1950 Chevrolet 3600 Tow Truck

[Matt Harwood]

 

I picked up this cool 1950 Chevrolet 3600 tow truck in February 2022. It was appealing because Melanie really likes Advance Design Chevys and I have always wanted a tow truck. It was cheap on eBay so we bought it. The plan was to flip it, and in fact it's for sale right now if there's someone out there who wants it more than I do. However, it was badly misrepresented--the seller claimed it "runs and drives great!" as they usually do and, well, that was really the complete opposite of what it would actually do. As with almost every other vehicle I've purchased for myself rather than for the business, it was a big disappointment when it showed up. No brakes, crumbling wiring, dead battery, flat tires, and no start. We dragged it inside and worked out a plan for how to proceed.

 

Seller photos from the eBay ad. Looked decent.
We didn't know just how much work it would need.

 

I broke both of my cardinal rules with this purchase--I didn't look at it in person (it was in North Carolina) and I [unwittingly] bought a vehicle with a bum title. Actually, it wasn't so much a bad title as one with two title skips on it. The seller tried to pass it off on us as-is and it was rejected by the Ohio DMV so we put it on him to fix it. He chose to tell us to go fornicate with ourselves, so we had to pursue...other solutions. Of course, with the title in dispute, it would be unwise to do anything with/to the truck so it sat in the corner of the shop, much as the '41 Buick did and the '35 Lincoln did when they first arrived and didn't measure up.

 

Anyway, by July Melanie was confident that she could get a title, so I set Roman, our mechanic, to work getting it roadworthy. We started with all new brakes, including lines, hoses, master cylinder, and wheel cylinders. While we were in there we also replaced the front kingpins and installed new shocks, since the old ones were literally falling out. Seller claimed the gas tank was new but for some reason it was running on a lawn mower tank mounted on the firewall--perhaps that was the "new" tank he meant. So we bought and installed a new gas tank behind the seat. And with the tires off, we discovered that someone had managed to stretch 16-inch radials onto 16.5-inch wheels in the back (I do not believe this truck started life as a dually). Hack work abounded. 

 

Perhaps the lawnmower tank was the "new gas tank"

that the seller was talking about.

 

Of course, Roman was doing most of the heavy lifting and the intent was to sell the truck, so I'm sorry I don't have photos of most of this early work.

 

I took my first drive in July and when I hit the first bump in the road my leg hair was singed by a cascade of sparks from under the dash, so we ordered up a new wiring harness. And as long as we were at it we had the seat reupholstered and installed a new reproduction mat and fresh weather seals on the doors. 

 

  
Interior before-and-after.

 

The gauges were falling apart and none of them worked so I sourced a set of decent used gauges on eBay and Roman replaced them. Unfortunately, the capillary tube for the temperature gauge was snipped so we couldn't make it work. Instead, we mounted aftermarket temperature and oil pressure gauges in the glove box just to keep a closer eye on things while we sorted it out.

 

  

Original gauges were junk. Speedometer didn't even have a needle.

 

  
Used replacement gauges look decent and they all work except

the temperature gauge. Added auxiliary gauges that we had

laying around and stashed them in the glove box.

 

I did some detective work under the hood and learned that the 235 cubic inch inline-6 is from 1958, which is good--full pressure oiling and insert bearings were standard equipment. The head is from a 1959 261, which is, again, a good thing because it has bigger valves and stronger springs. The engine runs great, and once we had the fuel system sorted out, it started instantly and idled nicely (although we weren't quite able to drive it). We drained all the fluids and discovered that the rear end was bone dry, then refilled everything with fresh stuff. The cooling system was filled with Evapo-Rust and allowed to soak while we periodically started the engine and ran it up to temperature. After a few weeks, we drained it and filled it with 50/50 anti-freeze and water and installed all new hoses. The sucker runs ICE COLD now (160-170) and will idle indefinitely without getting hot. We also rebuilt the entire ignition system with new points, condenser, rotor, cap, plugs, and wires. That made quite a difference in how quickly it fires.

