The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk So who's truck is a daily driver?

Who uses their truck (s) for a daily driver? What'd you have to do to make it a daily driver? Who's got the oldest daily driver?
My '65 replaced a '97 Hyundai Elantra (I know what you're thinkin' - that was a really good car actually) but, before selling my little white economizer, I had to fix a lot of wiring, replace lots of stuff including front windshield, solid rims (had the old split rims) and tires, radiator and fan (which had one blade left), voltage reg., battery, heater core and all the usual tune up stuff.
I've done a bunch more since then and have been driving her almost daily since bringing her home from Phoenix last fall. She sat in my mother-in-law's garage for over a year until I could get over there and make her roadworthy for the trip to San Diego.
Now, if I could just find a tranny and get her up to 10-12 mpg!

My wife drives her 51 Chevy every day from April to early November.The winter here is rough on old trucks with poor traction and road salt.It's got a 261 engine,4 spd manual OD tranny, 3.40 gears and electric wipers.Other than lowered a touch, radial tires and a front sway bar, the steering and suspension is stock.

I drive my 52 daily, year round in Chicagoland. Put it on the road in Dec 2002 and have made it through two winters and 20,000 miles. 250, 4bbl Edlbrock, 260 Crane Cam, NP833 OD 4 speed, Progressive Automotive MII IFS, 79 Z28 10 bolt with 3.42 & Powertrax. The Powertrax really helps when it's slickery, the reason I installed it. Neoprene liners keep salt & slush from packing the front cab corners. 16-17 MPG typ (I'd say in town, but we're still semi-rural. Dadgum houses are going up FAST though), 20MPG on road trips.

We use two cars for our people moving. But every time I have something to move that requires a truck I get to drive it. My stock 54 is always fun but I wouldn't want it as a daily driver. It deserves its periods of rest and is well cared for in our cozy climate. It also looks great parked next to the veg garden.

I drive my '40 all the time. It's my primary transportation. Stock outside, 235, T5, 3:55, front/rear srings, still straight axle, vintage air (only heater/defrost so far). My alternate is '60 Morgan then lastly or if I want to be stealthy, Wifey's '93 Mazda MPV.
Dennis

I could drive The Ox daily (39 SS Pickup), but I enjoy listening to the radio and having a bit of heat on the chilly SoCal winter mornings... oh, and windshield wipers would also be a plus, which is the real reason why I seldom drive it to work.

YEP

I drove my '72 C10 today because my '55 Suburban is broken.

I think of the Suburban as my daily driver and wish I could find some time to fix its problrm so it could return to daily duty.

I drive my 51 every day winter and summer.Except for the days when something on the all stock truck[ecept for the 235] goes to hell,then i drive my 60.I use 4 80 pound sand sausages in the back in the winter.Winter in wisconsin with a so so heater in a drafty truck with poor wipers is FUN?

Yeesss! That is the correct answer. It is FUN!

When its too Seattle-y to ride my Brough-Superior SS1000 I take my '59 rustbolt to work.

Hi All,
My 48-3/4 ton is a daily driver. It had been sitting in a barn and later a garage in Nebraska for 18 years before I purchased it. I added seatbelts and turn signals before I licenced it. I had to patch and clean out the tank before it was roadworthy. After about 3 months, the engine was using so much oil, I swapped it out for the spare that came with the truck. One long Sunday, and it was on the road again. Since then, just regular maintenance. There alot of things that I need to do to make it better, but I am too busy driving it. It takes me to work every day and hauls feed, wood, dirt, etc. as a working truck on the ranch. You can see her in the Gallery under the Ralph's 48.
Ralph

Our '49 3800 is definitely NOT a daily driver. Traffic and roads around here are too 21st Century for the old truck. It's purely a backroads and around the farm truck. Weekend duty only and only in nice weather. I tried driving it to work once and thought I was going to die.

And when we go to truck events further than 50 miles away, she goes on the trailer.


John

Jim, you mentioned a Bruff SS100, is that for real?

My 64 C10 is a daily driver...and a winter truck. I do this so that I don't have to drive the Camaro, Nova or El Camino in the snow.

Ohh...and it's goin to the Bonneville salt flats tomorrow. I'm really lookin forward to that.

I drive the 39 daily when home

When I owned a 1914 T-head Mercer I drove it back and forth to work it had 'lectric lights and a starter...class ride!! When you came down an onramp for the freeway it was like the red sea parting!!! The Stutz Blackhawk Speedster never got as much respect as my Mercer. It ustta sit next to my bed!

I'm gonna sell the Bugatti( I think I can say that here cause I know none of you'd buy it....that OK Joy?)

