1955 Chevy 6400 ... my new toy

[6DoF]

i've had my eye out for a long time now for a tri-5 commercial truck. seeing shows like Counting Cars and Vegas Rat Rods with their old haulers just fueled that more. well on a random search i came across this thing, the wife lit up at the idea of the jeep on the back while towing the airstream, so i snatched it up.

more pics to come in the next day or so once i'm home with it and daylight.

found the truck on CL last week, figured it was a scam, but emailed him anyways. turned out to be this awesome southern dude. 150 miles south wasn't bad, but went after work. i pull up in his driveway, he's in the yard, introductions, and he says "well the truck isn't here right now". at this point i'm instantly annoyed i have to drive somewhere else. he continues to say "my buddy is better at driving it, he'll be here shortly". drive it? sure enough a few minutes later the truck comes rolling down the road and pulls into the driveway. this scruffy old dude gets out to say hi and the truck just sits there purring like a kitten. at this point, i'm all in. a running and driving truck that i can cruise around in for a few years before/while i build it.

trying to not look overly interested (for a guy who just drove that far with a trailer) and he starts telling me more about it. thing was owned by an OCD farmer and used it to haul soy beans around his property until 6 months ago. barn kept most of it's life, and regularly maintained. anything greaseable was WELL greased and looked like it had been it's whole life. lots of new parts including brake lines, entire ignition with spares, great tires, perfect seat, etc. the frame has ZERO rust scale, just some surface texturing. body had some good rust, but less then expected. so time for a test drive (he took me for a ride) and it was just right. transmission and clutch are super smooth, starts right up, only thing we didn't test was the 2-speed rear axle.

i drove away with it for $2400

currently the jeep has no body and the airstream needs the shell removed for a new floor, so waaaayyy to much to do. lots of time to make and change plans for this thing in the years to come.







ideas for what it will become range in the following ... the wife actually liked the 2 rat's the best. UNTIL she decided that this truck was a survivor and needed to stay exactly as is.

[6DoF]

so this is where my questions start, i'm pretty good on the interweb but these aren't exactly everywhere.

-the split rims, anyone recognize these for a positive confirmation of yes or no?
-what power/torque can these 2speed rear axles take? (if i swap in a new motor) how available are replacement parts? (r&p, spiders, axle shafts, etc)
-100% functional and on the road as a 'survivor', i'd assume this truck is still not a high value item. what's everyone's opinion on really modifying this this?

[KQQL IT]

Nice truck. Yes those are split rims.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Nice truck. Yes those are split rims.

thanx ...

[6DoF]

also, the big thing the guy told me needed fixed was a blown out brake wheel cylinder. is there a good place to find those for this thing?

[GM72K10]

Nice rig for a good price, good luck with it.

[4x4toy]

Nice truck. If you change out the wheels I would love to have them.

[Katrina/10]

Great truck, and a nice price. I like it as is, maybe take the stake sides off and run it as a flatbed. Must have been a pretty good load on your tow vehicle!

[6DoF]

The GMC didn't mind towing it at all, the trailer however did NOT like the really high CG

[jumpsoffrock]

I went on a search for differential parts this summer using phone numbers, here is my general experience:

There are a TON of MD(medium duty) truck salvage yards around the country and if you're willing to spend the money to ship, YES the parts for the rear end are typically available. Not sure what kind of rear end you have, but I'm sure you'd find something.


Brake cylinders are available. Go onto raybestos' website http://www.raybestosbrakes.com/magno...=Medium%20Duty

Search for your truck and then search for those part numbers on rockauto.com. If you're really crazy, find cross reference part numbers and you might be able to find them for super cheap.



My personal opinion on the whole "modifying old MD and HD trucks for coolness" is basically get ready to spend a lot of money for a truck that might cost a lot to register, and still be outdated and slow.

If you need a tow vehicle, go get one. If you need a money pit with the style of the 50's....you got what you're lookin for.


P.S. I have spent the last 4 weeks working on the entire brake system on my 1967 C50 and let me tell you this 1) the costs add up, 2) the f&*$#@ng parts are heavier than hell and very tough to work with, 3) by this point in the trucks life, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G (at least for the brakes) needs to be replaced.
....and I'm only half done, not even finished yet.


Still a cool old truck and a hard worker, have fun.

[franken]

Love the truck.
Over on http://www.stovebolt.com there's a big bolts forum.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by jumpsoffrock;6905066Brake cylinders are available. Go onto raybestos' website [url

http://www.raybestosbrakes.com/magnoliaPublic/home/catalog/search.html?searchCategory=Medium%20Duty[/url]

awesome link!

[OlySezHey]

Hey 6DoF,
I'm getting ready to bring my '57 6400 home. What did you use for a trailer? Thanks :-)

[dajn]

Originally Posted by OlySezHey

Hey 6DoF,
I'm getting ready to bring my '57 6400 home. What did you use for a trailer? Thanks :-)

Being you havent been responded too yet I will try to help. The trailer he used is definitely not enough trailer. From the pic it looks like 5 hole, which means it's most likely a 7500 pound rated trailer. Your only supposed to put about 5000 to 5500 pounds on a trailer like that. If it's a 10k rated trailer maybe around 7500 pounds. Still not good enough. A 14,000 pound 20 foot tandem trailer is about the bare minimum you should have for that load. Of course after saying that, most of us have overloaded a trailer a time or two and got away with it. But his setup looks severely overloaded. And I should add I dont know what a 57 6400 weighs but it has to be all of 8000 pounds. Probably more

[OlySezHey]

Thanx for your reply
Long story short I decided to hire a professional to trailer it home.