The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk whats your ongest trip in an original-ish truck aka 6cyl and 4:11 gears?

I have owned a few 6 banger trucks with original gearing.
Ive heard people say keep it under 55mph and it can go as far as you need to...Im curious what is the longest haul you have made in your stocker and how did it go?
PLEASE NO TALL TALES HAHAHA

we took our 59 Suburban from Seattle to California, Vegas, and round-about back home, 4600 miles If I remember correctly. That was probably 16 years ago though. It had the 352 and 3.9 gears in it and 31x10.50-15 tires.

Two years ago I drove my stock 1951 1/2 ton to the Stovebolt Reunion in Kansas City from AZ and back. Round trip was 2500 miles. I won a trophy for "Longest Driven". Here is a picture to prove this is no tall tale, plus I had Stovebolters as witnesses.

http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/1950Cabover/media/IMG_1386_zpsh1fvzrzx.jpg.html?o=13

I had a blast the whole way with truckers waving at me and people stopping at gas stations to share a story or two.

Kent

I was fully confident (still am) in driving my 216 w/4:11 gears round trip from TN to Prudhoe Bay, AK for the cancer drive (see link in sig.) until a very generous soul donated the 3:55 set from Patricks back in 2000. The trip was 11,802 miles and eight weeks with only a generator rebuild, broken muffler bracket, and some flat tires. The next summer we drove the entire Route 66, no problems.

Don't think for a minute it couldn't have been done just as well with 4:11 gears. I drove many years and thousands of miles with the 4:11 and part of my inspiration for doing those drives was to prove it could be done with a stock AD truck. Takes patience and careful route selection, but when it comes down to it, miles is miles.

One day after returning from AK I went to a truck show 640 miles from home in Jenks, OK. I did the return trip in one day during a 104 degree heat wave. Left Jenks at 6:00 am and got home about 9:00 pm. I was exhausted, but man what a feeling of accomplishment!

To do that kind of driving in a stock truck successfully it's all about route selection and giving yourself lots of time. If you're in a hurry, drive a modern car.

Well, my trip doesn't begin to compare to these other fella's trips, but I'll share it with you anyway. I drove 146 miles round trip from San Antonio to Fredericksburg, TX. I like to take the back roads so I can drive slow and enjoy the view. Both me and the truck feel best going about 45 MPH, so it took us about an hour and a half one way. I've made the trip about 15 or so times and have found that it's just enough miles to get my "fix" of truck drivin' for a while. The bench seat isn't the most comfortable thing to sit on, so my backside is a bit sore when I get home! If you're not in a hurry to get someplace then driving these old trucks is fun to do. I'll also be honest and say that even though my truck is in decent mechanical shape, I'm always leary of it breaking down on me, so I'm hesitant to take it any further out than what I have. I also don't drive it at night. That being said, it's only let me down once when I ran out of gas on my way to Fredericksburg. My fault because the gas gauge don't work and I was using the odometer for a "Guestimate" as to how much gas I had on board and I miscalculated. My mistake! If you've spent a bunch of money to get it in excellent operating condition then I say drive it as far as you can stand to!

My two cents worth.

Skooter has me beat.

However I drove my 52 3800 from Virginia to California to Washington, on to Canada, back to the US, Chicago, Detroit, Niagra Falls, and back home.
About 8,000 miles, 28 days away from home, not all driving.
55 model 235 and 4.56 gears.

Only needed a generator bearing and a fan blade.

Never left the county with the truck in the several years prior..

Just get in it and drive. If anything happens take a moment, think of the adventure ahead, the stories to come, and calmly get on with fixing whatever you need to fix. Being flexible is the key to not worrying.

Grigg

My 59 Burb with a 307 V8 and a Dana type 60 3/4 ton rear end (3.73 ratio) and a SM 420 4 speed made a 2500 mile trip from California to Tennessee, towing a Datsun 510 station wagon. Both the van and the wagon were loaded clear to the roof with clothes and household goods. My wife was driving, following me with the bigger load- - -a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood towing an 18 foot 3-axle trailer. My rig weighed 16,700 pounds. I got 5 MPG, she got 10. Drive 100 miles, gas up both rigs, and press on! That was in February 1980.
Jerry

San Francisco to Montgomery Alabama, in my 46 half ton.

how fast did you run her and what kind of mpg?

