The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Doors (AD year ID tips)

I just bought a 48 chev,and after reading many posts here have come to think that the doors on the truck may have been changed. The door handles are push button type and my understanding is they should be lever type. Also doors have window vent in them. Any thoughts would be a great help. thanks

Sounds like you have '52-'55 1st doors. Strangely enough, it's usually the other way around. Most guys swap the earlier doors onto the later trucks to pass them off as a "'48" to get into hot rod shows, most of which have a 1948 cutoff year.

Thanks longbox.

You are correct. Your doors are not original. A '48 would have a full window (without a vent) and it would have a turn down door handle (not a push button). Vent windows and push buttons appeared in the early 50's.

Would you agree that the would be 52-55. I need to replace glass in one of them.

The 51's were the first year for wing vents but still had the pull down handles....
1952 is the first year for push buttons...So, 1952 was the first year with BOTH the vent window and PUSH BUTTON handles and on through the 55st series.

Alvin,are you sure 1952 had pull down handles ? I thought 1951 was the first year for wing vent window and the last year for pull down door handle.

TIM...you have a sharp eye. Me, of all people should know!!
It was a typo on my part and I just went back and EDITED it so no one gets lead astray. Thanks TIM and sorry for anyone who may have already read it and is wondering!!

1952....first year for Both wing vents AND PUSH BUTTON handles. Hope this clears it up. I'm tired and better go to bed before I make another mistake!!

I wish the 51 had the push-button handles. The only problem as I see it is when you are at the gas station people will be always suggesting it's a 52 up truck and you will have to explain where those doors came from.

How do you know that it is a 1948? It could be a 1952 and have the right doors. We can't assume it is a 1948, even if the title says so. Got pic's?

I dont remember all the cab differences, however I do know the following:

If it has a single rear cab mount, single lower radiator mount, fuel tank underneath the bed - then it would be a 48. If it has shackle cab mounts, twin lower radiator mounts, and the fuel tank is in the cab then it would be a 52

I thought the twin lower rad mounts began in 53. Is that not right?

My 51 has them.

It must be a 1/2 ton versus 3/4 ton. My 51 3600 has the single mount.

Both of my 1951 3100 chevys have the twin mounts . Post some pictures of your 1948 truck.

If you are only concerned with the glass in the doors, then the answer is: the glass is the same from 1951 - 1955 first series doors, including the panel and the suburban.

A simple check will confirm a few things.:

Vent in drivers side cowl - 1947/50

1951 cabs are pretty close to the same and hard to identify without the doors, body tag or latch.

Without the doors, the latch helps identify the year. 1947/51 used the same latch and the 1952/55 used another.

Hopefully I can get some pics up soon. The truck is titled as a 1948. The gas tank is under box and the cab is attached to frame at three points. From what Ive read that should mean it is a 48.The truck has a radio and a clock that is mounted in the glovebox door. The truck is in suprisingly good shape. As I mentioned before I have owned it for a couple weeks now. I am trying to decide if I should keep it original or put it on a S-10 frame.

My 50 has the twin mount.

It must be a 3/4 ton deal. Denny Graham's 1951 3600, as does my 3600, has one mount.

Most likely (as stated above), the number of attaching bolts under the radiator support was different for different sized trucks in different years (making it hard to make general statements).

The 1947-55 Factory Assembly Manual (mostly showing 54/55 diagrams) shows the 3100 and 3600 models' radiator support to frame cross member attachment as having two bolts, and the 3800 and larger models had one bolt.

Most likely (as stated above), the number of attaching bolts under the radiator support was different for different sized trucks in different years (making it hard to make general statements).

The 1947-55 Factory Assembly Manual (mostly showing 54/55 diagrams) shows the 3100 and 3600 models' radiator support to frame cross member attachment as having two bolts, and the 3800 and larger models had one bolt.

This is a really interesting discussion. One thing that wasn't mentioned was I believe the cabs with the external tank had a second inner panel of metal across the back. I blieve it was said that the tanks from a 52 didn't fit back there. I have an old factory photo of a cab being built and you can see the extra panel.

Also in one of my shop manuals from 1947/48 I have the instructions on converting the rad mount to two bolts and also adding ther cross bracing. This was a field modification to prevent cracking of the rad and some other structures. It also details crack repair procedures for some of the underside of the cab.

My 1951 Canadian 1 Ton had the single bolt rad mount.

All I know for sure is that the 1951 3/4 ton had only one rad mount. I sure wish we could find assembly manuals for all AD years, and for that matter all years.

Yes there was a period when the half-ton had two mounting bolts for the core support and the 3/4-ton had only one. This oddity was much like the one about the core support cross braces where the 1/2-ton had them first and the 3/4-ton didn't. Also the three point vs. four point mounting of the cab entered into these changes because of twisting of the frame cab and front clip. I believe there were service bulletins out for some of these changes also if someone cares to check them out.
We had a rather lengthy discussion about this a couple of years ago and Woody may remember them, I've never had any luck with the search engine here.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...ator+%2Bcross&Search=true#Post499009

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=452829#Post452829

Yeah Tim, those are the ones, that should answer a bunch of the quesitons.
DG

He has the under bed tank - that makes it a 47 or 48.

After doing a frame swap myself, I would keep the frame original and drive it. If your looking for a good ride, Mono springs. If your looking at upgrading to IFS for the sake of upgrading - check out this https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...;Main=80741&Number=571697#Post571697