 

Cosmetically, the engine was three colors, Chevy Orange, Chevy Blue, and gray, so I had Michael, our detailer, paint it gray which is correct for 1950. We also sourced and installed a correct oil bath air cleaner.

 

  

Engine was three different colors, so we painted it correct gray.

Note the reproduction Thriftmaster 235 decal and correct

air cleaner. There's all-new wiring, too.

 

By the time most of this work was wrapping up, Hershey was fast approaching and I decided I wanted to take the truck to the car corral. We stepped up the prep work to make sure it was operational and presentable. We finished the wiring, including making the rotating bubble light and spot lights on the boom operational. Melanie amused herself finding some tow truck accessories like a jerry can, tool box, jack, and fire extinguisher. I found a spare bias-ply wheel and tire in our storage room and threw that into the bed as well. 

 

      

Melanie found some period-perfect tow truck accessories.

 

The truck also had someone else's name on the doors and unfortunately, it was painted on. We contacted our friends at the sign shop and I made a Photoshop mock-up of the truck with decals the way I wanted them. One big emblem on the door to cover the old garage name, as well as some writing that I wanted to look hand-painted.

 

  

Before and after decals.

 

And since we added "Radio Dispatched" on the hood, that meant it needed a radio. I found a cool 1950s CB radio and mounted an antenna behind the cab (none of it is hooked up or operational, but it looks right).

 

    

Vintage CB radio installed to match "Radio Dispatched" printing on the hood.

 

So we were pretty close to Hershey and I was excited about taking the truck. One problem persisted--the generator wasn't charging. I did some basic testing and all my results suggested that the generator was shot. My friends at Certified Auto Electric probably could have done a rush job to get it done, but with a strong battery the truck would run well enough to get into and out of the car corral at Hershey. I would just have to lay off using the bubble light the way I wanted to. Just in case, I pulled out an NOS voltage regulator that I had on the shelf (the truck is now 12V) to do some additional testing. I've had a run of bad regulators lately and thought it might be the answer. Anyway, the first thing the instructions for the regulator said was that the system should be re-polarized any time the battery is disconnected. I know that's not true, but I decided to re-polarize the system before installing the regulator to see if that would wake things up--who knows how long this truck had been sitting? Well, when I polarized the generator, it started spinning. That meant it was probably good. It also meant, much to my embarrassment, that the fan belt was much too loose. We tightened it up and sure enough, the ammeter showed a healthy positive charge when the engine was running. Problem solved.

 

Oh, and I found some correct wiper arms so it would look finished, but blades proved elusive. I mocked some up. It doesn't matter, the wipers don't work anyway.

 

We finally had everything tied up and I could drive the truck again. My first few test drives were near the shop--I didn't want to drive farther than I could walk. They were largely uneventful until the Saturday before we were to leave for Hershey when it started to stutter and then died on me. It would start and idle but any application of throttle and it would stall out. It just wasn't getting enough fuel. The gas tank and lines were new, so I knew it wasn't clogged with trash like my Lincoln. In fact, I had said to Roman just the day before that the only thing we hadn't touched was the fuel pump and that would be the one thing that could go wrong. That's what I assumed as I did some quick diagnostics by the side of the road. 

 

Fortunately, my decision to stay close to home was a good one. I walked to our nearby auto parts store and bought an electric fuel pump, one of those electrical supply kits, some fuel hose, and some zip ties. Back at the truck, I hacked the electric fuel pump into place and discovered that it really wasn't the fuel pump after all. What the...?

 

  

Temporary fuel pump install was a work of hack art.

 

If it wasn't the fuel pump and it wasn't trash in the gas tank, it had to be the carburetor. I rapped on it with a screwdriver handle and sure enough, the truck fired right up and drove properly once again. Stuck float. I zipped back to the shop only to discover that the carburetor was now leaking pretty severely from the throttle shaft and all over the exhaust manifold--the carb was toast. The truck wasn't going to make it to Hershey. Dang.

