Goddom

So the rims on my truck (the rusty and red one above) are either a lock ring with no split, or a locking rim? It looks like it may be a locking rim because of those flanges and bolts? That is only on one side. The other side doesn't have those. So I should probably get rid of these rims and get regular split rings, or solid wheels and tubeless tires?

I was reading up on the widow maker and it freaked me out because I aired up these wheels and they were saying you shouldn't do that unless you are a professional. I will take a closer look at them tonight and try and take some better pictures. The "new" tires had the split ring so I know what those look like. That split rim sounds terrifying to me.

Here are the "new" tires. A shop near me busted the tires off the rims for me. One was destroyed because of rust on the rim. But the other 3 looked OK.

I know very little about split rim and truck tires so all this info has been helpful. Here are some close up pics of my wheels/tires. The tires say they are 9.00-20 but the rims didn't look like split rings. As you can see the tires are pretty badly cracked and need to be replaced. I don't want to fill them completely or load the truck to much until then. Here is the outside of the rim. The inside of the rim is pictured below.

I was lucky and my work has a bunch of 9.00-20 rims/tires laying around that came off an old deuce and a half. That is the same tires size I have on my dump truck and so I picked them up for free and plan to use the tires (the rims are not the right size) on my truck. However, my truck doesn't have split ring wheels any more and someone told me the tires won't work on a tubeless rims. I will have to check but I think the current tires I have are tubed, so I am not sure that I have a tubeless rim, but they aren't split ring. Does anyone have anyone know if these tires will work on my rims?

Thanks! Yeah, I am pretty happy with it. I really could hit the ground running with the truck without having to do any major work to it. I am going to feel the truck out. My goal will be to keep it as stock as possible. It seems that such a big truck isn't to common and that's kind of cool. The engine seems to be running good. I have a few things I want to get done as maintenance and such. 1. Fix the passenger side mirror. I want to match the driver side, but they don't sell that by itself, so I might have to piece it together. 2. Replace the door glass. Driver side is missing, the passenger side it cracked 3. Check all the brakes, replace the rear flexible brake line (and maybe the front too), then bleed all the brakes 4. Paint the frame, dump box and wheels. The dump box and wheels I plan to paint maroon, and the frame will be black. This will probably have to wait until Spring 5. Replace the rear tires. I might be able to get some from my work for free... we will see

So there is no line to the temp gauge on the dash... so obviously the dash gauge isn't accurate. Make sense - it was showing like 100° which didn't seem right. I was worried about over heating because I drove the truck a bit and it got really hot in the cab. I added about a gallon of coolant and then filled it up with wood and drove it to the dump about 7 miles away. Used the suggestion above to check engine temps with a infrared thermometer and everything seemed to be pretty cool. The max temp I recorded was about 165° near the rear of the engine. The radiator was running at a cool 115°. I didn't feel comfortable going over about 30mph (if the speed is accurate). The steering was decent but not super tight and the bumpy road with the load felt a little wobbly. I will have to check the tire pressures again and see if that may be a factor. I also found out the truck weighs in "empty" (there was some gravel left over in the box, so that may be as much as 500lbs) at 9,140lbs. My current project is to get a canvas shed erected so I can park the truck out of the weather - thats partly why I was dumping the wood. It was piled up right where I want to part the truck. Then I will probably tackle the windows and brakes. I need to bleed the brakes and replace the rear brake line - just to be safe. See how that helps with the pedal feel - right now its still pretty stiff and I have to pump them a bit.

Thank you!

Hey Merle, where is the temp gauge bulb? I was trying to find that in the manual.

I am glad you like the video ? I was thinking if I got a gauge I wouldn't permanently mount it - maybe suction cup or something then if things look OK I can take it out. When you checked temps with the infrared thermometer, were you checking the radiator and block? I thought about doing that but I wasn't sure how accurate it would be - mostly because I wasn't sure where a good spot to check would be.

That is cool. I might have to look into that. I am not sure I am going to try and do a disc brake conversion but you think this will work well with drums too? I don't plan on cruising around much with the truck. The gravel yard is close by and I may run a few other places but nothing far.

