Does anyone have any clue why Ford only put one exterior door lock on the 1953-1956 F-100's. There are no interior door locks or knobs so the only way to lock the door is by using the key from the outside. That being said, why is there only a keyed lock on the passenger side? There is no lock on the driver's side. Why???

P.S. I bypassed this issue in my own truck by adding a driver's side door lock so I now have locks on both doors.

Z,

I'm not sure about this, but I think some 50's vehicle doors could be locked by pushing the interior door handle forward (or opposite the direction pulled to open the latch). I guess Henry decided the only guy needing to unlock the truck was the driver.

Meteor

it doesn't make sense , a key lock on pass side, does it?

Meteor is correct you push down on the inside handle to lock the doors.I don,t know why the key hole only on the passenger side.I just looked at my 54 and it is the same.Maybe they assumed men were gentlemen enough to open their ladies door first.

How would you go about getting into the locked truck then? The only access is through the passenger side. Would you unlock the passenger door with the key, climb in, and then slide across into the driver's seat?

maybe the doors got mixed up at factory, were for right side drive in other countrys

My 35 is the same, made me wonder the same thing.

Steve,
I know it just doesn't sound right but there is no mix up. All of the 1953-1956 Ford F-100 trucks only had the keyed lock on the passenger side door. Any pictures that you may see with the lock installed on the driver's door was done by the owner after purchase, and not the factory.

I read that henry wanted people entering and exiting the vehicle on the curb side to keep them out of traffic. Don't know if it's true but they suredid it for a long time on trucks. Are the Ford cars the same?

Guys I'm not sure how accurate this is but I remember this topic came up one morning having coffee with the guys. And it was said, it was for safety. It is supposed to be so the driver isn't near traffic when he is trying to unlock his door. No huge shoulders or parking lots in them days. Just narrow streets and two lane hwy's. The guy that told us that has a memory like a trap and he knows all kinds of stuff like that. Me, I can't remember where my keys are. Cheers!

Your right and my 30 model Ford coupe had the key lock on the passenger side also. It was a safety thing, enter the car on the curb side and slide over, same thing getting out. It was a good idea i guess but it would sure be a PITA, LOL.

We musta been typin at the same time 4t8. lol

Here is a little known fact, starting in 1912 the touring bodies had operating doors on the passenger side only. I don't know when the driver door became operating again, sometime in the early '20s I think. I was told it was for safety reasons also, to keep folks out of the street. Sometimes with the way people get out of their cars today it might not be a bad idea to try sealing up the drivers door again.

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i guess they didn;t have floor shifter, that would get in the way

My dodge truck is the same. The guy I bought it from said a lotta cars back then came like this, for safety issues like mentioned above. Slide over, get out on the curb side. Get in on the curb side, slide in. This way you're never exposed to traffic. Clever aint it?




Mike