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Hi all, about every 5 years I'm on here hoping someone's found a tandem (twin screw) Chevy tractor unit from the mid 50's since all my looking of craigslist and farm auctions has turned up nothing. So has anyone who's been searching had any joy?

You're in luck...Stovebolt member named 'BHMOTOMACH' in Charlotte, NC has an original mint condition 1956 Chevrolet twin screw tractor, even has a few pictures in some of his posts. Look him up!

James

See that a '57 tandem turned up late last year on craigslist and someone posted it on here. Did anyone go and have a look at it?

I think most of the twin screw rigs were conversions by aftermarket truck builders. I'm not sure when Chevy started offering factory-built dual drive rigs- - - -most of them had a non-driving "tag axle" if they needed an extra set of wheels for load-carrying capacity. I've seen a few pretty good adaptations of military twin screw rear ends. One I saw in a wrecking yard had a torque splitter and two driveshafts, not the conventional inter-axle differential. It was under a late 40's truck, either a 2-ton or maybe bigger.
Jerry

Hy Guys, I believe that Chevy started offering factory tandems in 1956. They used a "power divider" behind the transmission, and two driveshafts from there back to the diffs. They mounted a pillow block on the forward diff which held the driveshaft to the rear diff in place, The two diffs were identical, and were the heaviest "corporate" diffs", not Eatons or Timkens. As to the tandem that showed up here last year, I bought it, it was in Oregon, and was an 8700 series.

I believe 1956 was the first year Chevrolet had the twin screw tandem. The early tandems used a conventional 5 speed trans. followed by a combination auxiliary-power-divider type transmission with two rear drive shaft outputs. One drive shaft went to the front differential and the other went to the rear diff. It was quite complicated with several u-joints and many grease points involved. By 1960 Chevrolet had gone to the tandem setup that is now used, single driveline from back of the transmission through the power divider mounted in the front differential, short drive shaft between the rears and into the rear diff.

Jerry is right about most early tandems being a dead 'tag axle' type setup. Extra axles afforded more load capacity.

James

The truck belongs to my Dad. He keeps it in Arizona. He spent a considerable amount of time and researching and restoring the 1956 Tandem. His efforts turned out fantastic. The truck was factory built and the tandem axles are "Genuine Chevrolet" as is the Allison 6 speed automatic tranny.

Here is a link to the an interesting thread about the very thing you guys are talking about, with pictures!!! Very cool truck too.

http://forums.aths.org/InstantForum414/Topic65918-4-1.aspx?DisplayMode=1

Bhmotomach, that is a beautiful truck! You seldom see trucks of that vintage and that one looks perfect!

That is a fabulous truck indeed and I think it is in the Big Chev Trucks book I have. Still amazes me that it's the only one out there, I'd have more chance stumbling upon a parked up Big Tank Corvette or a COPO Camaro than a tandem with air and 348 big Chev truck.

Thanks Guys!!! I think the Chevy Tandems are more rare than the COPO Camaros, possibly one of the rarest of all Chevrolet production vehicles. (???)

Amazing considering how many were possibly built. No doubt in barns all over SD there are rust free examples parked up gathering dust

Actually a twin screw Chev or GMC of the same weight class was very rare in the late 50's. They were designed for vocational trucks such as mixers, etc. It was expensive to begin with, expensive to maintain and soon became obsolete with the development of power dividers built into the forward rear end with a through shaft. Not many were built, and very few few survived.

To be honest I haven't seen any 322 or 348 with air single drive 56-58 big bolts out there.

Mid-50s no,Chevy no,But '42&54? yes the 42 is in Lamar Co. and the 54? is in Walsenberg Co. both are GMC's and for sale.The 54? has a baged tag axle and the 42 has twin shafts.

Wow PapaJ, do you have any links?

All 1956 and 1957 9000 and 10000 Series Chevrolet trucks were equiped with the 322 Buick V8 only. The engine could have the standard 2v or the optional 4v carburator. It should be noted that the Chevrolet truck motor was built with different internal parts, ie hardened valve seats and 4 piston rings vs 3 in the cars.

I have a 1956 9200 coupled to a 6-speed Powermatic (Allison) and a 1957 10500 5+2.

1957 was the first year for Full Air Brakes in a Chevrolet truck.

Mike B

The 322 engine equipped were a rarity in their day. This was Chev's first entry into the heavier than 2 ton market that was dominated by International, GMC, ford and others, and it took a while for them to establish themselves and most dealers were not equipped to service them. However, by the time the 409 cam out, Chev was well established. There were probably more Chev 409s hauling grain from the Texas panhandle to the gulf than any other truck. Owning a surviving 322 is a real rarity.

Albatross,No I don't have any links.This is what happens when you're a truck-driver and a automotive freak that has to take a lunch break in the middle of a delivery.If I get back out in those directions I'll stop in and get more info.

what is a 322 worth? i know where one is in a fire engine. and it may have an auto in it. not for sure, its been a while since i went and looked at it

It's worth what someone will pay, I'd start by asking the owner what he wants for it. There isn't a big demand for them and location and condition both play into the equation.

