The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Anybody else daily their Big Bolt?

I have made a few posts on here over this past summer for what I think to be silly questions now but the answers on this forum have helped get me here today.

During my college’s summer break, I took on the project of turning our old water truck into my daily driver. I thought to myself, why the hell not.

First thing, I knew I had to do was get them old widowmakers off the back. Luckily I had remembered where an old viking 60 pole truck had been sitting since I was a little squirt. I struck a deal with the owner and got me another truck with some tubeless wheels on the back lucky for me.

The second thing I knew I had to do was get that old hoss up to reasonably safe highway speed at a decent rpm. I decided to go with an overdrive swap. I figured an nv4500 would be a fitting tranny for the 2ton.

I followed whateverpratt’s series of posts on how he swapped an nv4500 behind a 235. I give a whole lot of credit to his posts. He showed you how it could be done and gave very good pictures with steps he took.

I had an adapter plate made at the machine shop and drilled and tapped the holes. Had a couple other parts turned down, driveshaft shortened then voila, I had an overdrive big bolt.

After rebuilding the brake system and adding a dual reservoir master cylinder with booster from lmc truck, the old girl stops on a dime. I just bypassed the old hydrovac and the truck seems to do just as well.

Then it came to the part I was really looking forward to, driving the well fed chevy 220 miles back to college. Well she took that trip 65 mph no problem, except for the few steep west Texas grades that really tested that little 235 and knocked me all the way down to 25-30 mph.

Now that I’ve got her here, I’ve just been driving the dog out of it and learning a whole lot along the way. Many old timers come up asking about her and telling me about the ones they remember working the cotton fields with.

I have decided to use her to make me a couple dimes while I’m in school hauling off tree limbs and junk. As you could imagine it is quite suiting for a big bolt.

Seeing if anybody else daily drives their big bolt and to share my experience of turning the big goose into my grocery getter and offer a big deal of thanks to Mike B, 69cuda, and whateverpratt for all of the good information.

Hey man. You hit the nail on the head for me. I have a 1938 1.5 ton and just got the tilton dual master system in , also changed out the trans to an nv4500 (grinds in 4th. will need fixing but for now fine) , also 216 changed out to a 292. I underestimated the amount of work involved. POints I am curious about your truck and mine and the DD question:

1. I am using the original brakes in front. I redid the pads but the drums.. not sure they are spec inside and thinking of getting another set and building up the actual drum lining.. anyway, I DO NOT feel comfortable taking this thing over 45mph between the steering and the brakes. I cant imagine driving it at 65.. Am I missing something here? are your brakes better than the '38? I have dump truck 4:10 dana 60 axle in back with all new brakes and they seem okay. The pedal seems to low to the floor at stopping though.

2. With the nv4500, it has too much gear.. Wondering if I should have stayed with 3 speed.. This is bc I dont feel comfortable going that fast. It would be in 3rd, barely 4th all the time.

3. Related to 1 & 2, my king pins are being replaced on the 15th. This is probably why I felt the bumping in the front like the tires had lumps.. Maybe I will feel better if we tighten up or readjust the fronts and fix the kingpins..

4. The 292 I have no complaints, so much TQ it will start out in 3rd gear. Some pics I have for now..

EDIT: I just read a post from Jerry, I may need more adjusting on the front brakes and/or at some point spec or rebuild the drum lining itself before I would drive it regularly. But still wondering on the how fast question.

If you can find a 2 ton front axle same width as yours, one can add disc brake spindles/hubs.

Ed

I think it’s awesome you guys are rocking those big girls. Very unique. As for how they should handle, if the front ends are tight, steering adjusted, lubed, brakes done, they should perform very well. They’re not a new Duramax, so don’t expect that. My ‘51 GMC 1 ton has all new components up front, adjusted brakes, and it handles and drives very nicely. I never hesitate to take mine into the city. That being said, I still drive much more defensively than when I’m around home.

