MBF

Looking good. Nice job

I'll second what 48Dodger said. Wish they did have the drag link w rebuildable end-would be a lot cheaper than that NOS drag link I bought a few years ago.

Also check to make sure that the steering box bolts that attach the box to the cast bracket, and the cast bracket to frame are all present, accounted, for and tight. Another thing to look at is the condition of the rear shackles bushings on the front springs , and the mounting brackets riveted to the frame. The steering not returning to center is likely due to a caster problem. Mike

I used rubber strips similar to the thickness of an old inner tube in between any of the lips where two pieces contact each other. It won't hold moisture, and probably quieted down some of the noises that would have been made.

I have seen a 1 ton IH pickup at shows that is running tubed radials on the 6 lug Budd locking ring rims. I also think Mark is doing the same thing. I spoke to the guy w the IH, he said it rides and drives much nicer and that he hasn't had any problems in the 3 yrs he's had the tires on the rims. When I was driving tractor trailer in the late 70's, they put radials on the locking ring Dayton wheels w/o incident and they made quite a difference in the ride and traction in snow. I have been told by a local truck tire guy that the narrow locking ring on our 1 tons may not be wide enough to properly support the bead of a tubed radial and advised me against going that route, so I bought a complete set of 7:00-16 bias ply tires. That's just two different opinions, but I'm running duals on my rear, and I know even with the dual offet rims sidewall clearance between the tires would be an issue w radials. Hence my decision to stay bia ply. Short answer to your question, there is a 17.5 drop center that will fit your lug pattern, but I don't know if it will clear the rear drums.

Make a template of the 4 bolt holes in the bell housing where the transmission mounts. A 3 speed will have almost equidistant horizontal spacing while the 4 speed will be wider (I think in the bottom). Each requires its own specific bell housing or a redrilling/tapping of the mounting holes.

Traveler 85-140 from Tractor Supply. Been using it for many many years.

I bought one on ebay for my 1 ton several years ago. If there is a driveshaft shop in your area you may want to check with them. They can order parts by dimension instead of just by application.

You should check the opening dimensions in the splined area. The wheels from the larger trucks (2 tons and up) will not fit on the shaft of the smaller trucks. I had a real nice wheel with a horn ring that I wanted to put on my 2.5 ton. The dimension of the outside of the wheel was the same as the original 3 spoke (center button) style, but it wouldn't fit on the shaft.

An old mudflap cut up may also work?!?

We had a heated water based unit in our shop a few years back. Used a detergent similar to DAWN dish detergent. Worked great-no emisions, no fire hazard, no permitted waste required. The unit was drained and replenished about every other month. Can't remember who provided the service. Worked as well as the Safety-Kleen unit that it replaced.

Aftermarket hubcaps like those that you describe were often supplied by outfits like JC Whitney.

Pretty sure its a stand for an electric of vacuum fan to help the defroster. The ball is the pivot mount that the fan motor would pivot on. My '36 plymouth has one.

It's a 49 w a 52 nose on it that a previous owner put on it. I left it that way, and I registered it as a 52 since only an expert would know the difference. The 2.5 ton B2JA that I'm selling is a true 49er. Mike

This is what I did w mine. I had one good solid whisker, and only part of a parking lamp housing. Easily reversible if I ever find the parts I'm looking for. The wipers arent' normally parksed that way. I had just cleaned the windshield.

No resistance on the clutch? Check the keyway in the pivot shaft on the adjustment collar. The collar may be rotating on the shaft w/o actually moving the shaft. Someone may have had it apart in the past and forgot to put the keyway back in.

Also make sure that the mounting bolts are the box are tight, and that your shackle bushings are not worn out. It depends on where the wear in the box is. If it hasn't been run dry, and a previous owner hasn't cranked down on the adjusting screw to the point of causing binding, you may be able to adjust the bearing end play, and then the sector shaft play. Mike

Granny and Great Granny in my 49 2.5 ton. I'd love to be able to find a 5 spd o/d transmission that would bolt in. I think these are identified with 5th ( the o/d position) and 4th positions being reversed. 5th(o/d) would be up towards the dash. I know some school buses of the 60's used these.

I'm running the new shocks that were on my 52 half ton parts truck on my 49 1 ton in the front. I saved a bad one so that I could get the measurements in case I ever need to match them up if/when these fail. You guys have eliminated the need to do that! Thanks men. Mike

Has the carburator ever been rebuilt? Have you checked for vacuum leaks? Last weekend I started my big old John Deere that had been sitting it the garage for about 6 mos. It bucked, backfired and ran like crap-we couldn't figure out why-it ran so good last year. Drained that gastank and put in fresh gas, ran fine. I've been careful to use non-ethanol whenever possible on this old stuff, and use a marine stabilizer too. Today's gas doesn't last long in storage. Just something else to check for

If you can't make the new one work, you may want to consider rebuilding your old one (there are numerous sources for parts if you want to do it yourself, or rebuilders in Hemmings or on their website hmn.com). I bought a brand new pump from NAPA this past summer, when I put it in it leaked like a sieve. I went to tighten the bolts holding the two halves together and they were all stripped. I ended up rebuilding my old one for about 1/3 of the price. The kit has the newer material in the diaphrams that better tolerates today's gas w ethanol, but I usually run non ethanol gas in my old stuff whenever I can.