Hello,

I am considering restoring a f100 or f1 and using it as a daily driver. I was wondering if any of you guys use your vintage trucks as a daily driver or if they are typically used for weekend drivers ect.

Thanks!

 

...also how reliable are these trucks (I would put a modern engine, trans and suspension in mine). Is it unreasonable to tune it so that it would hit 65-70 on the freeway comfortably?

 

if your gonna run her as a daily driver ..it's gonna need a little more care then your Kia ...it is 50 years old ..likes 50 to 60 mph ..and will give you no end of pleasure ..or frustration ..depending on how you treat her..my 54 was bought sitting in a garden patch ..needed a carb and breaks ..and a gas tank ..drove her any chance I got ..if you want trouble free ..you won't be happy ..if you like to play and tinker and ,maintain your truck ..it's a great choice.. ...but that's just me ..

 

There are some people on here who use them regularly.
Check out this thread, Jeff is going to get around 10,000 miles on a road trip with his 53 with a Mercedes drive train.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1151782-how-far.html

It will need more care and maintenance than a new vehicle and the ride won't be quite as smooth. Of course if you do enough upgrades you can sure get close. I would like to see more of these trucks used as daily drivers. They are so much better looking than today's vehicles.

 

If your going to put all new running gear under it why don't you just get a new truck and put grafics on it that look like an old truck. Your wasting sheet metal that someone could use for a real truck

 

I think a lot depends on your definition of "daily driver". I live in an area with moderate traffic, lots of back roads and a few interstates. I spend very little time sitting in traffic when going around town. For me, a 1954 daily driver is realistic for 9 months out of the year. What type of traffic do you face everyday during your drives? Stop and go? High speeds? Rough roads? That will determine if a classic is your best choice, imho.

Also, when I rebuild my trucks, I do so with the intention of driving them daily. The paint is DD grade, something I can take through the local self-serve carwash. No show truck paint jobs that require hours of waxing. I could care less about a "modern" engine and drivetrain for my daily driver, for me its about the right rear axle gear ratio. With the correct gear ratio and tire size you can get 65-70 out of the truck.

As for comforts I put Silverado bucket seats to give me a better seat, built-in seat belts. I also love the toyota power steering upgrade. I like a nice radio system tucked away playing tunes. Maybe someday I will add an A/C system in one of the trucks.

Driving a 56+ year old truck, as the others have said, does take some tinkering and patience. Don't expect it to run flawless but make the glitches (when they happen) work for you. Give yourself an extra 5 minutes in the morning to let the old girl warm up and drive it with pride.

 

It is completely up to you with your truck. There are lots of options if you want to modernize it, and lots of parts around if you want to restore it 100% original. And any combination of the two is possible. I love the looks of these trucks and I see nothing wrong with switching parts to ones with more modern technology to make them daily drivers. I would rather drive one that has been made to drive every day and be able to keep up with the traffic and be able to stop quickly. I think that changing one is fine, it will still be a real truck, and one that is uniquely yours. If you want to be able to drive it at 70 you will need to change things, as many of us have. Mine has a modern V8, automatic with overdrive, 8.8 rear end out of a 2000 Explorer, MII front end, 4 wheel power disc brakes, power rack and pinion steering, and some creature comforts like new seats, wiring, A/C, etc. Good luck with it whatever you do, and this forum has many here who will be glad to help you with problems. There is a wide variety of owners here and I have always found many who are very knowledgeable and can help with any problem any way you happen to go with your truck.

 

I don't use my two old Ford trucks as daily drivers but both of them are up to the task. Missy green, the 56 was rebuilt for utility use. I wanted something I could haul, pull, dump and do it reliably and with good looks. If she gets a scratch, so what. I live in an area where I don't have to run interstate speeds and there is very little traffic. She has had a total brake rebuild, new tires all around, original engine rebuilt. The entire truck has been gone thru, all mechanics checked, replace, or rebuilt as needed.
She does nicely at about 55 mph, about 3K rpm, and I've run her up to about 65 to see how she did. Nice easy cruise is 45-50. The old drum brakes are up to the job at these speeds and I fully realize their limitations. She steers well and is noisy. I find with the large diameter original steering wheel I don't need power steering.
Daily driver? Yeah, could be, but I like the modern iron sometimes.

And as mentioned, these old trucks will need a bit more maintenance and if you don't fully understand the truck or if you're not up to doing maint, the use as a DD is probably not a good idea.

