Merle Coggins

I'm having the same problem with a parts truck I have. I haven't put the time into figuring out how to get it open yet. Maybe someone can help both of us. Merle

I had a Hershey bar yesterday and unfortunetly that's about as close as I'll be able to get. Have fun y'all

SWEET!! You Father's '41, yes? That must turn some heads if you're driving somewhere together. Merle

Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and you have to use one of our lakes for the back drop in your photo. We all know that Wisconsin is just too beautiful to stay away from.

COOL!!! I saved this one too. Where was this one taken? Is the first one by your cabin? I remembered it from a while ago. Merle

Thanks Ed. I knew I could have found that picture if I hunted long enough, but now I don't have to. I love that shot. I have now saved it in my "Inspirational" truck pics file. Merle

I sent the picture that Reg posted to my Dad and this was his reply. "A spitting image, including green paint. I am not sure if we had dual rear wheels or single. But it is a good pic and I thank you. Dad" Thanks for your help, guys. Merle

That site only has info for Light-Duty trucks. Your truck is considered Medium-Duty and I don't know of any site like that for the Medium-Duty or Heavy-Duty trucks. Does anyone have their Don Bunn book handy? Mine's at home. I don't know if it's in there, but it's worth a shot. Merle

Thanks Reg. Is that one of your's? Looks like too much white stuff for California. Merle

WOW!!! This Internet thing is wonderful. Just a little surfing netted this. http://www.oldride.com/classic_trucks/652057.html Only 30 miles or so from my house. Anyone got a spare $10,000 I can have? If only it was a stake truck. Or maybe this '47 tow truck would do...http://www.fantasyrides.com/47TowTruck.shtml But I'd need another $7500. Damn!! By the way... What's the cypher code for '39-47 model numbers?

Don't know the color. I thought about asking, but I didn't. I know I could use one of your truck photos, and I might send him one anyway. Maybe the one by the lake? That's a cool pic. He really didn't specify that he wanted a 1 ton stake picture, but since that's aparently what they had, I figured that picture would mean more to him. I see that there's a 2 1/2 ton '47 on ebay right now, but that'd be too big. I'll have to ask around and see if any of the family had any pictures of that truck.

THis past weekend my folks came for a visit. They actually came up to attend my cousins wedding on Saturday. During the visit we got to talking about my truck project. Then my Dad mentioned that he had been looking for a nice picture of a '47 Dodge truck for some writing project he was doing. I then found out that they had a '47 1 ton stake bed truck on the farm, back in the day. They had bought it new and it seems that he has fond memories of that "work horse". He said that it would do anything they wanted it to, from hauling firewood, to grain, to hay, or anything else that needed to get hauled around the farm, or to and from town. It kind of makes me want to find one for nastalgic sake now. But I better finish my current project first. The only truck I remember on the farm was a '55 Ford 3/4 ton stake truck. That truck was probably the first vehicle, other than a tractor, that I drove. It was pretty rough by the time I left for Tech school and life of my own, back in the 80's. It seems that they also had a '55 Chevy before the Ford, but apparently that one didn't last too long. Anyway... does anyone have a nice picture of a 1947 Dodge 1 ton stake body truck handy? Otherwise I'll do some surfin'. Thanks, Merle

I believe there's only one I-94, Ed. Runs from Billings, MT to Detroit, MI via Minneapolis and Milwaukee. Although if he were to take I-90 through Minnesota, he'd miss you by a bit as he passes through Rochester. There are a few of us in the Milwaukee area. Fill us in on your itinerary and maybe we can all get together for dinner while you're in town. Merle

Actually Greg, he'd be hanging a right just after the airport. Northview runs along the south side of the Waukesha Airport (AKA Crites Field). The Waukesha County Fairgrounds resides on the Southwest corner of the airport. Merle

Good point Dave. I had a tight one on my truck too. It did move, but not as freely as it should. I was able to get greese into it and it's moving a little better now. I am hoping that once I get it all together and driving around the greese will work it's way in and free it up even more. Merle

What's so nice about Brownsville? I've been there. It's just another small town out in the middle of farm country. The only reason I go there is to visit one of our largest customers, Michels Pipeline. Their yard is about 1/2 of the town. Merle

Once again, I'm all for it. I like the Spring Green idea too, but I would have to take a modern vehicle as well. I will be pushing this winter to have my truck up and running by spring. If we do something then maybe I can participate with it. Otherwise I liked the January lunch get-to-gether too. Merle

Waukesha, WI. Just west of Milwaukee. There are two WS's. I voted for the one in the catagory with MN, IA, et all. I'm guessing it's a typo? Merle

Sounds to me that your cable is a little too long and when you tighten it up it puts a bind on the internals of the spedo. You say when you loosen, or just place the end into the spedo it works OK. This confirms my suspition. You may need to shorten it up just a bit. Merle

I believe Andy Griffith told it best... Here you go

I believe so. As far as I know the only real difference would be with the flywheel housing, as the trucks use this as the rear mount as well as the brake M/C mount, unlike in the cars. The truck engines were, suposedly, built more robust for heavy duty use, but any replacement parts are all the same, so what's different? The only other thing I could think of that may be different would be the distributor, but you could swap in the one from your engine. Merle

Good work Dave. Mine are close to that kind of shape. I gave up and bought new ones from Bebops. Haven't got to the stage of installing them yet, but they sure look nice. Merle

Sorry, no trans. If I remember correctly, that truck had a manual trans with transfer case (4WD). I believe my friend kept that part. I am somewhat familure with Pleasant Prairie. I've done some work at the Power Plant, as well as other various jobsites down around there. And yes, I know about Jefferson this weekend. Actually I found out about it here, from Norm (Norm's Coupe). I am planning to run out there Saturday morning, possibly with the buddy that I got that engine from. Merle

Sorry... misleading statement. I pulled them out of the box that they were stored in while I'm doing my rebuild.

Tony, did you get any pics yet? picture files can't be attached to a PM, so I would either have to load them into my Photobucket first, or just post a reply here. I pulled my latches out and got a couple of shots for you. Let me know if you need any other angles or dimensions. Merle