago someone in Indianapolis had a unibody Ford F100 for sale. Never heard of that either until I saw the ad.

Ford's '61-'66 'Wrongbed' History - FORDification.info - The '61-'66 Ford Pickup Resource

AJ

Yeah the unibody F100's are generally considered to not be one of fords better ideas

 

[sgtsandman]

That’s the first I’ve heard of it as well interesting.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Ford has tried alot of weird things related to truck structure...

Another resounding failure was the 80/81 swiss cheese frames

 

[superj]

I have seen those unibody ones a time or two. I bet there arent many left anymore

 

[19Walt93]

I've seen several unibody trucks at Carlisle over the years and they probably worked fine if you used the truck like a Ranchero, kind of like GM's $6000 transformer tailgate would, but wouldn't live long in the hands of a logger or contractor.
Those perforated frames didn't cause us any problems other than freaking out some customers because the frames strength is in the angles, not in the side panel. The affect on sales convinced Ford they should look elsewhere for weight reduction.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I've seen several unibody trucks at Carlisle over the years and they probably worked fine if you used the truck like a Ranchero, kind of like GM's $6000 transformer tailgate would, but wouldn't live long in the hands of a logger or contractor.
Those perforated frames didn't cause us any problems other than freaking out some customers because the frames strength is in the angles, not in the side panel. The affect on sales convinced Ford they should look elsewhere for weight reduction.

Ive heard numerous stories of those frames failing over the years.

 

[don4331]

The frames strength comes from the top and bottom rails; but yes - Ford should have looked elsewhere for weight reduction as it caused customer concern.

Unibody truck work just fine if you don't overload them. If you try to carry too much, the doors don't work right.

GMC had similar issue with their coil spring trucks - they didn't take kindly to being overloaded either.​

Given how most of the F-150s are used as family car, no reason current generation couldn't be unibody.​

 

[JohnnyO]

The frames strength comes from the top and bottom rails; but yes - Ford should have looked elsewhere for weight reduction as it caused customer concern.

Unibody truck work just fine if you don't overload them. If you try to carry too much, the doors don't work right.

GMC had similar issue with their coil spring trucks - they didn't take kindly to being overloaded either.​

Given how most of the F-150s are used as family car, no reason current generation couldn't be unibody.​

If I knew I was going to keep my old Sport Trac as long as I did, 13 years and over 200k, I probably would have been better off getting a Honda Ridgeline.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I did not know about the Wrong bed. A few weeks ago someone in Indianapolis had a unibody Ford F100 for sale. Never heard of that either until I saw the ad.

Ford's '61-'66 'Wrongbed' History - FORDification.info - The '61-'66 Ford Pickup Resource

AJ

I didn't know about them, either. I don't remember if I've ever seen one in the wild, but there's one near my on FB marketplace. I thought somebody had just replaced the bed with the earlier bed when I saw it.

As for the unibody, an old neighbour of mine had one for a while.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ive heard numerous stories of those frames failing over the years.

When dad got his '80 one of his employees flipped what a huge POS the frame was and how it wasn't going to hold up.

Dad ran that thing for 20+ years as a commercial ag service truck AND tow pig (gooseneck and bumper, farm equipment etc) and the frame never faltered an ounce.

The truck needed its third engine and second set of rear wheel arches when dad sold it. You could count the bed crossmembers from the top of the bed and not because the bed floor was rotted out, it was mashed down.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

When dad got his '80 one of his employees flipped what a huge POS the frame was and how it wasn't going to hold up.

Dad ran that thing for 20+ years as a commercial ag service truck AND tow pig (gooseneck and bumper, farm equipment etc) and the frame never faltered an ounce.

The truck needed its third engine and second set of rear wheel arches when dad sold it. You could count the bed crossmembers from the top of the bed and not because the bed floor was rotted out, it was mashed down.

That was an F250 IIRC right?

Those frames were fine...it was the F100/150 in 80/81 that had the swiss cheese frame

What could go wrong right?

I think they woulda been ok had they not went crazy with the hole saw right where the cab and box come togther...where the most frame flex happens and the longest length of rail without an axle to suport it

 

[sgtsandman]

If I knew I was going to keep my old Sport Trac as long as I did, 13 years and over 200k, I probably would have been better off getting a Honda Ridgeline.

It’s probably better you didn’t. The first generation Ridgelines shared the transmission with the Odyssey mini van and those transmissions had a lot of problems. They either fixed the issue(s) with the transmission not long before the current Ridgeline came out or they came up with a whole new transmission. Very un-Honda like but that transmission is an example where even Honda puts out their lemons from time to time.

 

[fastpakr]

It’s probably better you didn’t. The first generation Ridgelines shared the transmission with the Odyssey mini van and those transmissions had a lot of problems. They either fixed the issue(s) with the transmission not long before the current Ridgeline came out or they came up with a whole new transmission. Very un-Honda like but that transmission is an example where even Honda puts out their lemons from time to time.

Yep, that was the one flaw in the MDX we owned. Darn near perfect otherwise.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

When dad got his '80 one of his employees flipped what a huge POS the frame was and how it wasn't going to hold up.

Dad ran that thing for 20+ years as a commercial ag service truck AND tow pig (gooseneck and bumper, farm equipment etc) and the frame never faltered an ounce.

The truck needed its third engine and second set of rear wheel arches when dad sold it. You could count the bed crossmembers from the top of the bed and not because the bed floor was rotted out, it was mashed down.

I stand corrected...i guess the 250s did get that frame