And BTW, welcome to the forum

 

I'm building a '56 F250 for a Daily Driver, I also have a motorcycle so during the summer the truck will only roll when needed.
There will be problems with any vehicle that is not brand new, you just pick battles, does spending your saturdays cleaning and adjusting the brakes, tinkering with the timing, and chasing electrical gremlins sound like a hoot ? then build and enjoy.
I reasons that i'm building is that i want something to be proud of, I brought it back to life, so I'll have a stronger feeling towards taking care of it. Thing of as buying a car, set a monthly car payment that you put towards it each month, but this payment will show progress in the development of your truck and not some other guys pocket.
I would encourage anyone that want to restore a car to do it, it keeps you out of trouble, the skills learned you can apply them anywhere, and you become that keeper of a piece of history.

 

A real truck is one that gets used and abused, that the driver isn't afraid to upgrade or modify it to achieve their needs.

There are hundreds of thousands of these trucks that where made, over half a million in just the '53-56 years. The beauty of these trucks is how easy it is to swap out parts, and be able to swap them back in if you so desire. I would personally rather see a modified truck that was on the road with Chevy, Dodge, International, Nissan, Toyota, ect. parts in it holding it together than a concour truck that never once left the garage, any day of the week.


Anyways.


I'm building mine for a daily driver, a true daily driver. I live up in Wyoming and in mountain country, so that means harsh winters. We see -20 and lots of snow. I don't want my truck to sit in the garage like my Mustang with a candy paint job has to when the snow hits, I want my truck to be the one that can always get there no matter what's going on outside.

This means I have to change out my axles, transmission, engine and everything else that it requires. I'm in the heavily modified area, but like most builders with these trucks the idea is to keep it looking as original as possible, even if you open the hood and see something that didn't exist for decades later. Most people don't consider changing out drivertrain parts to be darksiding or really modifying, it's more of something that's considered and inevitability by those who wish to actually use them. You might be able to run the original rear end, many do, it's a question of what gear axle you need and how much power you're going to push through it.

In it's factory set up, you'll be able to drive like you would anything else up to about 50mph (these trucks where made back when 55 was the speedlimit I believe). So keep that in mind, you don't have to swap things out to use it, several of us haven't. From what I've read most are geared at 4.10, which depending on your tire size might be a bit much, or it might be perfect, all depends on what you want out of your truck. Mine is geared at 5.83/8.11, and I'm going diesel so it's one reason I have to swap out an axle. I would suggest seeing if a part could work first before replacing it as it's sometimes just a whole lot easier.

I would suggest for a daily driver having a normal paint job. My car has a candy paint job and it took me about 5 years to stop being afraid that it might get scratched (as candy is very hard to fix as it's transparent).

These trucks are easy to work on, but you will need to work on them, they're over 50 years old, even if it was kept up, seals dry up/wear out, parts only last so long, ect. But all you need is a set of wrenches and sockets, two screwdrivers and a hammer, and you can do EVERYTHING on these trucks. If you're not mechanically inclined you will be. For me it's a lot of fun, but if you have to have someone else fix it it can be a money pit. Nothing is really hard to fix on these, everyone on here can help you out with questions, just ask and you'll have your answer that day. You will find being able to be independent and fix your own truck yourself simply feels really cool.

It might be easier to find a truck that's built the way you're looking to have it, building one can take some time, finishing one can take a really long time. Many people on here will be able to help you find a good truck that's in your budget. It will be a question of what you want to do with your build, a few buy theirs 'finished', most of us buy ours complete but in need of a lot of help. The build is fun, so is the hunt for a truck.


So to answer your question: Yep, most of us drive our trucks normally, a good portion of us like to drive them hard and still use them as trucks, and a few of us have put too much work into them to trust other drivers every day. Check out this topic to see some working ones:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ucks-only.html


So welcome to FTE

 

I drive my 54 four or five days a week.it gets 24mpg, but it has a modern drive train and ac.
I have a stock 1937 Ford Truck with a Flathead and 6v,I drive it once a week but not more than 50 miles from home

 

Thanks for all the replies!

About how much should I expect to pay for a new drive train, trans, front end, ect. to make it a daily driver?

 

Depends on what you want to put in. Should be able to do it under $1000 in parts for the powertrain, not sure on the front clip, maybe less if you find a deal.

 

That question is impossible to answer without specifics. Why don't you show us a picture of your particular truck and tell us which engine, tranny, rear end, etc. you want to use. It's not an easy task at all. And it gets very expensive.

 

Your best value would be to buy one that's already had most of that done and done properly. A truck with $10k worth of work done on it could likely go for $5k or less. The only reason to start from scratch is if you enjoy the build and have a pocketful of money you're itching to spend.