Unibody History?

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » August 15, 2009, 3:24 pm

Just curious I was doing some reading about the history of the f100's and came across the statement that the unibody design had a problem with flexing and popping the doors open while driving. (Sounded a little dangerous considering the lack or lack of use of seat belts at the time) Was this a real problem? How do ya'll deal with it on your restores now. The story made me stop and think a little

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » August 15, 2009, 3:36 pm

i live on a bumpy dirt road, my unis doors have never popped open.
not worried about it and there are no seatbelts in it.

there were however some issues reported in the 60s about flexing with a heavy load in the bed, heaviest thing i had in mine was an engine block,
but its a shortbed f100 and i am not using its bed to haul heavy things.

planning on putting a unibody on a 4x4 frame, we will see what serious uneven ground does then.

Post by **Greg D** » August 15, 2009, 3:40 pm

For the 1961 model year there were only Unis and flaresides, 1962 they made "Wrongbeds" Ford needed a bed for their new body style truck - Yesterday. The Uni's because the body runs the full length of the frame will flex with the frame - all straight axle allow some twist, it's part of the suspension. When they were loaded heavy - doors wouldn't shut, wouldn't open, probably could pop open going down the road, etc. Unless you load it heavy non issue, or maybe put about 900 horse in it without reinforcement. I don't worry about mine at all, never hauls more than a case of beer.

deviant1 · Post by **deviant1** » August 16, 2009, 8:54 am

Soon after my uni was purchased new, my great uncle would move around some dairy cattle (one at a time) and he never made mention of flexing and the truck shows no damage due to it. Then I aquire the truck and drag race it for several years, but all of the twisting would stay in the suspension. I have never had a problem with the doors.

Long63 · Post by **Long63** » August 16, 2009, 10:27 am

No problem with the doors on my '63 uni BBW. I bought it three years ago and have used it for hauling dirt and rocks for home improvement. Two scoops of dirt weighed about 1 ton. Yes its an F100, but the leaf springs were'nt bottomed out. The springs barely moved with one scoop. I've done this four time with the truck. The FT with the 5 speed Clark worked well and the doors opened and closed as usual.

I would suspect the story orginated from the competition, same as politicians. Can't find a problem with opponent, then make one up.

factorystock · Post by **factorystock** » August 16, 2009, 11:05 am

Greg D wrote:For the 1961 model year there were only Unis and flaresides, 1962 they made "Wrongbeds" Ford needed a bed for their new body style truck - Yesterday. The Uni's because the body runs the full length of the frame will flex with the frame - all straight axle allow some twist, it's part of the suspension. When they were loaded heavy - doors wouldn't shut, wouldn't open, probably could pop open going down the road, etc. Unless you load it heavy non issue, or maybe put about 900 horse in it without reinforcement. I don't worry about mine at all, never hauls more than a case of beer.

Everyone seems to forget the F 350 pickup that was available in the 9' seperate body styleside even in 1961. The unibody's were never intended to be a heavy duty work truck, which is why the f 350 pickup from day one was never made as a unibody.In my opinion, it was just an extension of the ranchero into the full size pickup class.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » August 16, 2009, 11:11 am

factorystock wrote: In my opinion, it was just an extension of the ranchero into the full size pickup class.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » August 16, 2009, 11:42 am

ICEMAN6166 wrote:
factorystock wrote: In my opinion, it was just an extension of the ranchero into the full size pickup class.

That could be, or just not enough thought for the end user.
There was a lot of stuff brand new to pickup trucks in those days too, i.e the truck camper. Truck campers and mountain roads do not combine well with a Ford unibody, unless you are looking for a quick way to dispose of the wife as the door flips open on a mountain pass..

Ford had a lot of problems establishing an equilibrium between style and function in those days too, remember one year previous the last Edsel rolled off the line, and McNamaras butt-ugly fridge trucks had just finished their run of unsuccessful sales. So there was a lot of scramblling going on at Ford then, and probably not enough testing.

You know they were aware of at least SOME of the problems inherent tho, because they never officially issued a 4x4 Uni (although they exist out there in Unicorn-land somewhere, the leprechaun from Lucky Charms told me so)

and they DID have the style down, at least compared to thier competition. The ugliest pickup ever built could be a '61 chev, followed closely by a 61 dodge.

slick4x4 · Post by **slick4x4** » August 16, 2009, 1:44 pm

my first truck was a 61 short uni , had it in highschool
when firewood cutting and i stacked the wood tight and as high as the cab roof....
loaded up the saws and tried to open up the door .....
HUH ?..... finally gave it a heck of a pull & it came open .....
drove all the way home holding it , as it wouldnt shut...
but when i got it unloaded , it worked fine.
never did have one 'pop' open on me though.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » August 16, 2009, 1:46 pm

factorystock wrote:The unibody's were never intended to be a heavy duty work truck,

How come mine has a spring pack in back with helpers that probably totals 15 leafs per side?

I am 100% sure my truck has been overloaded by the way the bed floor is smashed down between braces and the way the sides are dented from the inside. The best ride I ever had in my truck is when it had 2 engines and trannys in the back. Smoothed it right out and it didn't squat in back more than an inch or so. The doors never pop open. I sure do have a lot of rattles though

Post by **Greg D** » August 16, 2009, 4:58 pm

Mine had the same setup Phil (til I removed most of them, lol). A Uni could likely handle quite a bit of weight provided it was loaded in a fashion that twisted the frame & body. I bet Pat's overload of firewood could have been fine if it were on a pallet instead of pressing the sides of the bed outward etc. I can see working on this truck how this was an issue although intermittent with Uni's, all depends on how the weight is distributed.

DV65CustomCab · Post by **DV65CustomCab** » August 17, 2009, 6:31 am

Come on JC, give International some credit too...

debauchee · Post by **debauchee** » August 17, 2009, 12:13 pm

I don't know, I've always kind of liked the Internationals. To me its in the "so ugly it's kind of cool" category.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » August 17, 2009, 1:02 pm

My Grandpa had one quite a bit like that (2 tone, stepside) so IH were more of a personal thing for me. Glad to have your objective opinion Dwight :lol:

slick4x4 · Post by **slick4x4** » August 17, 2009, 2:37 pm

did you ever get it muddy JC ?
this was mine back in about 1983

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » August 17, 2009, 9:35 pm

As always good info, pics, and discussion

I have really enjoyed learning about the family of slicks since I got my 64.

factorystock · Post by **factorystock** » August 17, 2009, 10:07 pm

One of the main problems on 61-63 pickups was the shorter wheelbase which did not provide the best weight distribution for camper use. For this reason the 122" wheelbase on the 61-63 1/2 and 3/4 tons was stretched to 128" in '64. Dodge also had to lengthen their wheelbases on longbeds in '65 for the same problem.The F 350 always had a wheelbase of 132" from 61-66 and would have been perfect for a 9' Alaskan camper( with overdrive of course).

Unibodyguy1 · Post by **Unibodyguy1** » August 19, 2009, 1:12 am

I have 2 - 61 F250 Unibodys. One I've been stupid and put 42 bales of hay on it. Didn't stop worth a hoot, but my door opened and closed just fine. The other truck I have ( the better one of the two) had a real large overhead camper on it for years. The guy I got it from took off the camper and put it on a 71 F250. He claims the 61 accually hauled it better accept when it came to stopping,( much smaller non-power brakes) and some harder cornering. On the flats he said it worked great. The only Uni's I've ever had door problems with have had bad cab mount issues, causing a sagging door that you couldn't adjust.

Michael

Unibody History?

Unibody History?

As Always

Unibody History