One time I was coming home from a show/shine and was being tailgated by 2 pickup trucks followed by 2 semi tractor trailers. I was clipping along at 60, but a lot of people drive like idiots here. I was irritated by them and was watching them closely. I was approaching a large bridge on a river when a white tailed doe jump over the guard rail in front of me. No! I slammed on the brakes (hoping that all my efforts of building this truck weren’t going to be destroyed. And also hoping that all my frame component work was going to save my truck).

My brakes locked up. Horn blaring. Smoke rising from the tires. Those pickups and semis started piling on their brakes. The deer scrambling, getting closer, the trucks getting larger in my rear view mirror᠁ I can still picture that Chevy bow tie on that truck’s grille and how close it got in that mirror.

Then everything in the clear. No collision with the deer. No collision on my back end.

If you do them thoroughly and correctly, those old brakes work just fine.

Hey 38 love your old rig. Ill see if I can’t let you in on my experience so far with what you have in question.

1. To me personally my front end is not at all brand new but I honestly do not think that the truck handles any worse than any straight axle 4wd truck I’ve driven but I’m also 21 so I can’t say I have a great long lifetimes experience. I have gotten her up to 75 (not with ease) and the truck just takes it no problem. As for the brakes, just yesterday I had to slam on them as I was getting on the offramp and just happened to notice that traffic was halted halfway up. The truck handled that abrupt stop from 60 pretty well. I mean if you think about it, these trucks were designed to stop with a gvw of 14,000 (for my 4400). Seeing that I mostly daily it empty at 8,000 I’m not too worried about having to stop urgently, not saying I don’t pucker up a little bit sometimes coming on some sudden stops. But my truck is also 18 years and a few body styles up so I couldn’t speak on behalf of your truck but I agree with Fox too with as long as everything up front is nice and tight, performance should be decent.

2. In all honesty the overdrive is too much gear for my 235 but ever since I got my two speed rear working it has been great! I mean 5th is only good on flat ground but it still is very nice to have on long trips or through town just to get a little more speed going to not get ran over by traffic. If you keep the nv4500 you always have your 1:1 4th just the extra .73 5th if you ever want it.

3. My kingpins are a hair wobbly and probably should be replaced in the near future but I just keep them well greased and so far they have held up good but that all depends on the exact state of wear on your kingpins.

4. I do have a 261 I plan on building for this truck but I would more like to find a 302 gmc. A 292 would be a good candidate. How did you go about mounting your nv4500 to the 292?

Fox that was a great story and I’m glad that them brakes held up good for you. I understand a lot of this equipment is obsolete but that does not mean that they will not function well, especially well serviced. But I completely agree this old stuff doesn’t perform like the new stuff but it sure does get the job done.

Just wanted to chime in that I daily drive my 54 4100. 235 with SM420 and 6.17 rear.

I will take on occasional long trips - even on the highway. Everything is stock, and everything is redone/gone over. Will cruise quite well at 45mph and I stick to roads/highways where that speed is legal. I will bounce up to 55 temporarily to handle "situations". I've had stovebolt 6's in boats for a long time, and cruise is 2/3 max rpm. So I follow the same rule with the truck - with the tires I have it puts my normal cruise speed around 45 on the low end and 52 on the high end.

She does get used to haul stone, mulch, top soil and firewood - has working dump. Primarily used for groceries every week. Gas mileage is about 10 when I run to the next state.

I have one kingpin needing attention, but she handles well and probably has the best brakes of anything I drive (fleet of 7 vehicles, 1931 thru 2015). I do go over the braking system weekly, and check master fluid level before each drive. I did have a modern dual master fail completely, so not worried about single cylinder master system.

I hate expansion joints on highways.....

BigBoltJohn Yes daily drive my 51 6400 235 insert bearing 2-ton. Is a 98 inch wheelbase 4 link pickup 8.25x20 rubber,coil spring rear all done at home. HEI ignition,straight propane burner drive summer and winter about a 50 MPH truck. Best pickup I've had out of about 30 AD trucks in 50 years. Was a corn hauler next door for years and years got outdated to small.

stouchton, I too hate expansion joints. happen to live on a class 3 truck hiway, and pretty good country black tops on my 12 mile trip to a 6 a.m. coffee shop I go to ! Mornings on my way home,usually climb on the brakes for my gravel road to see how it's doing. Can slide the tires so only improvement i'm seeing would be ABS.At this 98 inch wheelbase weigh 5300,handles fine,doesn't ride like a baby buggy but is good enough.

