Thank you all for your feedback and insight. I knew coming to a place like this would point me in the direction I needed to go. I fully admit that I am NOT a car guy. They fascinate me but I just don't know what I'm doing with them so my original choices are based purely on a body style that I like. I want the character to do a restoration/rebuild for story purposes. It's something he is going to be working on with his father.
The horses that he's hauling would be friesians which are light draft horses that come in at 1,200 - 1,400 pounds. So I've updated my target truck to perhaps a Chevy 3800. John, you had a '49 Chevy 3804 listed in your signature. Would something
like this work? It's a 1-ton. I'd also have them do some of the upgrades that Justhorsenround suggested like disc brakes. Money isn't so much an issue. As a writer (since this is fiction) I can figure out how to make that work. I just want to make sure that what they are doing is mechanically sound and believable.
