New Guy from Massachusetts

[1952B3b23]

Welcome to the site. Nice truck

Thank you.

-Chris

 

[1952B3b23]

Yeah, looks pretty good really!


...oh. How's the frame, steering, suspension, and brakes look?

That's something that really threw me off about the truck at first. it looked to be in decent shape and for being sixty years old it drove pretty well. It was only after starting to peel back the layers did I see the error of the previous owners ways.

The frame is in good shape and square. They gave it a nice thick coating of POR 15 so that kept most rust at bay.
It steered well and felt pretty tight, minimal effort, unless you're trying to turn the wheel at a dead stop. I discovered later on that the steering box was only held on by two bolts. The third was snapped off in the mount.
It has the solid I beam axle up front and leaf spring design. Rough ride but it's a rugged design. Rear end is obviously also a leaf spring design, I think it had 4.10 gears. Pair that with the old flatty and 3 on the tree and you're definitely not getting any speeding tickets haha.
It has four wheel drum brakes that in my opinion are pretty crappy. They will be upgraded to disc in the front and rear will have updated drums.
I'll get more into the details and plans of what I'm doing when I start an official build thread. Just have to figure my picture posting issues out

Thanks for looking,

-Chris

 

[Sam_Fear]

Well, sounds like you're better off the stock stuff is still there, even if it is in disrepair, rather than some cobbled together "update".

 

[1952B3b23]

Well, sounds like you're better off the stock stuff is still there, even if it is in disrepair, rather than some cobbled together "update".

Yea I certainly don't want anything cobbled together. I want a cool ride but my main concern is safety.

-Chris

 

[mikec4193]

Hey Chris

Welcome from the upstate NY...I am about 20 minutes North of Albany NY...I love those Pilothouse trucks...My dad had one back in the late 1960's...I have a lot of memories riding around in that old green truck....
Kinda old and squeaky...kinda slow too...boy did I enjoy those times...thanks for stopping over here...

MikeC

 

[1952B3b23]

Hey Chris

Welcome from the upstate NY...I am about 20 minutes North of Albany NY...I love those Pilothouse trucks...My dad had one back in the late 1960's...I have a lot of memories riding around in that old green truck....
Kinda old and squeaky...kinda slow too...boy did I enjoy those times...thanks for stopping over here...

MikeC

Thank you Mike. Thats very cool that your dad had one and that you are also a fan. I'll never forget my first ride in the pilothouse that i own, very similar to your experience. Slow, bouncy, and squeaky but i loved every minute of it and i was instantly sold on the truck. I had to have it. By any chance do you have any pictures of the PH that your dad owned? I always like seeing vintage pictures of these old trucks.

I hope you'll enjoy the build that i am doing on mine. I plan on starting a build thread in the coming days. So i'll spell out all my plans for the old girl in that thread.

Thanks for looking,

-Chris