Stepside

My father's 1956 Chevrolet pickup truck, the only one that he ever bought new.  I've bought two new ones in my lifetime.

The box on my 2007 Dodge 3500 has some rust and I need to do something about it. That's caused me to ponder truck boxes.

The 3500 has, of course, a fleetside box.  Dodge made stepside boxes at least up until 1980, although they were clearly on their way out then.  I'm not sure of the mechanics of it, but the stepside boxes Dodge had at that time appeared to be identical to the ones they had dating back to the 1950s and they may have actually been.  I can recall at least one crew cab third series Dodge D model, the ones they quit making in 1980 or so, being retrofitted with a long box stepside by somebody locally.

Indeed, I'm halfway tempted to do that to my 3500. . .  

assuming it'll fit, and I don't know that it would.

Why on earth would somebody even consider that?

Well, in pondering it, I'm not too convinced that the traditional stepside isn't just as useful as the fleetside.

Okay, what are we talking about anyhow.

1/2 ton Dodge pickup truck from early World War Two.  This truck is a classic stepside.

Stepsides are the type of pickup truck box every single pickup had until 1955, or maybe 1958 depending upon who you read, when Chevrolet introduced the Cameo and started pickups on the long trail (road?) to being ruined.  Ford followed suit in 1957 and the race was on.  The characteristics of the two boxes are quite distinct.

Military M715 Kaiser pickup, the last purpose designed military truck that was a stepside.  Dodge W300 crewcabs, some with stepside boxes and some that were fleetsides served contemporaneously with the M715, but had been designed as a commercial truck.

Stepsides are like the trucks pictured above. The box is truly a rectangle.  Outside of the box are fenders that cover the rear tires. The steps are the small metal pieces attached to the exterior of the box between the fender and the cab.  They do allow a person to step up to the box, or to mount things, like gasoline cans, to them.

Fleetside boxes, on the other hand, are flat on the exterior and have wheel wells over their rear wheels. All modern trucks are now fleetsides.

The popularity of the fleetside can't be denied and its certainly the case that hte first Chevrolet fleetsides are striking to the eye even how.  By extending the gunwales to the exterior of the wheels, moreover, a little more room was created within the box.

Indeed, my father, who had owned both, had no use for stepsides after fleetsides came in.  He didn't understand why anyone would want a stepside, and I've held that view for many years myself.

But I'm beginning to change that view.

I have owned a stepside, that being a heavy Dodge 1960s 4x4 truck. At no point did I find the capacity of the box really diminished and frankly I found the steps really useful. That truck had been fitted for external Jeep cans, which I also really appreciated, and the spare tire was carried externally as well, which was really handy.  Indeed, in thinking about it recently, it seems that those features may outweigh whatever extra carrying capacity I gain with a fleetside, which isn't really all that much.  

And perhaps its my imagination, but stepsides didn't seem to rust as much and, because of their construction, their boxes were really tough.

Hmmm . . . . 

I wonder if an old Dodge stepside box would fit?