The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 52 half-ton hauling

This may be in the wrong section but,,,,my 52 half-ton has a 54/235 eng but has the s-10 five speed conversion along with a 85 blazer rear end,, 2:73,and also lowered, I have been told not to expect to much as for a hauling or towing,, the only thing that I have hauled in the bed is the tranmission along with the org. enclosed drive train and rear end,, dont know how much weight this was, my wife is wanting me to go to the city dump and get the free compost they offered,, I use to always do this in my half-ton International which was no problem, at the present I dont drive it except on my county place as I have not had it inspected or lic or insured for the past 2 yrs,,,at last , the question,, do you think I could haul a load of compost or half a load with the set up that I have,, thanks for any and response,, I suspose I should call the city and find out what their load weighs....Fred

For what it is worth... do what you think is safe. For me, I have overloaded every truck I have ever owned and have never broken anything. My 54 half ton has take many a load with no trouble. The trans and rear end may or may not be as heavy duty as the origninal. If you put a load in, just take it easy on the way home. If the rest of the truck is mechanically sound, you should have no trouble. If it feels wrong, then you may want to slow down or even unload some.
If my dad can put 7 full 5 gallon pails of compost in a Chrysler 300, you certainly should be able to load up an old Chevy. Good luck.

Fred, I use to work at a housing deveolpment and I use to haul bricks.

It was hauling them in a tiny little Ford Ranger, that's supposed to haul 1000 pounds safely.

Instead, I was hauling 4,608 pounds.

Didn't break a thing!

did ya ever lose any

i hauled 13 sheets of 1/2 drywall plus 400 lbs of people with the same set up you have. i have disc brakes on the front. sometimes it not the hauling but the stopping. be careful. i towed 4000lbs of gravel on a ford courier rated for 1500. towed alright but 3 blocks to stop. RON

Hahaha, nope! But the stock F**D ranger comes with plastic mudflaps, and they dragged all the way

^^ hahaha....My Opa told me a story about back in 53 when he bought a 53 chevy 1/2 ton short step. He would haul two grown cows in his box. I'm just trying to imagine how...now we have big trailers, and 3/4 tons and such...would be a site to see for sure.

my wife told me that I should not make the trip in my 52, she did not want me to blame her if some-thing happened to it,,, would any guy worth his salt do that?..Fred

BWAAAAAACKK BWAAAACK go for it...

It'll handle it.

Fred, you're only going to be limited by two things, starting and stopping. I wouldn't try to fill the bed full and go slow over the bumps. Just don't fill her up until she drags.

The truck being lowered is one concern, has good brks so I am afraid of that,,,but most seem to think it will be ok, so other then getting it awful dirty I may try it,,, total trip is about 20 miles and most of it is flat.. thanks for all response,,,Fred

Fred,didn't you just install a receiver hitch on Red Ryder?

Fred, do you have a freind with a trailer?

Fred, do you have a :o friend with a trailer?


I really don't care if you have a :o freind with a trailer.

Ok, I'm new to this site, but this one got my intrest. My toy is a '49 3100 3 window 327/4 spd/373's. I reciently hauled 2 rocks one was 1800#, the other was 2100# ( not at the same time !!!) The truck handled the load well, but it did take some extra distance to make a safe stop. Good luck.

I have a trailer but no hitch on the 52......

Fred, if you cain't get yer stovebolt to do the job, mebbe you just otta go trade it in on a F**D and be done with it.

Now, I know Carolyn wouldn't put up with you blamin' her for one minit, if you was to go do something like, as Redryder to haul a load that you know shouldn't be hauled.

Get a grip, my man. If you cain't trust a Stovebolt to do the job, you shouldn't be allowed to own one!

well for sure , with yours I would have no problem,,Fred

I loaded 2 Olds 455',2 Buick 455's,a Chevy 283,a truck 4 speed and two T-400's (that's-uh-about 4,000 pounds)in my '57 GMC once,helping a friend clean out a garage,then he found out he didn't have a place to drop 'em,so I hauled 'em around for about 2 weeks. I'm not gonna blame the rear end grenading 9 years later on that particular job. It was probably about 130,000 miles of pulling a 4,900 pound 5th wheel with it.
I'm sure you can haul composte with your truck. try loading a half load and see how it does,if it handles that pretty well,add some more. Might be good to run it across the scales when you reach what you feel is a comfortable limit to see what constitutes an official load.

I picked up a 1/2 a yard of mulch on saturday with my 51,3100.measured height before and after ,with the weight one inch lower,A full yard or full bucket load did not compress springs a full two inches.I take one of those cheap plastic tarps and lay it in the bed first ,load the mulch ,fold the tarp over and just drive a little slower,these trucks where made to handle almost anything. old navy 51..............

Put extra air in your rear tires before you go.

hi fred. to bad that your that far away the dump truck is running fine. you should have not problem in the haul but like wrenchbender said make sure the tires are up good. good luck..mike

You know your truck better than anyone... What does your gut say?

it runs fine, just not sure how much the load my bring down the truck,,it sits pretty low now,I went out just a few min ago,,did not measure as I have it in the garage and a tight fit, I have a small hand and it will just barely slide between the top of the rear tire and fender(my hand being flat).. I think I just got my anwser,,, I knew it was low but did not realize it was that low,, I think the blazer rear end conversion made it even a shade lower then it was previous,,, thanks for you response,,may have to break the law and bring the old international out of retirement for one trip..Fred