 

I ordered a rebuilt carburetor from a reputable supplier and it arrived while I was in Hershey and Roman installed it. The truck was back to its old reliable self and I spent a few hours after work tuning and tweaking it--it starts instantly hot or cold, idles nicely, and generally works the way it should. Admittedly this is a bone-simple machine where nothing is difficult to understand or service, but I'm proud of how nicely it runs. 

 

Whew!

 

Which brings me to today. The valves are typically noisy on these engines (trucks were still solid lifters) but I had one valve that was particularly noisy--so noisy that I could hear it through the firewall as I drove. I ordered a new valve cover gasket and set about adjusting the valves this afternoon. The process is identical to my '41 Buick, so I was familiar with the procedure: loosen the lock nut, insert appropriate feeler gauge (.006" intake, .018" exhaust), use a screwdriver to tweak it until the feeler gauge just barely drags between the valve stem and rocker arm, then lock it down. 

 

Internals were actually pretty clean. I honestly

didn't expect that.

 

  

Adjust the rockers until the feeler gauge just barely drags

between the valve stem and rocker arm.

 

But WTF is this? Should I be concerned?

 

With the valves properly adjusted, it was a bit quieter. Not a lot, but at least the one super noisy one was better. These are not quiet motors, I guess. While I was in there, I also bent up a new fuel line from the fuel pump to the carburetor to replace the hacked-up one that came on the truck.

 

Here's a video of the valves before I started--note the patched-up fuel line:

 

 

 

And here's the video of the results, along with a new fuel line from the fuel pump to the carburetor. Amazing that the camera's mic can pick up so much more noise than your ear--it isn't this noisy in person. I do, however, like the exhaust note which sounds vaguely V8-ish thanks to a Flowmaster muffler with two outlets for dual exhaust.

 

 

Did some more driving once all that was done and put probably 15 miles on it today without incident. There's a pretty good shimmy between 25 and 35 MPH, so I've ordered a new drag link, tie rod, and tie rod ends, and I'll tighten up the steering box and have it aligned. I hope it's not a bent wheel or a bad tire, but I guess those are solvable problems. A steering system rebuild is next on the agenda. 

 

Other issues I still want to solve. 1. The speedometer reads about half speed. No idea why. With 4.57 gears, it should read fast, not slow if it came out of a 1/2 ton truck. 2. Replace those goofball chrome hubcaps with something else or just paint the wheels to match the roof. 3. Get the passenger door to close and latch better (it takes a big slam to latch properly). And 4. maybe reinstall the visor over the windshield. I don't like visors, but maybe it looks OK on this truck. I'm undecided.

 

Visor? Stay or go?

 

Now you're up to speed on my latest project. I'm amazed by how much I like this stupid truck. It's a lot of fun to drive and I really like the heavy-duty look. Hopefully I can correct the shimmy and then it'll be a real pleasure to drive. It's not fast, but it's purposeful and functional, and I have to admit that it's incredibly liberating to drive. I simply don't care if it's loud, full of rattles, and sloppy on the road. Unlike my other cars, this one's imperfections are part of its charm and combined with the scruffy paint and undercarriage, it's a 100% care-free hobby vehicle. I didn't even get frustrated when it left me stranded--I just solved the problem and got on with it. That's not like me, but I think it's because I don't really care about anything on this truck. It's just not important. It's crazy simple, everything is easy to fix, parts are cheap, and I don't need to worry about high-speed comfort or performance or keeping up with other tour vehicles. It can just be itself. Nice!

 

Right now the truck is for sale and if someone is willing to pay my price, I'll sell it. In the meantime, I'll keep upgrading it and enjoying it--eventually someone will get an awesome tow truck and I'll have some low-stress fun.

 

Anyway, I'll post more as it happens. Thanks for reading!

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[MCHinson]

Personally, I would leave the visor off. I think the truck looks better without it. Also, there are probably people out there that would pay you good money for the visor which will help pay for some of the other work you have done (and will continue to do) to the truck. 

[billorn]

I thought it wasnt a keeper lol!!!!!

