Each picture above shows the 187-A platform with 189-A stake racks. This “Midland Steel Products Company” supplied platform cargo body was sold by Ford for their production of AA131 platform, stake, and stock trucks beginning March 1931 and ending June 1932. The single and optional-dual AA131 and both the closed and open cabs were used in combinations to form platform trucks. The 187-A platform had a 1-5/16” lower profile and a cargo area which was 7” wider by 4-1/2” longer than the 88-A platform.

The 1931/1932 187-A platform consisted of a wooden cargo floor attached to a stamped steel support structure.  This structure was attached to wooden floor side sill assemblies which rested on the frame.

Excluding front external stake pockets, the overall body dimensions were 80-3/8” wide by 105-9/16” long. It was 11-9/16” from the bottom of the floor side sills to the top of the cargo floor boards. With stake racks or stock racks installed, the usable cargo floor was 75” wide by 102” long.

The cargo floor consisted of ten 1-1/4” thick floor boards with nine skid strips which were used to bolt the boards to the stamped steel support structure.  This structure was attached to wooden floor side sills using angles. The body was installed on the frame with brackets and u-bolts.

In April 1931, the month following the start of 187-A production, frame assembly AA-5005-D was introduced. This new frame had side rails which were 10” longer and 4” thick at the rear. This redesigned frame resulted in changes to the u-bolt installation hardware for the 187-A platform. Concurrent with this frame change, a new frame was released for the Service Car and Dump bodies which was 1-1/2” shorter than the prior AA-5005-B frame.

The platform was completely assembled before painting the same color as the cab. Consequently, the body was painted as a unit, including floor boards and fasteners.

Starting the prior January a new AA157 platform body (type 185-B) had been released. The 187-A platform was a short version of the 185-B. In early 1932, BB truck production began. The sills for both the 185-B and 187-A were modified to fit the new BB chassis but otherwise the bodies were unchanged.

According to the book “Ford Trucks Since 1905”, the 1933 platforms had a larger, 82” wide cargo area. The cargo area lengths were 106” and 142” for the types BB-187 and BB-186 respectively. These platforms had physical lengths of 9 feet and 12 feet. The 1933 sized platforms continued as the production standard through 1937.