The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Deco running boards

I'm trying to determine what my '46 3/4 ton started life as. Currently it wears an aftermarket stakebed. I notice that the running boards have a clean cut, even with the back of the body. At the upper rear portion of the board there is a separate, little portion of curved sheetmetal matching the contour of the body.

I also have access to a '41 3/4 ton flatbed that has boards that are nicely crimped and bent over (factory?) at the end of the cab.

My thought is that the '46 had a longbed with fenders that were removed at some time. I think the curved metal could have been part of the bed apron?

Can anyone confirm my thougts? At some point I'd like the bed rather than the stake.

forgot to mention another question. Were front and rear bumpers interchangeable on these trucks?

All the '46 running boards i've ever seen that didn't have a bed originally end right about the back of the cab, and are nicely rolled over, not just cut off.

My guess is your 3/4 ton truck started life as a pickup, and the bed probably went to hell, and somebody decided to just pull it off and put a stakebed on it.

To find out for sure what your truck started out as from the factory, hook us up with the serial number found on the plate attached to the firewall on the passenger side and we can look it up.

My bad. Looks like the only factory option in 1946 for a 3/4 ton truck was a pickup.

So yours was probably just a 3/4 ton pickup from the factory that at some point had the factory bed removed, and the running boards chopped off at the back of the cab.

Fumblin46, thanks for the info. How hard is it to find longbed running boards of steel? I imagine it will take some searching. Is it also true that the beds from the early AD years were the same as that originally available for the '46 long beds? Just curious if you or anyone knows.

Kyle

641- The running boards can be found on e- bay and on these sites, but it is not too often you will see them. So far i have scored one passenger side for my 46 hot rod and it cost me 45 dollars. Im still lookin for the drivers side and on e-bay i got out bid when i found one on there. It went for 152 dollars and ive seen them go for 200 and up depending on the time of year.

also the dang rear fenders are hard to get- they will also show up off and on, but they go high in price. I dont have either of those because im too cheap to go over 100 buccks and i always get outbid...but this site and other truck sites can help you. This site is prolly one of the most awsome ive seen..and Fumblin is a very knowledgeable guy to talk to about art deco's. he also comes across whole trucks occasionally in his state and may can help you (Us) with parts.

Im not sure about the bed- as i may be gonna use an after market repop on mine found here:

TRUCK BED SITE

But if ya do find the beds to be the same let me know, because thats some good information...

1946 1/2 ton running boards will probably be easier to find than 3/4 ton running boards.. but the up side to that is when you finally find some, the 3/4 ton running boards will be cheaper.

As Pack points out, rear fenders for a '46 can be difficult to find. Same fenders on the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton models.

The problem there is they just get the hell beat out of them when you use the truck for a 'work' truck.. and long before those trucks became 'collectable', people would just do as the previous owner of your truck did: rip off the whole back end and put a stake/flatbed on.

Lack of supply on the repop market for such parts drives the prices of solid originals pretty high.

AD and Deco rear fenders are different, and the AD bed is a bit wider than a Deco bed.

I've seen dudes put AD fenders on their Deco trucks, and i'm guilty of having a AD tailgate cut down to fit on a '46 1/2 ton.

Some dudes do that kind of thing, and when somebody calls them on it, cook up some story like 'Oh they used those fenders/tailgates/etc in the early trucks'.. blah blah.

It's best not to argue with those dudes.. just smile, nod, and get on with life.

641 As you probably know the ¾ ton boards extended all the way to the rear fenders. For a quick check, the outside length of the running boards is 93 1/2 inches. That separate piece that sits over the frame rail and just slips under the cab used to be 33 inches long. It extended about 1 ½ inches past the rear spring front hanger. Even had a nice hole in it for access to the grease fitting. (I just happen to be rebuilding mine right now),

Does anyone know if any repop place is tooling up for steel fenders or running boards? Lately, I've seen new AD cabs and talk of more to come with them. How about the Art Deco Series?

We could always wish. There are fiberglass fenders available. They also make repop fiberglass and repop steel running boards. The twist to the steel running boards is that they are smooth, for a more custom look. Good luck on your hunt. I recently got a nos left rear fender for $700 plus shipping. I am still looking for a right rear. I could have setteled for a pair of glass fenders for much less than just the driver side.

INCREDIBLY difficult. They tend to be pretty pricy, too.

Put it this way.. if you were a 19 year old kid with a truckload of NOS Deco running boards, you could retire.