The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What capacity is my dump truck?

I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what capacity dump truck I bought last week!

Here are the facts:

-There is no VIN tag on the door.
-The title says it's a 52 Pickup.
-Decoding the VIN on the TITLE (3KRC1896) tells me it's a 3/4 ton.
-I've read that the 3/4 ton has a 125.25" wheelbase, but my truck measures 161".
- I'm very confused

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Tim

picture

Hy tpeerson, I decoded your serial number on American Classics website, it breaks down as follows
model year 1952 [March]
model 3600
manufactured in Detroit
1896 is the sequential number
looking at your picture I would say someone has stretched the wheelbase of the truck, I believe the 3600s were all 125 1/4" wheelbase but I'm not positive about that,hope that helps.

Hy again tpeerson, I forgot to put in the GVW, which is what you really wanted to know, 5800Lbs. I believe, hope that helps.

That is a pretty slick lookin' unit. I believe that if you look at the frame closely, you'll see that it has been stretched. Look for two diagonal weld lines on the outer (vertical) faces of the frame, between the back of the cab and the spring anchors, forward of the rear axle. From here it looks like quality work.

A legal GVW on that chassis would have been 8,000# around here.

BINGO on the stretch!

I never noticed, but here's the "patch panel". Fron the backside you can see the cuts.

picture 1

That would also explain the three drive shafts.

picture 2

OK, now how can I identify the rear end? I'm pretty sure it's not from the original 3/4 ton. The brake drum is 14" ID and the shoes are larger than those the parts store sold me for the 3/4 ton.

picture 3

Thanks everyone!

That would be the correct drum size for the 1 Ton. I see that you have a set of those beautiful Huck brakes! I would guess that you are going to find a ratio of 5.14 for the rearend.

Thanks truckernix. So are Huck brakes a good thing?

Whatever it is, it is cool!

We need more pictures!

-W

I don't want to discourage you in any way because I think the truck is cool, but I'm not nuts about the patch panel: Vertical welds on a frame are a bad idea. If it is going to be used occasionally and lightly then there might be no problem. But if, like me, you think a truck is for work, you might be inclined (again, like me) to brutally overload the poor girl from time to time. In that case you'd better keep a close eye on that stretch for stress cracks around the ends of that panel. It's not that big a deal, really, to do it over with a parallelogram shape to the patch panel, and 45* diagonal welds on the frame rails. Maybe not necessary, as I said, but something to watch.
As to your diff, it looks like my old one, which would make truckernix right. My improved ratio is 4.10, from a '72. Spendy, but worth it!
Finally, Huck brakes are bigger, therefore they run cooler, which is better.

tp,
the Huck brakes is what they used on the 1 Ton up to 53 and they seemed to do the job. Mine are Hucks but I haven't finished my project yet. I am sure that they will be very capable brakes.