Me, too. Just love 'em! They have so much character, these old truck, so much history...so many stories to tell of all the roads they have gone down, and of the people who drove and looked after them.

 

Seems the ones I find weren't always to well 'looked after' lol. Why do people leave a good truck outside with no hood on it and an oil bath aircleaner with a loose wing nut? The top of the air cleaner is concave and acts as a perfect funnel to direct rain or melting snow directly into the cylinders through the carb. This truck looks to have 17000 original miles and very little wear on the 59ab, but what a rusty mess it was in there! Oh well, that's all in the past. Gonna go pull those honkin' rear drums today. I'm hoping for good rebuildable wheel cyls and some fat linings on those 4" shoes!

 

i got a part number for the rear cylinders, had to replace the 2 rear ones. don,t have it home but can get it ,if you want. don,t forget the left hand tread. i had found a bud tool last summer,didn,t use it yet. i had managed to remove nuts and bottles with an air impact and acetyline torch.

 

Well I ended up doing some work related chores and welding up broken exhaust on my 92 f350 I use for work. I did however get the shop cleaned, the 47 back in there centered up so I can get to the rear wheels. Jack stands alongside poised and ready. Itchin' to pull those drums but my wife and I are having a nice evening at home, away from the rain and wind, wood stove crackling and watching the evening news. Six kids between us and none left at home! Nice and quiet (except for the 3 month old puppy) Thanks Bernette, I will get them pulled tomorrow.

 

Sounds like life is good Gary

 

Yes it is, for sure. Thanks. Got one side all apart, tons of brake lining 3/8" or so, wheel cylinder is very clean inside, so easy rebuild. Maybe pull other drum after work tomorrow so I can order parts. I have pretty much decided to send my midland hy-power brake booster out to be rebuilt. That way I know it will be a bolt in situation. I was going to skip it, but the 300.00 would be well spent if I needed to stop quick someday. My dad was an insurance broker..... he smiles down on me when I make choices like that.

 

And may well keep looking down on ya a bit longer'
rather than eye to eye across a cloud. And sayin "I told ya so Son"

 

can you post that hydrovac guys adress,is he someone you know or trust worthy.i,m not decided on what to do with my hydrovac. i replaced a unit on a 80ies international,i believe it cost 175$. it could be installed with some fitting.

 

Bernette, I can't find the address my friend gave me. I'll have to call him back. Right now we're so busy at work I haven't gotten it boxed up to send. I might just finish the rears and get it rolling again, not put any brake fluid in it and send the booster off in a week or two. It's not Like I really need to drive it right away. I was just anxious to get it moveable so we could use that bay in the shop for planing wood when it rains etc. Here's some pics of the brakes. Sometimes I wonder if this truck was under water in those famous North Dakota floods. I have seen a creek or river in the background of the truck 'junk'yard where I bought this thing. Another thing when the Russian truckers picked it up it was 4 degrees out and they couldn't load it because it wouldn't steer. The yard owner says that's common as a lot of the old trucks get "moisture" in the steering box and it freezes and they don't steer. Now I have lived in plenty of cold places in my life and I have never seen that kind of "moisture" in a steering box. BTW I had water run out after I broke the seal on the axle flange gasket on one side..........Tranny was plain old 90 wt old and stinky, so maybe the 'tide' didn't reach the top loader. Fresh water doesn't seem to hurt gearboxes. Water runs out clear and then the grease and the innards look like new. Seen it in a lot of tractors that sit outside for 50 years.

 

Definitely has the look of being submerged for an extended period. The water coming out of the axle housing seems to verify that. I don't see any evidence of "terminal" damage, you'll get 'em cleaned up pretty.
At least, you can use the shoes, my axle grease soaked ones were beyond saving. Even the old laquer thinner trick wouldn't work on them!

 

Yeah, the rust pretty much brushes off with a cup brush. Luckily the shoes had lots of meat on 'em, and no grease. I'm hoping the parts are in now at NAPA, but I'll be gone a couple days on this anniversary trip with the missus. Maybe get them back together by Sunday. The rear oil seals listed for something over 70 bucks each!... I was able to get a deal at 58.00 each. Most expensive part of the brakejob. The kits for the wheel cylinders were 11 bucks each for the fronts and 12 for the rears!

 

I feel your pain on the oil seals, I ran into the same thing on the '59.
Happy anniversary, enjoy your trip!

 

i had a problems with the rear seals. gave an old one to a part guy,he ended sending me 1st didn,t fit and the second one fitted on the axle but not on the hub. was running out off time last year and got a machinist to make a sleeve. at 58$ would of been a deal. now that i found this forum,and access to parts. its quit a bit better!

 

GB SISSON, the place you got that truck from was definitely under water for quite few weeks. Drove by there many a times since I live near there shaking my head looking at all the old trucks sitting in about 3-4 feet of water. What a shame. But it looks like yours appeared to have survived pretty good. The pictures of the motor you posted were pretty much what I was expecting to see. Was probably a decent rebuild-able motor before the flood. The issue of it not steering because of "moisture" when they picked it up seems like BS to me. I talked to that yard owner once since I got my truck moved here and that was enough to know I wouldn't need to talk to him again. Mine sat for over 30 years and when it was time to move steering it was never an issue even with flat tires. Of course the steering box could have been full of water left over from the flood that never drained out even after a few years and turned to a solid chunk of ice during winter, does get cold here lol. It also might be a good idea to open the rear differential and tranny just to see what kind of water damage if any is in there. Would kind of suck if you replace all your bearings in the rearend and have them destroyed due to rust scale floating around. I know when I refurbished my tranny a couple of the gears had some rust on them due to water sitting at the bottom of the tranny. There's pics of it in my post showing the rust. Looks like you are getting great progress made, keep up the good work.

 

Thanks for the info. Funny, they don't show any pics of the flood on their website. It must have been quite a flood, maybe the time Dakota Fred left the gold fields to return home?