48 fire truck roadster

[DJ3100]

With a floor jack and a crippled fork lift I put the cab back on, 180'd the truck and managed to roll it back into the shop. I haven't been able to roll the truck over the double lip at the shop door. So, at 0 dark thirty, I spent some time grinding just enough of the lip down (been meaning to do that for a while) to get the tires up.

Put the bed on - I don't like that it covers up the pumpkin and 4 links. It looks like it needs to go down a few inches.

The first thing I did when I got this thing from Truckster was narrow the bed - can't figure out why I did that. If I use it I'll have to widen it about 10 inches.

 

[truckster]

I think that if you put back in the width that you cut out, you should be just about perfect!

I forgot out big that rear axle is! Coming right along.

 

[jfg455]

I think if you widen it 10" you will be too wide. Looks like 2" per side would make it just as wide as the cab and perfect. It does need to drop some.[P

 

[Dirtyrat]

Perhaps you were planning wider tires? I say fill the void with tire [cl[cl

 

[CORPO]

better to narrow than to wide... i got some rubbing issues when I am aired out.. hoping that narrower rear tires will sort out my situation

Its looking great though!

 

[Tim...Ok]

I know you have several inches of clearance there, but I would throw the outside wheels and tires on it before I commited to widening the bed..the duals will change the proportions and you may not need it??

 

[DJ3100]

Perhaps you were planning wider tires? I say fill the void with tire [cl[cl

Thanks for all the input.

I was planning or at least considering using the super singles which would fill the gap, no problem. I have ruled them out due to having to remake the wheel centers and the fact that the tires cost a little over $1000 each.
Other than that option, these are 19.5's there is no significantly wider option - short of making my own wheels.

My tail pipes go right through the bedside as it is, so it has to change. right now I'm leaning toward a completely different bed so of like the one on my '53 Chevy (avatar).

 

[DJ3100]

New plan

Here's my cartoon drawing of what the flat bed will look like (it's not like you could actually tell anything from this drawing) and a mock up of the bed rails and the fender. Never could figure out what this big sucker would be doing with a pick-up bed.

I ordered 6 fenders similar to this one today. They're 36" diameter and 10.75 wide, $21 each, free shipping, 16 ga steel. I'll have to narrow the front and put 2 together to get the rear. The front will be mount on the spindle so they'll steer with the tire. The rear will be attached to the axle, so they'll always have the same clearance.

The bed is 8" channel, the tubes are 2" diameter. Maybe it will have a trunk.

 

[jfg455]

I , umm... Vote Boo on the fenders. But that is my opinion only. The rest is looking great. [P

 

[DJ3100]

We have plans for the fenders, they'll belong.

I found out from the F2stang that the open wheels make everything, including the driver wet and dirty, even when there's just a little water. It's a pain just trying to keep the windscreen clean enough to see where you're going. This is going to have paint, Jet Hot coated headers and some shiny aluminum engine parts and I hate washing cars.

There's also a matter of the commercial truck requirement to have fenders, although I don't know how concerned I am, until I get that $1500 equipment repair ticket. Or is it a little cheaper than the over wieght ticket, Earthman?

 

[truckster]

Like the fenders, but hope you are only doing a motorcycle type (90 degree) on the front, half the coverage of what your photo shows on the front.

I still like the pickup bed, look at the bed on 359pete's semi if you are wondering why a pickup bed on a dually.

On the other hand, the back end can probably use all the weight you can put back there.

Nice to see you moving right along on this again.

 

[earthman]

I don't think you want to title it as a com vehicle Dan. Ins and laws. If it is not going to be used as one it doesn't have to be registered as one.

 

[DJ3100]

I don't think you want to title it as a com vehicle Dan. Ins and laws. If it is not going to be used as one it doesn't have to be registered as one.

Well, I thought the title listed the GVW, but I just checked it and the only description it has is the vin number, year, and Chevrolet. I've been worrying about the commercial thing for nothing.

 

[DJ3100]

Like the fenders, but hope you are only doing a motorcycle type (90 degree) on the front, half the coverage of what your photo shows on the front.

I still like the pickup bed, look at the bed on 359pete's semi if you are wondering why a pickup bed on a dually.

On the other hand, the back end can probably use all the weight you can put back there.

Nice to see you moving right along on this again.

Anyone who has seen the '53 in my avatar remembers the truck because of the bed. It's never confused with anyone else's '53 Chevy pickup. I like it. It will be unique on the fire truck as well. It will also give me the opportunity to continue the fire truck theme if I choose. If I did use the pickup bed the floor would be right at the top of the bed sides - it would be a flat bed anyway.

The fender in the photo is from the '53 Chevy (I bought 3 to get 2). Not sure how many degrees they will be. You can come by and provide some input when I get to that point.

 

[DJ3100]

Here's the bed upside down; under construction. It mounts 2" above the frame. The corner tube (pipe actually) is a slip fit for 2" tube.

The link arms and the exhaust will show in front of the wheel / fender. The huge diff will show from the rear.

I got one side of the cab cut to get the tail pipe through. The tail pipe is almost right, but needs pieces added to get more clearance for the axle.

The top view, I have about 1/4" to clear the link arm. I may end up down sizing to 3" (it's 3 1/2" now).

 

[DJ3100]

The fenders came yesterday (Saturday) via FedEx.

I thought I was getting the rolled edge on both sides, but I got the rolled edge on one side and a square edge on the other. Not a problem on the back because I am going to use 2 fenders to make one. But the front may be an issue, I want the rolled edges on both sides.

By cutting the fender vertically I can get 2 halves, they also need to get narrowed from 10.75 to about 7".

Truckster, is this what you had in mind for motorcycle fenders? I was thinking the fenders would be a about 6" longer at the front, but maybe i can live with them like this. We bobbed everything else why not the fenders?

Doug, got any ideas about rolling a detail down the center? (No I'm not making spider webs that cover the fenders.)

 

[truckster]

Yes, that is pretty much what I had in mind, maybe just a little longer at the bottom, but that looks very good.

I am thinking on the tail pipe, last picture, that you can probably trim the flange on the bottom of the channel 1/2" and move the tail pipe over a little away from the control arm, at least it looks that way in the photo.

Coming along very nicely. How heavy is that channel? hard to tell from the pics.

 

[DJ3100]

The channel is 8" high, the flanges are 2 3/8' wide the web just over 1/4". The bed is 44" square, weighs a calculated 200 pounds. Add the 12 ga plate - another 55 pounds.

 

[AZ4GEMAN]

Fender details

DJ:
We could have some fun with the fenders. Perhaps a rolled lip on both halves to form a peak down the center. We could also emboss some flames with the bead roller. After all, it started life as a fire truck.

I do suggest a reverse curve on the lower edge of the fronts. Kinda like a potato chip for a little added flare.
Dk

 

[DJ3100]

Worked on the tail pipe today - looks like a red neck stove pipe. Most of it won't show.

This is the first time I have seen the duallies. I didn't realize there was so much space between the wheels.

I put one of the tire/wheels on the scale - right at 100 pounds.