Making a 1947 2ton a daily driver. Bad idea?

[carcrafter22]

Hello guys. I'm looking for a classic truck to turn into a daily driver. I'm mainly looking at 53-56 Ford and 47-54 chevy trucks. I've built several classics and used as daily drivers (I seem to have made the crown vic swap popular with my 67 F100) but this would be my first 50's model ford or chevy so I need some help.

I've come across a local 2 ton 1947 model chevy truck in great shape. For the price he wants I could see swapping out the rear axle for a modern disc single wheel and changing the front out for a mustang 2 or something similar and still be well below what I've been seeing 3100 series trucks go for in bad shape locally. If it weren't for the price I would just wait around for a nice 3100 or 3800 series truck and go that route but it seems like a nice truck and will give me what I mainly want anyway which is a solid cab.

Is there any disadvantage to using this truck vs starting with a 1/2 ton model considering I'd want to change to modern suspension and axle anyway?

I understand the wheel well opening is a bit bigger on these trucks vs the 1/2 tons but that doesn't look to be a big deal.

Anyone here use 2 ton fenders on a project? got any pics?

Thanks
Randy

[NEWFISHER]

I think its a great idea. My only concearn would be: What are your expectations of a 2 ton truck with mustang II front suspension? An IFS system that would handle a larger load would be on my list, but the straight axle does great in my lowered 1/2 ton daily driver.

What are your plans for the rear bed/hauler etc?

I keep looking at my 97 low milage Dually sitting under my camper and think " I should build a 1 1/2 or 2 ton flat deck /tool box camper hauler and get rid of the new generation truck" every time I see it.

[carcrafter22]

I don't plan to tow anything more than a 16' trailer or maybe my 20' boat very rarely. It will mainly be advertisement for my business and a daily driver around town. I am not opposed to using a solid drop axle.

I guess I'm wondering why I haven't ran across anyone using one of these trucks as a build. I've been doing a ton of research on these trucks lately and only a few people seem to mess with them and its almost exclusively for parades or yard ornaments.

[hyatt]

Here is what I did with a 46 1.5 ton

[NEWFISHER]

Hyatt, well done

[carcrafter22]

Nice.

[OrrieG]

You addressed the fender issue. That style truck is very heavy and I suspect many of the suspension parts are specific to the truck and intended uses. The rearend is very low geared for pulling loads at lower speeds, but you are changing that out. With a higher rearend you will need more motor torque to get the weight moving, stronger tranny to take the additional motor and weight, bigger cooling system, etc. And as a bonus will get much worse gas mileage. If you just want to use the body consider something like this, its a big truck cab and front clip on a mid 90's dually shortened frame with Alcoa wheel adaptors. There is a retired trucker in Boise that drives his 10 wheel tractor sleeper with car vanity plates "BIGCAR". Its paid for and he know how to manuever it around town.

[mr48chev]

I'm with OrrieG in that the frame on the 1-1/2 and two tons are massive and heavy when compared to a 1/2 or 3/4 ton frame. The nose is also too big and wide to want to use a MII crossmember under it.

I have a 1-1/2 ton out in my lineup of stuff and have thought about several build concepts that include:
Hanging mid 70's one ton front and rear suspension under the 1-1/2 ton frame.
Swapping the cab and nose over to a mid 70's dualie frame. Two wheel drive mid 70's dualies aren't terrifically expensive around here especially when the body is a bit rough.

A couple of years ago I bought two 1-1/2 tons to get the straight cab off one of them for less than I could buy a bare cab for and scrapped the frame to the one I kept the cab off because it had a lot of heavy brackets and mounts welded on it from a previous life as a tank truck hauling fuel. a three foot section of frame rail weighed about 70 lbs.

[carcrafter22]

Seems like it may be more trouble than its worth. I have no interest in having a dual rear axle or a flat bed of any kind. I don't think I want to have to swap the cab and deal with all that either. I may just keep looking for a 3100 series and go from there.

[Midgets50]

im going with the my 1 1/2 ton and i prefer it to the smaller ones. currently im going to switch out the axles and motor on current frame. Im putting some 79 1 ton 4x4 axles under it. The bigger fenders make it easier for me to be fitting my 37's under them. If your wanting a daily drive that can handle something bigger than a 15 in rim id go for the big truck and find a bed you like and build it to fit