The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Is the way it came in 59 still good for everyday?

I have been wrestling with this question since i towed my 1959 Apache 3200 out of my great grandpa's backyard earlier this year. This is my first ever truck(auto) build and I am learning everything as I go. My question whether to restore the parts on the truck back to the way they were stock or do I for instance need disc brakes instead of the drum brakes in the front? Do you have to put in different gears in the rear end to drive today's speed limits?
All I want out of this truck is to drive it often around town (not on the highway) and enjoy some great history of the USA. I see all these "performance" parts in the catalogs and wonder if I need these or if they are there to just fit peoples desires of going fast and hot rodding their rides? So my question of since chevy made a couple hundred thousand of these trucks with the original parts shouldn't they still be as good as it was in 1959? As always this forum rules and all input is helpful!

no you don't need any "upgrades" to drive the truck safely and enjoyably, especially as an around-town daily driver ... I've been driving my 58 for years as it would have come from the factory, including occasional highway time, with no problems .... just maintain the brakes and steering well and enjoy the drive

Bill

Hy AZgeoman, welcome, your truck was designed to do whatever the owner wanted to do with it in 1959, it had limitations, based on its tires, suspension, and power. The technology is 1959 tech, single system brakes, drum brakes all around, and bias ply tires. Do you NEED disc brakes, power dual system brakes, and radial tires? My answer is NO you don't, but your truck will be 53 year old technology at best. As long as you maintain your truck so it is as safe as it can be, and understand it has limitations when compared to "newer" trucks, then drive and use it accordingly. It is your truck, enjoy it safely, hope that helps.

thanks red58 and 3B for your answers! I guess what I'm trying to do is use my limited resources (i.e. money) and get this beast running and driving again reliably. I am not a speed racer at all and understand that the stopping distance will be longer with single system brakes. I guess there is always tomorrow to upgrade to the new technology. thanks again for all the help.

Hi & welcome. Suggest that you get radial tires- they make a world of difference and don't change the looks very much. Steering is easier, tracking on tha road is better, stopping is a little shorter-- since you will probably need tires anyway--upgrade now. Drive it and enjoy! How about some pictures?

I've been meaning to convert to front discs for 20 some years now. I'm starting to think it is just fine the way it is.

Build it the cheapest way, meaning use what you have. Get it running and driving, then get some miles on it. Once you lived with it a while, you can change out what you don't like. Brakes and such, will not be much trouble to change out if you decide to, same with gear ratio's. Driving 70 mph for hours isn't going to happen, but around town and country highways will be no problem. Carry a few spare parts and nothing will stop you from having a nice days drive.

Joe

My first truck was a 1963 C10. I drove that thing all over the western United States. I traveled the interstates at 65 - 70 mph for hours with no problems.

It had the single system, 4 wheel drum brakes and the factory 283, powerglide, and 3.73:1 gears.

I never thought twice about taking anywhere I wanted to go. Of course, I realize now that if it had a few upgrades, it might have been nicer, but that's hindsight talking. I'm currently working on a 1962 C10 and the only "upgrade" I have done to it is to put in a 1967 327 and a Vintage Aire A/C unit in it. The rest of it will be stock, or factory optional equipment. I'm keeping the SM420 4speed, the 3.90:1 gears, and the 4 wheel drums.

I still think that it will go anywhere I want it to, it will just take a little longer to get there than my 2006 Dodge will. But I'm ok with that.

Sure, keep it stock if you like building arm muscles while parking and hoping it'll stop in time. Me, personally, I like the ease of driving with power steering and when that kid runs out in front of me stopping on a dime with 4 wheel disc brakes. And of course unless you like driving without the spouce, don't forget the A/C.

John

I think you are right on track. Rebuild it to 1959 standards with all new brake components and do the kingpins and get the front end in original shape, and you'll be very pleasantly surprised. That truck WILL steer great. And as far as I know, 18 wheelers haven't gone to disc brakes yet. So drums haven't been totally relegated to history. If they are done RIGHT-no problems whatsoever. Steering box needs to be correct or it will contribute to poor ride quality. New shocks are an easy upgrade.
Remember, the magazines run on advertising. And advertising runs on sales(and vice versa) Just because you read that discs brakes are the only way to go, a thousand times, doesn't make it so. So save your money and trust your instincts. Build it properly but inexpensively and you'll actually be driving it.

My 1 Ton is restored to 51 standards and I really enjoy driving it. I do however have modern tubeless radial tires and they definitely are superior to the old bias plies. Single system brakes, meaning single hydraulic circuit, are more vulnerable to total failure but they work just fine. Some people prefer to upgrade to discs on the front but I didn't do that.

well as of last year at work we just bought a batch of new freightliners. They have discs all around, they even have discs on the new trailers they bought. I used to work at kenworth about 5 years ago, and at that time I saw one single solitary truck come down the line with disc brakes, the rest were drums, but since I didn't actually work on the line it is quite possible I missed some. So I don't know exactly what it all means. But as far as OUR trucks, I have no problem parking it, the brakes work fine, I can make the tires lock up so I don't know how more braking capacity would benefit me. with the exception of it pulls a bit for a brief moment if I have to really stop hard, I think that may have a bit more to do with the fact I need to get tie rod ends, but since it drives better than my mustang I'm not too worried about it. My biggest concern when I stop hard is someone not noticing the brake lights and plowing into me, since everyone is pretty much brainwashed into looking for the third eye brake light nowdays. However I do have a wire coming from the harness just for that purpose, just gotta decide how exactly I want to set that part up. Then one last little caveat on the drums, water.... if you get water actually in the brakes you may as well be dragging a pencil eraser on the ground out the door, until it finally dries out then it wants to send you through the window, but unless you drive through huge puddles slowly you don't generally have that problem, I have only encountered it 2 or 3 times in 30 years. These trucks have a wonderful air conditioner, that little vent on the cowl and windows that roll up for cold weather and down for hot weather. I accept that summer is hot and winter is cold and if it weren't for the fact I couldn't see out the window I wouldn't even have bothered with the heater. I did however go with electric wipers, (going along with being able to see out of the window thing)

http://jandlenterprise.com/products/brakelighter.htm
These come in 6 and 12 volt, pos and neg ground. Take it off at the truck show.

