I'm sure some of you have been following the saga of the 54 GMC big rig that Ed Pruss purchased down in central Alabama this spring, but here's a quick update:
The truck is a 1954 GMC 630 series that began life as a fire truck. Apparently it was a heavy-duty pumper, with the fire pump built into the driveline, which is a pretty common practice. By disengaging the rear driveshaft, the truck engine and transmission can be used to pump water at a varieth of different volumes by selecting the appropriate gear in the transmission and controlling the engine speed with a hand throttle. All the pump equipment had been removed, and replaced with a 2-piece driveshaft, and the fire truck bed was swapped for a HUGE flatbed with a headache rack. Pretty good workmanship on the bed conversion, but some of the other work done (or not done) to the truck made life interesting! The tires and wheels had obviously been swapped for new tubeless rims and 10-22.5" tires. It's a good "200 foot" truck, very impressive from a distance.
Ed bought the truck back in April 2015 in Cullman Alabama, about 80 miles south of my farm near the Tennessee/Alabama state line on Interstate 65. His intention was to drive it back to Longmont Colorado near Denver, about a 1500-mile trip. Apparently, mechanial and electrical gremlins started appearing almost immediately, and at Franklin Tennessee, Ed decided to put out a call for help to a few forum members. Franklin is about 40 miles north of my place, so I loaded up a few tools and hit the road. We managed to limp the truck back to my farm by adding water to the radiator every few miles, and Ed took a flight back to Denver from the Nashville airport.
(insert page break here- - - -to be continued!)
