‘50 Dodge 1 tonish?

[furiousgeorge]

I’ve been slowly upgrading and piecing back together the old Dodge, currently working on a rear end swap. The truck was originally a 1 ton dually with a dump box, though the hydraulics and such were removed by the guy I got it from. I noticed that the rear springs consisted of two spring packs, the top one just sits on top of the main one. There are brackets front and back that hold it in place when the truck is on its wheels, once I had it on stands with the rear end out, I just lifted them out. So are the main springs the same as half or 3/4 tons? They’re easy to put in and out, so I figured I’d keep them in case I ever haul anything heavy. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

progressive springs....why take them out except to save curb weight......they are only active at x weight....my 76 Dodge short bed slant 6 had these....it was a camper special and also had dual factory fuel tanks for 43 gallons onboard...

[furiousgeorge]

Thanks for the info! I’ve already got them pulled out when I pulled the axle (didn’t really want them falling on my head!). So what is the difference between 1/2 and 1 ton springs? The number of leaves? Thickness? My truck didn’t have rear shocks or any mounting parts for them, so I’ve got to track that stuff down. I’m just trying to soften the ride out a bit. When the truck was drivable, it was like

i could feel every little bump and crack in the road! 

[ggdad1951]

17 hours ago, furiousgeorge said:

Thanks for the info! I’ve already got them pulled out when I pulled the axle (didn’t really want them falling on my head!). So what is the difference between 1/2 and 1 ton springs? The number of leaves? Thickness? My truck didn’t have rear shocks or any mounting parts for them, so I’ve got to track that stuff down. I’m just trying to soften the ride out a bit. When the truck was drivable, it was like

i could feel every little bump and crack in the road! 

 

your truck didn't have rear shocks, only fronts.

[MBF]

The one tons had a helper spring pack stacked on top of the regular springs.  A dually 3/4 ton doesn’t have the helpers.  Neither had rear shocks as oem

Edited September 23, 2019 by MBFowler

[Merle Coggins]

1 hour ago, MBFowler said:

The one tons had a helper spring pack stacked on top of the regular springs.  A dually 3/4 ton doesn’t have the helpers.  Neither had rear shocks as oem

 

3/4 ton dually? Never seen one of those. I thought only the 1 ton's offered dual wheels.

Also, 3/4 ton trucks do have rear shocks. Or at least mine does. It also has the helper springs, but they don't do anything as I don't load it down enough for them to touch the frame brackets.

[MBF]

My b1d116 doesn’t have helpers or their supports. I was told by another collector that this is a heavy 3/4 ton since it has the 3 spd trans.. I’ve seen a few in this configuration.  I have a 52 1 ton that does have the helper and it has a 4 speed. I did some research on this and Dun Bunn’s bible on p 90 shows a D 126 similar to mine w/o helper springs in a single wheel configuration.  With the full floating rear and proper rims it could be easily made into a dually but i’m Not sure how that would change the load rating.  So my assumption is that it is a one ton in single or duals, but how do the helper springs change the load rating?

Edited September 28, 2019 by MBFowler

[Jeff Balazs]

Pretty certain that 1/2 ton - 3/4 ton and 1 ton models all used different spring packs and front axles.

As Merle mentioned 3/4 ton trucks (116" wb) had rear shocks as well.......at least up to 1952. I have yet to see a 3/4 ton dually. Not at all certain that was ever offered. But I suppose anything is possible.To make it even more interesting there were some long wheelbase (116") 1/2 ton express trucks built.......not sure what springs etc they had.

[furiousgeorge]

I never noticed if the front springs/axle were different when I had my 1/2 ton parts truck, but the 1/2 ton spindles fit the 1 ton axle (from ‘48 1/2 ton to ‘50 1 ton).

[MBF]

Ive got half ton springs in my 1 ton in the front.   They were identical in leaf count and height to the originals that I replaced them with..   now I’m really confused!

[Dodgeb4ya]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:24 AM, Jeff Balazs said:

Pretty certain that 1/2 ton - 3/4 ton and 1 ton models all used different spring packs and front axles.

As Merle mentioned 3/4 ton trucks (116" wb) had rear shocks as well.......at least up to 1952. I have yet to see a 3/4 ton dually. Not at all certain that was ever offered. But I suppose anything is possible.To make it even more interesting there were some long wheelbase (116") 1/2 ton express trucks built.......not sure what springs etc they had.

1 ton express PU's were available with dual rear wheels up through the 60's ....a very rare factory option.

[Los_Control]

A big difference between a 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton is the brakes. The 3/4 ton has 11" brake drums with a 5 on 5 bolt pattern for the wheels.

The 1/2 ton has smaller 10" brake drums with a 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern.

I have no clue if the spindles would be the same, the backing plates would be different.

 

My 3/4   ton  had a  5 on 4.5" bolt pattern on the front .... I just assumed the farmer installed a 1/2 ton axle on it.

The rear end besides the bigger brakes and bolt pattern, also had larger lug studs 9/16" that took lug nuts, instead of the 7/16" lug bolts the 1/2 ton uses.

I did have shocks, not sure if it had more leafs then a 1/2 ton though.