I'm gonna take the money and finish my 8c 2300 Alfa...a real car!

If I had a Brough I'd have to ride too!!!My heart won't keep up with bumping the Manx

1965 GMC 1/2 ton Fleetside, 230 I/6, 4 speed... Good weather daily driver... even on my 92 mile roundtrip commute... I admit, though, that it doesn't see rain, if I can help it...AND IT'S STORED IN WINTER! Some of the reasons are: Oak wood bed... and the fact that I really don't want to do another full off restoration... But if it rains when I'm out... oh well, 8^(...
To increase reliability I have done: New oversized radiator, electric cooling fan, on relay. Halogen headlamps on relays, with new updated wiring... Halogen taillamps with new wiring, Converted to HEI, radial tires. Converted to 10SI alternator and accompanying wiring. Updated dash with full complement of guages, installed seatbelts and an updated stereo and speakers...GOTTA' HAVE TUNES!
All told I put approximately 7000 to 8000 miles a year on the old gal... But she's garaged and well-cared for...
This winter she'll get a new dual-circuit master cylinder and power-booster.

If you call being able to drive it any day I want/need to, I guess you can say mine is.

Drove it today as a matter of fact. I went to the metal recycler and to Napa across town. Had both pups in the cab with me; lotsa finger pointin'at us.

Thomas

JEEZ MR MILLMAN,A TRAILER QUEEN,SAY IT AINT SO... :rolleyes: Just kiddin.I dont mind getting pased i just dont like getting passed by idiots.You know, the ones that pass in a double yellow zone or the real important ones that pass you and then turn a quarter mile later.I always laugh when people wave back when im makeing a right turn.Hey mr proffit,of all your forien classics and your bolts,what gives you the most pleasure just putzin around in?I was thinkin abought that bigone youre trying to get home and remember watching this huge russian transport that was hauling the largest fire truck ever made out of oshkosh wisconsin.That truck was huge.They had to lower the fence at the end of the runway and man was it loud takeing off.

as you can see i have to many cars for a single person, i try to rotate each one except the mg. i did drive it this last weekend had a ball. i wonder why i didn't put insurance on this summer. i did concentrate on the truck to make it safe to drive dailey. with forced retirement i have think up reasons only to myself to drive the 54. i trying to wait til the van is 20 yrs old to get rid of it, nexted aug., plan to give it to charity or someone who needs it. it is in excellant shape, i try to keep all my cars up. the plan is to have the 54 in better running order this time next year. i want to travel alot in it so the wiring has to be redone, and the front springs. ron p s fuuuuuuuun is the word.

My classic insurance keeps me from driving the '46 or the Chevelle daily. The Chevelle could run daily but I like keeping the mileage down below 29,000 for a while longer. The '46 hasnt been going very far this year due to time constraints and other projects. Maybe next year I'll get it more ready.

red58 is my daily [img]http://mars.ark.com/~red58/thumbs/t_58ferry.jpg[/img] year round, especially apple pickin

used a 57 panel daily for years [img]http://mars.ark.com/~red58/thumbs/panlthmb.jpg[/img] til the frame got too rotten - saw too many 'wet coast' dirt roads its first 30 years as a loggin camp ambulance

the 57 frankentruck [img]http://mars.ark.com/~red58/project/t_new1.jpg[/img] is the babytrkrs steady wheels and my ocassional work rig - good for haulin sawdust, manure, or compost

only reason I own old trucks is to use'em - cheap, durable and capable

Bill

Yep, every day, unless its a road trip, in which case I bum a ride or borrow a vehicle. I finally got some bigger tires, which helps quite a bit on the top end, but it can be quite the experience rumbling down the highway in this thing! I go to a small, private Christian college, so you can imagine that this thing sticks out like sore thumb in the parking lot, but I like it that way. The girl's basketball team found it and decided to use it for their team picture . If I can find a copy of the pic, I'll post it.

James,

Dear boy, the question isn't if any of us would purchase your Bugatti, which of course is quite intuitively obvious a resounding "no" to even the most casual observer. Oh no. The real question is why we would want to.

No self respecting gentlemen would have one of those in the garage (save, possibly, under a cover so as not to be noticable to passers by). Good heavens, Man! You might as well own a Hispano Suiza or a Model T.

Now if you were offering a man's motorcar, such as a Duesenburg, I might possibly be interested enough to rouse myself from this intellectual torpor you've mired me in with all this silly bantering over Bugattis. Bugatti indeed! Ha!

Yrs,
J. Crosby

quiet all, the Grand Poohbah is typing in code!

