Greetings to all,

I'm looking for some good advise. I've found a 51 F6 for sale. It's a grain dump with 20,000 GVW. The seller claims it has 31,000 original miles. It drives great and is as tight as you'd expect for such as low mileage truck. The only issue at the moment is brakes. Master cylinder is probably shot. My question to anyone who cares is this - How difficult is it to find parts for these rigs? I'm thinking about things like brake parts, bearings, diff seals. The kind of things that age no matter what the mileage. I know that most everything is rebuildable but only if you can find the parts first! I've looked around the internet but have found very little except for body panels from wrecks.

I'd be very grateful for any assistance and perhaps one more good ol truck will be re-born!

Corey

 

I believe that many of the mechanical parts for the bigger trucks are available from Joblot Automotive.

 

You can buy most of the brake parts for the larger trucks at Job Lot Automotive in NY, http://www.joblotauto.com/. Also, some parts you may still be able to find a good, local parts store or NAPA. You won't be able to find brake shoes, you will have to have yours relined. Again, check out a good auto part store, they should be able to steer you to a place that will reline them.

As for bearings, if you can't get them from Job Lot or NAPA try a local bearing distributor if you have one nearby, many times they can match a part they have in stock to the part you need. This goes with any part that can be bought from an independant supplier like hoses and hardware. It takes a little work but you can usually find what you're looking for. If not, just ask here, somebody will know where to get it.

The biggest, and most expensive, item to find for the larger trucks is wheels. If your truck has the original "Widow Maker" Ford factory wheels you will have to find replacement wheels. Please read this page on my web site:

www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/widowmaker.html

 

Thanks a ton for the replies. Basically great news except for the 'Widow Makers'! It sounds like it almost has to have them but I'll remain hopeful until I can confirm.

 

The bearings are pretty much available from NAPA. I got all mine from them. The wheel cyls and master cyl are also available from NAPA.

I got the vacuum hydro-booster from Cascade Friction Materials in Tacoma, Wa. back in 2005 it was $125-exchange.

I got rebuilt lock-ring wheels and new 9.00-20 Toyo radials (front) and 4 recapped radials from Les Schwab Tire.

You need to lose the splits. You might kill someone with them.


Cheers,


Rick

 

Abso-freekin-lutely. There'll be no exploding rims on my watch. My son worked at our largest tire shop as one of his first summer jobs - it's always someone's son or daughter. Why was there not a recall? Where was Ralph Nader??

Corey

 

Yeah no kidding!


When I got my truck everybody I told about it either knew someone or knew OF someone that was killed by a split rim!

You would think they would have been banned years ago!

RN was too busy screwing up the Corvair market!!

 

Les Schwab you say? For the tires and rims or just the tires? I already started searching for 22.5" vintage school bus rims but if rebuilt 20" snap ring style can be found easily why switch?

On a side note I just found out that my insurance company will allow me to register this beast as a classic meaning it will cost about $300 a year to insure for pleasure use. No commercial work but otherwise no restrictions on how I use all of it's 20,000GVW capacity. That'll save about $1500/yr. For the cost of bringing in one load of sand or gravel I can haul my own all year long! Sand, gravel, trees, timber, my mini-excavator

Not to mention that I'll be hauling it all in style!

I think I might cry.

 

http://www.lesschwab.com/

This is where they told me they got the wheels:

http://www.macraesbluebook.com/searc...company=775881

 

Thank you so much. I just got back from having a second look. We couldn't get it running even with a new battery. No spark but that's as simple as the coil or points. It sure turned over smoothly though seems to have good compression. I was relieved to find a brake booster hanging underneath and it looks as though the rims might be one piece.

Any idea if it's desirable or possible to convert to 12V?

 

It's pretty easy to covert to 12V. The original wiring is more than adequate as long as the insulation is in good shape. I doubt that it is if it's original. Buy new wiring harness. A lot of guys here have bought aftermarket wiring kits. I wired my trucks from scratch, I own a industrial control wiring business so I have miles of wire and these truck have simple electrical systems. You have to change all light bulbs and use resistors for things that aren't easly replaced like motor and gauges. If you change to negative ground you'll have to change the direction of the wire going through the amp meter.

The Widow Maker wheels are kind of hard to tell, they look like one piece rims and fool a lot of people. Look in the concave side of the rims, if you see a 1 1/2" thick band running on the inside then you have Widow Makers. Also, all 20" wheels are multi-part rims. If the wheel size ends in a fractional number like 22 1/2 or 19 1/2 then they are one piece.

I have a set of 6 20" rims I am selling. I just had the tires dismounted from five, the sixth one the previous owner cut the rubber off and left two rubber rings. I haven't gotten the other five back from the tire shop yet but by looking at the one I have in my shop it looks in very good shape. They have surface rust and the one I have here has some very minor pitting inside. The guy I got them from said they came from KS or CO. These are multi-part with a full snap ring. They came off of a '47 Ford. Email if you're interest.

 

You probably will want to convert it to 12v. It basically entails replacing all the bulbs, generator/reg , starter(I'm told 6v starters will work on 12v) , heater (blower motor)

If you want to use the old gages there's converters available. I think there's also 12 gages available too.

Those wheels would be just fine!


If you buy your tires from Les Schwab, they'll sand blast your(servicable) wheels and powder coat for something like $25 each!

 

Great replies,

Mr. Guru, Is the rim on the left the widow maker or the snap ring style? It's exactly what I was looking at today without question.

Oh wise Elder - from the sounds of it Les means more! Sweet deal. Powder is what this truck is going to be coated in when I'm done - just like me 78 CJ7.

 

Both are pictures of the same rim, I want to show the condition. All six have the solid snap ring. These are not Widow makers. I know what the Widow Makers are, I have had at least four or five trucks with them.

 

I guess that's good news for me but not so much for you. I would have certainly made you an offer on yours but it looks like I'm in good shape wheel wise. I'm quite sure that I'll be soon looking to you for some kind of hard to find part. I'm just about ready to take a leap of faith. I only hope I can a-Ford it!