[Lahti35]

2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

 

But WTF is this? Should I be concerned?

 

You should be OK!  In '59 Chevy went to "full pressure" oiling to the rocker arms and the overflow tube in your pic was crimped by the factory. Since you have a '59 head this would be correct.

[Matt Harwood]

One of the things that bothered me about the truck from Day One was those plastic hubcaps. The front is OK but for a dually, the rear is convex rather than concave, completely spoiling the illusion. I debated whether to just pull the hubcaps and paint the wheels, but the front wheels are standard flat wheels while the rears are obviously deep dish for a dual wheel setup. They wouldn't match and it wouldn't look right. Again, this is because I believe my truck was converted to dual rear wheels at some point in the past but was originally delivered with single 8-lug wheels like most 3600s.

 

Plastic hubcaps were OK, but they bugged me.

Dually wheels are concave, not convex.

I spent quite a bit of time researching spacers, new wheels, and all kinds of other solutions to make it look correct (yeah, it was really bugging me). There are companies making dually retrofit kits but it was going to be into the thousands of dollars to make it happen and I'm not really excited about spending that kind of cash on this truck for what was basically a cosmetic change. I gave up for a while and decided to live with the goofball hubcaps--most folks didn't notice anyway.

 

Then the UPS guy came in, saw the truck, and mentioned that one of the UPS display trucks in their warehouse had some kind of dually hubcaps on it that were chrome instead of brown. He didn't know anything about them, but he did remember seeing them installing them one afternoon. A ha! So I did some searching and it turns out that "dually simulators" are an actual thing. They dress up otherwise drab painted wheels or scruffy wheels on older trucks. Most are made of polished stainless instead of plastic and in photos, they look pretty convincing. I ordered a set, which, at $250 wasn't exactly cheap but it was far, far less than 4 or 6 new wheels plus some kind of front hub spacers plus mounting and balancing tires.

 

The simulators showed up today and they work as advertised. They're really just elaborate hubcaps that mimic the contours of a dually wheel. They're stainless so they're pretty durable and they should last forever. They grip the rim with little teeth like any other hubcap, so you just pound them into place and go. I'm pretty pleased with the illusion:

 

 

 

 

 

 
The illusion is pretty convincing.

 

They don't quite fit flush to the rim of the wheel, probably because there's a little groove in the inner rim that catches the teeth before they're all the way on. They're secure, however. I am going to paint the wheels themselves satin black to help hide the rim and parts of the wheels that are visible through the holes in the simulators. I'm calling this a win.

 

Next up is rebuilding the steering, which might happen this weekend. The truck is slated for a kids event on Saturday so maybe Sunday I'll tear into the front end and see if I can fix the shimmy. Guess I'll have to figure out how to do some kind of alignment, too. Hmmmm...

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[95Cardinal]

Cool truck, Matt!

[JustDave]

Hello Matt,great looking truck,while your doing the steering tie rods drag link and steering box you may consider putting on a steering dampener,it may eliminate that shimmy in the future,         Dave

[Lahti35]

Those simulator hubcaps look way better, great choice!

[Roscoe]

  One of my favorite trucks on here. If in the future, you need quality factory gauges for these AD trucks, there's a gentleman by the name of Sam Simone that does amazing rebuilds, cheap. He updates them either to factory specs, or, like I needed, updated for 12 volt and with a higher-pressure oil gauge as I run a full pressure 235 in my '52.  I bought a set, I believe it was for $450- I know it was under $500, and they looked like new. I can try to find his contact info if you ever need it.

