The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts C-50

I've got a chance to get a '71 Chevy C-50 for less than a grand. It has a 350, and allegedly runs and drives. I have yet to look at the truck. Since I've never owned a medium-duty truck this big before, I have a couple of questions...

First, it has a dump flatbed on it, and was originally a grain truck, but with a shorter bed than most. The sides are gone, fortunately, since I do not need 4'-high side boards. The hydraulics are supposed to be good. Is the hydraulic system driven off the PTO on these trucks, or is it driven another way?

Second, the truck has a five-speed trans with two-speed Eaton axle. Brakes are hydraulic. Were these trouble items on '71 trucks? Tires are 22.5s. Yep. Expensive, assuming it needs them!

Any opinions on the '71 med-duty trucks in general? Anything I need to really look for, other than what could be considered normal wear and tear?

Before you purchase ask about insurance. Some company's won't insure anything with a dump bed, even a 1/2 ton pickup if it dumps.
I'm sure you can get insurance somewhere, but if it's not cheap and easy for you will the truck still be worth it?

I bought a 78 GMC 6500 dump truck to part out, just needed to drive it a couple hundred miles home first. My insurance company at the time, nationwide, would not even insure it for a weekend drive home. They said nothing with a dump bed unless I got a commercial policy, and that would have been really expensive..

You should be happy and consider yourself fortunate to have found 22.5" wheels already on the truck. Less trouble and aggravation than 20", and tires are not much more expensive if any, just shop around.

Grigg

More than likely, the hoist is driven off the PTO.
I had to insure mine as a farm truck.
From what I know, those were good trucks. At least, you see a lot of them around. My brother has two of them, and I'm not aware that he ever had any major problems with them.

They are great trucks. Just hope the brakes are good. They are a lot of hard work & expensive to work on.

I have acreage and a farm tax number, so I should be able to insure and tag it as a farm truck.

Appreciate the help, guys. I'm going to see it this weekend. It's not advertised anywhere, so the guy isn't in a big hurry to sell.

The '71 C-50 as mentioned above is a good truck, as well as the 350 and the 5 and 2.

Keep us posted.

Bill

I just went through my dad's 70 C50 this fall. It's a decent truck but rusty. Mechanically, I've got it fixed up nice. Had to rework several things the previous owner cobbled or just left broken. Now dad drives it like an oversized pick-up. He hauls a few bags of feed or 6 ton of rock on it. The only pricey item to worry about would be the hydrovac but they are still readily available.
Scott

Just make sure the master cyl is a 2 part & not a single for the brakes.
If the single goes out you have no brakes.
The hoist is run by a PTO shaft from the trans, Should be two knobs in the cab, One to put in gear, Have the clutch down when this is put in gear or it will grind.
The other one is to lift the box, This can be puled all the way out. Then just use the clutch pedel to stop or start the lifting.
Be shure to have both of these pushed in when driveing the truck.
Have herd of some who have forgot to push the PTO in & gone down the road 55 MPH. Those shafts would realey be going around, Could fly off.

Thanks for the tips - I'm going to check this beastie out tomorrow (Sat).

Well, I checked this BIG Chevy out today...well...

Here is what it really is - a 1977 C-60 with tandem axles! I saw that and figured there is no way I could use that monster. Needed rubber all around, truck was really "used" in more ways than I can imagine, and the tag had been expired for three years. It did run, though. That's what I get for hearing about a truck through a third party that really didn't know what it was to start with.

Oh, well. It was not very far away, so it wasn't a big deal to go check it out. Thanks for the advise, guys!

Keep looking, they'll be others out there.