When I first got it, mine felt like it was screaming at 48-50mph. It was happy at 35-40mph. But if I stuck a 2-3,000 lb load in the box she'd trundle along nicely at 50, although I wouldn't want to have kept it up all day. One of the first things I did was try to find replacements for the rotten tires. I ended up changing out to 235/85R16LT tires on used aluminum rims at a lot lower cost than original-type bias tires would have set me back - the only ones I could find were Chinese - and I am well pleased with the ride: smoother and quieter than original, and excellent tractability in snow.
I have since changed the pumpkin out to a 1972 unit with a 4.10 ratio, and that, too, has been worth it. She went from being the most awful fuel hog to not that bad. I can now cruise easily at 60mph or more, and 55 is a thoroughly relaxed speed. Before I did this I found low gear completely useless and I was always in top gear. Now, what I have is a well-balanced, good-looking, astonishingly hard-working truck. It gets more attention at shows, too, than your basic lowered 1/2 tonner. Not that that matters much, but it does feel good.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I paid more than 4 times that for mine. But that doesn't matter so much, because I just stole this one here:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=517977#Post517977 so now I'm even.