[Matt Harwood]

Drove the truck to what is likely the final outing of the season, a cars and coffee at the Crawford Museum restoration facility, which is conveniently located about a mile up the street from our shop. Michael and I showed up around 9:30 and it was already packed--I had to park on the street, although they weren't terribly selective about what was coming in--lots of daily driver late-models taking up space. Some interesting stuff, but nothing I haven't seen before. Lots of friends that I probably won't see until next spring--EVERYONE was there, since this was probably the last nice weekend of the year. A good show first thing on a Saturday.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we took the tow truck and Melanie's '56 Chrysler wagon to our town's "Truck or Treat" event. A friend of Melanie's runs the event and always asks us to bring something interesting and to hand out treats to the kids. It's mostly designed for kids who live in areas where they might not otherwise get a chance to trick-or-treat. So we hung out for a few hours and handed out some candy. Both vehicles were a hit, although the pink wagon is always a favorite. We let a lot of little kids sit in the truck, which really made their day. And getting a 70-degree day in Cleveland in October was a treat so it was nice to be outside.

 

  

 

  

 

Driving home the shimmy continued to annoy me. I have my new steering components that I'll install tomorrow, but more and more I'm thinking it's an out-of-round tire, not the steering. Yes, of course the steering is all over the place so it's not a bad idea to rebuild it, but the shimmy is something I feel more through my backside than through the steering wheel. I think it's the tires. But do I want to pony up for six new tires for this thing? Ugh.

[trimacar]

Not trying to be simplistic, is air pressure correct in front tires?  Ihave a car that shimmies if tires 5 psi under recommendation, yes, front end wear is a factor, but propertire pressue can get you ny.

 

Neat story and neat truck!!

[NewOldWood]

Cool truck! I like it better without the visor.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Matt, if the tires are radials, perhaps one has a "loose" belt.  I have located them in the past by spinning the tire and observing the tread. A loose belt can make the car/truck do weird things.

 

  Neat truck.

 

  Ben

[Matt Harwood]

Finally had a chance to dig into the steering to try to deal with the shimmy. More and more, I'm thinking that Ben is right and there's an issue with one or more of the tires, but since I have the steering parts I may as well install them.

 

On the surface, this shouldn't be a difficult job. Remove the old parts, bolt on the new ones, don't screw up the alignment. And fortunately, Roman (my mechanic) has already been in here so none of the nuts and bolts were frozen and it [mostly] came apart without a fight. Like most vehicles of the era, the 3600 has a steering box, a pitman arm, a drag link, brackets on the backing plates of each wheel to which a tie rod is connected. Simple. Originally, there were ball sockets at all the moving joints, which included a ball stud, a pair of cups, a spring, and a screw-in plug to keep everything tight. It worked just fine, but it's kind of high maintenance with quite a bit of grease and adjustment needed. Plus the balls tend to get egg-shaped and lose their precision, leading to shimmy. That's what I suspected was the problem on my truck--the parts were just worn out.

 

Steering gear is familiar. Pitman arm (top), drag link
(arrow), and tie rod (bottom) with brackets

on the backing plates.

 

Brackets bolt to the backing plates. Fortunately,

we'd already had all this apart so it was easy

to disassemble today.

 

Ball studs tend to wear and cause sloppiness, so I wanted

to eliminate them (they're virtually impossible to

replace anyway).

 

The replacement parts use modern ball joints, so I ordered new tie rod ends, a new tie rod, and a new drag link, all of which would replace the original style joints. First step was removing everything, which was largely painless. As I mentioned, the brackets on the backing plates came off easily, and once I removed the drag link from the pitman arm, the whole assembly came out. I had to use a cut-off wheel to remove the ball between the pitman arm and the drag link simply because it simply would not let go, but since it was all being replaced, it didn't matter. The pitman arm fought me for a good long while, but going and buying an even bigger pitman arm puller solved the problem and it popped off. It took more energy and time than I wanted, but whatever. 

 

New parts vs. old parts.

 

With everything apart, the next step was removing the ball studs from the wheel brackets and pitman arm. These ball studs were pressed in at the factory, then the back side was peened over to hold them in place permanently. That means you can't simply press them off, you have to grind them to remove the peening. So I ground them with a cut-off wheel, which put a little "dish" in the back of the stud and (hopefully) would make it easier to remove. Then I took it to my press, rigged it up on the bottom with a socket big enough to swallow the ball stud, and put about 15 tons of pressure on it. With the pressure on, I heated it with a torch. Eventually POP! It came apart. I was expecting a fight, but knowing how to do it ahead of time really made it a lot easier. Thanks, internet!

