Welcome to Stovebolt T.M.
There is a ton of info in the shop forums to cover the majority of your questions, but not really an all-in-one place thread to point you towards.
Here is a "Legacy Tech Tip" on
Test Driving that is a good thing to read and consider as part of your searching/buying process.
One place I would suggest a very good place to read about AD trucks and the work put into them is found in the
Project Journals forums. You can read through fellow Bolters projects and see what they worked on, including trials, tribulations and success stories to help educate yourself about AD trucks.
Others will be along to chime in and share their experience and knowledge too.
Thanks. I read through that guide, and it's a good starting point. I should make up a prebuy inspection checklist for a walkaround and test drive.
Just remember that you are looking at trucks that are 70 plus years old and regardless of how close (or far) from the orginal any individual truck may be they are not really comparable to modern trucks in terms of both operation and maintenance.
I'm trying to keep in mind just how old of a truck it'll be, and I'm looking foreword to learning how to keep it alive and on the roads. When it comes to driving I'm expecting looking foreword to something that drives like an old work truck. I get bored out of my mind driving my 2005 Dodge Dakota, but my 1966 Jeep is a blast though it is slow and horridly uncomfortable relatively speaking.
I am not an expert on model designations but a 3800 is going to be a pretty heavy duty version that is going to be a lot more truck like than the typical 3100 models that are a lot more common.
My truck is a 1950 3600 version and it has signifcant differences from the typical 3100 versions most people talk about.
From my understanding a 3100 is a 1/2 ton, a 3600 is a 3/4 ton, and a 3800 is a 1 ton. The 3800 has a bigger frame, crossmembers, brakes, leaf spring packs, front axle, gas tank, and deeper axle gears than the lower model trucks. Plus it has a 9-foot bed, which is how I can tell them apart at a glance. All of that information is from a 1948 Chevy truck brochure.
