I'm Looking at Truck

[Port&PolishMan]

I'm a Newbie to Classic's , I have had a El Camino and 71 Monte . .
In My Middle Aged Life .

I'm Fairly Handy - But Totally Green thou on these - what should I be Looking 4 , as I don't want to get Burnt . .

1954 3800 1 Ton 4 speed , No 2 speed axle or Spare or any Extra's
which I thought was Off some . .

Shouldn't there be a Tool Kit , Owner's Manual , I don't Know Guessing ..

Dan

Thank You ps: What's Up with 19.5 inch Tires I couldn't find anything on those * 8 Luggers *

[mongocanfly]

Tool kit? Owners manual?..hmmm..that would be quite a find if you found those in a 63 yr old truck..
A 3800 is the same cab as a 1/2 and 3/4 ton truck..if its got a bed its probably going to be a longwheelbase...there's usually always rust in the normal places...cab corners..floorboards..rockers..and mkre when you start digging..as for rims and tires I'd swap all that out to something you can buy parts for...but that's just me..
Are you trying for a restoration or just a daily cruiser?

[Port&PolishMan]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Tool kit? Owners manual?..hmmm..that would be quite a find if you found those in a 63 yr old truck..
A 3800 is the same cab as a 1/2 and 3/4 ton truck..if its got a bed its probably going to be a longwheelbase...there's usually always rust in the normal places...cab corners..floorboards..rockers..and mkre when you start digging..as for rims and tires I'd swap all that out to something you can buy parts for...but that's just me..
Are you trying for a restoration or just a daily cruiser?

Thanks for Your response .. Looked like the truck had been around Farm a Long time . . so I thought Maybe . .

OK, I get It !

AHhhmmm Not a Daily Cruiser , but certainly Usable , Driver , Kept under cover and Cared 4 : Got Bed & Hoist - which I think is Cool .
The Owner said Wheels Off a UPS Truck would Match Up , Not sure about that .

It has been 12 Volt Updated & Power Steering - Certainly No Trailer Queen
Thou - Thinking Trading a Tractor some cash.
Dude says it will rock 2 Tons - Think the Transmission is Good enough for that ?_?

I have trying to Care for this Property I Own & Whip it into shape and the Yard needs a lot - thought I could bring in some Trees , Top Soil
Fill and all that - has a Old Hickory Bed & Oak sides . I Think I'd only Go 3000 Lbs Maybe ,but have No Idea about these Transmissions - Sure Looks Like the Rear Gear will Pull Stumps - but I wouldn't actually do that .. !

[mongocanfly]

That's rear probably got something along the lines of a 5.13 to 1 ratio..you won't be going anwhere in a hurry for sure..

[Port&PolishMan]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

That's rear probably got something along the lines of a 5.13 to 1 ratio..you won't be going anwherd in a hurry for sure..

Yeah, I realized that as I have driven many Farm Trucks , but Not this Old
Well since I was 14 yrs. Old - I did Drive a few Very Old Trucks - with Either Start Up's and Split Ranges . . Those were 5-10 ton tucks ..
Farmers always over load the Dam things - We'd be so Over Loaded
I Swear on some Old Curved Roads - Banked and Crowned the Wrong Way
Truck was going to Roll over - as it Shifted from Side to Side . .
I'm Talking Shifted in Load of 18 inches way above the Cabs - Have to Turn an Go with the Shifting Load or
just Might Roll ..or Bend the Framing of the Box ..

I Don't No anything about these 1 Ton Units & Transmissions . .
other then 45 50 mph . I have been Talking through Pic's Long Distance
Have Not had a Chance to Drive 3 States away Yet .. to Inspect ..
Guy Placed Gauges in it for all the Fluids & Pressure = COOL . .

PS : Just using for Landscape Locally mostly for Me , and Lumber Yards - but - I don't want to Rip out the Trans
I have seen Young Puppies on the Farms do that with the Clutches ( Mostly Break the Joints ) . .

[Port&PolishMan]

Here are a few Pic's of some of My History - that became a Hobby .
Seeing many Moons ago we use to Kick the Factory Teams Butt _ over @ Yamaha
Kalamazoo Guys !

1000 ft Drags , that lead to 2 Stroke Bikes - which - went to 4 Stroke HD's and
Turbo Motors .

Link to the Guys :
https://youtu.be/lLGv-l-Zbhk

OK Fast Forward 25 Yrs. - Life getting in the way some USAF for 1 . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy74OS1hxHs

[Port&PolishMan]

Last Week :
Manifolds : Jusr Starting on these .
[IMG][/IMG]

This Week : Another Turbo - First Cut and some Sanding smoothing - By
No Means Done :

https://youtu.be/MVpJiEtNH0U

[mongocanfly]

Snowmobiles in tenn?..dang ..I'm gonna have to move a little futher south..that's to close for comfort

[Port&PolishMan]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Snowmobiles in tenn?..dang ..I'm gonna have to move a little futher south..that's to close for comfort

LOL Brahhhaaa

I Guess I should have selected : Mountain Man - Dan

You may call Me that -as- a few do ..

