The tires listed in the 49 salesman's data book (the one I have) for the Chevy 1 ton are the same as the larger tires listed for the 3/4 ton (700 & 750x17) unless it had duals which got 700-18. Some 3600 trucks got 15 inchers. That would indicate to me that the tires and rims could probably be interchanged between the 3600 and 3800. The only other thing is that in my data book, if the truck was rated at 8800 lbs, it got dual rear wheels. I'm not sure what changes were made between the 49 and the 51 model years but that's what I found in the book. Maybe someone didn't want to run duals and changed out the axle for a single wheel version, which probably wouldn't be too hard to do. There's no telling what has happened in the intervening 55 years since it came off the assembly line. I don't claim to be an expert, so if someone has further information, please feel free to correct me.
According to the American Classics web site, the rear axle ratio (if it's original) was 5.14:1 for all variants. Not great for freeway travel but good for seeing the country side!
It's still a great looking truck. Have fun with it!