*Woogeroo Meditates on the meaning....*

-W

p.s. 'smIrk'

Hey John,

No double posting! :p

Kiss my grits

Right now my 52 3/4 ton is my daily driver. 235 and 4.10 gears, I'm driving 30 miles to work and back, most of it interstate. The 69 is in pieces getting engine work and front end repair from a wreck in March, hope to have her done by halloween.

My '48 has been a daily driver for more than 11 years. That doesn't include the 18 months sitting in the driveway while it was getting a 261 and other work.

The speed limits are 35 and 45 MPH around town. When I leave town, I hang a blaze orange farmer's triangle on it.

[img]http://www.sandeace.com/48/TruckonHill3.jpg[/img]

I'm guessin that if anybody here had a Dusenberg, it would be in Jay Leno's possession pretty darn quik--he seems to have a way of finding people's price points on those cars in a hurry.

Hey, I have been looking for a nice used Bugatti, is it under $100K or do I have to liquidate some assets?

"daily" driver? I don't drive it every day but you can bet the 37 gets taken out "several" times a week. I like to watch people point and run off the side of the road

The ton dually '47 panel was a daily driver until I grounded it for leaking gas. I have all the parts gathered up to replace the cobbled up, wrong make gas tank with an original. Now I all I need is a week that I either don't have to work or don't have classes.

I too love the looks it gets. It drives the wife nuts when somebody follows me home, or stops by when I'm working on it and I stand in the driveway for half an hour talking to them. (They're just encouraging me, you know...) :p

By the time I get the gas tank in it will be time to park it for the winter anyway. I haven't found a heater for it yet.

I am in the process of getting some cement poured today so that I have a slab for it and the trailer (16ft car hauler). More needless expense!

My 65 was a daily driver up until 3 months ago due to stinkin leaky 1barrel carb on the 292 :mad: , gonna trash it for a offy manifold and a 500cfm 4brl Edelbrock carb. But for now Im driving my 92 bigbody lowrod caprice, hey is anyone gonna be in vegas this sunday for the Lowrider Supershow lots o fun I'd say. But Pretty soon I will be back on the road with big red.

Well,i just had my 72 C10,,the engine rebuilt,,lately,so thats my daily driver now,,Body aint the greatest,Whoopeede do,,But shes got glass packs on her,,307,,BRRRRRRRRRooooooooommmmm,,I cant help but smile when i drive it,,Cool Man

I agree with BradB. It drives the wife lulu because most of the ones waving and smiling are WOMEN!! hehe.....

Well guys I drive a 53 Studebaker 2R11 every day here back/forth to work. I know she's not a Stovebolter, but I sure get a lot of looks and positive comments on it. :p

**Update - 10/08/2004**

Now my tail lights do not work again when the headlights are on... BAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

**Woogeroo slams down his tools and stomps away muttering expletivies...**

[img]http://woogeroo.home.mindspring.com/Matraca/img09142003/dr-side-full.jpg[/img]

My '65 Chevy, lwb stepside is my daily driver most days... unless it's being a pain with various ailments.

It came with what turned out to be a '92 5.7l(350sbc) engine, stock exhaust manifold, too small exhuast into very old and no longer red cherry bomb glass packs( I hope to change this sometime this year)... standard performer edelbrock aluminum intake manifold... model 4160 holley carb(600cfm)... power steering using the '65 type steering box, but the '92 type pump... power assisted drum brakes from a '68 or later dual master cylinder... 1980-1982 hei vacuum & mechanical advance... 3 speed th350 auto tranny...

More pics and details on my website for the truck(Matraca), linked in my signature line...

-W

Now that I've got my new computer this week (POS Gateway died once and for all), I now can participate again. My daily driver is a 1964 long fleet that makes a 30 - 40 mile round trip at least once a day to work. This is the youngest truck in my fleet and has never left me stranded. It has a fresh 350 and a 4 speed. Has no radio but the dual Flowmasters humming along at 70 MPH is as good as music to me. I've got enough vehicles that I could drive a different one to work for over a week, but unless there's a special reason to torture myself, I leave the big ones at home. I will occasionally get the '95 Impala SS out when I'm in a certain mood, if you know what I mean,
Scott

My '49 3100 has been in continous commercial service since new , it's a POS but a good 20 footer , runs a 235 with Patric's gears and 12 volts , otherwise stock .

freeways , deserts , mountains it's all the same it goes and goes because it's an old nail , that's what these trucks do unless you hold them down and kill them .

Jim's favorite as far as I can see is his nice sleeper 1939 GMC long bed , very _very_ fast for an old truck and still ready for work anytime anywhere no trailer queen this .