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Need help on 72 F100 Ranger bed panels

I've been restoring a 1972 truck I picked up. It's a 72 F100 Ranger camper special. This was an Idaho farm truck and they left a thick pad to protect the pad, I guess, and it rusted it out bad in the back. Talk about the cow poop in the skid plate LOL. I have the bottom like new, new moog front end parts and steering box and rag joint done. Rust under taken out and rust treated and undercoated.

I purchased 1972 F100 bed panel replacements and they don't fit. I was told the Ranger F100 camper special is different than the F100. I want to save the bed if at all possible.

These are pictures, does anyone know what it needs in terms of panels? Maybe the 73? I just want to keep it, if I have to I guess I can get a regular 67 to 72 and drill out the sides for moulding and put in the tool box. One picture shows the 72 F100 replacement bed panel, it doesn't fit. This truck is original and sat on a farm for years.

Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • RustedCutOut.jpg
  • cutoutbed.jpg
  • Bed_NotFitting.jpg

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
Camper specials are different than regular but haven't heard that the sheet metal in the floor is formed differently like that. Also not sure that the F100 had a camper special, thought those were generally 250 or so, but I am not an official at all on those.
 
I just need to find replacement panels that are a fit and not universal. People buy these, but I don't understand how they get them to work unless they cut each one and weld them. That's a heck of a lot of work!
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
They are also for 67-79 F series.
New
1978-79 Ford Bronco
1967-79 Ford F100, F150, F250
F350
 

1970Custom

They call me Spuds
14,107
447
Middleton, ID
The ones Fellro posted are for the pickup. Jeff's Bronco Graveyard sells parts for both Bronco and pickup.

Careful on the LMC stuff, they've got a history of hit and miss for fit and finish.
 
Yea,the panels sure dont match up.They musta been drunk when they
stamped that sheet...smilieeatndrink

Its almost best if you found another good bed,an cut the bottom
out an use.I see daylight at the fender wells as well,but I know its
hard to find another bed of that era.I do wish you luck,an comend
you on your determination of saving an old Ford.....smilieFordlogo
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
I vote for cutting the flooor out of another bed too.
You can only buy the patch panels in pieces, and they never line up

That bed floor is the same from 67-97.( the insides and sides are the same, they only changed the outer skin)
Camper specials got the rear axle moved rearward, but you should be able to rearange the bed floor if it's rust free enough
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
I can try to see if I can salvage a few panels from one of the boxes I have. However, you are in the right area to find some decent donors.
 
Everything I've found is pretty shot. Most people are actually keeping these. I've got a lot of work in it now, so I guess I'm going to finish the truck bed and get it back to orginal. The bottom and front-end is like new now :) It even has air!
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
Well, if what Charlie stated holds true, which I have no doubts it would, the floor panels from up to 97 trucks are available... I don't have any pre-73 trucks around any more, but could definitely compare my 77-79 trucks to my 88 and 86 trucks... May just have to do that just for my own curiousity, although I have heard that said before. I know some people have actually taken the skins from older trucks and put them on newer boxes to make it look right.
 
Did LMC truck sell you that panel ? Ford still holds patents on the pattern of body panels. Duplicating them would be an infringement on the patent.
I would call tech support at Dennis Carpenter And ask them if they sell a panel, although I don't see it listed.
They might have bought the rights to the patent and the press to make them.
 
Did LMC truck sell you that panel ? Ford still holds patents on the pattern of body panels. Duplicating them would be an infringement on the patent.
I would call tech support at Dennis Carpenter And ask them if they sell a panel, although I don't see it listed.
They might have bought the rights to the patent and the press to make them.

LMC did not. It was from a truck website. It's gone now and shipped back. Bad experience. I'll call the Dennis number and Bronco if I can today. I get real busy during the day :(
 
Well, if what Charlie stated holds true, which I have no doubts it would, the floor panels from up to 97 trucks are available... I don't have any pre-73 trucks around any more, but could definitely compare my 77-79 trucks to my 88 and 86 trucks... May just have to do that just for my own curiousity, although I have heard that said before. I know some people have actually taken the skins from older trucks and put them on newer boxes to make it look right.

If these work, I'll be OK I guess and order another set. I have this bed almost completed now, so don't want to get another rusted one and start over. I'll post on the ones I get and if they work. The motor is coming out soon so I can refresh the gaskets, it's dripping also. It's very very dry in Idaho where I am. Bed liners kill beds I guess, this was one of those large rubber ones.
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
Well, if what Charlie stated holds true, which I have no doubts it would, the floor panels from up to 97 trucks are available... I don't have any pre-73 trucks around any more, but could definitely compare my 77-79 trucks to my 88 and 86 trucks... May just have to do that just for my own curiousity, although I have heard that said before. I know some people have actually taken the skins from older trucks and put them on newer boxes to make it look right.

Take a bed liner, and cut the top off, and drop it in on any of the trucks. There are some tweeks over the years, like gas tank filler bumps, tail gate hardware and fasteners, etc, but the basic box inside is the same one

Camper special's are a breed of thier own tho.( i've been called out here before, I'm going by the 79 I had)
The rear axle was almost 18" further back on the frame than a normal F 250 of the same era. It also had a huge tool box on one side, and a spare tire box on the other side.
These two boxes were still under the bed floor
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
Bed mats can be worse than full bed liners. If they never take the mat up, it can get pretty bad. I have two trucks that had bed liners and both have held up fine. One even has the holes in it to have the gooseneck hitch come through it. I took the liner out a while back, and it was simply dusty, no damage.

Charlie, that is also my understanding of what made a Camper Special a Camper Special, the axle back set, and the availability of those boxes that are not to be confused with the regular beds with the little tool box under the passenger side. With the axle farther back, there was nowhere to go with the spare, so I imagine that is why the spare tire box.

I was more referring to taking a newer box to hijack the floor panels from, but it is much better to have fresh panels than to monkey around trying to salvage them from a fully constructed box. Like I mentioned earlier, never had heard of a CS in F100 trim. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just not something I knew anything about.
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
Pretty sure CS was F 250 and 35o.
There was a f 150 that had the same trim with a tool box in the front, but the wheel wells were in the normal spot. Pretty sure it didn't say camper special on it. I think it was either a Ranger, or Explorer
 

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