I'd be interested in seeing a picture of the truck. Should be a 56 or 57 Chevy 10,000 Series. They still used the 322 in 1958, but mostly in school busses.

Mike B

its a 56 fire engine. 4x4 to boot. had a huge front axle under it. coleman i believe it said. had like 10k original miles on it too. LCF. id love to have the cab. the pump is frozen in the bed, but it is supposed to be all there. back when scrap was high he wanted 2k for it. but its only worht about 700 to me. the fire bed and chassis is worthless to me.

So it's a 1956 9000 Series...

I'd like to see some pictures or send info on where it's located.

Thanks,

Mike B

ive tried to buy it off of them for years. its a few hours from me, so when i get back down that way ill see if i can get some pics.

wait! i have on in my old phone. let me see if i can get it out

Wow, I'm really a GMC person, but this is the sharpest looking Chev I've ever seen.

if it was a GMC i would have insisted on buying it. i really dig the "butterfly" hood. also, if it was a 5 window '57 i might have just stole it!

Now that Chevy LCF platform makes for a massive size fire truck, I've never seen one in that configuration. Quite impressive! Would love to see more pics if possible.

its been 2 or 3 years since i've seen it. i had another pic or two but i guess they got deleted somewhere down the road.

anybody tell me what this thing is worth? it dosnt run, however it may with some work. the pump in the bed is busted, however i believe its all there. all the compartments in the bed are full of hard hats, axes, suits, junk like that. cab is solid as a rock. if the chassis and bed can pay the haul bill and purchase price, ill snatch it up.

WOW !, Now that's an "AWESOME" Heavy Chevy LCF. Dig those wheelwell fillers, & the doubled "Wrecker" style front bumpers.

57blevins,

Thanks for the picture...that's an awesome truck.

I don't think it has a "butterfly" hood, it looks like a standard LCF hood to me.

In the condition it's in now, not running and broken pump, what would you be buying? Even if the cab is 100% rust free and you wanted to use it on another project you would have to do a lot of body work to fill all of the holes. I bet the inside of the cab has a ton of unwanted holes to deal with as well.

I be suprised if it sold for anything more than scrap ($1,000 or less should buy it). The front axle and transfer case are about all that are worth anything. If you take the truck apart the fire body is worthless. Nobody builds a fire truck from scratch, there would be no "history" to go with it and missing parts would be very hard to find.

Thanks again for sharing the picture!

Mike B

mike, i know it has the standard hood on it. but the GMC lcf's had a butterfly type door on the side of the front ends. it wasnt a true butterfly, like on my '38 chrysler, because it didnt hinge in the middle. but it had cute little trap doors that made it alot easier to get access to the motor compartment.

didnt figure the rest of it being worth much. as far as holes go, all that needs to be filled is where the skirt that attaches the cab to the bed is screwed to it.

he wanted 2k for it back when scrap was high last year. no way i can pay that for it now. i've heard from another buddy of mine he still has my number setting on his desk, so maybe one day he will need some cash and give me a ring.

It would be nice if that could be kept as a fire truck. It'd be a shame to carve up a unique vehicle like that. One of the Firebolt boys should buy it.

It wouldn't be worth 1/10 the cost of resoration. All I want is a good LCF cab and front fenders, The rest is scrap to me.

Hi all again, 9 years of looking and haven't found anything from the 1950's, air brakes twin screw tractor. Lots of tag axle and the occasional air over, 4x2 tractor unit have come up but nothing else. So since time is marching on I'm going to look for a gas powered tractor unit from the early to mid 60's, C80 or M80. There was a stunning orange 409 powered 1962 M80 on Yesterdays Tractor but apart from that anyone come across any in their travels?

Most state gross weight laws only allowed 58,000 during the 50s. This could be achieved with a single axle tractor and tandem trailer. These laws changed to 73,250 in the late 50s. Chevrolet tandems appeared in the mid 50 as vocational trucks. Chevrolet really didn't become a player in the 5 axle market until they came out with the 409 engine, but drag axles were used on 3 axle tractors.

Here's a '51GMC: https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/d/1951-gmc/6676178379.html
or a '64 for you: https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/1964-gmc-tandem-dump-truck-15/6654349913.html

Here is a picture from the 1951 GMC. It looks like the 1st rear axle with drive shaft to the 2nd rear axle.

Nice, I'd be all over that '51 if I wasn't on a self imposed "big bolt" spending sabbatical. I have room on the card, but there's one on there currently I need to buy back from the creditors. LOL.

They are still out there!, that's the good news.

Time,

BaconFarms

So looking at the '64 GMC in the Craigslist link, how much work is involved with changing a dump truck to a tractor unit. Every now and then a twin screw air braked grain truck comes up at a farm auction so that might be a good option. What's required with air and electrical, can they both just be added in?