Art & Inspiration Do any of you use your classic truck for work?

So if the cab fits to tight on your ***, the solution would to get a new truck?
Or cut down the seat, remove the tank, relocate things to make room. There is a way
Around most things, we are hot rodders!

Don't give up, if you wants something.

 

I laugh about the statement of cl***ic truck , as by Illinois law my O/t DD is 20 years old and now cl***ified as a "cl***ic vehicle" , but if I put cl***ic or AV plates on it I cannot haul anything with it unless its a trailer going to a car show or repair shop , but I keep standard plates on it, my freind has a old studebaker truck he uses in the saltfree months for his truck needs and a newer O/t 90's truck for the winter months both have the rated plates and inspection stickers so he doesn't get harrased by the local cops

 

Thanks for that detailed response. It makes me think about the possibility of beefing up the suspension on my current truck.

Last night was a great example of modern "convenience." Our heater broke at the house. After tinkering with it for some time, our heat guy told me the unit (which he just installed 5 months ago) has broken and he cant get any hold of tech support. He offered to pay for 2 space heaters over the phone if I went to Lowes and bought them to hold us over for the weekend. Without any choice really, I did so. After running them both on high for 3 hours, the room hasnt cleared 52 degrees. My fiance has to work all weekend and needs decent sleep, and its supposed to drop in the teens this weekend. I had enough of that BS. Hopped in the truck and went out and bought a bunch of firewood, moved the bed next to the fire place and lit a huge fire, kept it roaring through the night.

If I had a cl***ic with a carbureator and it was as finicky as my 6v caddy is in cold weather Id be pissed.

 

My daily work truck (appliance repairman) is a 1994 f150 with 320K miles on the odometer. It's been very reliable but it's beginning to rattle a lot upon starting. Like you, I've been thinking about getting a Cl***ic or antique truck to work out of. I like the '67 to '69 f100's because I had a '68 f100 for a long time in my youth. My Grandpa also drove a '69 Camper Special every year from Indiana to spend the winter in Arizona, with a one week pit stop in Arkansas where we lived. I see a lot of pictures of that old truck in our photo albums because he had it for over 20 years. So I've grown attached to them.

They have basically the same reliable straight six in them as my 'ol faithful '94, so why not?

Well, thinking about the, "Why not?" part has changed my mind.

Everything is worn out or deteriorated when you buy them. Everything from the engine, transmission, steering, seats, wiring, the glovebox, the screws inside the doors, the weatherstripping, sun visors, mirrors, hood latch, suspension components, heater, windshield wiper linkage, tailgate handle, rubber seals in the brake pistons, alternator, battery tray, starter, water pump, the shift linkage, the gas pedal spring, I could go on but you get the idea.

Just because it has a recent paint job and engine rebuild doesn't mean all those other parts have magically become new. You could go through it from top to bottom but realistically, you will probably spend an average of 3 or 4 hours on each problem. Will you be able to stop earning money at work to work on your truck? Will you be able to loose both the wages and the repair money? Can you give up some weekends or nights?

They only way i think it would work for you is if you enjoy working on your old truck. If you are the type that gives up other things on the weekend in favor of tinkering in the garage, the truck may be a pleasure for you. But if it were me (and it may be, I haven't decided yet) I would have a spare truck, ready to salvage the rest of the work day, should my cl***ic truck break down. (Don't forget that you have to move a truck load of stuff out of the broken truck.)

Your customers may not appreciate or admire or think about your old truck like you do. It may represent an increased risk of unreliability in their eyes. Or, it may make you stand out enough for folks to note the name of your business on the side of the truck. Your truck would have to be clean and painted.

My old '94 f150 likes to break down on me to the point of being stranded about about twice a year. I keep towing insurance on it to lessen the impact. The loss of income and cost of repairs have been way, way cheaper than truck payments.

I had an antique car at one time that i drove daily and these are the lessons it taught me. Hope some of that rambling will help you make up your mind. Good luck! Please let us know in this thread if you do get an old truck.

