wallytoo

glad i had them today. bought a set 3 or 4 years ago, but hadn't needed them until today. during the winter, i keep them in the cab (in a bag) on the passenger floor section. rain much of the day, and temperatures dropped down to about 31. the roads and ground are still frozen anyway, and the rain froze on contact. the dirt road was covered with about 1/8" of solid ice. i pulled to the side of the road, lifted the dump body, and put the chains on the outer rear wheels. i then drove in 1st low, which i usually only need when hauling a heavy load, and went down the fairly steep hill. only broke traction once, and it was the front that lost it, but i was able to power it through, and regained control. ran it the rest of the way down the hill at 2000 rpm, which worked better than idling down the hill. got to the end of the dirt road, took 'em off and tossed 'em in the dump bed. drove the paved roads without incident. well worth the $200 investment.

the gauge is the piece that "might" get fried, that's why i'd disconnect it. and the gauge is what i was intending to refer to, not the tank sending unit itself. you "might" get away with running 12v to your gauge. but, you "might" not, and then you'd have to replace the gauge, which is likely to be more expensive than the reducer.

i have no idea whether the sender will be fine for a short time or not. me, i'd disconnect it and install the reducer, which i know keeps the dash gauge working. mine has been installed for several years now.

also, the 40s and 50s np used in dodge trucks was not the np435. it was np, just not the 435, which came around in the 60s.

the np435 was used in dodge trucks even later, into the 90s behind the 318. however, most dodge versions were a close ratio transmission, instead of the wide ratio used in drof. the drof np435 is better than the t-18. lower first gear (6.68), and lower reverse (8.27). the more common dodge version used a first gear of 4.56. i put one (drof version) into my jeep cj years ago.

my carburetor has a governor on the base - to prevent exceeding that rpm. the smaller trucks didn't usually have a governor, and were run at higher rpms.

i drive my 1.5 ton at 50 mph max, but i'm comfortable with it at 45 mph for long stretches. the tach indicates it's at 2500 rpm at 45, while it pushes 2700 at 50. that's in high range for the rear (5.83) instead of low range (8.11). the tires are 36" in diameter. according to the "book", i should be able to push it close to 55 and be at 3000 rpm, well within its governed limit (3200).

perhaps a b-2-y or b-2-ya? bob (dodgeb4ya) might know.

my kind of truck

ugly, but interesting

route van

i like that delivery truck. "ice dairy service" looks to be a one-ton chassis.

are you sure you have vacuum wipers? not all did.

nice find, althouth probably a flat-faced cowl & chassis or windshield cowl & chassis, rather than a route van. the route van has a distinctive, and different, front. a delivery, in any case.

nice work, and nice big truck. i've pulled both of my rear axles, too.

rebuilt, with about 2500 miles on it since. these flatheads are well-balanced at low rpm. mine does not have a vacuum advance (the bigger trucks didn't). i set the timing to "lean best idle", which may not be the spec. it also pulls fine at higher rpm, but i rarely get to 3000. mostly run it in the 2400 to 2800 range. really, from about 15 feet away, it's hard to hear that the engine is idling.

my '48 idles exceptionally smoothly at 650 rpm. it will idle all day without a miss. it's my oldest vehicle, and it probably idles the best.

i like that the engine in mine still ran even when 5 of 6 pistons were cracked (and one of those was in two pieces) and every ring was broken (some of the rings were in 10 to 15 pieces). i like that it is an uncommon style (pilothouse). i like that i can work it with some heavy (4 ton +) loads.

todd, it's nominally a 1.5-ton. 152" wheel base. rated at 14,500 lbs. wally

i believe that one will cover the "stock" stuff in your truck.