square bed slick

streetrods · Post by **streetrods** » November 1, 2009, 3:42 pm

Hey guys have a question..

will a 4x4 slick with the square bed have the same wheel base as the 65 and 66 trucks with the beds that match??

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 1, 2009, 4:03 pm

No.
the "Wrongboxes" are 120" wheelbase. the 66's with the matching box (long box) are 129" wheelbase.

here's a guy that made a shortbox matching box work on that wheelbase. involves some heavy duty cutting and patching
http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8950

streetrods · Post by **streetrods** » November 1, 2009, 4:51 pm

thanks.. the shortbeds are what around 114" ? I found a pretty decent 4x4 the guys says is a 65 but it has the square bed and a 64 grill.. might be better to just cut the frame and make a shortbed out of it..

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 1, 2009, 5:00 pm

Yes a shortbox is 114" for a straight axle truck and 115" for a twin I, because they moved the wheels 1" forward on the twin I trucks. a '65 4x4 truck would have the mismatched bed from the Factory, the only ones that didn't in 4x4's were the F100's (and maybe F250's?) from '66

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » November 1, 2009, 5:11 pm

the 66 f100 4x4 is the only one with 129 wb
66 f250 4x4 uses either the flareside or fridge bed

jwh f-100 · Post by **jwh f-100** » November 1, 2009, 5:16 pm

Johnny Canuck wrote:No.
the "Wrongboxes" are 120" wheelbase. the 66's with the matching box (long box) are 129" wheelbase.

here's a guy that made a shortbox matching box work on that wheelbase. involves some heavy duty cutting and patching
http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8950

JC, My bed was a long bed...

Wrong beds on the 4x4s look cool...

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » November 1, 2009, 10:25 pm

ICEMAN6166 wrote:the 66 f100 4x4 is the only one with 129 wb
66 f250 4x4 uses either the flareside or fridge bed

Just a bit of trivia in case you guys don't know, the wrong boxes are not the same as fridge boxes. Ford did use the same design but had to redesign some parts to allow it to fit properly on a slick chassis. It may look the same at first glance but if you ever have a slick wrong bed and a fridge bed side by side you will see some structural differences. The wrong beds were brand new for the slicks and although they look the same as the older beds, they were built with different substructures. For example the rear crossmember on a wrong bed has a C2TZ-9910608-A part number but a fridge bed has a B7C-9910608-A number. This is simply an example of cost savings by Ford by using an existing design and modifying it and making new ones that fit the newer model that they were then building. Hawkrod

streetrods · Post by **streetrods** » November 2, 2009, 11:38 pm

so I'm guessing that if the frame was fairly flat I could also just move the spring hangers and rearend back to match a 66 long bed..

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 3, 2009, 8:36 am

If i recall correctly, the frame is flat as a poker front to back on them 4x4's so the answer is yes. You will also need to drill different holes to mount your new box and lengthen(or shorten if you go SWB) the drive shaft.

streetrods · Post by **streetrods** » November 4, 2009, 11:32 pm

thanks JC... here is a picture of the truck..

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 5, 2009, 12:16 am

Is that truck originally a six cyl ?
Asking because it has the smaller front fenders some say never came on these trucks. (but I have seen several, all six cyl. trucks)

Personally I would leave it that way. I thing the wrongboxes look just fine on the 4x4's for some reason... they don't on 2wds in my mind, but the 4x4's seem OK

jwh f-100 · Post by **jwh f-100** » November 5, 2009, 7:39 am

Johnny Canuck wrote:Is that truck originally a six cyl ?
Asking because it has the smaller front fenders some say never came on these trucks. (but I have seen several, all six cyl. trucks)

Is that a 2wd rock guard???

Just a heads up. If you decide to stretch the truck or chop the bed don’t’ use the wheel base as a reference. I shortened a 129” wheel base bed to fit my 120” wheel base truck. I only had to remove about 5 ½”.. If I had removed the 9” difference I would have used a lot of words my mother taught me not to. The cabs must sit a bit different or something.
Another thought. If you move the axle and there is a bump on the frame the bed may not sit correctly.

PS I’m with JC. That truck is sweet. I wouldn’t change it. The only change I’d consider is a flareside bed..

streetrods · Post by **streetrods** » November 5, 2009, 8:02 am

not sure if it was a 6 cylinder or not.. it has a 352 4 speed in it now.. The guy says it's a 65 but it has a 64 grill in it..