 

The issues with a new truck, a semi old truck and a old truck, is that if a new truck fails on you in some way, you are usually ****ed in a big way, wallet, no transportation and no parts in your shop.
If your semi old truck fails you get issues with parts, that's not in stock and parts that overnight shipping at best and only semi-break your wallet and still no transport.
Old trucks need maintenance and hard work, but brings back more joy. If you break down you usually got that extra part at your shop or you can make a bandaid on the spot and drive home.

Over here we have another issue, there are far more parts available for a mid 60s Chevy pick up then for a mid 80s Nissan truck.

If you find the right truck from the beginning it's possible. Any mid 50-mid 70 pick up, with a 305 or 350 crate a good 4 speed or a auto, with a modern rear, new brakes and HAMB alliance vendor wirring kit complet new, will give any mid 90 truck a run for its money.

The question is can you live without AC, and can you fix broken?

 

Yep, diagnostics on carbed 300/ 6 are; if it has fuel and spark it will run. A little new for this forum but '69 Ford shortbox was daily for 80 mile round trip to work and typical truck duties for 6 years before taking it apart for freshening. Very simple to maintain and with power nothing pretty good mileage to boot for a full sized truck. I like things simple so the trade off for comfort items is worth it.

 

Sometimes! It gets me out of the shop early!

 

One thing to consider, people will tend to look down upon someone using an old truck. No matter the appearance, unless full show, or something like HRP's Truck hauling Flowers.Most people don't get the p***ion, and will see you as Poor/a poor businessman/shady(think of the Orco commercials with the bugs in the old cars) no matter how well your business may be doing, and certain insurances may be hard to obtain. I was a very reliable car hauler, with a perfect record, with a very reliable, but old truck, and slowly was phased out because my 77 Chevy made the high end customers nervous. What would you think if your Cl***ic Porsche Speedster came in on the back of a 25 year old pickup.

 

my customers thought my older trucks were neat , but then again they were emeryvilles , r model macks and a needle nose Pete , all of them had updated drivelines under them even the state police inspections they officers were impressed , but the thing was not to let it look like it was a 20-40 year old truck and to keep the paint on the thing clean and shiney . and the emeryville had 2 million on the ch***is . only reason I quit using them was the company I hauled for had a age limit on equipment 10 years and it was no longer allowed . and my new pete spent more time at the dealer than on the road .

 

The comments about customers not liking the older truck made me realize how strange us car guys are. I had my furnace repaired recently and the guy showed up in a new one ton van. My first thought was, "this small company makes ebough off repairs for a fleet of $40k plus vans?!" Lol I would have felt better if the repair guy showed up in an older but well kept truck.

 

in this day and age many businesses with fleets or vehicles lease there vehicles for the tax write off and so they can change the equipment out every 5 years for new stuff , as thats the so called breaking point on repair costs vs value of the vehicle .

 

I've worked on the 00's F150's and any 1/2 ton old truck is more stout then the F150. I think the 63-72 Chevy/gmc truck would be a great choice, ease of parts, ease of swapping for newer parts (disc brakes, overdrive...). If the coil rear springs are too soft for you you can go with a C20 that has rear leaf. The Ford trucks of the same years are good too but will require a motor swap as the stockers (after 68 had a sbf) will be harder to put in an o/d and **** a lot of gas.

A sbc, overdrive, front disc brakes and if you want a/c would make a perfect hauler AND daily driver that will make cross country trips too.

 

The whole new trucks vs. old trucks makes me laugh. When old trucks just a truck, we hauled EVERYTHING in them, everywhere. My father was a contractor back in the '40's thru the '80's. He would routinely load his 1/2 ton pickups with 1500 to 2000 lbs. We towed trailers loaded heavily everywhere. No 4-wheel drive, no AC, no radio, rubber floormats, never put in a garage in bad weather. I drove my '59 F100 for more than 35 years 80 miles round trip to work and back every day. Most guys today are very, very spoiled, and think we can't do anything without the latest and greatest equipment.

