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wanderingbob's avatar
wanderingbob
Explorer II
Feb 05, 2020

Pick up truck remembrance !

Bought my first truck off of Smokey Yunick in Daytona , about 1960 or 61 , cost 1,700 dollars , about a years wages for a 16 year old kid . Six cylinder GMC .
About 1963 I saw mt first P.U. with an air conditioner , musta been a rich man as they added about $400 to the price !Hung down under the hard metal dash board .
Some of you older gentlemen will remember when ya saw your fist four door truck , maybe 1968 or so and in Florida mostly belonged to the state or county . Now if we see a two door truck we point it out.
Remember when a spare tire and a back bumper were an option ?
Oil change at 1,000 miles then Chrysler came out with a 3,000 mile oil change , all PU tires were 16 inch until some fool started putting 16.5 tires on em . Tires sizes like 600x16 , 650 x16 , now we gotta be a mathematician to figger out what they mean .
In those days we regularly put 2,500 or 3,000 lbs on a half ton PU and no one on the internet scolded us . Six or seven flats a year was about normal , pinched a tube !
Now I drive my Ram Tradesman 70,000 and buy another set of Michelin's, never having a flat , kinda takes all the fun out of it .
No fancy trailer hitches , we stuck a ball on the step bumper and strung wires allover the place . My first trailer brake was hand operated by a big long handle strapped on to the column !
What do you guys remember ?

69 Replies

  • wilber1 wrote:
    We used to have a couple of Hillmans which were made by Rootes on England. The same company that built Sunbeam sports cars and was eventually bought by Chrysler. They had a four on the tree with a shift pattern which was the reverse of the North American pattern.
    So reverse was forward and down?
  • We used to have a couple of Hillmans which were made by Rootes on England. The same company that built Sunbeam sports cars and was eventually bought by Chrysler. They had a four on the tree with a shift pattern which was the reverse of the North American pattern.
  • wanderingbob wrote:
    Got a kick out of my neighbor last year , called me up to teach her grandson how to shift a 3 speed , they called it 'three on the tree '.
    That's what we called it as well back in the sixties both the Dodge truck and the Rambler had three in the tree. It's what I learned to drive.

    Actually the first thing I drove was a farm tractor around 8 years old. I could not reach the brake or clutch without hopping off the seat. Was on Grandad's farm by Carl Junction MO.

    The town I grew up in El Dorado KS was surrounded by ICBM's and the air force crews that maned them used crew cab Dodge pickups back in the sixties .
  • My first truck was a 55 Dodge purchased used in the sixties. It had a bad motor and a early Hemi was installed. I had two glass packs on it and you could not have a conversation while driving. I went through eight manual transmissions. I got to the point I could change a transmission in ten minutes. A old salvage yard kept replacement transmission pulled and ready for me. Truck had a heater, AM tube radio. The truck had 15" tires. When I bought my new 98 Dodge truck the body style reminded me of my old 55. It had one fan belt that drove a generator and water pump/fan.

    The fan belt broke one time on a Sunday evening a couple of hours from home with no parts stores open. I took off driving and the wind coming through the radiator spun the fan which turned the water pump, made it home without overheating.

    I remember the old 6 volt system and hated it immensely.
  • Running boards, then step inside the door next to the seat, gas tank right behind the seat, no AC, no heater, tube radio.
  • Got a kick out of my neighbor last year , called me up to teach her grandson how to shift a 3 speed , they called it 'three on the tree '.
  • Dad only wanted station wagons and we borrowed Uncle Bills 3/4 ton GMC

    Wooden cargo bed floors, and replacing those boards every few years

    Pressed board door panels

    No rugs, just rubber throw mats

    No power windows, nor power door locks

    No padding on the dash

    Only bench seats

    No fleet side cargo bed

    Drum brakes at each corner

    Hub caps only covered the lug nuts

    Cool after market Braden rear bumpers that also had side pipes to bolster the bumper to bed sidewall

    Oil bath intake air filter housing

    Cargo tail gates had chain and hook closures

    Carb only and points
  • 16.5 split rims.

    nonsynchronized transmission gears.

    You could stand on the hood or cab.

    AM radios.

    Really miss the 'wings'.