I ran across a 1949 Chevy Pickup beater, and the parts for it are 1000x's cheaper than my cadillac. What is it's towing capacity? Could it tow 6500lbs reliably? If not, what would I need to do to accomplish this?
Strength the frame, and add heavy duty suspension, and add big torque engine and a strong tranny and it should be able to haul 5000 lbs and maybe 6500 lbs with a weight distributing hitch. In stock form with a 6 or small v8, 3500 lbs might be it. The distributing hitch will give you up to about a 50% towing weight gain, but you are still going to need better suspension and power.
No, farmers in the 50s still had to use HUGE teams of draft horses to pull their hay wagons at harvest time. And if your car broke down they had to lay railroad track out to you and have a steam engine pull your car to the shop! Cant be done..........................
I have a friend that tows everything and anything with a 63 Chev.... The 50's era trucks just aren't that heavy duty...
Boy you guys are pessimistic! You can build the truck to tow anything. We've towed our '48 Spartan trailer (25 ft) across the the country twice with our '48 Pontiac convert. I'm building a'48 Diamond T pickup now with tbi 350/4l60 and one ton running gear.
I'd swap it over to an s-10 frame for pennies on the dollar that way you have some legit stopping power with all that weight behind you. might as well do a 350/350 while the frame is bare.
I don't have many details yet. The S10 idea sounds like a good one, but could it tow 6500??? I would air bag it too...
I wish I had a photo of my brother towing a 40 foot house trailer all over california over the grapevine several times with just a bumper hitch
I used a 54 chevy 1/2 ton to tow with (261 3 speed), put about 20,000 miles on it towing loads up to 10,000 pounds. Never had a problem with it. It also got me back an forth to work every day. That was about 20 years ago though. Seeing these other replies I must really be stupid.
awesome question... the stock frame is beefier than the S10, and disc brake kit is easy enough for the straight axle. even the v8 swap is easy enough. Nope not stupid at all. I've talked to all kinds of old guys that used their trucks back in the day. Hauling trailers, horses, cars, all kinds of stuff. The only things that would make me worry these days are the brakes and the slowness with the inline six and three speed.
It could be done, but I would want discs up front, and electric trailer brakes on the trailer. That way you can slow the whole rig down with the trailer, so you do not overheat the tow vehicle's brakes. I have a 69 Ranchero with front discs that I used to tow cars as big as it or heavier all over the place. My trailer was an additional 2000 pounds. I'd go on the freeway, at speed, and up and over the Cajon Pass and Grapevine countless times. For you that don't know, those are a pretty steep and long grade. I would get brake fade (no brakes) until I started slowing the load with the trailer's brakes. I'd gear down and cruise down the hill at about 45. Made it every time. It was slightly inadequate, but do-able.
Certainly. Depends on what kind of performance you are expecting. Don't expect to go left lane speeds. Bolt the appropriate hitch on and go. On the farm as a kid, even before I was old enough to get a license, I drove my dad's '48, had a 216 with 3-on-the-tree. Of course a granny gear would have been nice to get it rolling. Had to sliip the clutch and rev the motor to get a trailer load of hogs on the way to the sale barn. Our trailer had a hydraulic master cylinder built into the hitch so when the tow vehicle slowed down it applied the trailer brakes. We had to watch it close when going down long hills because the brakes would be applied automatically and heat them up.
I sure hope it can be done because I'm building a '54 GMC to pull my trailer. I'm using a 1-ton and upgrading the brakes among other things. While the original brakes might have been adequate back in the day, at today's highway speeds I think you need greatly improved brakes. I'm also running a Cadillac 500, Turbo 400 and a 14-bolt GM rear end. I want to pull my trailer fast.
Amazing these old trucks were ever built seeing how they cant do ANYTHING according to the replys here. My '55 Ford F~350 1 ton Dually can haul WAY more crap than my Buddys '90s 1 ton dually... Sure his is a bit faster with a V8, But my Granny Box 223 6 will move a house if ya can get it to sit right on the flat bed.
You must be reading a different thread than I am. Most these replies say do it. Recommended changes have more to do with modern traffic and making sure the truck is big enough for the job.
