The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1939 (VC) 1.5 ton truck Weight Figures...

I would like to confirm the approximate weight of a 1939 VC truck (158-1/2 W.B.) built with something similar to a stake body... I also understand that by weight we must cover shipping weight, curb weight and gross weight... Somewhere in there we have also two other definitions that may be the same as what has already been mentioned, Empty weight and Loaded weight...

Lastly, I would like to confirm the manufacture's GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of the truck being 7,700lbs...

Can anyone help confirm the following figures?

1- Shipping Weight: 4,500 lbs, Minus fuel...
2- Curb Weight: 4,585 lbs, Total weight of truck without driver or cargo with a Full fuel tank. Same as Empty Weight
3- Gross Weight: Same as Loaded Weight?
4- Empty weight: 4,585 lbs? Same as Curb Weight.
5- Loaded Weight: 4,885 lbs? Total weight of the truck with a 300 lbs driver...

So to cap it all, the actual weight that I can carry is 3,115 lbs (7,700-4,585) or should it be 2,815 lbs?? (7,700-4,885lbs)

Thank you!

You should be able to find the info you're looking for HERE

I have seen the charts, but I am not knowledgeable enough to interpret them correctly... What I put down was my interpretation, aside from trying to find other information online...First question to confirm is the manufacture's GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of the truck being 7,700lbs and go from there...

Weight carrying capacity is GVWR minus empty weight (including driver, fuel and ancillary equipment like tools and such.)

In order to help you out with your GVWR we need to know the following;

Do you have Single or Dual rear wheels?

Do you have Rear Auxiliary Springs?

Do you have an Engine Governor?

What size of front tires?

What size of rear tires?

Is it a Stake (standard height sides) or Rack side (tall sides) truck?

Mike B

The OP's wheelbase (158.5 stated in his first post) truck apparently only comes in dual rear wheels. The other things such as tires would affect it only if they were lighter capacity than stock tires.

The real way to figure load capacity it to go weigh the truck as it's ready for the load (fuel, driver, etc.) The subtract that number from the GVWR. You also need to pay attention to tire and axle ratings. I didn't see axle ratings on the Vehicle Information Kit, but the GVWR usually isn't as much as the front and rear axle ratings combined. That is, if you load both axles to their max rating, you will have exceeded GVWR.

Original 1939 (VC) code vin# was a truck that came with single rear wheels with 6.50-20 tires... When it got to me it has dual rear wheels. Right now it has single wheels all around, but they're 9.50-16 on custom rims... I do not know what rear auxiliary springs are, but I doubt I have them. It does not have a governor.
The current box is probably something close in size to what the standard box would be.

Apparently I wasn't completely clear on the dual rear wheels. The 1-1/2 ton Stake Body truck in 158-1/2 inch wheelbase only came with dual rear wheels.

This excerpt from the Vehicle information kit (with my highlights) gives you the full information.

Rear auxiliary springs are typically stacked on top of the standard springs and contact frame brackets only as the truck is loaded to compress the suspension. There's a figure of Aux springs on page 37 (PDF page 40) of my original link.

The 158"wb with Single rear wheels had a max GVWR of 8,000#

The 158"wb with Dual rear wheels had a max GVWR of 13,500#

Single Rear Wheel trucks were not fitted with Aux springs or a Governor from the factory.

The Empty/Curb weight would be somewhere about 4,800# +/-...the info pack doesn't give a weight for the Single rear wheel Stake body trucks. Your custom bed makes it impossible for us to give anything more than a guess...take it to the local land fill and drive across the scale to see what it weighs.

Mike B