Our New Bundle of Joy

[Bob_Koch]

ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW BUNDLE OF JOY

March 29, 2011, 5:51pm

1953 Dodge Pilot-house

B4B-116

Transported from Dad's home - Arkansas

Proud owners: Jerry and Holly Little, Northern California

Pictures attached.

Jerry just got his truck from Arkansas. In my excitement I thought it needed to be shared with everyone else.

[Reg Evans]

Very cool ! A 53 Spring Special. Looks to be in great shape.

[Don Coatney]

Good to see that Dodge pushing the Ford to the repair shop:cool:

[52b3b Joe]

Looks like a fun project! Sharp looking truck too!

[HanksB3B]

I've never seen an un-retouched Spring Special before!

Great Find,

Hank

[Boss Hog]

:)We are all smiles, Tnx Bob for posting the arrival.

[DollyDodge]

very cool

[buds truck]

sweet.... how long is she and how much did she weigh???

[48Dodger]

I offered to tow it to the BBQ, but sounds like its going to make it under its own power!

48D

[Desotodav]

What a great find Bob. Congratulations on picking up a truck that "was designed to draw traffic into dealer showrooms" (the Bunn Bible pg. 133). I am sure that your truck will be the envy of many.

Desotodav

[JBNeal]

NICE...liking the reflection of the windshield wiper on the inside of the hood of that SpringSpecial

Edited August 29, 2011 by JBNeal
SpringSpecial sighting

[48Dodger]

Ok...the hood ornament isn't a Ram....what the heck?

48D

[John-T-53]

Wow...That's a great historical gem!

What's with the "6,000# gross" on the side of the bed? According to Bunn, 1/2 tons were 4,900 GVW max. Add a half ton to that and you're just shy of 6,000.

[jamesadams]

Where at in Arkansas? As i have found out,Pilothouses are hard to find here.

[ggdad1951]

Wow...That's a great historical gem!

What's with the "6,000# gross" on the side of the bed? According to Bunn, 1/2 tons were 4,900 GVW max. Add a half ton to that and you're just shy of 6,000.

I know here in MN they used to paint that on the side for "legal" reasons. Mine had G.W. 7500 on the side of my 1 ton, even tho I think it was rated for more. They'd paint slightly lower numbers to get out of certain taxes I was told by my fater.

[Dave72dt]

They were used to designate plate ratings for the DOT when scaling the trucks. That was the maximum you were licensed to weigh on the road and may not have been what the manufacturer determined to be max GVW. You could by a plate for a lower rating if your EW was under the rating but then you couldn't load it to more than that lower rating (legally)regardless of what the max GVW was. Going over that weight resulted in fines, how much over determines total fine. Not all states had the same plate rating breaks. Some states required it on all trucks, some on commercial(for hire).

[John-T-53]

Good info. I guess that explains why I pay a weight fee to the DMV in addition to the registration fee (both have gone up too). Anyways, I think that plate looks cool on the side of the bed.

They were used to designate plate ratings for the DOT when scaling the trucks. That was the maximum you were licensed to weigh on the road and may not have been what the manufacturer determined to be max GVW. You could by a plate for a lower rating if your EW was under the rating but then you couldn't load it to more than that lower rating (legally)regardless of what the max GVW was. Going over that weight resulted in fines, how much over determines total fine. Not all states had the same plate rating breaks. Some states required it on all trucks, some on commercial(for hire).