 

Yea, retired 1985 c10 Silverado 350/350 parts and grocery getter, I love it!

 

That isn't something to consider. If this is something you are taking into consideration you need to post somewhere else.

Seems by that time you have already been paid. Now if you are saying that you are driving a piece of **** hauling other people's cars that is a completely different thing.

You can pull up in an old hauler and impress the hell out of people.

 

Fact is, most old truck's can still be used as mule's and daily driver's if they are well maintained, and suited for the job they have ahead of them.
Meaning, either build or buy one that is going to be able to do the job it's asked.
If you have a long drive to work and back, make sure it 's got long legs for the road...want to tow an inclosed trailer, make sure the ch***is and brakes are heavy enough etc etc.
I love my truck..and as i said before, i built it to use and drive which i do.
So it's got updated wipers, pretty decent radio with sirius sat and heat/air.
Yep, even put air in it...only used it a few times but worth it when i did. I wasnt looking for it to be period correct etc, i was looking for function then form.
That being said, if i was to do another truck....and i will eventually.
I'd be looking for a 67-72 C20 Chevy that was a factory a/c truck, then id drop a 12V ***mins and 5 speed in it, make sure the rest of the mechanicals were up to snuff and......use the hell out if it!!!!
All done

Tony

 

Recently I tore apart a deck for the free wood (craigslist ad). The truck ran great during multiple trips of hauling the wood home.

 

My 50 Chevy has a 7.5 foot bed, it is a 3600 model (3/4 ton). The one tons came with a 9 foot bed.
Either would haul just about anything you want, yes the cabs are tight.

 

I don't have a cl***ic truck or a job so I guess my answer would be no.

 

its all about maintenance I drove these old trucks everywhere and still do

 

I had a 48 F1 , SBF C4 9 in Rear . It was a parts truck for my buddy , city told him move it or loose it . He gave it to me , I got it up and moving pretty easily and put 70K on it before selling it and still see it at rod runs . I’m thinkin man did I screw up on the sale . I used it for daily transportation , hauling what ever I needed to move , engines , fire wood , home brew , etc . The winter weather in the Ohio valley can sometimes be a bit cantankerous so I found a 79 w200 short bed Utiline Dodge 4x4 , the old dude was a forestry truck , built to tank standards . The 318 just wasn’t up in the cool factor , so I installed a 4BT ***mins Diesel . It now is good for anything you need to haul or move and will travel anywhere on this planet with out one issue at the rate of 26 MPG . It now has reached the 70 K mark after repower and complete rebuild of drivetrain . Rust is the issue to deal with now , installing new floor pans and rockers this week . If OEMs went 39 years , I can just hope repops will go 20 years and I’ll p*** it on to a younger hot rodder to start the process all over with again .

 

My daily is a 66 GMC Rough appearance. And I do haul heavy loads and pull trailers with it. 250 six SM420 granny 4 speed dana 44 with 336 gears. I run a regular license plate even though its old enough for Antique plates.

 

Put a V8 in it and install larger 100x20 tires. and it will be longer legged and use half the fuel the 261 six does. My 57 dump truck now has a 307 engine and larger rear tires.

 

"Rusty" loaded up and ready to go to the swap meet tomorrow morning.

 

Grate post its good to know that these old trucks are not all being used for show and no go

 

Sure do. Helping my daughter move in 2013. The truck did great!

 

I pulled a 283 out of a '58 Dump truck once and put it in an old school bus in place of a broken Jimmy V6. It pulled good and got excellent mileage as compared to the Jimmy. Never made the torque of the Jimmy but never seemed to matter.

 

Yep! I use my F100 often to pick up garage construction materials. The box is bigger and longer than my late model.

 

My '36 truck was at work, so I got ****ered into hauling some flower looking things in my '40.



-Abone.

 

I use my old truck daily , my first one was a 48 F1 , current one is not so HAMB friendly , a 79 Power Wagon with diesel power . 26 MPG and will go anywhere on this planet . It is 40 years old this year , still not so HAMB friendly .