Art & Inspiration Do any of you use your classic truck for work?

I have an 03' long bed f150 I use to work with, but always thought itd be fun to trade that for a classic truck. My fear is they wouldnt be as capable. One thing for sure - I couldnt have any flare side bed - I need a full sized 8 foot bed. That seems like itd rule out any 40's or 50's body, unless I went with a much larger class truck Im assuming.

So how bout it!?

 

I use my '50 as a parts truck. Running to get parts and general use. It def wouldnt hold up if i had to tow anything or haul anything real heavy. But i have hauled a few motors at a time and a rearend and transmission. I guess it depends on what you're doing with it. Sounds like you may need a 60s model with a long bed.

 

Well duh, it is a truck after all.

 

The F-1 and the first gen F-100 both had optional long beds.

I have driven a lot of C-10s (60-66) over the years and found them totally capable.

My little brother ran his welding business out of an AD truck a '51 five window for years ( '78 to '91), he did have a trailer aside from the truck. In '83 he swapped the body over to a '62 chassis. That was the chassis from his first work truck a '62 long narrow.

Anyway if you are thinking in our time frame classic trucks there are a couple of options for you.

 

We have 2 trucks at Stovebolt that Tom hauls parts and engines with: 1961 Chevy and a 1971 Chevy. With the T5 trans these are wonderful "daily" shop trucks. I drive them whenever I can!

 

Ive been doing a lot of mulching lately and Ive been getting fork lifts to load pallets of mulch (65 bags) and it loads my bed down quite a bit. Id want something with a good payload capacity, power and reliability. My f150 is also my daily driver so Id be a little nervous going fully old school. I need to depend on it. It seems partly that to get a classic with those capabilities might put me in a higher budget territory of 10k. Im looking more in the 5-6 range.

I love the classics, but it is tough to beat the reliability and capability of the modern trucks. Thats why Im on the fence.

 

It isn't HAMB old, but my '68 F250 works. It isn't restored, is rusty, still sits on bias ply's and split rims, and the FE drinks gas, but it will haul anything you ask it to.

Bump side fords haven't really started to appreciate yet (at least up here in MT). Good ones are still cheap.

 

In my experience the older pickups will haul as much as the newer ones, I have hauled alot with mine. If you are worried about capacity, consider a 3/4 or 1 ton. It might even make sense to get/build a period correct flat bed for whatever you get, for true work trucks it is hard to beat a flatbed.

There are also many options to updating the axles to get better brakes and higher gears, all depends on what you want to do.

 

Anything can be built up Maybe if you're in it for fun, you can build a 50's truck on like an S-10 frame... with heavier springs... Or go up to a 3/4 ton. We're building up a truck for my oldest son that will be tough as nails... a 3/4 ton '50 Chevy. We have a ways to go, but working on making a 4x4 long bed GMC powered 'work truck' that he will have 'forever'. There are deals out there if you want to build something... if you want it ready to go, you may have issues

 

DEFINITELY upgrade the brakes! The standards in the '50s were not the same. Speeds are higher now, much more traffic, etc. You will want to get a dual master cylinder disc brake system if you are hauling. Esp if you plan to drive more than 40 mph. It is more and more work... but you can't quantify cool

 

We hauled a shop compressor that completely filled the bed of mine '65 C-10 150 miles and came back with a complete model A coupe and some extra original panels to use as patch panels once. I did have to bump the air shocks to 110 for the compressor.

I think we hauled one of everything in that old beasty in the 80k that I put on it.

I had a Johnny cash '62 long bed C-10 once that I hauled cord wood in. We built it from 3 trucks but it had a '62 title, a 62, '64 and finally a '65 3/4 ton. I shook, rattled 'n' rolled but it made the trip daily.

 

I guess it depends what you mean by "work".



although I sold this truck last year. 57 one ton Chevy, it would haul 3000 lbs of scrap in it's 59 Fleetside bed with no problem.

 

I donot want to make waves here but speeds are not higher now then they were in the '50s. States like Wyoming, Nevada and Oregon for example had open speed law, "Whatever road and weather conditions allow" , there were cars off the showroom that would travel past the century mark. The speed limit for a four lane divided highway is commonly 70 MPH, the same as it was prior to the 55 mph speed limit that was put in place in the '70s.

new cars are dummed down with antilock brakes and GPS, lane censors and etc, but no one of us is going to go that far. Drum brakes will stop you at 70 if they are up to par, discs don't fade as much and I am not saying that one should not upgrade the brakes but faster now then then is just not true. it just is not a good argument.

