DUMB QUESTION ??????????

[KEVINABR]

HOW COMES THAT ALL THE TRUCKS THAT ARE OVER THE POND FROM ENGLAND ALL SEEM TO BE BED -LESS SO TO SPEAK????????? ARE THEY USED FOR SOMETHING ELSE??????? OR IMPORTED LIKE THAT?????? THERES GOT TO BE A STASH OF BEDS SOMEWHERE??????????

[Miner Matt]

You are right most of the trucks I see here in California are bed-less no matter what the make or model!!!!
Alot were used for logging in my area.So they had log racks put on them.

[John V Cliche]

Yup
East coast is the same way lots of cab and chassis' few beds
Here is something I've heard awhile ago;
When these trucks were sold many buyers found the bodies with the fixed sides useless because everything had to be loaded from the back or over the side. Many were removed and replced by wooden flat beds, over time the flat beds rotted away, and unfortunately so did the discarded steel cargo bodies.

John

[armydriver]

John has zeroed on the answer. When my grandfather bought his CCKW in 1947 too use on his farm they discarded the steel bed and he had a wooden flat bed built in order to haul hay.
Many of these trucks went into oilfield service in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma so the beds were taken off, thrown away and slowly secumed to rust and rot or scrapped and melted down.
Kind of creats problems for us collectors of these old beauties now.

[KEVINABR]

Many thanks guys now i know ..... i suppose were the lucky ones here in europe as many cckw s are still coming onto the market....

[UK Jack]

Yup
East coast is the same way lots of cab and chassis' few beds
Here is something I've heard awhile ago;
When these trucks were sold many buyers found the bodies with the fixed sides useless because everything had to be loaded from the back or over the side. Many were removed and replced by wooden flat beds, over time the flat beds rotted away, and unfortunately so did the discarded steel cargo bodies.

John

I have always wondered or perhaps surprised why the beds for fixed sides as GMC basically got everything right a part from this. Most WW2 US trucks are drop sided which makes perfect sense.

I wonder why this was over looked in the design of the Jimmy?

[John V Cliche]

Hi Jack
I suppose it was a design element to save additional crossmembers and weight.
If you look a the cargo body you see that the outer sill and side wall are formed as one and really are of a lite gauge compared to other body members.
A removable or like the post war "fold down sides" would probably have been considered to costly at the time.

John