bobber truck trend

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skull

''SARCASM: just one of his many talents.''
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
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Location
wet side, washington state
:confused:is this a new trend or a old one brought back?
some of these builds are OK, some don't look safe to drive,

not caring if ya lik'em, can't stand'em or drive one. l am just wondering as more and more of these styles of trucks are showing up on the web and at lots of shows here in the Northwest.

coupes and sedans with this modifaction seem to be showing up more also.[S

thanks later
 

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nice

your'es looks good, the ones l worry about are bird poop welds on key structures, steering that looks like a monkey on crack set it up, no front brakes, can't see the road because the hood, engine, raditor or some thing is right in the line of sight, roof so low you can't even get in, and my favorite, no floor!

later
 
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I think they are great. They have been given the name Rudy trucks because supposedly Rudy Martinez (I think) was the first to do one of these. But I remember going to a car show in Winston Salem NC when I lived there in about 1978 and sitting outside was what we now call a Bobber or Rudy truck. I remember it was getting more attention than the show cars inside, and I liked the look then.

Some people on some forums bad mouth them, but I figure those guys don't put any food on my table so why should I care what they think. :p

Don
 
your'es looks good, the ones l worry about are bird poop welds on key structures, steering that looks like a monkey on crack set it up, no front brakes, can't see the road because the hood, engine, raditor or some thing is right in the line of sight, roof so low you can't even get in, and my farorite, no floor!

later

I don't see the correlation between the unsafe and/or unsughtly practices that you mentioned and the build style of any particular vehicle. [S

This is from Feb, 1966. It should clear things up for folks that say these trucks never existed until the mid-90's.

 
I don't see the correlation between the unsafe and/or unsughtly practices that you mentioned and the build style of any particular vehicle. [S

This is from Feb, 1966. It should clear things up for folks that say these trucks never existed until the mid-90's.

The arguement on when they started is "bobbers" built using 35 and later truck bodies, and specifically fat fender bodies. I don't think anyone ever says they weren't built "back then" using 34 and earlier bodies.
 
He didn't specify a year cut off nor did he show photos of all fat fenderd trucks, and despite what the "traditionalists" say, I have some photos of 35-37 "bobber" trucks that were taken in the 50's if I can find them in my stuff. We don't generally have that "bobber" truck arguement on this site.
 
thanks for the info.
l learn something new all the time, did not know the trend went that far back.

as for unsafe builds, every class of rodding and racing has crap builders, when l was a kid i watched my dad race a 1937 jalopy and we built that car SAFE. others however did not, one man's car was 1934 ford and it was so fast no one could keep up. one race he rolled it and the reason he was so fast? 2'' conduit for a roll cage.:eek:
 
I could care less what is traditional or not, build what you like.

My point was Don said "Some people on some forums bad mouth them," and then you posted a pic of a 34. All I was saying is the ones that "some people" bad mouth, are "generally" 35 and later. [P

I would love to see dated pics of mainstream post 34 builds from the 50s and 60s or earlier.

I like good looking cars and trucks, no matter what the year. [;)
 
While I do agree that some people sacrifice safety to get the "ratty" look, I think bad fabrication and bad ideas are like a pleague that's infected the entire automotive world. These are not rat trucks, but I would be more afraid driving them than some of the "rats."

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Cool deal. Any others? Where is that from? I would say you should post that on the pork site, but they will ban you,lol.
 
I don't think I've have ever seen a "lift kit" like those. Nice welding too by the way![cl........CR

Did you notice the Jerry-rigged steering on the black truck? Take a close look at the angle of his steering shaft and how it goes to the steering box. The angle of that universal joint kills me! :eek:
 
What exactly is a "bob"? I always thought it was where the back of the bed was shortened?

As for seeing a lot of bad welding on fenderless rods - at shows, how often do you look under fendered cars at the frames? My point is, bad and unsafe craftsmanship is everywhere, it's just more visible in the fenderless rods.
 
I think the current explosion in car building has been good, and bad. It's nice to see lots more people getting into the hobby, but the scary part is, some of them simply are not qualified to handle some of the tasks that need done to finish one of these things...........like welding for example. I see pictures all the time where someone has posted some fabrication they did and are proud of, and the "welding", if you can call it that, has been done horribly. Some don't take the time to grind the area clean of rust or oils, and are using small welders that aren't up to the job.

I know we all had to start somewhere, but you also have to be smart enough to know your own limitations. I've been doing this for almost 50 years and I still don't trust my own welding on super critical parts. I tack and have my Son finish it up for me. I know where to draw the line.

The other problem is that few of us are engineers, so we have to rely on tried and true construction techniques and materials. Some people feel they can reinvent the wheel to be different and that is where we see things like camshafts or crowbars being used for draglinks. :eek: We've all seen that sort of crap and know in our hearts it isn't right.

Don
 
Bad craftmanship leads to failure which leads to accidents!:D....We have enough bad press as it is![cl.....CR

Didn't mean to suggest unsafe is ever OK. If they're ignorant, teach them the right way. If they're stupid, just stay clear , because we all know you can't fix stupid.
 
Well said Don and Sam![cl.........Like Clint Eastwood said.."A man's gotta know his limitations"..:D....There were many times I made the trip to a competant welder until I felt confident enough to do my own, and then I still had it checked....CR
 

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