The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Looking at a 72 C-50 tomorrow

Found the stovebolt forum while looking for info about a 1972 C-50 dump truck I am thinking about buying.Spending some time searching and reading about other members experiences with these old Chevy trucks has resolved many of my concerns with buying a 25 y/o truck.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on what to look for while inspecting this truck.

From pictures it appears very solid.The owner says it runs,stops and dumps very well, was used as a city plow truck and retired to the service managers home shop.Drivetrain is a 350 connected to a manual trans and 2 speed rear end.
With an asking price around $900 - $1000 buying seems like a no brainer, there lies part of the problem.Often what seems like its to good to be true, is.
[img]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/sbin000/c50b.jpg[/img] [img]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/sbin000/c50a.jpg[/img]

Great trucks! I have a 1970 C50 dump same as yours. look at rockers, cab mounts, also the fenders and radiator support. The cab is the same as a pickup so any patch panels will fit. some pices like rockers,doors,floor pan require trimming to fit. The nose is all on it's owne and parts are hard/imposible to find here in new england because most have been crushed here. It is probably better where you are. I had to do a lot of patch work on my nose. at 1,000 you can't loose The tranny and rear end are worth that alone. good luck with the truck

Thanks Rust master,
Knowing that aftermarket panels will fit the C-50 cab makes buying an even easier choice.

Brakes and rubber will be the biggest expense on owning one of the big trucks.

It's probably cheap because someone bought it to do some specific hauling and is now done with it and wanting some of his money back.
Good luck and welcome to the Stovebolt,
Scott

That's a great looking truck I would buy it in a heartbeat. Welcome to the board it's a great place to hang out and very knowledgeable people here too.
I will suggest that instead of posting the picture its' self post a link to it in the future.

Rubber and rims were another major concern.Both rear inner tires were changed last year and the owner knows of two tires/tubes available ($150) for the rear outer.The brakes are said to be in excellent condition.

As I need the truck to haul a Case 580c backhoe of similar vintage brakes followed closely by tires and clutch are top of the list.
If it won't stop, start or steer doesn't really matter what it looks like.