I can't beat you guys with my '48 but we did drive 1250 miles from Seattle to Laramie, WY in 1966 with our absolutely stock '51 Chev car loaded to the gills with car rack and pulling a U-Haul trailer through Yellowstone. We had a contest to see which family member could guess our miles per gallon.....of oil.....which I bought in bulk.

This and more are in the web site in my signature.
.
Overnight at Lewis and Clark State Park, Montana.
.
Hello Laramie.
.

I drove a bone stock '52 3100 (216 with a cracked water jacket, 6 volts, 4.11 gears) 2,000 miles round trip from Virginia to Illinois on two separate occasions. The only trouble that I had was stuck brushes on the generator. I flicked the springs on each brush and the generator came back to life.
Carl

Drove a 1935 Buick, 231 S8, 4.11, 4 hour trip once at 55
MPH and a 1950 F1 straight 6, don't know the ratio but
I read this morning that 3.92 standard and 4.27 optional.
Drove the F1 80 miles round trip to work for a year doing 65.

Never felt the need to change gears. So I say drive it stock
and see if it works for you. Jeffrey

I bought my 54 in Luning Nevada in 1978. Drove down with my dad to get it. Drove it home towing the car we drove down in. Home being Alexis Creek British Columbia Canada. 1400 - 1500 miles. Bone stock 4 speed 4:10 ratio.6.50×16 tires. That was a long drive. Yes it was a conversation piece when we stopped. And I had three offers on it to boot..many more since and I still have it and drive it 5 months of the year.

This was a long time ago , so I don't remember. I had just finished the restoration to daily driver. Rebuilt engine, new paint and standard 3 speed. I seem to think it would run in the 50 -60 range.

It was a long trip.

Here is my adventure, unfortunately most the picture links are busted due to picasa.



https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/995301/1.html

He is no longer with us but several years ago, Ned drove his stock one ton panel from the east coast to Kansas City and then on to Colorado. Then he took a round about way home, stopping in South Carolina and then home. He had a 216 with 5:17 gears.

I drove my 1950 3600 all stock from Oakland CA to Rochester NY in August of 1979. I had only owned the truck for about a week or two before I departed. The rear axle seals went by the time we got to Bakersfield and we got them changed there loosing nearly a day of travel time. The starter quit in Texas so it was not shut off after that. My co-driver was former trucker so he did the night shift and I did the day time. We towed a 1957 Chevy station wagon back as well. My longest trip since then was from Southern NH to Owls Head ME and as noted before, the bench seat is not comfortable enough for old butts. I could hardly walk once I arrived!

in 1971 at age 24 i was transferred with my job to a distance location. married with a one year old son my wife and i drove from florence, al. to glasglow, ky, she drove our car with our one year old son placed in a baby carrier strapped down with the lap seat belt. i drove a 1953 stock chevrolet one half ton and never thought about it not making the trip. can't remember how long it took but things went good. we lived there for a year and i continued to drive the truck 45 miles round trip daily for that year. foolishly traded it off, one of those wish i had it back.

Took Doughboy, 55 bread truck 235 4:11 I wish; probably 5:08, from home to Homecoming HQ a couple of years ago. OK, it's only about 100 miles, but it took me a long long time. Doughboy would go 50 mph, but much rather preferred about 40 mph; so that's what I did.

DC beltway traffic really didn't like it too much (going twice as fast), but they had three lanes on my left to deal with it. Trip went great, but the wonderful guys at Homecoming helped me replace a leaky axle seal before I returned.

Last year I installed an R-10 overdrive unit in Doughboy. It's more traffic friendly now; but I'm still not in much of a hurry to get anywhere.

thanks for the replys guys I love it keep em coming

My 49 3100 w/it's stock 216 and 4:11 rear goes 60 to 100 miles every Saturday, barring rain or snow. Avg speed is 45 which is a little over 2K rpm but it does hit a stretch of 55 mph and the occasional passing at up to 65 mph.
It humms along like a singer sewing machine at 40-45 mph and could go on forever it seems. The old 216 spinning enough to make 55 and above gets quite noisey. It handles it OK but I don't push it. It definitely likes 40 - 45 best LOL.
That's small potatoes compared to many of the amazing posts in this thread but does show a good dependability for a basically stock 68 yr old truck.

