The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 38 1/2 Ton Front Fenders

I have a 38 1/2 ton truck & a few years back came across a set of front fenders. I was excited when I purchased them due to the condition but later found out the wheel opening was larger than my 1/2 ton fenders. Does anyone know why this is? are these even 38 fenders? The mounting pattern is the same as my 1/2 ton fenders but the wheel opening is slightly larger. I have attached pictures if it helps, the red is my original 1/2 ton fenders & the black are the ones I purchased. http://rides.webshots.com/album/580498666vmmses

Are all the rest of the 38 truck fenders ( 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, & 1 ton) the same except for the 1.5 ton truckes?

toomany2count is correct. The bigger fenders are for the bigger tires on the big trucks. I had the SAME situation when I got set of fenders for my 37. I think the opening is around 2" wider maybe more.
I am NOT sure but I think your right that the fenders are the same on 1/2 3/4 & 1tons.

Strange thing is I bought my "big" fenders from a guy in Ca. and when I realized they were to big I bought some correct ones and sold the ones from Ca.to a guy....yep, a guy in Ca.

Here is the link to the parts manual.
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_54chevyparts/08/459.HTM

Commercial and utility use different fenders,
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_54chevyparts/info/007.HTM

Joe

Alot of the rodders will use the wider opening fenders to get a different look, but they definitely wouldn't work for a stock restoration.
A quick way to tell the the difference between 1/2 ton fenders and "big truck fenders is that the "big truck" fenders DO NOT have an "notched" opening on the front of them for the bumper to mount to the front frame horns through. The "big truck" fenders go over the bumper mount horns and the bumper will mount under the fenders.
If they are laying on the ground at a swap meet, look for the notch. If the fenders have a notch, you found some fenders - if if they don't have a notch, keep walking because they just won't work.

Hey guys thanks for all the information, looks like these are probably for a "big truck" not a half ton. Just not clear what a big truck means as the 1 tons have bigger tires than the 1/2 tons (according to my book) and the 1 1/2 ton even bigger. The front of the 1/2 ton fenders I have are notched about 2" for the front bumper brackets and these are notched about 3/4", they are not flat as you described. The opening is bigger than my 1/2 ton fenders and my first thought was these were for a bigger tires. Joe, not exactly sure how to use the book and pages you sent me, it seems to have lots of part numbers, truck series, and some measurements but just havent figured it out yet. I will take another look later today. I was thinking about selling these fenders only due to the wheel opening, some big truck owner is going to be real happy to get these. I may just hold on to them until it is time to put the fenders on my project and see if they actually fit over the bumper brackets and how they look over the tires. If anyone else has any way to identify exactly what truck these go to it would help when and if I go to sell them so the next guy gets exactly what he wants, unlike me. I am wondering if the notch is the way to tell the difference? Does the 1/2 ton have the largest notch, thank the 3/4 ton less of a notch and so on? down to the 1 1/2 ton with no notch? Again any help would be great.
Thanks again,
Mike

Mike - GM has 3 groupings, light, medium, and heavy duty [really big], but there's only 2 variations in the sheet metal - "big truck" here means 1.5T and above, the light trucks [up to 1T] have 15-19.5" wheels and all the same size fenders, 1.5T and up use 20-22.5" wheels and have the larger fenders

Bill

Thanks squeeze, that pretty much clears it up "only 2 variations of sheet metal".

The links I posted are from the 1929 to 1942 Chevrolet parts manual. What you see is the year(s) the part fits, the body style they fit, part identification, number required, and price for each part (1942 prices).

The other link is from the front of the book, it's listing the series number, wheelbase, type of vehicle, and description of said vehicle.

Right under the two colorful arrows at the bottom of each page linked, you will find the contents page and illustration pages. These are very handy for looking up parts and pictures of parts and item break downs.

Joe

Thanks Joe