Grew up in Adirondacks , No Kidding aside - they don't even have Snow
like they use too .. I have seen Drifts 8 ft a lot back then .
Drive down Roads over the Tops of Stranded Cars .
It would take 3 Snowmobiles to get Help out to Folks stuck for a 10 Days
No Power or Food .. 1 to Break Path and 1 Occasionally Pushing the Other
When they had Trouble like a Hill coming up the Third Hung back
Ramp'd Up some Serious Speed to Break out and around . . just so the Others wouldn't get stuck ..

After the USAF - I went back to school - Dam - Calculators went from 8 inches down to Process
Math and Trig - 4 inch - Then Hired on as a Quality Assurance Inspector in Machining Groups and never Looked Back ..
Now that Life has slowed down here in TN - I'm picking up where I left Off - with 20 Yrs. of Machining Experience
Computer Skills , Fabrication & Manufacturing .. as We Built it all from Cray Computer Housings to
High Speed Paper Paths Xerox - to Special One Off Prototypes Nasa . .

[Port&PolishMan]

Oh, and this looks like a Cool Site , some of the Builder on Here
Fabrications are Mind Blogging

[mr48chev]

You could go a lot of ways on a truck like that but pretty much stock with the working hoist and not being too fancy to haul a load means that your significant other will soon figure out that it will haul, mulch, top soil, gravel, brush and stuff to the dump and what ever else it needs to to earn it's place to park in the driveway. O'l Bertha out in my yard a 77 1 ton with a 454 and a hoist with a 10 ft bed earns her keep doing those things and the wife knows that there isn't anything she might want hauled that it won't haul.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

That's rear probably got something along the lines of a 5.13 to 1 ratio..you won't be going anwhere in a hurry for sure..

this is the most important thing in this thread, top speed will be in the 45mph area and it will sound like shaking a bag of hammers at that rpm. one ton springs ride like a buckboard with anything less than 1000lbs in the bed, I dont know what your driving needs are but dont compare it to anything modern. it will ride like an oversized underpowered redwood log with solid rubber tires. if you are ok with that, you will love it! good luck!

[mongocanfly]

"oversized underpowered redwood log with solid rubber tires. "

Love it!!!

[Port&PolishMan]

I'll run lower Air Pressure then the 85 PSI Tires recommend . .

50 PSI should be OK shouldn't it ?

So No One is making a Gear for the Rear Axle for these - Hoping - like the 3/4 Ton ?

Lumber Yard is on the way to the - Meet @ Drive IN Theater .
Dump is on the way to Car & Coffee Show . .
Top Soil is on the way to the Local Truck Show . .

I See Ya ~

[Port&PolishMan]

Originally Posted by joedoh

this is the most important thing in this thread, top speed will be in the 45mph area and it will sound like shaking a bag of hammers at that rpm. one ton springs ride like a buckboard with anything less than 1000lbs in the bed, I dont know what your driving needs are but dont compare it to anything modern. it will ride like an oversized underpowered redwood log with solid rubber tires. if you are ok with that, you will love it! good luck!

Well It's 1 Ton Truck with Dully , so don't expect it tot ride Nice ..

Bag of Hammer's - I Suspect Your talking about the Engine .

How about the Trans ( Sound ) & Anyone use First Gear ?

[dsraven]

the first thing to do is check to see if the wheels are split rims. if they are just junk them or find somebody who wants original equipment stuff. they have killed lots of people when the ring that locks the 2 halves of the wheel together comes off under pressure.

second, before you buy new wheels, if you plan to drive it faster than 45 mph you may want to look into a diff from something newer to throw under it or possibly something with a 2 speed axle already equipped. that will allow twice as many gears and a faster overall speed at the same given RPM

third, you can run the tires with less air but not with much of a load on them. the sidewalls will flex more, causing heat build up and may be a factor in a flat or blow out at the least opportune time. you may want to check the age of the tires before too much loading takes place. a more readily available tire size may be available with a diff swap if you went that way. try a tire/wheel shop for swap over wheel options. a bigger truck wrecker may be the place to stop first. a dimension for the spring centres would be good to know if that is the plan.

fourth, check to see if you have a single system master cylinder in there. if the PO upgraded to 12 volts and PS then maybe the upgrade was done. if not consider doing it. a vac brake booster would be a bonus as well for power brakes and are available from newer trucks that have drum/drum brakes.
fourth, there should be a label on the door jamb that tells gross vehicle weight. try these sites for info or, if you get the vin, try the gm heritage centre for info.

http://www.oldgmctrucks.com/page0024.html

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...to/54index.htm

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...to/54index.htm

[Port&PolishMan]

Nice Info DSRaven - so it sounds like No Modern Gearing being Made for these - Trucks to be switched out - Dam . .

