Jeff,
Thanks for the information on This Old Truck magazine
(http://www.thisoldtruck.com/TOThome.html). I have never seen a copy
of
this magazine. I think that I may give it a shot for a year and see if
I like it.
I guess that I am about halfway between the rodders and the
purists in my philosophy of 'restoration.' I basically want the truck
to look original from a distance, but prefer to have some of the modern
conveniences as this will be a daily driver. For example I will
probably add a new split bench seat, a new radio/CD, etc. I originally
thought of adding a MII IFS, but decided against that as I don't want
that 'in the dirt' look that many rodders love. It's hard to drive
through the pasture if you are 'in the dirt.' Besides, no one makes a
kit for a 3/4 ton. Fatman Fab says that their kit will fit a 3/4 ton,
but the differences in frame rails makes me back off on that. I will
be
hauling a horse trailer and so want a somewhat heavy duty truck, hence
the 3/4 ton, but I also want the stopping power and maintenance
convenience of disk brakes. I'm not sure what to do about steering.
Hopefully this will be a truck that SWMBO will enjoy riding in, so it
must ride relatively smooth and steer easy. She has little interest in
old trucks (totally opposite of me) and loves her 98 Dodge RAM. So
power steering is a consideration. I really don't expect a 3/4 ton
suspension to be 'smooth' over rough roads.
Another thing about the original 3/4 ton AD is the split rims.
I will NOT run split rims, period. A great uncle of mine lost his
forehead to one of those. Therefore I would need modern rims with the
appropriate 8 lug pattern, or I need to upgrade to a more modern setup
(which would include the disk brakes that I want). In the rear I want
something that will go over 55 as part of my commute is on the
Interstate. Also, if I haul the horses somewhere I want to get there
before it is time to start back home. Therefore a gear swap in a
corporate rearend (as recently discussed on the list) or pick up a new
(old) rearend. Still undecided where to go on this.
I've got a long way to go, but am looking forward to getting
anything done. First, of course is to decide on keeping the 3/4 ton
frame or swapping to a 1/2 ton. Sorry to everyone for the second long
message today.
Bob Keeland
Arnaudville, Louisiana
The title says 1951, but the doors are pre 50, the frame is now a 54 .
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