metamorphosis of the pickup truck

[Don P]

Dang, I just melted your bellhousing down, I think I still have the transfer case.
I had to double check, that scenery looks like here.
There's a 1980 power wagon that I'll probably drag in, steel went to .09/lb this week. I think I'v had my hands on every bolt on those old things. The '80, I lost track but over a half million miles... on the body  :D

[Walnut Beast]

Awesome Chep! Very nice I love old 4wd trucks especially The king of them all Dodge!! 

[John Mc]

Oh man, don't tell me where it is or leave the keys in it .

There are no keys in these trucks, unless the owner has modified it. It does have several "anti-theft" devices:  

• it's manual transmission (which rules out theft by most kids these days), 
• the ignition switch just energizes the transmission, it does not activate the starter
• A foot pedal up above the gas pedal engages the starter (both mechanically and electrically). You generally don't even see that pedal unless you are looking for it. 
• If you do manage to get it started, 1st and 2nd gear are not synchronized. It takes a bit of practice to be able to get it in to second gear. If all a thief can manage is first gear, my 91 year old mother could outrun the truck.

[John Mc]

And you would always have somebody coming around you looking and talking about it when you pulled in a parking lot in town! That's a fact! Drive a new truck and try that 😂. You might have somebody throw their door open and get a door ding. The old old 4wd trucks are magnets for people to gather around.

Too true!  When I'm running errands in to town, I always have to add 30-45 minutes to my planned time to chat with everyone who wants a closer look. I've had a bunch of old Korean War vets come up and introduce themselves, as well as a few Nam vets.

And then there was this, when a school teacher friend of mine asked if I could stop by her class some day:

[sawguy21]

A friend used one to deliver supplies to a slash burning crew, nothing forestry had would haul the loads they had up what barely passed for a road. They are remarkable vehicles but a handful to drive. ;D

[moodnacreek]

Oh man, don't tell me where it is or leave the keys in it .

There are no keys in these trucks, unless the owner has modified it. It does have several "anti-theft" devices:  

• it's manual transmission (which rules out theft by most kids these days),
• the ignition switch just energizes the transmission, it does not activate the starter
• A foot pedal up above the gas pedal engages the starter (both mechanically and electrically). You generally don't even see that pedal unless you are looking for it.
• If you do manage to get it started, 1st and 2nd gear are not synchronized. It takes a bit of practice to be able to get it in to second gear. If all a thief can manage is first gear, my 91 year old mother could outrun the truck.

I could start that blindfolded and drive away and probably not grind a gear. I drove a '49 dodge 1 ton for years and we where the same age, still had it when I was 60 +. B model Macks had the starter button way up the fire wall. My log truck was a 4 and 5, gas. I prefer non syncro.   My ford GPW jeep is almost done from a frame off restoration, been 7 years, wana trade?   Doug

[hedgerow]

Low Hole here  

Where I grew up it was tractor low. Never had a power wagon but had a 52 Willy's Jeep pickup with a 283 Chevy and it had the Warn over drive I found out of a old Scout and installed it and the newer T-90 trans that had synco low. Had 5:38 gears and 900/16 tires on it. Plowed a lot of snow with it. It was a daily driver for 20 years. 

[gspren]

  "Granny Gear" in my area.

[moodnacreek]

It was granny here also.

[Don P]

Growing up in NC it was granny gear, I didn't hear "low hole" till I moved up to the hills.
 My first experience driving was sliding over to the wheel in Grandad's International, I couldn't reach the pedals and could barely see but he would put it in granny gear and tell me to keep it out of the fences. Then he and Dad stepped out and into the back to feed. Now my cousins dirt bike and the hog pen, well, that's not a truck story.

[SawyerTed]

I had an 1985 Chevy C10, manual transmission with granny low.  The only problem with it was the 305 engine.  It needed a 350.

[beenthere]

Granny, low-low, or super low was what it was called in early 50-60's for me.

Trucking ('64) a heavy load of oak logs up a long steep hill with a 49 Ford truck flat-head v8 and on it's last breath in low, had one chance to hit that low low gear or lose the whole thing going backwards back down. Hit it, and lurched to make it the rest of the way up to the top.

Similar with an International of maybe '50 vintage with two 1000 gal tanks of Anhydrous when the ground started giving away along the edge of an Iowa gravel road. Hit low low and powered out and back on the firmer gravel without bogging it down into the spring-thawed mud. That thought sticks with me, and could easily have been a leaner that dumped on its side.

