Holes in F8 Frame
 

Anyone know what these holes (see pic ) are for in the front cross member of the F8 frame, facing forward? They look too precise to be "aftermarket" but nothing was attached to them when I got the truck.

hi david

i'm no expert on fords, but judging by the depression in the radiator, i would think that an engine cranking handle would fit in there to manually crank the engine over. those drilled holes could be for a support for the handle to fit in while cranking. cheers!! mike

Holes in frame
 

Yes, Mike - I think that's a strong possibility. But there is a support for the crank handle in the bumper . And why all those holes? Anyone got a picture of the real thing?

I just checked some photos sent to me by Tony Smith of a Ford chassis and it has those holes in the cross member as well. So it is not just the smaller vehicles that have them. :)

The crossmember has the part No C01Q-5019, but this is the assembly which includes various small parts rivetted on. The actual stamping of the centre crossmember is the same as C01T-5019 for the 1940 3 ton truck (and may be the same for smaller trucks eg 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, 1 ton etc), which would have used these holes to mount the crank handle guide, as surmised by Mike. Will try to find a pic of a commercial truck application.

Sense?
 

The use of coomponents shared with other commercials makes sense to me. Off topic, the 1971-on Ford Escort RS1600 used the front off the Escort van, and thus had a hole for a crank handle, requiring quarter bumpers vice a full bumper. The RS bodyshell was based on the export strengthened shell. Fords always did like to share components to keep costs down.