You have to remember that these AD trucks were built to work. It may take a bit of suspension work to pull 6500 lbs comfortably but It should handle it. I towed a 16 ft U-haul behind the 48 From Texas to Washington and made it but I wish I would have had stronger rear suspension at the time. the 283 was up to the task but the M21 Muncie and high geared rear end made it a bit of a challenge on some of the long grades. That s'etup wasn't intended to tow with but to run Texas highways at posted speed and above for hours on end. 3000 rpm in 4th gear was 80 mph so you know it was set up wrong for towing. After subframing the truck and putting in a 350 with turbo 400 I towed a 15 ft travel trailer all over the State of Washington to rod runs and camp outs With an equalizer hitch I could run with the big dogs without issues. You will have to set it up as a truck and not as a truck body on a car style chassis. My truck was set up to cruise at highways speeds for hours on end and not really set up to tow with. With the later setup the equalizer hitch made for comfortable handling. I would agree that the stock 47/54 frame in good condition would be a better choice for towing than the S-10.
mite want to beef up the stock frame better springs that could handle weight newer rear that could handle weight maybe go buy a later heavy duty pickup for a donor v8 ans susspenion
Disc brakes an the front stock axle, 350, turbo 400 12 bolt rear. Tow away. I don't think I've ever seen an S10 tow that much though. jerry
found this on a 4 cyl. s-10 2003 year <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2><!-- Start Diamond Header --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width="100%"> Dimensions</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#999999 colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Diamond Header --></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>Exterior </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Length: 205.3 in. </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Width: 67.9 in. </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Height: 62.7 in. </TD><TD width="50%">Wheel Base: 122.9 in. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Ground Clearance: 7.2 in. </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Curb Weight: 3198 lbs. </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Gross Weight: 4400 lbs. </TD><TD width="50%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>Interior </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Front Head Room: 39.5 in. </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Front Hip Room: 51.6 in. </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Front Shoulder Room: 56.9 in. </TD><TD width="50%">Front Leg Room: 42.4 in. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Maximum Seating: 4 </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2><!-- Start Diamond Header --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width="100%"> Performance Data</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#999999 colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Diamond Header --></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>Performance </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Base Number of Cylinders: 4 </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Base Engine Size: 2.2 liters </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Base Engine Type: Inline 4 </TD><TD width="50%">Horsepower: 120 hp </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Max Horsepower: 5000 rpm </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Torque: 140 ft-lbs. </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Max Torque: 3600 rpm </TD><TD width="50%">Maximum Payload: 1202 lbs. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Maximum Towing Capacity: 5600 lbs. </TD><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Drive Type: RWD </TD></TR><TR class=table-sub><TD width="50%">Turning Circle: 41.3 ft. </TD><TD width="50%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- start Fuel Data --><!-- Start Diamond Header --> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width="100%"> Fuel Data</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#999999 colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Diamond Header --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>Fuel </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Fuel Tank Capacity: 18 gal. </TD><TD class=stripe-five> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway) </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Manual: 19 mpg / 25 mpg </TD><TD class=stripe-five> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-three colSpan=2>Range in Miles: (City/Highway) </TD></TR><TR><TD class=stripe-five width="50%">Manual: 342 mi. / 450 mi. </TD><TD class=stripe-five> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
my grandpa has a 83 chev w/a 250 straight six in it and it could'nt get my 3,000 or more pound car on a trailer up their kinda steep driveway. nice truck though
I think you'll get better response starting a new thread with your question. I've seen pictures of several disc conversions, but the only ones I am sure I could find are for dually trucks. Is yours a dually or a single wheel? You'll find more interest in this kind of upgrade on bigger pickups like a 1-ton in the forums at www.StoveBolt.com and www.oldGMCtrucks.com. You'll find very few people who have actually done a conversion though lots have talked about it. I've been watching forums for this find of information for the last couple years because I plan to convert my '54 GMC 1-ton to front discs.
One day back in the 70's when I was working at an Olds dealer, a new car delivery guy asked me if that old pickup over there ran, a 49 Chevy 1/2 ton with a wood bumper on the front, I told himI didn't know but Ill try it. I hadn't seen it move in about a year but it fired right up... He said "Great, my starter batteries are dead in this freightliner and I need a bump start." So, I pulled the puny Chevy up behind the what seemed like a half a football field long car hauler trailer and he climbed in the cab and waved and I pushed it with the chevy, in an unpaved dirt lot yet. Moved it about six feet and he dumped the clutch and took off. It was crazycool.
How did this turn out? Did you end up towing 6500 pounds with that chevy? I'm looking at towing my boat with my 49. Has a ford 9" rear end, 350/350, disk up front with a mustang II power rack, and the trailer is a triple axle with disk brakes on 2 of the axles. Thinking ill need a new radiator, shroud, and fan since it has a hard time staying cool up the road to lake arrowhead / big bear.
i think there is some good info on here and you probably have a good grasp about what to do. i would either beef up the frame/suspension or maybe do a new frame. air bags, good reciever hitch, power plant and tranny, disk brakes, etc. just build it to do it and it would be no problem.
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