Lewiston, Idaho to Las Vegas, twice. 4-speed., 4:11, I dunno.

Amtrak Joe and I did the round trip (approx 1,500 miles) from Washington DC greater metro area to Kansas City a few years ago (didn't get the long distance award, though ...) with an unrebuilt bone stock straight six and 6.40/8.72:1 rear axle. Got between 8 and 9 MPG and cruised 62 governed MPH .

I just completed a 1800 km trip to the Edendale Crankup

http://www.edendalevmc.co.nz/crankup.php

Mostly on gravel roads , one section had 25 river crossings in 24kms.

I love my truck

Lightholders Dad - wow! Not only a great long distance but I checked out your link. Awesome collection there. We must have similar tastes. Each of those is on my wish list.

Longest I've gone in my '51 Gmc is about 30-35 miles. The day I bought it off the farm. Old guy says "you gonna come back with a trailer?" A wise man would've taken the hint.. It did make it though- poor thing screaming at 60 on the freeway with the 5.13 or 5.38 rear gears it has. Will a 6 volt tach work if hooked up backwards (positive ground)? Curious to know what it's turning before I swap out for the 4.11 chunk I found.

Before I owned the truck, my wife's Uncle would drive it to central Minnesota from Kansas City every year (and back). He happened to die while there, so we drove up and I drove it back. When I was in the USMC, I drove a 1950 1/2 ton from Grand Island Nebraska to Jacksonville, North Carolina.

In 1971 we moved to New Jersey from California with a 1960 1/2 ton 235 Chevy. With a topper on the bed with all our worldly goods in the back, towing a 1968 Mustang. 55-60 mph. the only time I really worried was coming out of Salt Lake City, I had to shift in to low gear, but we made it. By we, I mean the wife and 2 young children. All 4 of us. thankfully they had a wide seat in those 60's trucks.
Cleon
We also had a Manchester terrier sleeping on the floorboard.

great stories..this is whats its all about

Victor - I remember that trip to Homecoming. I have great photos of doughboy on that cruise we all took. I hope all is well - Joe

My old 1963 C10 was a factory original 283 v8 with a 2 speed Powerglide and the 3.73:1 rear end.

I drove that thing all over the western United States.

I guess the longest straight haul, only stopping for food and fuel was from Denver, CO to Sacramento, CA, via Las Vegas, NV and Bakersfield, CA. That's about 1300 miles straight through with 2 drivers. Winter of 1982 and all the main mountain routes in Northern California were close due to snow. Had to go a southern route to get through.

I did make a speed run from Sacramento, CA to Salt Lake City, UT in the '63 to pick up my brother and his Toyota Landcruiser. He blew the engine so I had to run pick him up and tow his Toyota back to Reno, NV. It was loaded wall to wall with his hunting gear, including 2 Antelope he had shot. He lost oil pressure and thought it would be ok if he went slow and "nursed" it in. He found out the hard way, engines don't like no oil pressure.

My 1962 C10 had a 230 I6, SM420, and 3.90:1 rear end. I've driven that one from Sacramento, CA to Reno, NV. That's about 125 miles one way up Interstate 80 at about 55-60mph in the slow lane.

When the 230 I6 finally died, I put a 1967, 275hp 327 v8 in the '62. It's still slow, but it still gets there. :-)

Hi Justpassinthru

I had a 1953 "Howard Knapp" truck in 2016...the longest trip I took was 10 miles that I drove it to work in July of 2016..

shown here

still trying to fit in

it went ok...ran along about 45 mph...locals didnt like it as it would not leave the stop lights like the fuel injected stuff everybody drives now... folks did give me more space than when I was in my Willys Jeep...I think the size was an advantage this time...

Start in second gear...4th gear came really quick too...I was always trying to find 5 th gear...it really needed a 5 speed to properly stretch it legs...

You had to keep your head on a swivel as traffic came up to you really quickly too...

Oh yeah...my truck was 1 ton with 4.10 gears and a 4 speed tranny and sorta rebuilt 235 car engine in it...

Smelled like my grandpa did back in the day...