Why do you hate expansion joints? The 94/95 chevy nv4500 bolted fine to the '84 292 inline 6 with the bell the nv came with. Thats all I know bc I got if from a guy who had to get rid of it.
Q: what does a bad king pin sound or feel like when driving? My truck feels like its going bump bump bump bump like a lump in the tire at (guessing 40+mph). Doubt its the tires, they are new and in great shape. Thanks. Oh also, the gauge, I ended up getting a new one for $500, not cheap to hook up to the trans for spedometer to work and fit properly in dash.. etc... . Im selling my old one. I dont want to part with it but need to make money back.

Expansion joints (buckled expansion joints) launch me airborne at 45mph and I land like a brick.

For me, a kingpin with slight play causes a slight wandering in the steering. When I grease it the wandering goes away for a few miles but comes back.

Reminder to self to avoid exp joint daily driving or ANY driving!! On the kingpins, pushing truck side to side causes a thumping/clicking noise when stationary. Bearings are good. Thought that was the cause of the bumping while driving to

A non-Bolt I used to have had a wheelbase exactly the same as the spacing of the expansion joints on a certain stretch of road. Seems no matter how slow I drove, I was bouncing off the seat and hitting my head on the roof!
Eventually they re-did the road and things were a whole lot better after that.

The clicking/clunking/thumping noise at standstill or very slow hard turns is probably the front spring shackles/eye bolts, grease 'em if you can for a test, depending on how worn they are the grease may not quiet them.

Good thread. Very helpful thanks guys!

38 1.5 ton You understood expansion joints on the road,you know bumps ?? On your kingpin jack it up till it clears the road then shake it see if there is slack. On your thump may need to balance wheels. They say oh don't need it on big bolt,well you sure do !! Also on your kingpin when that truck is on a level surface you can see your camber(in or out at the top of your wheels on the front) it's subtle but there. Next when your driving all the rubber warmed up flat spots worked out you can "feel " the slight slack in your front end also might check your toe-in. I measure toe-in with 2 yardsticks at the bulge of the tire spindle level no more than 1/4 inch less in front than in back. That toe-in can make a big difference in how it handles. good luck fix

stouchton Have you checked toe-in ?? My 51 6400 isn't real tight in the kingpins but toe-in is about 1/4 inch, handles pretty good on smooth road run about 50 MPH. Need to balance duals and fronts grease it.

I'm driving my '53 6100 pretty much daily since I installed the diesel engine. I don't leave town right now because of the slow top speed. Great for trips to the coffee shop and getting parts and groceries.

dsldriver That a detroit ?? Sounds like big fun, done a lot of diesel head service but never have actually owned one yet. Took care of a 4-71 on a hammer mill was like a big pet really liked to hear it pull. Have some big trucks elgible to accept a diesel but don't run with the black smoke guys very much. Do cruze my 51 6400 to coffee and lately quite a few parades.

fixite7, yes, a 3-53 Detroit. Amazing how much power it has considering it's only 159 cubic inches.

78 Buckshot Discovered I had well worn eye bolts,so looked em up ,very expensive for just a bolt but are an odd size. Went to the farm store got a grade 8 bolt close in size,you have a nut there that is new,so turned out and threaded a fresh bolt fixed it right up !!

I don't drive mine every day, but we tow our 35' 1951 travel trailer with it. We went to Tulsa Ok. last fall, 2 trips to Oregon in July, and up almost to the Canadian border last week. We weigh about 18,000 truck and trailer. I almost get 7 mpg towing the trailer (8 mpg empty) so, it only gets driven when my wife's car is in use or we need the space or to tow something!

That's a nice truck!

Thanks Rich!