So more things! I installed the duallies and loaded the truck up with gravel and moved my first load on the property. Truck did great. Also, ran the truck with duallies and the higher pressure and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better. I guess low tire pressure is bad. Here is another entry in the video blog :-)

Here are pics. There are no stops for either. It looks like for the engage/disengage there is a natural stop so no stop mounted on the floor boards and it didn't hit the floor. For actuating the dump, there are no stops and in one direction it will hit the floor but not in the other direction. I also included a picture of my dash so you can see where my speed-O is :-)

Took if for the first "High Speed" test run... 30mph. Boy, it was scary! Since I made the video I think I figured out the issue. Single rear tires and they had less than 20psi in them made them wobbly. Doesn't seem to be an issue now that I put the duallies on and aired them up. Though I have to admit, they are pretty badly cracked so I didn't air them up all the way... I didn't want to die today. New tires are on the docket! Another note - spent about 20min troubleshooting a no start issue. It cranked but wouldn't start. I figured I must have flooded it so let it sit a while. An hour later that didn't help. Took the air filter off to let it air out... no go. Hmmmm what could it be.... So I sat in the driver seat thinking about it for a minute or two... notice the key. Oh yeah! I should probably turn the ignition on, I think that will help. Yeppers. Fired right up...

I will check. The PTO on/off lever doesn't touch the floor it seems to have its own stops. The other lever seems to have more travel than it needs. I think it may hit the floor. I will check. The Speed-o is just above the steering wheel.

I still need to get the build card for mine. After I got mine home I was just looking through it and found a plastic envelope with proof of insurance and such from the owner before the guy I bought it from. Also in the envelope was a bunch of pictures. There was also a bill of sale for $200 dated in 1995. I suspect that was for tax purposes... or maybe he did buy it for $200. I am guessing at about that time (mid to late 90s) is also when the cab got painted silver. I know the previous owner never took the truck off his property and he owned if for about 7 years. He used it to build a gravel driveway on his property. This was all in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Then as I was cleaning up the flaking paint on the dump box I found it used to say "Coal." So at some point it mus have worked as a coal hauler. I am guessing that maybe this was also around the same area.

This is what I have as far as photos go right now. I was mostly just taking pictures of the foot well - before and after painting with POR15. I can take close ups when I get home if you need something different. The one of the left engages and disengages the PTO. The one on the right raises and lowers the dump.

@Merle Coggins - Yes, it has a power steering pump on the left side. I suspected it was an add-on since the bracket looked to be home made. I did get a service book, so I will have to dig into the windows soon. Thanks! I don't believe I have a 2 speed rear end. I will take a look tonight and see what I see. Thanks for the information guys!

ON a side note I am thinking of keeping a video log so I started one on Youtube if you want a more complete tour of the truck.

Hey thanks! That picture helps! It esplains why my hard line is bent the way it is. I do have a port in the intake that is plugged. It looks like yours has a "T" connector that also goes to a rubber hose. What does that hose go to?

@Dodgeb4ya - The seller said the axle seal leaked and it was repaired. However, I agree, I should do a full brake check. It looks like the rubber line in the rear needs to be replaced. It looks like the hard line goes to an "air" tank (maybe vacuum reservoir) and then to the brake booster. A couple rubber couplers are disconnected... I will have to start there I guess and see what happens. @Jomani - I will keep those in mind. I really don't want to put new holes in the door to fit up different side mirrors. Thank you though! @Brent B3B - Just got one yesterday! I ordered it last week and it just showed up. Thanks for the link, I was reading through that and I don't quite understand when it says in step 4 "removed the stop screws in the glass lower channel" I guess I will have to dig around in the doors a bit and see what I can find. Thank you!

Hello Everyone, I am new to classic cars, and to carburetors! The truck is in pretty good shape and had been run off-road on private property since - I am estimating 2003 since that is the last time it was registered. The guy i bought it from owned it for about 7 years and never registered it. He used it to make and maintain a gravel driveway on his property. I plan to do similar with it as well as move manure, wood chips, and more. The plan is not to abuse it to much, but to help me out. There is something wrong with the brakes. They work, but its definitely a strong leg. The PO said the guy he bought it from had disconnected the front brakes. After some exploration, I think the brake booster was disconnected but I don't know why. Perhaps there is a leak in the booster itself? There are definitely leaks in the line because some rubber couplers are not connected. So I will play with that. I assume that is what this hard line (circled in red in the photos) is for and it was disconnected from the intake. Two other questions - the door windows are broken. How easy or hard are they to replace? I am looking for a side mirror for the passenger side that matches the driver side. Any idea where I might find one?