NAPCO C-50 Chevy restoration

[Dannny B]

Thanks guys. You notice that the bed doesn't require tubs for the wheels. The floor will be square and flat. Obviously, the bed will be too high to unload by hand. i'm building the typical scizzors type dump mechanism. The bed doesn't really look like it is 10 ft. long but, it is. The tires (22.5) stick out about 3 inches beyond the fenders. I'm pretty sure that plastic flare material will cover it OK.

[rkn463]

First of all, I love your truck! It's great to see the progress as well.

Originally Posted by Dannny B

You notice that the bed doesn't require tubs for the wheels. The floor will be square and flat.

That is interesting, I had about decided the same for the bed in my 68 but not knowing the final tire size or what full compression would look like on the springs I was afraid to loose the wheel wells. On the 68 I had to raise the bed about 5 inches off the frame to line up with the cab, is yours similar? Also what size 22.5 tires are you running and what is the wheel width?

Keep up the great work!

-Richard

[Dannny B]

I'm figuring 5 inches also. That will give me room for the dump system. The tires are 9:00 --22.5 because I need the same circumpherence as the fronts. They are 8:25--20 mud & snow. I wanted mud and snow for the rears but, didn't find any in 9:00
I have 2 different wheel widths. I didn't measure them. I had to put the skinnies to the inside to make sure that I have clearance for chains.
I have 6 leftover widow-maker rins with snow tires. I might keep a couple for spares.
The mixed rims are all that I could find. I'm happy to have splits / tube type on the front because I can drop the pressure in sand.

[350TacoZilla]

First off I love the truck man! I actually just posted about getting info on those front fenders because I want to try and mold them to make flares that match all around for tire coverage maybe that would work for you guys too.


Are your rims split rims or split ring rims? If split rims you couldnt give me a set to lower or raise the pressure in, split rings on the other hand aren't as terrible but I know people still dont like them especially when try to seat the tire for first time.

I'm not sure if bolt pattern is same but m939 trucks came with 11r20 goodyear G177 radials on them, split ring wheels with tubes but the tires themselves are made to be tubeless. You can find these tires pretty easy, I had them but went to 425's for flotation.
Your fronts remind me of the old armstrong M&S pattern, samson has them in 9.00-20 and 10.00-20 if you went back to 20's all around, they also make some aggressive tread 22.5's but not in a 9.00-22.5

https://simpletire.com/samson-10.0020-10069-2-tires

https://simpletire.com/samson-9.0020-90049-2-tires

[Dannny B]

I really don't have much use for fat tires. I have a 1 ton dually, 4 wd camper that weighs 10,000 lbs. It has 235-16 tires on it. I can make a u-turn in the soft sand at Pismo while pulling the buggy trailer.
I like skinnys because, they get through the top layer of mud and grab the base.
The six 10 lug wheels that I have are the ONLY rims I could find. The fronts are a one-piece wheel with a single lock ring. The only problem i've seen with split-ring wheels is; somebody had beat up the rings at an earlier dismount. Once the ring is distorted, it is a real problem.
I assembled my wheels just by kicking the ring.

I expect to use my truck in the woods. I do not like the idea of having steel flares sticking out where they will catch on things. You remember when Chevy came out with their dually. Everybody hooked a fender and ripped it.
I thought of buying nice trailer fenders and screwing them on to the bed-side. If I hooked them, I could just take them off.
This truck has round fenders, https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...5b2baea09f.jpg

I'll go with rubber flares for now.
There is another problem that some people just don't seem to understand. I've seen pics of a few trucks that have big singles.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1385411062
This is death for your thumbs. The center of the tire must be lined up with the center of the kingpin. If not, you get "bump steer". The steering wheel will be flying every which way. If you have your thumbs through the spokes, you can lose them.

10.00--20 may look nice and big but, I don't have power steering. I see trucks around SoCal that have been adapted to run 11R-24.5. I'm sure that they ride as bad as a forklift. My C-50 doesn't weigh much and I need some flex in the sidewalls to get traction and a decent ride. Looking at the stock rear springs, I don't see any way to get a decent ride. I thought of taking out a few leaves and adding spacers instead. I don't see much spring compression in the future.

I have an F-650 boom truck with the same tire arrangement. It only weighs 6200 lbs and is sprung for 17,000. You can imagine what it rides like.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Dannny B

...My C-50 doesn't weigh much and I need some flex in the sidewalls to get traction and a decent ride. Looking at the stock rear springs, I don't see any way to get a decent ride. I thought of taking out a few leaves and adding spacers instead. I don't see much spring compression in the future...

I've been considering losing a bunch of leaves from my spring packs and then adding air bags to get the best of both worlds. Either that or haul a thousand pounds or so of ballast to give it a better ride.

-Richard

[Dannny B]

After so many years a spring pack just turns solid. That's why Chrysler tried to run mono-leafs. Most of the newer trucks try to run mono-leaf with air bags. The old Rolls Royce had lubricated springs wrapped in leather enclosures. A lot of packs have little slippers of nylon. All of this is done to reduce inter-leaf friction. I'll probably take out 1/2 the leaves, starting at the shortest.
I have air bags on my wood-gas truck.

A company I know bought Macks for front-loader trash service. The drivers refuse to drive them because it causes so much back pain.