The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop cruse speed and fun with 1 ton 216 and 17 in wheel

ok guys im looking at getting a old 1948 1 ton single wheel stepside truck to play with, i live in a small town outside of austin texas, where the speed in town is 45mph!!!.

its a 1 TON SINGLE WHEEL 216 granny 4 speed with 514 rear gear and 17in wheels, whats a good comfortable highway speed for the ol gal? will be used for fun around town but MIGHT be taken on a 50 mile round trip into the "big city" once and awhile guesses on a comfortable hiway speed for her? and any poss gas milage? this think with the 17in wheels looks like a brute.... thanks guys

I'd think 40 is as comfortable as you'ld want to get.

I figure the tire diameter is approx 32". Using the formula
MPH = RPMxD/336xR where D=tire diameter=32, R=5.14 and RPM = 2500 then MPH = 46. That may or may not seem comfortable.
Maybe some 3800 drivers will comment.

45 is just fine. 50 just uses more gas, but its still nowhere near red line. With the 7.50x17 tires, its even lower rpm than the above suggests. I belive that Randy's Ring & Pinon has a drive line calculator on their website. You have to remember, the truck was made to run with a full load, flat out. My GVW is only 6700 pounds, but I know that it hauled 110 bushels of wheat at a time, over gravel roads. That's about 6000 pounds of load I belive. As for speed and the splash oil, think about the guys that ran them at bonneville, and on the strip, at well over 6000 rpm.

When you hit 50mph in the truck, you'll know just how tight the king pins ,draglink, etc are.
My truck does cost more to drive at 50 than at 45.

I think for stock set up 40-45 cruise is the sweet spot-
you run 50- just takes a little more fuel. I have a 216 in a 3/4 ton, and a 216 in a 1/2 ton. the half ton is a little better at 50 than the 3/4, I think because of weight, gearing, etc. But I have taken some decent drives of 250+ miles in either truck and they will cruise all day long at 40-45 without a hitch.

At 40-45 I avg around 18mpg in the 1/2ton, about 16-17 in the 3/4, when I get up to 50, both seem to clock in around 13-14.

My folks have a lake cabin about 108 miles away from where I live, and I am not worried to take either truck there and back on a nice day(which is any day in my bolts)

If you find a third member out of a 3/4 ton it is 4.56. With the 17" tires it won't hurt to run it 60, but make sure you can stop the thing. There is someone at every red light between Dripping Spring and Oak Hill just waiting to trigger it and make someone stop.

When I first bought mine I was planning to drive it down from Edmonton, AB about 750 miles over the rockies. It would have been a very long trip: The truck felt like it was winding very fast indeed at 50 mph. At 40 it felt more relaxed. Better, even, at 35. With a load on, on the other hand, 50 was easy. This one...
http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/42833/2078187180096215731S500x500Q85.jpg
weighed about 3,000 net, and the truck felt very good and relaxed at a 50mph cruise.
I have changed wheels, tires and diff ratio to 4.10 - 1. Now an all-day 60 mph feels not bad, but she relaxes at 50 - 55 empty.

Dbone didn't buy it, but he passed the info. on to me.
I put money down, and it should be at my place within the week.

The license plate says 1970, and it's got 55,000 miles showing.
The dash is untouched. Pretty rusty, but complete.(minus gen.)

Pics this week.

On the Tire Rack site, they list the specs for many different types and sizes. I just pick the correct tire and look up the revs per mile. The figure is calculated using the loaded radius. Multiply the revs per mile by the rearend ratio and you have the RPMs for 60 mph. To find the revs for another highway speed just scale thast figure.

Oh, on my truck I have installed the 410 gears. With my tires the rpm at 50 mph is just a little over 2000 and that is where I like to keep it.

What's the Tire Rack Fred? The site, tirerack.com just gives metric sizes and ya need a year and model, and they don't seem to list anything for the ADs.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,
you go on that site and click on shop by size. Then you can plug in a size, and pick a brand. You will get all the information about the tire including revolutions per mile.

Fred

8.75 x 16.5 NG!
DG

I just got it here today.

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