But great memories.

[Log-it-up]

Can't forget about the georgia over drive gear works good for short down hills 

[sawguy21]

I'm not brave or foolish enough to try that with an M37.

[John Mc]

Apparently, Facebook is snooping on my browsing history. (I have that blocked through a browser plug-in on my laptop, but have not found a way to do that for the app on my smart phone.) At any rate, this popped up in my news feed today:
 

[Resonator]

Can't forget about the georgia over drive gear works good for short down hills 

That's old school truckin' talk...
"I got ten forward gears and a Georgia overdrive" 
("Six Days on the Road", Dave Dudley, 1963) 

[bigblockyeti]

Apparently, Facebook is snooping on my browsing history. (I have that blocked through a browser plug-in on my laptop, but have not found a way to do that for the app on my smart phone.) At any rate, this popped up in my news feed today:
 

Yes, but a minivan handles better, has more interior room, hauls more people, has a lower CG, has a smaller carbon footprint, requires less maintenance, burns less fuel and costs 65% as much.  It will not however tow 14Klbs of which 0.13% of the driving population is capable of doing so safely.

Some trucks are now offering a frunk to haul your generator and 4 gas cans so you can just make it home!

[Walnut Beast]

If anybody else has pictures of their old 4wd trucks or jeeps let's see them boys and girls!! 

[Walnut Beast]

Just a few I put many miles on. Dodge M37 turbo diesel 3.7 Hercules. Dodge was a special order 2001 short box 3500 Cummins six speed manual.

 

 

 

   

[Don P]

That was a "Hurricane 6" stock in the Willy's  
I borrowed a neighbors when the block truck couldn't make it up the driveway and unloaded at the bottom. As I left their house, heading down the hill I was on my 15 or 50th pump of the brakes when I finally felt a slight amount of resistance in the pedal. It was another one you tried to spend very little time out of gear :D

[Walnut Beast]

My Willys had the flat head four cylinder from the factory. You never know who loves those old trucks. Years ago when I started getting into Power Wagons  I advertised it and the guy that came out was in a suit. He was the owner of a huge Ford dealership.  He collected old 4wd trucks

[dgdrls]

Lo hole and compound low for us,

Mack 2 stick, 6 speed,


 
D

[SawyerTed]

I'm nursing a bad cold so I've been watching a TV show on the history of the truck.  Here's some stuff I learned.

Apparently the first performance truck was the 1917 REO Speedwagon. It was 3 or 4 mph faster than any other trucks at the time.  That's fast when its top speed was 18 or 19 mph! REO was Ransom E Olds' second car company after he lost Oldsmobile.

Luxury trucks came about in the mid 1950s with the Chevrolet Cameo.  It wasn't well received with only a few thousands built.  Ford answered the Cameo with the Ranchero around 1957 which caused Chevy to introduce the El Camino.  All of those vehicles had an identity crisis.   :D

Luxury trucks have come from the same progression of competition among manufacturers and consumers wanting more features on trucks.  Same happened with SUVs — Suburbans, Scout-Bronco- Blazer-2nd Gen Bronco, Willys Jeep to CJs to Wranglers and so on.  

[SawyerTed]

Oh and blame Chevrolet and GMC for going to the Silverado version of the C and K series in 1975 - carpet, fold down middle arm rests, vinyl door panels etc.  Ford started the numerical model numbers with the F series, Chevrolet later went to the C and K-numerical Series.  

Chevy went with style and comfort when Ford went from the F-100 to the beefier F-150 (to put the F-150 weight over the emissions 6,000 pound or less requirements).  

Anymore cars and trucks look so similar.  Every crossover suv looks like every other one.  Every sedan looks like all the others too.  From a distance, without badging a Ford and Chevrolet pickup look awfully similar.

Of course RAM and Cummins have been making huge inroads into the diesel pickup market and putting a lot of pressure on Ford (especially) and Chevrolet diesel truck market shares. 

I am NOT intending to start a brand war.  There's enough in every brand, including Toyota and Nissan, to find what you like best.  Im cool with whatever you drive.  

Here we are a divided house.  My wife's father was partial to Fords so see shops at the Ford/Lincoln dealer.  We got such good service from them, I bought my Chevrolet Silverado from the same Lincoln salesman but the truck came from a "sister" Chevy dealer.  :D

[Don P]

Stripped down and simple  ;D
Ranny E Olds racing on the beach 1896/7.  Sulky/hay rake thinking?