1953 frame vs. 1954

[mach92bill]

I'm working on a 1954 1/2 ton presently on the stock frame. There is a 1953 frame available with a Mustang II front and lowered rear leafs available for not to bad a price. I have read that the frame kick on a '54 is lower than '53 which would cause the bed to be a little too high. Is there an easy way to work around this?

Also the bed angle strips appear to be welded to the bed sides on the '54. How would one remove them?

Thanks for all answers.

[mphudak]

Yes, no issues using an early bed on a 54-55. Issue that comes up is putting a 54-55 bed on an early model, the lower bed floor doesn't clear the frame kick up.

[mach92bill]

Got the angle strips removed, cut lengthwise with grinder and cutting wheel being very careful not to go too deep. Once that cut is made, it's easy to see where the welds are.

Nobody with easy ideas to use '54 bed on a ';53 frame?

[mphudak]

Not sure how i read the post as a 53 bed on a 54 chassis. Sorry about that. Here's an write up on the swap.
http://www.mar-k.com/54_bed_on_a_53_frame.aspx

[mach92bill]

That's the info I was looking for! The '53 frame I was looking at had a mustang II front and dropped leafs in the back, but have not been welded in yet. Is it feasible to take all those suspension parts and install on the '54 frame without too much modifications?

[mphudak]

I vote swapping the parts over to the 54 frame. Yes there could be a bit of work involved but not having to worry about the bed being right makes the difference for me.
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