MBF

There's another example of the future of the hobby! Great story. Mike

What a beauty. Good luck with the project-you've got yourself a treasure there. Mike

Wow-that's a direct short-to the tank sending unit. Not a good place for red hot wiring.

Isn't there a removable round cover plate / disk under the seat that allows access to the sending unit? Hey-under the cab floor is a lot safer than what they did in the early 70's and when they put them right behind the seat in the cab.

If you notice-everything runs through the ammeter which Dodge did up through the 80's and maybe even later. On another Mopar forum, for reliability and safety functions they suggest using a shunt across the ammeter (bypasses functionality of meter) and installing a volt meter especially if you're going to be adding heavy amp draw accessories. I did this on my 1 ton, and my 78 half ton but haven't done it to the 2.5 ton truck yet as I don't think I'll be adding anything to that. Another way to safely do this is to pick the hot feed off of the neg on the starter or battery and fuse the heavy circuits individually. There has to be some truth to this recommendation-a friend with a beautiful totally original Little Red Express had a serious dash fire caused by the ammeter burning up while he was driving it. That's another reason I suggest the use of a battery disconnect-ya never know. Mike

Is there something wrong with the clashbox 4 speed? If not, it can be driven like a 3 speed starting out in 2nd. (FIrst gear isn't often needed unless the vehicle is loaded). If the box is ok-try driving it at a 3 speed. First gear in the 4 speeds isn't synchronized in the newer boxes. Have someone show you how to double clutch the unit and you may save yourself some skinned knuckles. Mike

I think we're pretty lucky that these systems aren't pressurized which may have contributed to the longevity of these units. I've pulled a couple of cores out of parts trucks and neither showed any signs of leakage. Gonna knock on wood now-hope I haven't jinxed myself.

With a truck, minor dents and dings are battle scars of a life well lived. That is what I enjoy about the antique truck hobby. If you make it too nice-you won't use it. It looks good to me! Mike

I use the cheapy green knobbed disconnect on everything old. They work fine on 12v systems. For the 2.5 ton, if I leave it 6 volt I'm going to use a heavy duty rotary switch. I don't put any of this old stuff in a garage w/o disconnecting the batt. Yea, its a pain in the butt to disconnect it every time you park it, but its a lot easier than repairing or replacing a vehicle or a garage.

Bob, I took the horn ring off my parts truck awhile ago. I'm familar with the plate your referencing, but I'm pretty sure that there was a spring under the ring. There has to be something to push the horn ring back up against the fingers or the horn would be continuously blowing. I'm wondering if the center button type horn button and the ring type used a different spring. I'm sure someone here will jump in that has done this more recently than I have. Mike

If its wired & working properly it should show the direction and approximate amps flowing discharge will be on the left, charge will be on the right side of neutral. If the truck is wired as originally was, everything (except the starter) goes through the ammeter. My 36 Plymouth still has the original factory wiring, and they used a single fuse at the back of the ammeter for everything. Turning on any accessory that isn't wired through the key should show a discharge when the engine isn't running. Likewise, if the key is turned on and the points are closed it should show a slight discharge with the engine off.

I've been running a narrow belt in my 1 ton since I converted it to 12v years ago-same with my 36 Plymouth. These don't see a ton of miles, but I haven't had a belt issue.

My 50 2.5 ton has a collar around the output shaft of the steering box that is attached to a bar that goes under the engine to the passenger side frame rail. I'm assuming that this was done to more solidly mount the steering box with the standoff bracket until the design change later in the series. (using the longer brace from the front cross member that extends back to the steering box mount). I noticed some frame flex in my 49 1 ton when rocking the steering wheel. No missing cross members or broken rails. Did they every make a similar brace for the smaller trucks? All my steering box and mount bolts are tight, and the mounting braket isn't broken. Is there a fix for this other than boxing the frame or making a similar brace? Has anyone taken the longer cross brace from a 51-53 B series and installed it on the earlier B series? I have a really tight steering box from a 52 and the front brace that I can use if this bracing arm will fit my chassis. This looks like it will be a winter project. Mike

Clean the grooves as well as the lip on the rings and look them over very carefully. If you can put the rings on the rim w/o a tool to pry them on the rings are distorted and shouldn't be used. To be safe, have a truck tire person look them over and do the mounting/inflation in a cage.

I agree, replace them when you can. My local truck tire dealer has been in business for years(2nd generation), and will still mount them and air them up after he looks each one over. He told me earlier this year that he can pretty much tell by inspecting the rim sections and centers whether or not they're going to cause a problem. Another thought is to look for a set of the 22.5 tubeless rims in the 5 lug pattern(not GM-they are different). I think the tubeless 19.5's that are used on IH school buses will fit your bolt pattern, but I'm not sure if there will be clearance issues with the brake drums.

I got mine through NAPA a couple of years ago. I believe it was a National Seal p/n. I'll update this response in the morning-I think I wrote that number down in my maintenance logbook in case I ever needed it again. When you pull the yoke-check to see if there is a groove worn on the surface that the seal lip rides on. I had to put a speedy sleeve on mine. Mike

I'm assuming that if they were built with the widow makers that were replaced over the life of the truck with the locking ring style as tire dealers began to phase them out. My JA has all 6 as locking ring style and some are newer than the others. Mike

Real nice work on the boards! Having just taken a header off of the driver's side on my 2.5 ton I'd suggest some kind of antislip surface. Your truck is looking very good. Mike

Jeff: I'm assuming you left this as a 6 volt system with a negative ground. If the truck has ever been converted to 12v there should have been a resistor installed to reduce power to 6v to the gauge. You could try reading across the housing and post of the sending unit with an analog meter (set to check continuity) and see if you get a smoothe sweeping motion of the needle on the meter as you move the float arm through its travel range. That will verify whether or not the sending unit is ok. The sending unit is providing a progressive ground to the gauge. Verify that you have batt negative (if its still a positive ground) at one post on the guage, the other post is looking for a positive ground provided by the sending unit. If I recall correctly, grounding the wire from the guage to the sending unit should peg the needle on the gauge at full-if you don't get a reading with the key on I would suspect the guage may be bad. But like the others said, make sure you have power to the gauge. Mike

Do you have any type of an inertia switch to shut off the fuel pump in the event of an accident or roll-over? Just something to think about. Mike

Looks like there is no inner fenders or nosepiece on it. You can see through the left fenderwll and see the chrome from the truck on the Mercedes taxi parked in front of it. Must be one of those air cooled foreign exported models.

I had another one purchased from NAPA in my Plymouth where the pin walked out. They replaced it, but I think the fix for this is to install a longer pin with the pinch clips on the ends so that you can keep an eye on these "rebuilt" units. Mike

I hope all turns out well. Mike

I used to to this all the time with a 10 wheeled GMC Astro tractor with a 10 speed road ranger / 318 Detroit, and a Brockway with a 13 spd rr and 318 dd. It's easy to do with a non synchronized transmission. If you do it correctly you can accellerate smoothly w/o so much as nicking a gear. Do it incorrectly and you can eat ujoints and transmissions in a very short time.

I think that if I rolled a vehicle like that the last thing I would worry about is whether or not the windows rolled up. That old plate glass would do a lot less damage when left down in the doors.