Agree with that, it sure looks like toe wear. Especially since the OP says it pulls to one side. Total toe and/or the two sides need to be equalized. Pretty easy to check the total toe in your shop with a few tools. Checking individually is a little more difficult, but can be done. Some string, tape measure and time.
Thank y'all for the tips on where to start. After reading about the effects of excessive toe in it sounds like that's probably what I did when I put in the new rack. I'm going to see about getting an alignment by a professional. Those tires are pretty well shot but I was looking at getting some of the Auburn Diamond Back tires anyway since I really like the looks of them. I'm just glad I didn't get them first before I found out about this alignment issue!
The latest issue of Collectible Automobiles had an extensive report on the seven (yes, seven) 1957 American pickup manufacturers. Concerning the Dodge (and a lot more) trying to catch up on the Chevy Cameo Carrier (and there were GMC models, too, just showing how much I know) it was stated that the pickup sides on the Sweptsides came from DeSoto station wagons. I didn't know that -- along with a lot of other things.
That's very interesting @Stan Back I didn't know about that either. Earlier in the thread @ClayMart posted a picture of the '57 IH Golden Jubilee that I had never seen before, but I never knew there were so many other manufacturers that also tried to compete with the Cameo as well.
I probably shuda said brands -- Chevy, GMC, Ford, Dodge, International, Studebaker, and Willys (Jeep). (Not all tried to compete with the Cameo, but all had pickups. And I'd never heard of the GMC one that was called a Suburban.)
You might be able to have a sign shop reproduce the sticker from the busted jar of the PVC catchcan. good luck with the alignment
Hey that's a great idea @bobbytnm! I hated that it busted but I guess age finally caught up with it. I would try to get the original label off the jar but I glued down the edges that were lifting already then clear coated the whole thing with hardened clear so I don't think it would ever come off in one piece.
I'm with Gene here. The negative camber will go a little positive when cornering, but not enough to wear the outsides like that. This is definitely a toe issue. The benefit of that modern front suspension is a good, complete front end alignment shouldn't be too hard for any decent shop to tackle.
Here's another odd Sweptside to add to the mix. DeSoto-badged pickups were apparently built for sale in Central and South America. Never would have guessed that they would have bothered to produce such a custom, limited edition model like this though.
@Big Dad those are awesome. I actually looked at one point for a larger '58 Sweptside diecast but could only find the '57. @ClayMart that does seem pretty wild that they would have just a specific model like that. It also looks like the fins are that of a '56 Plymouth possibly?
I finally took my truck in for an alignment this morning. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive leaving it and somebody other than me driving it since I redid the drivetrain, but it's a shop that's been around here a long time and they did a great job. I was surprised by how much easier it is to steer now. I guess it makes sense that if the wheels are toed in too far and wearing the outside edge of the tire it's going to cause a lot of extra drag. Thanks to everybody for all the tips on what was causing my tire wear problem and how to get it fixed. Looks like it's finally fixing to cool off here so maybe that'll help me get motivated to start cutting the boards for my bed!
Woohoo! It's cool that the alignment made such a noticeable difference. Ought to be really fun to drive now.
It really is! I wish I had done it a long time ago. No more pull to the right and for the most part I can steer it with one hand now. Probably the best $85 I've spent on it so far!
Figured I'd do a little update on what I've been up to on the truck. With the nice warm weather finally coming to an end I spent last week trying to hurry up and get the bed wood cut for my truck. I started out with some wild cherry boards that were about one inch thick that I planed down to 3/4". A friend of mine rough cut them out for me, from a tree him and his son had cut down, on a small sawmill that he has at his house. Here's a picture after I had them all cut before I routed the edges for the aluminum strips. After the routing I sanded all the boards and applied some linseed oil to the tops to bring out the grain. I painted the bottom of them black. For the finish I decided to go with some water based Varathane Spar Urethane. It's way thinner than I expected it to be. It's look just like a quart of milk. It seems to go on fairly well and levels itself so that's good. This is after about five coats. I still need to do some sanding and apply some more coats but I'm going to have to move everything to somewhere I can run some heat now. I also decided to tape off the edge of the bed rails and spray it silver so it would match the aluminum strips. I haven't decided just yet how I'm going to finish out the inside of the bed but I'm going to do something to make it look a lot cleaner than it is now. It'll at least look better with some wood in there!
Another thing I made last night was a way to display my Sweptside ornament I made. Since I don't know how long it'll be before I get around to messing around with the wagon tailgate I figured I might as well have it somewhere on the truck. I took some black guitar pickguard material and made a plate to go on the dash on the p***enger side. I'm also going to make a black one for around the instrument cluster since I've done away with the warning light set up when I went to mechanical gauges.
Finished the plate for around the gauge cluster today. I cleaned up a Forward Look emblem I took off a '56 Desoto I s****ped a while back and put it in the space in between. I'm crazy about the Mopar emblems and ornaments from the '50's. I don't want to get things too busy on the dash but I'm thinking that the '51-'52 Chrysler V emblem I have would look good on the glove box door and fits perfect there.
I’d skip the v emblem. It would make the dash look like a Warshawski’s special. I think it is about perfect as is. Just my 2 cents.
I'm of mixed feelings. The truck is a 1958. This was during the height of glitzy and gaudy on American iron. The exterior is going to be flashy, so the inside can withstand a little flash too. You just don't want to overdue it, but in the end, it's your taste that matters.
Thanks for the input everybody! I was afraid it might be a little crowded with it there. I'll leave it off for now and maybe come up with another way to use it somewhere else on the truck down the line.
MRW1994, The truck is looking amazing! Question, you said in an earlier post that are you going to spruce up the inside of the bedsides...are you going to do that before installing the wood? That would be my suggestion. But you probably already thought of that.
@stubbsrodandcustom that does look really good! @NashRodMan I bet whatever I end up doing inside the bed I'll wish I had done before putting in the floor! I put off doing this stuff for too long because I didn't want to quit driving it but I figured I had better get that wood that had been drying for a few months sealed up before it got too cold.
I wouldn’t worry about the inside of the bed sides. Looks like a truck. That wood floor turned out beautiful, nice work. Love all the other little details as always!
Thanks @60Pioneer! Seeing how nice the interior turned out on your Dodge was one of the things that made me want to spruce up the inside of mine. Got the bed wood all bolted down the other night. I'm real happy with how it turned out but I'm also really glad that it's done! I don't really care for working with wood like I do metal. Here's a couple of pictures I took of it outside today.
Ya know you’re going to look back someday and say “I should have done those bedsides “. Sure the side look like a “truck”, but the bed doesn’t
The Jalopy Journal