Yes, I have seen the ( Tire side wall Flex ) - Accelerate Heat Very Fast in fact 20 miles
Very Good Point !

If No Vac - Add Booster - this Won't Blow out the Brake Cly. ?
anything on Line Pressures ? ( Will Need to Check ) OK


I Guess the Most Important Item to Start would be Gearing - so - 2 Speed
Vac - would need to come from 1.5 Ton or something like that - I'll
Need to Know Gearing ( Chevy / GMC Rear Ends ) Tag ID's . .

So a Smooth Spinning V8 made to Run 6500 RPM's with Reliability - Fluid Dyn Balanced
Under Drivers Pulleys - Roller Cams .
so it could be used @ 4800 RPM's like a Boat ..

What do the 6 cly Run 3000-3700 RPM 's - Thinking - another
1000 Rpm for short 5-8 mile Hike , Probably wouldn't be worth much
Maybe 50-55 Mph . . and Chew through everything and Fuel ..Oil etc.

I did Note last Night Late - Over Drive Units - Then I remembered this Rich Farmer I drove for
just to Pay for the Move to TN - He owned 8148 Acres or so ..
He paid a Mechanic to Install Over Drives in all His Potato Trucks as some of the Fields were 30 Miles away .
I'll Give Him a Call / Also - Hoping to get some Good Pointers on
Over Drive Units

It would be Nice to Roll up to a Show cruising @ 65 Mph - Low RPM ..
just listen to the tires Sing & V8 Spinning .

[dsraven]

check out the hydrovac system, like a chevy c60 or a school bus,would have. the video below is a bit basic but it gives an idea of how it works. the smaller original brake master could possibly be used to operate the hydrovac for power brakes.
check this youtube for an old time explanation. it'll take you back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnuZ1hWMA_M

[Port&PolishMan]

Yeah , sounds like the Road ahead - Disc Brakes maybe - Costly . .Thou . .

[dwcsr]

A very popular disc swap is a late model Cab and chassis rear dually axle to get you newer brakes and better gearing. You can add disc brakes to the stock axle using 2500 HD parts. Use a tandem master and 7" booster for power brakes. PM me for info on the disc swap options.

[abig84]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

That's rear probably got something along the lines of a 5.13 to 1 ratio..you won't be going anwhere in a hurry for sure..

thats what my 51 3800 has in it. how fast could you get one of these things going back in the day?

im probably going to ditch that gear and go with a 4.11 with a overdrive trans. though it would be amusing with stock tires and a th350trans to see how fast it would go

[mongocanfly]

About 45..with a tailwind..haha

[dsraven]

it would except for one thing. the engine bell housing is not the same as the later "one bellhousing fits all" pattern.

[Port&PolishMan]

Originally Posted by abig84

thats what my 51 3800 has in it. how fast could you get one of these things going back in the day?

im probably going to ditch that gear and go with a 4.11 with a overdrive trans. though it would be amusing with stock tires and a th350trans to see how fast it would go

It Ran 52 Mph without trying to Revving to Hard Certainly it wasn't
5200Rpm's about 4800Rpm's , but 45Mph seems to be Old Truck
was Calm and Smooth ..as Far as Drivetrain .

Wheels - Haaaa - going to be something else - looks a little Dogged
Rear Axle Possibly ,
( Not having a Pin to Locate the Axle on Leak Spring ) ??_??
Have No Idea how to Align one of These - Dam Man

No Wheel Weights either - don't Know if that's a Big Deal - seems Like they should have been Balanced - when Tires were Installed ..??

NNAaaaa Just Skip the Balancing - $65.00 is that
Normal for these - Trucks ?_? GUYS ?

[dsraven]

if the truck seems to be dog tracking and also has a leaky spring(?) then maybe there has been some stress in the axle to spring mounting area and the axle has slipped ahead or back on the rear axle. there is a bolt/pin in the spring centre that holds the leaf pack together and also acts as an alignment helper in that the bolt/pin on the spring fits into a hole in the diff spring mounting pad. it is not intended to keep the diff from moving after assembly, itis just there for assembly alignment. the rest of the holding power is supposed to come from properly torqued the u bolts. if the u bolts get loose or the axle is hit or whatever, then the pin can shear off or the hole it fits into on the spring pad can elongate allowing the axle to move ahead or back on the spring. damage in this area can also lead to a cracked housing, usually at the weld where the spring pad is held on the axle tube. you may want to check the area out and see if the axle is centred on the spring like the other side. a simple tape measure will suffice. both sides should be the same from the spring eye bolt in the front of the spring back to the centre bolt/pin. if the housing is cracked it is an easy fix with welding. just make sure to clean the area well with brake cleaner and wire brush. 'V' the crack some with a grinder to make sure you get good penetration. allow to dry thoroughlybefore welding because brake cleaner is combustible. also make sure the welder places his ground on the actual axle tube, not the frame or wheel hub etc or else the welding current can cause damage to the bearings as it travels through them. bad news. post a coup[le of pics so we can see what you are dealing with