Trailered it down from Yakima, WA, bought it from a member back in January. Uneventful trip except for loosing three trailer tires. Anyway, going to make further refinements and drive the shit out of it.
Couple of guys here have the 'too-often overlooked' Dodge half-tons. A friend in San Jose had me install a deep dropped tube front axle in his Dodge stepside back in '79. Very sharp truck, had a 318 with 727 Torqflite trans. So smooooth!
went through two spares, I went ahead and replace all my tires. Had one split down the side of the tire while the others had tread separation. I always carry two spares.
Left Phoenix in 04, used 24' enclosed with what looked like new tire's,headed to wny., Yep... Learning Curve! All were new by the time I got home..
Trailer tires are crap, best I’ve done on a set was on TOYOs. Most trailer tires nowadays are made offshore. When Japan had that big earthquake and isunami It washed out that big nuclear plant. Japan had a big tire factory within the contaminated area. Ever since then the trailer tires were marginal at best. Given I have a 24’ enclosed that puts extra weight on the tires.
Good looking truck. I've got the Australian version, 1953 Dodge Fargo, cab and tray mounted on off topic Holden chassis with Holden v8 4 speed so can't show photos. Is there a source over there for door rubbers and 1/4 window seals? It's bit of a desert over here for that sort of stuff.
As far as trailer tyres go, I've got an enclosed trailer for my racecar but during the off season I try to keep the car in the shed so the weight of it isn't resting on the trailer tyres and springs. Unfortunately trailer tyres are usually the last thing considered before heading off to pick up a project.
Have had my fair share of tire failures on my RV 5th wheel. One thing I found when pursuing a warranty claim is that most trailer tires are only rated for 55 mph. At least the POS Greenball ones I had were. Took months but I finally got paid for the damage to the side of my 5th wheel caused by a blow out of a almost new tire.Turns out all 4 were bad. Always fun to buy 4 tires in Bishop, CA on a Saturday afternoon.
Once had a trailer with 8 lug 10 ply truck tires on it. Tires weren't the problem. Damn thing was simply too heavy.
Even though I prefer 40s and 50s Internationals as far as trucks, those Dodge trucks such as you have now, we're always under appreciated! Good for you that you have that very cool Dodge truck now! SAVE THE OLD MOPARS !
I have a 49 Dodge on an off topic Dodge frame with a V8 and an auto trans. Other them my wheels, which clearly show it has an off topic chassis, I could post pictures of my truck. I don't know if the company would send stuff to you way over there, but www.robertsmotorparts.com has all the weather stripping and window seals for this era of Dodge truck (and a lot of other stuff). I just had the rear 1/4 windows installed in my truck. If you have a choice of rubber supplier, go with Steal Rubber, they are more expensive, but are a better fit. I used the less expensive rubber, but the glass guy worked his butt off getting the 1/4 glass in my truck. Also, for what its worth, I also purchased new rear 1/4 window glass from www.bobsclassicautoglass.com. They had all the glass available (again, don't know if they would ship it to you) and all the window rubber (a bit more expensive then Roberts price). Gene
Cool. If you went down 97 you went right past the house and if you went to Idaho and down you went within 5 miles of the house. I don't recognize the truck from any local events that I can remember.
We ended up doing the eastern route. A bit longer. Oregon, Utah, Nevada. I would of gone down 93 through Jackpot but my wife was with me. Not many places to stop. Reason for not doing 97 down to Cali was fires and lots of construction on Cali roads.
Dart, That is a beautiful truck . From the pic of the engine,,,,,,Is that a Desoto Hemi sitting in there ? I know it’s not a Dodge,,,because the water is in the intake . And that looks like an intake from Hot Heads . Tommy
Dodge built this truck from 1948 through the end of the 1953 model year. The front grille and grille opening in the front panel changed a bit between 50 and 51, but all the sheet metal was pretty much the same otherwise. The 52 Dodge trucks were the highest production year of Dodge trucks up until the 1994 model year, so there are still a lot of decent truck projects out there. Good sheet metal is the hardest part to find, but there is pretty pricy reproduction stuff available. Several vendors are reproducing parts (and several vendors are reselling the parts the other guys are reproducing), do some price checking before you your spend money. Gene
Hello, This Dodge Truck was one of the first ones that I had seen recently. It was well done and although I normally do not like the 5th wheel on the side of the bed, the build was too good to pass up on a photo adventure. Most old trucks we see in So Cal are Fords and Chevy trucks. So it was a surprise to see that name DODGE on the side of the hood and when I went around the block for a rear shot, on the tailgate. Jnaki The photo was taken using my digital zoom on my small camera. Just enough zoom to get a good photo without overtaxing the distance limitations. I was down at the street level and took the zoom of the truck up the alley driveway almost to the end of the building. We all do like a nice rear end… Especially if it is different, cool looking and a well done build.
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