How common is my 65 1/2 ton truck?

[gfatula]

I am wondering how common my 1/2 ton 4x4 is. It has a solid front axle with a Detroit Loc differential. It has a dual range 4 speed and a PTO transmission that powers a 2 ton Koenig winch on an extended front bumper. The rear differential is posi so all 4 wheels are live in 4wd. The leaf springs look heavy duty. Could it be a 3/4 ton? Are the springs the difference?

Thanks G

[Redcap]

Pictures.

[OrrieG]

6 or 8 lug?

[gfatula]

6 lug with 7.50 x 16 tires. I will share pics as soon as I can borrow a camera. (I lost mine overboard recently! Ugh!) This truck was a Government truck I used when I worked at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge back in the late 70s. It came to the end of its service life (11 years) working on the refuge and appeared on the annual GSA bid list as a 65 1/2 ton. I bought it for $600.00 and used it as a farm truck for 20 years. I added a Fisher hydraulic plow and kept the driveway cleared. It has less than 50K on the high torq 283. It runs like a top. I am retired now and want to restore it to use to carry a camper and my canoe. Being able to carry a camper that will be comfortable looks like it needs to be rated in the 3/4 ton range. Can I modify it to handle a larger than 1/2 ton rated camper?

G

[OrrieG]

Here is mine when it was 2wd, stock 1/2 ton axles. Camper was a slide in that weighed about 500#. We would put in about #300 camping gear, water, etc. I used air shocks to keep it level. I sure had big mirrors on it then!

[martindc1]

Sounds like a neat truck, a while back there was one on ebay that had been used by the Feds maybe somewhere in MO? Maybe they put together a contract purchase for that style of truck. But to answer your question, they are not all that common. A 3/4 ton would have 8 lug axles with a full floater in the back. Is the truck a short bed or a long bed? Step side or fleet side?

[gfatula]

Martin,

It is / was a long bed fleetside. I have removed the badly rusted bed and have a "temporary" wooden bed for hauling stuff and plow ballast. I put a set of HD double bar chains on it last year and we got NO snow! Ha! The frame is fine. I intend to either restore the long bed or mount a camper directly to the frame. I use it daily around the farm. I put a nice smooth slippery high gloss white coat of Rustoleum on the 7' Fisher plow yesterday. Snow is coming.

A year ago in October I bought another 65 long bed fleetside to scavenge body parts from. I like it too much to cannibalize it now. My wife loves it. I drive it on the road regularly. So, I will be rebuilding the 4x4s body and probably keeping them both. The 4x4 is original. With its high torque 283 it is my druthers. The "Parts truck" has a 350 with a large Holly 4 barrel and an R400 auto transmission. It is fun to drive and turns heads. Dual exhausts and glass packs make it too loud for my taste. When you stand on it is sure causes a ruckus. I Drove it back to Maine from Tulsa on I 40 at 80 mph in a sea of big trucks. I got a lot of horns when I was passing big rigs. It was the only thing like it on the road. NO seatbelts or airbags! Feeling exposed. The headlights don't provide the level of illumination I need and the windshield wipers can get on your nerves. My trip from Tulsa followed a cold front east and it rained the entire time. Ha!

G

[Stocker]

gfatula, welcome to the forum. Sounds like a couple good trucks, looking forward to pics when you can. There are ways to make those headlights brighter . Depending on how big that Holley is on the 'parts truck', you might improve driveability and fuel economy with a smaller carb.

[argonaut]

Sounds like a cool truck. Can't wait to see some photos!

[gfatula]

Here are a couple of old pics. One of each.





G