I've been meaning to put my $.02 in here, so here goes. I have a '55 3200, mechanically the same as your '59. I use it as a daily driver, exept for winter months when I break out the 4x4, and other than some hot rod parts on the engine, gas shocks, F&R sway bars, and radial tires, it's esentially stock other wise. No power steering, no power disk brakes, I'm running stock (rebuilt) drums with the original style single master cylinder. Yes, you do have to be more cautious when you drive, especially when dealing with people with "stop on a dime" brakes who decide to wait 'til the last minuit to stop in front of you, but otherwise, these trucks are really not bad to drive at all.
The few upgrades I did do were not because I felt they were "necessary", but because I wanted them. About the only upgrade I would definitley advis you to do are radial tires. With the tires, considering the cost of OE style bias ply tires compared to modern radials, not only do get the benefit of superior handling, ride, and tire life, radials are also much cheaper.

I drove a box stock 1956 3105 Panel Truck all over the US. I DID see the USA in my Chevrolet! All the wonderful "improvements" you guys have access to now didn't exist in 1970 - 1976. I did add an AM radio, yes, I cut up a perfect dash that I now have to fix, and 7.50 X 16 tube type radials. You can see pictures of it in my Gallery shots. I never had any problems including coming down Teton Pass from Victor ID to Jackson Hole! If your truck is in good mechanical condition, its ready to see the USA! Let it Roll!

best wishes,

Les

Wow!! thanks to all of you that responded with such great advice and stories. I don't remember a time that I have been more excited to work on a project! I am going to go with the stock approach for now and get this baby on the road ASAP. I will post a link to some pictures as they come about. I look forward to asking more questions and sharing my adventure with you all.

Happy holidays to you and your families
Rich (Azgeoman)

I have a 3204 that is basically stock. It needed things to be safe, cleaner inside, and all around functional. I replaced the engine because what I had was tired. It had already been converted to a 4-sp. I wanted it to be a simple resto-mod I could drive reliably that I didn't have to sink tens of thousands into. One thing I that I didn't see here was to change out the wheel bearings from ball type to rollers. I don't remember part numbers but it was pretty easy to figure out as I recall. Drum brakes just rebuilt it all because of cylinder leaks. Stops fine with a firm foot. Like the others said, radial tires make a big diff.

Hi Rich,
I have the same truck as you. It's my birthyear truck that I've always wanted and I'm putting my hands on every part of it. I just pulled the cab off the frame with a home-made lift and I'm excited to be working on the cabin that's now sitting on a dolly I made for it, in the comfort of my garage. I don't have a fancy shop.
I'm staying as original as possible with this resto and I'm excited to hear the support in this thread for the idea of doing so with these old trucks.
Congrats on the truck and best of luck with this project. You'll find lots of help on here and some original parts if you need any. The project will take a while but how do you eat an elephant? As you get closer to the finish your heart really gets to pounding!
Jerry

My sage advice for you is this; do whatever your wife wants you to do.

If your brakes have auto adjusters then there really isn't a super duper need to go to disc brakes. Other than having to adjust for wear.

The only benefit to new cars is that they need little, if any maintenance. Most cars today don't need the hood opened for anything more than 5,000mile oil changes.

Spark plugs: 50k
Anti-freeze: 100k
Timing belt: 60k
Brakes: 40-50k


But when they break, they break expensive!

Drove mine all original for two years every day. Was it good enough? Sure. Am I happy with my wider radials and power brakes (still all drum)? Heck yes! Especially when it rains.

My best friend has a 58 long bed fleetside that he got when it was one year old and drove to work and back, 120 miles, 7 days a week for over 25 years. This comes up to over a million miles. He still has it and it looks like it has closer to a thousand miles on it. He wore out the 235, overhauled it and wore it out again, went to a 327 and wore it out several times. Steering, brakes, rear end, everything except the engine is just the way it came from GM but of course with several service replacements. He is a nut on maintenance and rebuilds or replaces things at the first sign of wear rather than let it go till it breaks. He did go to an alternator several years ago when generator parts started to get very pricey. He's 80 years old now and I wish some reporter type would run a story about his old truck. I think the answer is, yes, they can be driven every day just the way they came new.

I've been driving my 59 one ton for 6 years now. No issues, and it's all stock. Just be smart about it, that's all, you don't have all modern safety measures.
On the other side, our trucks are so simple, if something does go wrong, we can fix it fast. And there are no computers that go crazy!

That would be a great article for Vintage Truck....

I think you just did what you want somebody else to do! That's a FANTASTIC paragraph you just typed! you took 52-years of every-day driving,including the over-hauls/engine swaps,all in one very tidy little story. I don't think anyone could have done a better job! If I were you,I'd ask your friend permission to submit his story,(through you),along with some pic's to the "Gallery"! I'm SURE we'd ALL appreciate viewing a'59,with that kind of history! GREAT JOB!! Oh,yeah,Patrick Ertel (Editor-IN-Chief,"Vintage Truck") would LOVE an article like that! I'm SURE he'd contact you if you sent him a cover letter half as good as the one you just submitted!! I suscribe to that magazine,and I'll be waiting to see the results!