 

What older models qualify as a 3/4 ton? I only know modern models like f150, 250, 350 etc. 1500, 2500, 3500.

A friend in college had like a 76 f-250 I think it was... Crew cab and long bed that was a 4x4 and lifted. It was a beast.

 

F-2 for the early post war ford, F-250 for anything from '53 up for ford. Chevy came in C-20 but also they were called a 3/4 ton truck as were the dodge and IH trucks.

look at what you are buying, a 3/4 ton or ton truck will have 8 lug wheels and a floater rear.

 

Yup

 

Find a 3/4 ton, or a Camper Special . Speaking from experience, my 66(same Body as 65 ) Ford F250 camper Special was more than capable of handling anything we could throw at it. We didn't even have the helper springs installed. It was only in the last 5 years that I got a truck newer than 1977, and I only had it 3 years. My current truck project, to haul my car trailer etc, is a 65 Chevy

 

My grear grandfather had a 55 Studebaker 1 ton longbed, it was a beast, but with the champion six and low gears, was definitely a city only truck. Topped out at about 45 mph.

 

Blowby that is badass! What is that? I certainly couldnt justify daily driving that but it sure is sweet.

 

Yup again

 

Thanks. No, not a daily by any means, just for logs and stuff. Gas hog to the max. Thread title just says work, and that's why I have it. '54 Itnl.

 

There are a few good threads on this topic with some great pics and stories to go with them..
I'm sure i've posted mine.
When i built this i wanted it to be functional. I love trucks but if they cant be used as what they were intended for i dont have a lot of interest in them.
This is on an s-10 chassis so im limited to weight but i did do some frame boxing etc to add to it's lighter cababilities, and made sure the mechanical end of it was more than adequate to haul be it in the bed or off the hitch.
I have a later model 2500HD GMC and prefer to use this more than that especially being a 2wd and low. Makes loading and unloading so much easier.
It could also easily be called a daily driver for me. It see's more road than pretty much anything i own.

Tony

 

Tony
I am not a big flames guy but your truck is tough. Those flames make it.

 

Thanks Beaner!!

 

Credit where credit is due.

 

Found these googling classic flat bed trucks - anybody know what year/model they are? Im sure theyre larger than my needs would suite.

 

Does this count as work, my 30 and a friends 29 hauling firewood to his shop. I use my Model A as a daily driver and haul whatever I need. Ran out of garage space so it sits outside, been using it like this for 15 years.

 

Green Chevy is a 57 and model 6400. About 18000 GVW

 

The red one is s dodge could be any year from '41-'48 the Chevy I think is a '57 maybe a '56

Something to think about when looking at old heavy haulers is that they are not going to get on down the road very well and when they do they are going to be gallons to the mile and not miles to the gallon.

I have a '62 ton truck waiting in the wings, the reason I that I have done nothing with it is two fold, it has no bed so flat bead or some sort of a bastardized wide bed fender setup will have to happen and the second is that I got it from the original owner and with the 6 and the two speed rear it got 8 mpg. so a later dually rear is probably my best option and I am not yet ready to plunk down the cash for a late rear.

Your best option if you want to replicate what you got in a classic is a half ton or 3/4 ton truck. if you think you need a flat bed pull the original bad and make a flat bed for it.

 

back to what do you do with your work truck - carry heavy (?) loads, have to use a overhead pipe rack, drive in lots of stop & go traffic, have a lot of travels on hills, drive long (?) distance on a regular basis, etc.? yes, a stock one ton truck (to get a 8' bed - depends on what years you like) should be OK in many of these situations but, some could put a real strain on things. I daily drive an OT 70's Chevy C1o that is a 1/2 ton with 8' bed - got it for $2K, came with '92 350-700r4, factory A/C-power steering-disc brakes. plus, need to check with your insurance company. to get full coverage most do not approve of regular use, yearly high mileage, etc. For daily use can use basic insurance but, in a wreck insurance company likely not be too helpful for repairs.