Hello, new to the site and have been looking for a while but this is my first post. I recently bought a 1952 GMC 1 ton dually that was originally built for a very unique and dangerous purpose. It was specifically built and used to carry Nitroglycerine for the purpose of "Shooting" oil wells! They used what they called a "torpedo" to lower the Nitro and, in one example, marbles, called the "Marble Shot" down a well and set it off to "Shoot" the well. Basically this is the earlier and much more dangerous version of Fracking that is used today. It has a very unique and heavy custom made bed and it has spools for the drop wire and charge wire that are controlled separately or together and run from a hydraulic PTO off the transmission. The truck has sat for many years and is in relatively rough shape but is mostly complete. I have been slowly working on getting things like 18" tires because I want to keep the stock wheels. That being said, I also bought the a 69 1 ton because at one time someone put 19.5 tubeless wheels and tires on it so I bought it just in case I could not use the 18's on the 52. The lug nuts on the 69 are even identical to the 52's lugs. I will post pics when I can get some good quality shots. I have also recently bought a 49 Chevy 1/2 ton but have not brought it home yet but hope to soon. I have already gotten good info from this site and hope to get more and hopefully contribute some as well.
Welcome from WA! Your truck sounds quite unique, to say the least. Beam up some pics when you get a chance, and be sure to look into the A.D. pickup sub-forum for info and b.s......
Welcome from Essex Illinois. Love to see some pics of such a unique rig. Lots of strip mines in my area wonder if anything like that was used around here. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thank you, it was pretty popular and a lot of people asked about it and its original purpose. Also talked to a gentleman that was very informative about the purpose of the truck and what these guys did with nitro and he also told me a story about a small town in Kansas that was almost blown of the face of the map when one of the nitro trucks exploded and pretty much leveled the town. It would definitely have taken someone with a steady hand and balls of steel to have done that job!
I am sure there were very few guys that were even willing or could even do the job! I was told they were well paid since you were basically risking your life just driving the truck not to mention setting up the explosives and then setting them off all without blowing yourself and/or someone else up!
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