I picked up this trailer a couple of weeks ago. Owner said he thought it was a Dodge bed on a Chevy front end, both about the same vintage, around 1933. I'm going to fix this poor thing up and use it as a camping/hauling trailer. So what do ya all think I got here?
Front wall and tailgate are not Ford. Sides somewhat resemble Ford but beading is different. I bet the bolt pattern on the wheels is 4 1/2". The wires are like bent spoke Kelsey's but different hub. Likely Dodge.
Dodge is what the PO thought, and the axle is (probably?) Chevy and still has the lever shocks. Wheels are 17 X 4 with 6 lugs (haven't measured the pattern). One still has a Chevy cap on it. I'm not going to keep them, I'll probably get some stamped steel units, everything I've read says they are stronger. Does the year sound right?
Well, for me at least, if it's from the 20's the coolness factor went up. Adding this pic. Wondering if the angle/bead bracket is available? If not I can do some fabbing.
This 1920 Dodge Brothers screenside has some similar features....it looks like yours had the front lower curve of the fender cut off.
You may have an aftermarket body. Several companies made them in the 20s and 30s. And some of these companies supplied them to automakers. I found a homemade farm "vehicle" years ago that was an old car chassis and drive train with a bed mounted on it in such a way that I knew it was not original to the vehicle. I snarfed this brass tag: This company exists today and still uses this logo. Their website is herculesvanbodies.com A timeline describes their history of making truck bodies. I don't know that you have one of theirs but you may have a body by somebody else that was bought after market and mounted in the hacked up frame you have.
Well I tore it apart and it's definitely a "farm job". The frame for mounting the bed is made out of pine. Not exactly the best wood to use. I'll get the bed parts welded/patched (ya LOTS of rust but not all that bad) and then painted. I figure it'll be better to make a box iron frame instead of wood. I'll use this thread to track my progress. I gots ideas.
Doing more research it might be from a Commercial Express, right around 33'. The measurements in the article seem correct from what I measured. http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/history/segment3.html Top pic.