why does my drivers door lock/unlock from the inside only my pass door is either missing the inside lock/unlock hardware or it never was there but has a lock on the outside... this makes no sense? what was the point? it makes more sense to have a key in the drivers door and a lock inside in the pass door only.
My understanding is it was to keep the driver from standing in traffic while unlocking the door. Roads were much narrower then. I've never seen an "official" reason but it makes sense to me.
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That was very common. My 49 only has a key lock on the left side. I think they looked at it from a safety aspect. Safer to stand on the curb side and unlock the truck rather then on the street side in traffic. Cleon
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i wonder if anyone has tried to switch them.. my keylock is broken or missing parts so i have to replace that i guess but i'd like to make it lock from inside and put one of the electric actuators in the drivers door to unlock it.. that way i can lock/unlock the pass side from inside and lock the drivers door before i close the door and just have a button hidden on the outside to unlock it (kinda a risky idea if my battery dies though).. or use a remote entry setup to unlock it.
It was a safety factor to have just one door lock. Like the other posts said, it was to keep you out of the traffic. Some of the Suburbans had three doors, with two of them on the passenger side just for this reason.
I think if you switch the door handles the lock will be upside down and not work right. The lock in mine maybe bad but it doesn't do anything if I lift up instead of push down to open the door. You might be able to turn the lock over in the handle but I couldn't tell you for sure. I will look at a spare handle I have to see.
You could always mount a small 12V battery to run the lock solenoids, it shouldn't take much to make them work.
If you look inside the pass. side handle you will notice that the lock cyl. turns the little push rod 90 deg. and flat cast into it blocks the button from being depressed to unlatch the door. My dad says this feature was so you enterd the cab from the curb, keeping you out of the busy muddy street. Model Ts only had a door on the pass. side for many years of early production, Probobly a leftover from the horse and buggy days.
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I think it's likely cuz the GM brass were cheap screws, trying to save a buck to keep the truck cost and price down - the same era cars had locks on both front doors, and other makes of trucks had'em on both doors, so it wasn't "industry standard"
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Safety reasons. Even today in some states and provinces it is illegal to open the door on the driver's side. But like every other law, especially here, it is not enforced. In fact I am sure the cops are not even aware of it.
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My '46 has the same setup. Seems like this safety concern went on for quite a few years. Don't know when they finally started putting key access on the drivers side. Would be interesting to know.
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well my key doesnt work in my pass door.. but whatever for now. i think it is missing parts. i would really like to figure out how to make it lock and unlock from the inside, that way i can put an actuator in the drivers door and have them both lock. no point in having the drivers door lock if i cant lock the passenger side. maybe i'll just install a deadbolt into the door. or one of those slide locks (JK)
I played with the lock on the passenger door and figured out how to lock up the truck. I push the drivers handle forward (from inside) then crawl out the passenger door to turn the key on the passenger door from outside! That was pretty funny as my wife laughed when she saw me trying it the first time. I know it might not stay safe but atleast I can lock it now.
It was interesting to figure out given our modern methods to lock a car(I push a button on the remote in all my other vehicles. However given the 1951 threats, I guess not many folks really bothered to lock up a truck back then...
I heard that the reason was similar to unsafe6 Many roads weren't paved then and you entered your truck from the passenger side from say from a boardwalk.
You can switch the locks from the passenger side to the driver side that's what i did..it works great... Peter
Most any photo of a street scene from the era of AD trucks and before show cars parked head-in, not parallel. I think that shoots the theory of "safety on the curb side". But I have no better theory.
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Most any photo of a street scene from the era of AD trucks and before show cars parked head-in, not parallel. I think that shoots the theory of "safety on the curb side". But I have no better theory.
still at an Image angle it is easier and closer to the curb to get out on the passenger side. this theory of safety and closeness to the curbside is starting to stick with me.
Peter could you expand on how you put a lock in the driver’s side? I think also that we should make it clear that it can only be done with the locks that had the push button handles. There is no way you can do it with the early AD's with the turn down door lock mechanism.
I think it's likely cuz the GM brass were cheap screws, trying to save a buck to keep the truck cost and price down - the same era cars had locks on both front doors, and other makes of trucks had'em on both doors, so it wasn't "industry standard"
Bill
Not so. Other makes of trucks are set up the same way. I have several Internationals and a couple F@#ds, and they're all like that--only keyed on the passenger side. And one of them is as new as 1959.
You are right, it will only work for the push button handles. My 1953 restoration packet states you could also have a lock on the drivers side at a extra cost. I got a handle from a donor truck, removed the clyinder and took it to a locksmith and had the tumblers changed to fit the orginial truck key. I then installed it in the driver's side handle.
well .. huh. i'd really like to know how to get the passenger door to lock from the inside.. i guess i'll dink around with the drivers door lock until i figure out how to install an electric actuator to lock the pass side.. i'll just have to wire a switch to lock/unlock it somewhere inside (i dont want to drill a hole in the panel for the little knob for it).. do the same for the drivers door and hide a button outside of it somewhere and BAM. i can walk away from the truck without some @@@#### going oooh ahh lets take a look inside.
anyone have any ideas for where to place a switch panel without drilling the dash or door panels? because im thinking sense im replacing the wiper motor's cover i might put them there... but thats the best i've thought of yet.
no i hadnt but i had thought about something of that sort. that would be perfect, just add it low in the door (below the center brace in the door), dont install the knob, and use an actuator to move the pin in and out... i think that could be as close to perfect as it could get!
I think if you alittle, they already make them with the solenoids. I looked real close at them for my 37 then backed out, I might add them one of these days. Joe
... the same era cars had locks on both front doors, and other makes of trucks had'em on both doors, so it wasn't "industry standard".
My take on this was that cars were taken to town way more than trucks during that era. Trucks were considered farm vehicles that were probably rarely locked anyway if the keys were even taken out. Thus, the only time locking the truck might be necessary would be a trip downtown, which put the driver curbside. Just my conjecture.
Last edited by Big Tee; 06/11/20089:02 PM. Reason: typo
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We found definitive documentation that backs up the safety feature of the passenger side only feature in an old GM promotional film.
The reason for it is often guessed at but I’ve never seen it backed up till now. One of our bolters was kind enough to turn me on to the 1936 utube of the GM assembly line. Along with it are a bunch of other videos; the particular film I’m referring to describes the prewar vacuum shift feature on the cars. In one scene two women and a child get into the front seat of a sedan. The narrator points out; “another new improvement has been made by taking the control levers from the floor and placing them on the dash. He says this has made more room and comfort for the driver and front seat passengers, and now since they can enter and exit the side away from traffic, more safety for all.” This would tend to give credence to the theory that the outside door locks on the trucks were installed only on the passenger side for safety reasons.
This is the vacuum shift film and this narrative is at the tail end of the film.
Being from NC, both my GF and I are huge fans of The Andy Griffith Show and in just about every scene showing people getting into and out of cars shows them doing so through the Passenger door.
Thanks for this thread - always wondered why a lock on the P side only --now I know??? Not to hijack, but shouldn't the driver's side lock by pushing the handle forward?? Mine doesn't. broken? Needs adjustment?? Guess I could just add a lock cylinder to the (56) driver side. Thanks again -- Dale
yes Dale, both doors lock from the inside on the TF series, likely something to do with the latch assembly, shouldn't be hard to spot when you take it apart .... and yes you can add the lock cyl in that handle but it won't fix the existing problem
