The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1929 Chevrolet TT218 Trailer Truck

Hi everyone, this is actually my first post but I've seen that trucks 1 1/2 ton and up come here. I have a 1929 Chevrolet TT218 Trailer Truck. It is basically the Chevy LQ but with factory duals and a fifth wheel instead of a bed. Just making sure I'm in the right corner of the forum. Also, is it true that you have to have a photobucket acount to be able to show pictures?

Willy, first off, welcome to Stovebolt.com! You are definitely in the right place.
I look forward to hearing more about the truck. Did you just get it, plan on restoring it, etc. Yep, photobucket or another picture hosting site to link your pictures here.

Willy,

Billy's got the right skinny. If you have any trouble setting up Photobucket, just let us know ([email protected]).

Sounds like you have a very interesting rig that would make a great Gallery addition! Just post your truck's story here and we'll take it from there. If you have some nice hi-resolution pictures of it, please send them directly to us at the same address. I'd like to have a nice shot of it for the 2015 calendar

Do you have the trailer for it, too?

Welcome to Stovebolt.com!

John, your thinking about the red truck we saw in Huntsville aren't you? That's the first thing I thought when I read Willy's post.
I look forward to seeing pictures of it.

My grandfather operated a pair of 1934 Chevy tractor-trailer rigs, hauling beer from breweries in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and elsewhere to Nashville Tennessee after Prohibition was repealed. One truck pulled cold draft beer in an insulated trailer, while the other one hauled bottled brew in a non-insulated box. One county sheriff in Kentucky would watch a particularly steep hill in his territory, and weigh any truck that had to use 1st. gear to top the hill. Since one of the rigs could out-pull the other one, my grandfather would run the weak-sister truck with a legal load, and while it was getting weighed after struggling to top the hill the other one would sail by in 2nd. gear with a BIG overload! They got away with that trick for quite a while!
Jerry

Well I got the truck after oogling at it for about 8 months at my father-in-law's house. He actually gave it to me as a wedding gift in July 2013. :yahoo: It needs to be completely restored. We put a crank in the engine and it does turn free, I'm going to slowly be putting it together over the next 5-10 years. Starting a new life and trying to start a family may take some of my time and money away from this baby. I can't wait to see what it will look like when it is done. How exactly can I post links to the pictures. I have just created a photobucket acount. Thanks for the help and the welcome! Glad to be here.

Also to add to the story, from what research I've done, it is the first 6 cylinder Chevrolet made. It was 194ci and put out a whopping 59 horse power bumping it up to a 1 1/2 ton. It is very similar to the Chevrolet LQ series truck except it is for the rear axle has duals on it. The frame that the cab is mounted to is made out of wood and the cab is pretty much just nailed on. I don't have the trailer for it so for now, I think I'm going to make a stake side bed to go on it and see if I can find a trailer or get plans and have someone make me one down the road. The odd thing about it is it has directions lights on the front. Everything I've seen suggests this is inaccurate for the time. However, they look to be as old as the truck itself like they were added on stock. My father-in-law bought it from a guy around the Madison WI area. The guys had 5-6 different trucks, some ran and some didn't. This one didn't but he has a knack for finding things a little out of the ordinary. At first when I was looking for pictures of the truck, I thought it was an after market dual set seeing as I couldn't find any pictures or writings of a truck with duals made in this time that wasn't a delivery truck with a longer bed. Finally around Page 18 on google images, looking under 1929 Chevrolet truck, I found a little photo that had the same style wheels and had the duals in back. I did some research and found out is is the TT-218 Trailer truck. They advertised it with a 5 ton trailer. The big selling point was "You can pull more than you can carry. With this 1.5 ton truck and a 5 ton trailer, you can haul just as much as a 5 ton truck but for much less operating costs." That's pretty much all I know for now. If anyone else has any other info I'd be glad to hear more.

Willy,
This is the truck I mentioned previously. Is yours something like it?
http://truckshowphotos.aths.org/Huntsville2009/content/IMG_0255_large.html

Actually that is really close. That one seems to be an early 30's. I'm going to try to put on a link for 2 different pictures. The first is my truck and the second is one of the very few pictures of what it is supposed to be.

http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/w...&_suid=14032913759570773259312669794

http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/w...amp;_suid=140329143477107849301482227224

Sorry if they didn't work. I've never been on a forum where you couldn't just post the pictures. Becuase of that, I've never had to have a site like photo bucket so I don't really know how to use it.

Links worked fine, Willy.

We'll catch up to you eventually ...

John

Thanks John! I know it doesn't look like much now, but a guy can dream. One day I hope to fulfil that dream and get the trailer.

