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Hey there! This is my first post, but I’ve been lurking around. I r
ecently purchased (well
, “traded for” if I’m being honest) a 1972 Ford flatbed with a 361 gasser. This is really all the information I could gather from doing a quick look over. I do have a picture of the data plate.Hoping the infamous number_dummy comes across this, thank you very much in advance for any information you could share with me.
Sorry for the quality of photo, the truck is currently sitting behind my friends house in his “junkyard”. Sort of a used car lot but technically more of a “used-up” car lot.
I don’t know what wheels it has, just that they’re not the standard 10-bolt type of today. They seem to be a two piece, with bolts on the outside of the 5 spokes. This is for both axles. I also don’t know anything about the brakes, the PO says that he’s certain they’re not air brakes (he’s not a commercial truck guy in the slightest, when he bought it he was told it was an F-700).
The information you provided from the data plate has been immeasurably helpful and will help me get the title fixed. Currently it’s saying it’s got a gvwr of 28,000 (while I have a cdl, I was hoping it didn’t need one) so it’s clearly incorrect. It has a 14’ flatbed (technically a tilt bed but idk the proper terminology, tilt bed is what my old company called our trucks that did what this one does), and a pintle hitch.
I drive a significantly newer truck in the same-ish weight category, but have driven older ones like this before. However, they had air brakes. From the little bit I’ve read there’s a system called “Hydro-vac” but once again I don’t know if that’s what is on the truck. Hydro-vac sounds like a convoluted mess. Are there parts available to just replace what’s on the truck? Its primary intended usage is to haul corrugated steel siding for local Amish builders and move mini-barns around the local area. No super heavy towing or even getting close to the gvwr.
Great looking Louisville.
The wheels are Dayton 5 spoke and are otherwise known as de-mountable rims.(Spiders in Australia)
The brakes you describe sound like air over hydraulic.
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Just be aware when removing those rims from the hub, that its always wise to loosen all the wheel nuts but still leaving them on the threads, then giving the locating wedges a hammer tap, which will safely take the tension off the rim to centre hub.
When I get the truck dig out of where it’s sitting, I’ll get the wheels off and inspect the brake systems and steering components.
I’ve heard of air-over-hydraulic but haven’t personally had experience with them. Doing a search for parts has been fruitless and has me already considering changing the axles out from underneath it from something more modern. At my work we’ve got 20+ Ford cabover sweeper trucks (33k gvwr, two speed electric rear axles, air brakes) and it doesn’t look too difficult to change out one leaf sprung axle for another. Barring that, did these louisville trucks come with a factory 10-bolt air brake axle? A direct swap would be nice but I’m not afraid of that Lincoln buzzbox if perches need moved around.
Thanks for the feedback guys, it’s appreciated. Without communal knowledge like this I’d be helpless at NAPA dealing with the parts counter.