MikeC

Got my truck in 1982. National speed limit was 55 for the first six years I had the truck. Obviously made it a little easier to run 4.11 which I didn't swap for 3.55 until 2000.

Two memorable drives in those early days. First was 100 miles down to Huntsville, AL to take the air traffic controllers exam, on which I scored just a couple points too low to be considered for job offer. Not that far, but something about going somewhere you've never been to do something you've never done made it adventurous. Then during Christmas break (from college) in 1985 drove 135 miles down I-24 to Cleveland, TN to visit a girlfriend and her family for a few days.

Have much respect for anyone who uses one of these trucks as a daily driver out of necessity. That was me back then.

Oh, and this isn't a distance thing but it was also that winter of '84-'85 we had a cold spell, daytime high -7 if I recall, in my hometown of Centerville, TN. Dad's car wouldn't start, and our neighbor couldn't start his either. But Shelley fired right up. She'd been converted to 12V but still...showed those modern cars who's boss.

The longest trip I've taken in my '50 3100/3spd/4.11 in the 2.5 years I've had it has been from the north side of Houston, TX to Austin, TX for the Lone Star Round Up, twice. It's only around 150 miles, but the first time we went, I had only previously driven the truck about 15 miles from home, and that first trip up was mostly in the rain with non-functioning vacuum wipers. We survived and had a sunnier trip the next year. (Won't be making it up there this year due to scheduling conflicts, maybe next year...)

I've driven it to a few other shows around 45 and 60 miles away, and drove it into downtown Houston around Thanksgiving for the Autorama (I've always been leery of "inside the Beltway" of Houston due to not having blinkers yet).

Most of you guys got me beat. I remember Scott's trip to Prudhoe Bay. What an achievement. Especially for such a good cause.

I have posted about this before. I had a 50 3600 with (probably) the original 216, SM-420 and 4.57 rear gears. See link in my signature. At the end of 2009 my family and I moved from Central IL to Fond du Lac, WI as I had changed jobs. We left the 50 in the care of a good friend of mine. It was May 2010 before we could go get it. We got to my friends house about 9:00 am. After a cursory once-over: check and top off oil, air up tires, put charger on battery for awhile - then took off. Almost 9 hours and 7 quarts of oil later, with a quite a few stops, we made the 320-330 mile trip. And man was it hot that day. My hands were sweating, and black from the old steering wheel got all over my hands. No break downs or problems other than the oil loss...

I would do it again.

About 560 miles round trip from VA to NC and back in 1969 in a rotting-away 1948 Chevrolet 1/2 ton panel truck. No Interstate driving on that route in 1969, but, a lot of 50 mph+ driving.

My long trips, two of em. From South Central Arkansas to Luckenbach/Fredericksburg TX, about 1,300 miles round trip X two. The first trip was with the stock 4.57's (stock 3/4 ton gears) with a T5 transmission. Second trip was with 4.11 gears. Much better road gear. With the .72 overdrive T5 and 4.11's 60 mph is a very OK cruise speed with 65 to 70 if required. Best is in the mid to high 50's though and if not holding up traffic my normal speed.

I used to make regular 600 - 800 mile round trips in my 54 3100 back in the mid to late 70's. I would go from the Chicago area to various places in southern Illinois and once drove it to Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana. There was some Interstate driving, but mostly two lane highways. Those were fun days!
Samantha

My longest trip was when I brought my 54 home. 1979,from Luning Nev to Williams Lake B.C Canada. Towed my Dads 72 Toyota wagon back home. Was a long trip. 2nd longest trip was from Williams Lake to Yellow Knife N.W.T. and back. For many years that 54 was my only vehicle,year around.Still have it and drive it,just not all year.

My '54 GMC 630(503 gasser) drove from Arkansas(by HRL) to Kansas City and then to north of Denver by me a few years back, no speedo, got between 6 and 9 mpg, everything worked, nothing fell off, nothing caught fire.

Ed

I bought my 53 3100 in so-cal when I got out of the Navy in 1980. It was my construction work truck and my only vehicle for 9 years. 235 with 3.73s In that time I drove it to Indiana and back to Anaheim California 5 times with tools in the back. Broke a couple of rims and used a lot of oil but she always made it. Back then I was young and invincible. It made the last trip one way trip to indiana in 89 and she was parked until a year ago.