Keep your dream alive,Willy! It WILL happen!! You have a GREAT,RARE truck there! I can oogle at it,in the present shape it's in!! Have FUN,and be SAFE!!

I did some more digging on the forum with the search tool. After a couple of hours of looking at really cool trucks, I think I need to change my claim. I no longer think my truck is a 1929 Chevrolet LQ tractor trailer. Instead I believe it is a 1931 1.5 ton Chevy Independence. Can anyone confirm this by looking at the picture of mine. I'll try to get a pic of the independece up as soon as I can.

I am guessing the "Idependence" is a nickname or something. I think those years fall into the LS catagory. Here is a picture of what I think it is with a picture of mine for comparison.

I think it is
http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/w...ndependence_zpsded8caad.jpg.html?filters[user]=140603942&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0#/user/wfluedtke/media/1931chevy15tonindependence_zpsded8caad.jpg.html?filters%5Buser%5D=140603942&filters%5Brecent%5D=1&sort=1&o=0&_suid=140432672374805784958207411718

Mine

http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/w...ndependence_zpsded8caad.jpg.html?filters[user]=140603942&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0#/user/wfluedtke/media/29chevyLQ_zps94af35d0.jpg.html?filters%5Buser%5D=140603942&filters%5Brecent%5D=1&sort=1&o=2&_suid=140432672374805784958207411718

Thanks again for any help I can get.

Willy,

Chevrolet started naming their car series in 1923 and continued until 1933. The names are as follows;

1923-26 Superior
1927 Capitol
1928 National
1929 International
1930 Universal
1931 Independence
1932 Confederate
1933 Eagle (Master), Mercury (Standard)

Trucks were not included in the car name series, they were just identified by their letter series like LQ or LS etc.

I agree, you have a 1931. The extra long running boards make me think your truck was originally a single wheel truck with rear fenders on a body of some sort, the dual wheel trucks had short running boards.

Mike B

Thanks Mike! That helps a lot. Did the single wheel and dual wheel have the same axel and just different style wheels?

Willy,

The LS Series was made in last half of 1930 and the LT was made in the first half of 1931. I believe these are the exact same trucks built over two model years.

Then later in 1931 they came out with the M Series that were available in 131" or 157" wheel base in either single or dual wheel, I believe this is what you have. All M and N (1932) Series trucks use the same rear axle.

Mike B

So it would be considered a 1931 Chevrolet M Series or how would it be classified?

Then I have noticed that not a lot of pictures have trucks with the directional lights, is this something that was after market or was it a not real popular option? Also, if it had the two on front, would it have two tailights or just the one and directionals on front? I know I'm asking a lot of information but I just got the OK from "the boss" to start doing stuff to bring it back to life and I'm really excited.

Willy, in the 30's turn signals were of no interest and uncommon, not required by law - don't know exactly when GM started offering them as an option, but they were available aftermarket early on - in the 40's they were used more, and by sometime in the late 50's many states required them so aftermarket units were added to many older trucks .... if the turn indicators were on the front, it would almost always have had 2 tail lights to accommodate the signals in the rear, although some front fender lights were 2 sided and would display to the rear as well

Bill

Thanks Bill. I think then I may leave them on. If I remember right there is a stick on the steering column so it may be for that. We'll see how it goes.

Willy,

I should tell you the M Series was broken down into 4 different chassis options as follows:

MA = 1-1/2 ton, 131" wb, Single Wheels
MB = 1-1/2 ton, 131" wb, Dual Wheels
MC = 1-1/2 ton, 157" wb, Single Wheels
MD = 1-1/2 ton, 157" wb, Dual Wheels

So,you would ID your truck as a 1931 Series MB.

Chevrolet didn't have any "factory" accessories back then, they were all dealer or owner installed.

Don't quote me but I think the first year Chevrolet offered a strap-on directional unit was 1946 for the trucks and 1950 for the cars. Prior to that they were all aftermarket...

The stick on the column could be for turn signals or trailer brakes.

Mike B

Ok, so one more before I turn in for the night. I was looking to find a VIN but didn't know exactly where to look. I think that might help a lot too. I looked in the engine compartment and saw a small maybe 3x4 inch (its been a while so it may be wrong) tin or aluminum looking plate. Unfortunately, everything on that plate has been worn off. Is there any other place I might be able to find it. I don't have the title and am trying to get one, I'd like to have the original VIN if I can.

Willy, the information kits [PDFs] at GM click "Chevrolet Trucks (All Models Not Listed Below) Show" [starts with 1930] for the year you settle on should have some info on where various numbers are located, but back then the title vin [not VIN] was almost certainly the engine number, the GM vehicle serial number wasn't widely used on titles until the mid 50's

Bill