Picking up a 1951 IH L130. 9' box with dulies. I would like to get a smoother ride but keep relatively stock. Have access to a rear axle from a L110. Would this be simple swap or bot worth the effort? Thank you Jamie
Nice find. You can just remove some spring leafs to smooth up the ride. It isn't like you are going to load up the box to the full gross weight any more. Bob
Nice 1-ton. My gramps had an IH dealership in the Fifties and sold those new, we had a 160 grain truck like that. As was said, easiest deal is just pull a bunch of leaves out of the springs to get rid of the buckboard ride- more or less until you get it right
The only possible advantage of swapping to the 110 rear end would be a little more street friendly gearing, I suspect it has some steep gears. The later IHC pickups were a little like Studebakers and rusted almost before the first payment was made, I'd be tempted to get a one ton later model to steal the drive train out of and keep it with dual rear wheels, that would be a great trailer pulling rig I was an IHC parts guy in the early 70's and were still selling parts for those back then. Pulling a leaf or two would ease the ride also, good advice given by the previous posters.
I have a 1953 R-130, and I put a GM 14 bolt under mine. The rear brake parts are going to be tough to find and mine had 5.57 gears in it. I also have the Silver Diamond 220 six and I think this spring, a 350 Chevy with an automatic will end up in it. My six is kind of tired and I’d like to be able to go faster than 45. You have a cool truck and keep us informed on what you do. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Problem with going with just a rear swap is the wheel bolt pattern.. on the L110 it is a 5 on 4 1/2 So you would have 2 different wheels front to back
I would be like Truckdoctor Andy and update the drive train due to the fact those brake parts are hard to find these days.. Cool truck
Thanks for all the repies!!! Not a bad find for $400. Cant wait to drive this bad boy around. Just going to pressure wash the moss and flaking paint off. I believe the original color is red.
Would love to see this done keeping the duallies, but with a more modern drivetrain. I know that would stand out in the crowd no matter what color you painted it ( red with black fenders)?
Bravo! A great score indeed ! Great year and model, very cool long bed, those bodies were built tough back in the day. Please keep posting lots of pictures as your build progresses.
Great find ! ......OK, I'll probably come off as the grumpy old man here.....but....I am a grumpy old man. This truck looks to be quite rare......IH.....narrow 9' box.....dual rear wheels etc. Please, please try to resist the urge to turn this into a slalom racer/resto mod. This is a pretty significant model of truck......it is very "traditional". I think you could really make the most of it by cleaning......scrubbing original paint......getting good safe brakes (based on the slower speeds that it is comfortable at)........make it steer straight......get original engine and trans to function at their best.......and yes, maybe take some leaves out of the back for a little better ride. But.......it is an old heavy hauler truck......it's never gonna ride nice......but it sure can haul. It would be a great firewood hauler.......Home Depot runner.....take the kids for ice cream......put your vintage Harley or preferably Indian in the bed......haul your vintage hit/miss engines to a show.......etc. etc.....Oh......last but not least......this would be a great TOW rig for your vintage early gasser......dirt track jalopy coupe.......sprint or midget open wheel racer. It would work great as long as your events were maybe within a 100mi radius of home base......this is not an interstate hauler. In my youth in the 1960's, I was Chevrolet thru and thru, but I worked as a clean up guy at the small Chevrolet dealer in town and the new "supermarket" that opened. I was my job to run 60mi. round trip twice a week to a grocery wholesaler in the next city. My vehicles of choice (all really used up and worn out) were......a pale blue IH metro delivery van.......a sea foam green IH panel truck and .......a yellow IH two ton box truck. They were all really, really torquey and dependable work horses. I had a great time with all of them. Have fun.
Tractor guy. Right on. I am going to keep this as original as possible. I think with a pressure washer it will get to the original red paint easily. Floor of cab is solid. Box bed is solid. Can rock the truck by lifting the fenders appears that someone tried converting to 12 volt. Just wish the snow would melt and I can get it home