The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 1952 3/4 ton Chevy upgrade questions.

My son's and I recently purchased a 52 LWB 3/4 ton off e bay. It has great potential. It is running and rolling but needs some work. I am new to this and I am very thankful to have found this great site. The truck has almost no rust and appears to have come from Wyoming. We picked it up in Kansas. It has a 350 hooked up to the granny 4 speed. The rear end is 10 bolt 58" width. I need help on upgrades. What would be the easiest way to get away from the 8 lug 6 1/2 inch wheels? Can I go to discs in front and keep the straight axel? Is the origional front end and steering going be able to safely deal with todays highway speeds? Sure would be nice if it was easier to steer. I do not have a shop or welding equipment and would like to keep it rolling as much as possible with improvements. Are bolt on available? How do I cross over junkyard parts and know what will bolt on? How can I move the gas tank from inside the cab and increase the gallons. Although at todays gas prices this will hurt. What is the best way to upgrade the wipers from the vaccum? We would love to read some on those that have gone before us and done this type stuff. and plan to get deep into this site. Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

Welcome to the 'bolt, John C. Don't take this the wrong way, but the easiest way to accomplish all the items on your list is to trade it for a halfton. The 3/4 ton shares NO parts with the halfton below the frame; springs, shackles, hubs, brakes, drums, etc. are all larger. To change to 6 or even 5 lugs on the front, you can either alter your existing drums/hubs for new lugs or go IFS. On the rear end, only an axle swap will change the bolt pattern.

When set up properly, the stock steering should be safe, smooth and easy. Get a shop manual and, if necessary, a rebuild kit. If you're running wide tires it makes steering effort much greater, and you may want to look at this . I also found these links most useful, just remember that some of the info doesn't apply to your 3/4 ton.

The most cost effective way to make it safe is to restore. Otherwise, you're going to have to replace all the 3/4T parts, either with 1/2T or IFS. As for disc brakes, this guy describes the only plan I have heard of to keep your 3/4T straightaxle; otherwise, you're going to have to do an IFS which takes care of the steering, brakes and safety at once.

Good luck.

Oh, forgot to ask if it's been/will be converted to 12V. I switched to 12V and bought an electric wiper motor that bolted right in. :p

Welcome to The 'Bolt, JohnC. Nice to hear you've got a nice starting point there. You say you're truck has a 10 bolt rearend-is it a five lug unit from a car? Do you want to change up to five lug disc brakes on the front to match? O.K., here's my $.02-first, find a similar year 1/2 ton AD truck in a local boneyard. Purchase it's front axle complete from hub to hub. now take it home and swap it under your existing leaf springs-it's supposed to be a direct bolt-in, from what I've seen posted here before. Now you can take advantage of the several aftermarket brake and power steering kits available out there. One source is:

www.classicperform.com

Classic Performance Products offers both brake and power steering kits as well as the little extras you need to really finish the install. If you'd like an idea of what kind of work these conversions will be, check this out:

www.classictruckshop.com

Look in the "Tech Articles" section, you'll find articles on both the disc brake swap and the power steering swap, along with some helpful tips not mentioned in the kit's instruction manuals. Oh yeah, if you're going to power steering, don't neglect to change out your existing tie rods, etc. with the newer heavy duty ones offered by the aftermarket.

Best of luck with your project and have fun!

Regards,
Wannabe

Great stuff guys. I have had a chance to look around this site some and it is full of good tech stuff and options. It has been converted to 12V. The rear end is still the 8 lug 6 1/2" bolt pattern. We origionally looked for a five window 1/2 ton but could not find one in our budget that met the criteria we needed. We fell in love with this old truck now so we will just have to make the best of it. Everyone I talk to tells me the sub frame would be the easiest but I think it may be over our heads. I will reasearch it more. The old truck runs good like it is except the gas tank is trashed. I was just thinking about making it easier to drive for my boy's (wife too!) We have a couple of years before they will be ready to drive it (she is ready now). We will be spending a lot of time here. Speedometer? Seat options? Stripped window driver? Thanks again fella's, I was getting a little discouraged.
John

With a limited budget the best restifacation is to do it back stock with a few upgrades that can really make a difference.These trucks were engineered to steer easy and stop fast for the top speeds of the day. Cheap upgrades are gas charged shocks,front sway bar, radial tires.You can have lots of fun with this truck without it costing you a fortune.once you start IFSing disco braking and all that fancy stuff you need some skill lots of tools and even more money.

John C. Welcome Aboard!!

This is the spot for folks that share your affliction, turning older trucks into great older trucks. I concur with my fellow Stovebolters with the suggestions to take it one step at a time. As the owner of two rigs in pieces, there's something to be said for weekend projects.

There are many suspension and steering options to explore. What's your goal, highway driving at 60 MPH or being able to do the pylon course (around here it's known as the WalMart parking lot)? What's the budget? Check the links page on the Stovebolt page to being to see what vendors offer. I agree with others that there is a spectrum of expense and options out there. Let us know what you're shooting for. The Stovebolters have much collective experience and are happy to share.

Cheers-
51PhatBoy

Welcome to the fun and frustrating world of 3/4 ton ownership. I too, drive a 1952 3/4 ton chevy and have faced many of the same problems and frustrations that you are facing. You can find plenty of old trucks and parts in 1/2 ton but few in 3/4 ton. I drove the old truck in stock form for a couple of years, but no one wanted to touch the two piece rims, the old huck brakes were wearing out and I could not find parts for them and, because of the 4:57 rear gears my engine was screaming at 45 mph. The old truck has a 57 235 and SM420 4 speed. I am just an average guy on a limited budget, but here are some things that I have done down thru the years (I've driven the truck 8 years)to make my old truck safe and drivable on todays roads: 1. Switched from 6 to 12 volts. 2. Put in electric wipers. 3. Replaced old master cylinder with modern style master cylinder (still under the cab)and ran new brake lines. 4. Put disc brakes on the front straight axle (had to use an axle from a 1/2 ton since no one makes a kit to use the 3/4 ton axle, but it bolted right up). 5. Since I now had a 5 lug front and 8 lug rear, I replaced the rear axle with one from a 76 Nova (correct width and with new pads welded on it bolted right up)The only blessing of owning a 3/4 ton truck is that you don't have a torque tube rear and can switch axles easily. My last upgrade was to add power steering, and tho it works well, if my steering parts had not been so worn out and sloppy, I would have stayed with the original steering system. The upgrade to power steering just demanded so many more modifications than did the other upgrades. Don't let these upgrades overwhelm you. I did it over a period of several years and was able to do it at home by myself and so can you. The truck isn't stock (due to parts availability it's easier to keep a 1/2 ton stock than a 3/4 ton), but it is a safe and reliable daily driver. As always there is a story behind each of these upgrades and if I can help, just let me know.

Bill