The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 54 dually

Have a 54 dually purchased couple years ago was wondering where I could find out how many were produced, only seen two on ebay , the one I bought and another which was listed at the same time, haven't seen another since beginning to think they may be a rare breed. Was going to request a restoration pack from GM , but with all the problems there not sure thats possible now. Thanks for any info.

'54 3/4-ton dually would be real rare because its not listed as a factory option.

'54 1-ton dually is not so rare. I own one and I'm aware of others.

Are you sure its a 3/4-ton and not a 1-ton? What is the wheel base and serial number?

sorry took so long to answer back had to go make a dollar, Mines a 3/4 3600, J54, 125 inch wheel base, made in kansas city, has 16 inch split rims. The dually's are listed on page 94 of the owners manual, in the load capacity chart. Think I may of seen one 55 first series 3/4 ton on ebay once. I have seen a lot of 1 tons just only the two 3/4 tons. It was proably delivered as a cab and chassis type as it has a small grain bed on it, as did the other truck that I seen on ebay. Mine may have been used as a fire truck of sorts once as original color was red, then was painted kind of a school bus yellow like maybe a county truck, then now is blue. Bought it from a lady who said it was her grandfathers but she wasn't certain if he bought it new. anyways just was woundering if there were any records as to how many may be out there.

Well I guess I stand correctecd. I just went through the '54 restoration pack and sure enough duals are listed as an option on a 3/4-ton. I was sure they didn't offer that until the Task Force years.

The restoration pack is available online. '54 Chevy Restoration Pack.

The wheels listed are 16 inch, which is different than the 18 inch wheels on a 1-ton dually.

Do you have pictures or yours posted online? Especially that show the wheels? Do they look like the 1-ton wheels?

No don't have any pic's on line was planning to submit one as seen their aren't any posted on stovebolt, but don't have a picture of the truck by itself, always another old piece of iron in the picture, so thought I'd try to get a good picture. the wheels are more like what you would see on late model trucks, only four holes in the wheel for valve stem alignment. thanks for the info on restoration pack

My '54 has a dual wheel adapter from the standard hub centered 8 lug pattern to a stud centered 6 lug pattern. I have also seen an 8 lug to 5 lug dual wheel adapter.

The front hubs on my truck are different than the regular 3/4 ton pickup, they are similar to a 1 ton so all wheels are inter-changable. there are no adapters,front or rear, thanks for the input.

Are you running tube type tires? Are they the original wheels?

I assume you have 12 inch rear brakes, else the 16 inch wheels would likely be a problem. There does not appear to be a larger brake option on the 3/4-ton.

The 1-ton has 14 inch brake drums which requires the 17 inch wheels on a single wheel truck and 18 on the dual wheel trucks.

As far as I know they are the orginal wheels, looked at pics of the other 54 I had seen on ebay and the wheels are the same for both trucks, not sure what the brake drum size is , the brakes were up when I got the truck so have done pretty much nothing but drive it. The tires are tube type. Wanted to repack the front wheel bearings but anm not sure if the bearing dust caps screw on and off or if you just pry them off. They are not rounded like on a 1/2 ton truck, the dust caps are 6 or 8 sided as if possibly a wrench is suppose to be used. Didn't want to ruin a cap as would be hard pressed to find another.