Hey everyone, Was looking up the differences in 40 pass car front fenders and 40-41 pickup. In most discussions the subject of the truck fenders only having the mounting hole up top and the pass fender having three holes down the flange. Well in looking at the cowl of a 41 truck it had three mounting holes with what looks like factory cage nuts on the inside. So....was there truck fenders with multiple bolts on the flange???
According to a book I have written by a guy named Howard Towne, entitled "Two Great Trucks" about the 40 and 41 Ford trucks, I quote..."The front fenders are the same for the 40 an 41 Ford commercials, but they do differ from 1940 car front fenders. They differ at the rear where they attach to the cab. A car fender curves out to follow the bulging body side of a car, whereas the rear of the pickup front fender is straighter so as to fit the flatter cab sides." He makes no mention of the amount of mounting holes and having had several pairs of front fenders, both car and truck, I recall them both having the holes along the hem to mount them to the cab. I believe only the truck fenders use the top hole and the little stamped steel bracket that ties the front fender to the cowl at the top.
Hmmm, that is interesting. I have one of each on my truck and the one with extra holes fits tighter to the cowl than the one without. But with that said it does mot fit as well to the running board. It is also a touch wider, bringing me to conclude that in my case anyway it is a pass car fender.
If its a car fender, you will have about a 1/2" gap between the fender and the side of the cab. I went thru this when building mine. I started with car fenders, but in the end, I used glass fenders.
I have had both car and truck fenders on my 40. When I belong to 40's Limited of Orange County I asked about the differences. Now these guys know 40's and included guys like Frank Oddo and Lee Kelly. According to Frank, the fenders had different part numbers, of course, the flange as mentioned is curved for the cars and flat for the trucks. You can pound down a car flange to meet the truck body. And as mentioned, the truck have the little bracket for a mounting the fender to the body. On my truck, there are holes in the cab to mount fenders, but I think they were added sometime in the last 75 years. The car fender has different running boards mounting holes, if I remember. But the biggest difference that is real subtle is that the truck fenders have a slight dip between the bumper mounting hole and the start of the curve of the front. When I heard that, I was like 'sure', but Lee Kelly pointed it out on his truck fenders that I think were NOS. Again I am not an expert.
I was always curious why the factory added the extra holes in the cowl. Mine have cage nuts installed on the inside. Made me think maybe they changed mid year and added the extra holes in the fenders. Kind of like on pass car where they switched to a one piece lower fender rather than stay with the two piece. But by all accounts it would seem the true truck fenders only have the limited bolt holes and that very noticeable "dip" in the mounting rail where it flattens out. Good info
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