The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Door lock

This may sound silly (or even stupid) but is there any logical reason to have the lock on the passenger side door of my '51 Chevy 3600 truck? I think it defies logic but who knows there may be a good reason that totally escapes me. Could someone fill me in on this so I can look smart when people ask me.

Paul B.

This usually comes up about once a month! "back in the day" it was a safety issue about getting out on the drivers side into traffic. In todays world just get you another lock and put one on the driver side like I did my 52panel.
This goes back a long way. My 37 has a "knob" on the inside of the drivers door that you twisted, then slide out the passenger side and locked it from the street.
Back in those days I guess folks were afraid of stepping out in the path of a horse and buggy!!

Thanks, that's so cute I can buy it. It sure makes for a good conversation piece. But I was always under the impression that "back in the day" men were so manly that they could step in front of anything. Maybe the car designers were not part of that group! No offense meant.

Paul B

Another reason that I've heard is that the streets weren't as clean back then as they are now.
Getting in from the sidewalk meant you could avoid stepping in the snow/mud/manure on the street.

OK, so far it sounds like a lot of urban legends. Nothing concrete as to the real purpose of this door lock situation. I'm still intrigued and I hope I don't sound too anal about this. I will pursue the issue and maybe I can come up with a logical answer. I don't disagree with the answers so far because I think they have some credibility, but no real hard evidence. Let's say we keep trying. Thanks.

Paul B.

Paul - this has been hashed over here for as long as there's been an internet - the usual answer is back then it was common to exit on the curb side .... it was also common when they first started putting locks on vehicles for "filling stations" to be simply a gas pump right next to the street in front of a garage or store, and you'll notice the older trucks have the gas filler on the pass side, then in the mid 50's, when drive in/thru gas stations became common, the filler was moved to the drivers side, later to the back, so you could drive thru the station either direction

lots of odd little quirks about older vehicles, mostly explained by 2 things: inertia, the way it started [mostly arbitrary] was the way it stayed, and also by a critical thing with these cheap consumer goods, the OEM's saving every penny they could - why put 2 locks on when 1 will do?

Bill

Paul..Here's my theory on this age old quandary....
Back in the day,these trucks were commercial/farm vehicles.
How many times in their life would they be securely locked?
Not many I bet.
It harks back to a time where it was possible to leave your house unlocked,never mind your car/truck etc.
The only time these would probably ever be locked is when they were taken to the sprawling Metropolis of the local town!

I agree with Bill(red58) as well.
1 lock over millions of trucks is a lot of $$$$$$$!
F*rd did it with a 50c rubber breather tube,the difference being, THAT cost lives!

Well thanks guys. I can see that some of you have been through this before and most likely through other little puzzling questions similar to this. Didn't mean to take up your time on this issue but you have satisfied my curiosity. At least now I can look halfway smart when asked the same question and respond using those reasons mentioned above. It should leave peole wondering whether I'm joking, making this up or actually being "in the know" about this issue but leaving them with very little room for argument. Again thanks a bunch.

Paul B.

As has been mentioned, if you're still curious, just do a search. This topic has been covered several times on this forum, and on other truck forums as well. Makes for some interesting reading!!