The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Mounting an Older Bed on a 1941-'46 Chassis?

As I have proceeded (very slowly due to external events) to move forward with mounting the bed (with a temporary plywood floor) onto my truck, I have found that assumptions I have made regarding what I have to work with may be incorrect.

As I have stated in the past, I thought I purchased a 1940 truck project, only to find out that the bed is from the ’37-‘39 series. Also, as I found that the cab mounting holes were not where I expected them to be, I ASSUMED that what I had was a chassis from the next series of trucks…1941-’46. I loosely measured the wheelbase...and only today did that a bit more carefully, finding that it is actually 116", which I believe indicates that it is NOT from the 1941'46 series.

I ordered a bed mounting kit for a ’41 and figured that I would have to make some things up as I went along to install the bed.

Then, for some reason, I decided to measure across the rear of the frame and found that the measurement I came up with was not what I had expected for a ’41-’46. What I measured was 46 3/16ths. The shop manuals I have examined show the following for the measurement across the frame at the rear:
1940 46”
1941- 1946 44 ¼”
1947 46 1/8”
1948 46 1/32”
My truck 46 3/16” ??

I have also noticed that my truck has a “Carrier Assembly, Differential…”, (Group 5.504 in the 1929-1950 Chevrolet Master Parts catalog) that shows a casting number of 3657339. The MPC states (if I am reading it correctly) that with that carrier assembly and a torque tube measurement of 60 1/16”, that the application would be, “1948-50 ALL ½ Ton COMM”.

I measured my torque tube length (as seen in the photos) and came up with 59 ½”. (Which is what the MPC states a passenger car with a different carrier assembly casting would be!)

So, as of this point, I am GUESSING that what I have might be a ’47 chassis…but why would my torque tube measurement be so far off? (I was thinking it might be a '48, but the illustration in the 1948 manual that I saw shows 5 cross members and the battery box outside the frame rails.)

To sum up:
Wheelbase 116"
Frame width at rear 46 3/16"
Torque tube length 59 1/2"

Can anything definitive be determined from the above? Can anyone point to anything on the frame that will say for sure what year or series it is from?

Thanks,
Nick