 

That ball stud has to come out so it can be replaced

with a modern ball joint.

 

  

Ball stud was pressed in at the factory, then peened. 

I don't think they expected someone would be taking

it apart 70 years later.

 

    

I ground off the peened area, then pressed out the

ball studs. A little heat and  pressure and they

popped right out. You can see where I ground

the back of the stud where it was peened.

 

At that point, I was ready to start bolting things back together. I cleaned the brackets and arms with a wire wheel, but they don't need to be perfect--it's just an old truck, not a restoration. I bolted the wheel brackets on the backing plates and secured them with some new cotter pins. I figured I'd just screw the new tie rod ends on the tie rod and adjust it so that it would just drop into the brackets. That way, the alignment wouldn't be affected. Yes, the alignment is probably way off, but at least it's drivable. I'll figure out how to align it better at a later date. I just want to get it off the lift by Monday.

 

One problem--the new tie rod ends don't really fit on the new tie rod. I bought them as a kit from a reputable supplier, but when I went to screw the ends on, it took A LOT of effort. Like a-10-inch-screwdriver-in-the-tie-rod-bolt-holes-and-crank-like-hell effort. And yes, I know that one side is reverse threaded so I wasn't trying to shove a left-handed tie rod onto right-handed threads But it's REALLY tight. I even cleaned the threads with the wire wheel and used some grease and it was really grinding on there. It took so much effort that the tie rod was turning even in my vise as I cranked it on there. WTF?

 

A lot of work to thread the tie rod ends. Look at the 

paint it scraped off the threads (arrow) as I tightened it.

 

It doesn't quite look cross-threaded but it sure seems to

be carving up the threads, don't you think?

 

 

Mostly paint but some metal flakes coming off.

This just doesn't feel right.

 

I guess I'll drop the supplier a line and see what they say, but I hate to stop working. But it doesn't seem right that the threads should be this tight--I can't imagine how I would turn it to adjust the alignment once both ends are in place and it's on the truck. Or maybe I should try to pry the tie rod ends open a bit? I don't know. I hate this go-stop-go-stop that comes with some projects.

 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

Figured out the tie rod ends--I used a pickle fork to spread the ends of the tie rods and they threaded on easily with some anti-seize. I counted the threads and screwed them on approximately evenly until they dropped into the wheel brackets, thereby preserving the current alignment. 

 

Then I moved to install the pitman arm. I rotated the steering wheel from lock to lock, counting the turns (5) then turned the wheel to what was roughly the center (2.5 turns). I stuck a piece of tape at the 12 o'clock position for reference. As the manual said, there's a little extra resistance when you're at the center point of the steering box's travel and it was easy to feel with everything disconnected. The wheel itself is off by about 90 degrees, but that's easy enough to fix.

 

With the steering box roughly in the straight-ahead position, I installed the pitman arm and drag link. Unfortunately the drag link uses tapered studs and the pitman arm has a straight hole. No fit. I had to remove the pitman arm again using my puller. Dang.

 

Drag link uses a tapered stud. It won't fit in the

pitman arm.

 

I figured that this is a solvable problem, so I went to the hardware store and bought (tried to, anyway) a stepless uni-bit that was the same taper as the stud in the drag link. I went to the cash register to pay and... no wallet. Frustrated, I decided that was a sign that my day was over and went home instead. I'll figure it out later this week.

 

[Matt Harwood]

Well, I cannot adequately express my displeasure with Chevs of the '40s and their lack of knowledge regarding the products they sell. When I called to order front end parts, I was assured by the guy on the phone that the one-piece drag link would fit my truck and work just fine. It wouldn't be correct, but if I didn't care how it looked it would be fine. So I went with it. Turns out, the tapered stud on the one-piece drag link won't work with the straight hole in the pitman arm. I tried using a tapered bit to create a tapered hole, but the hardened steel of the pitman arm just laughed at the drill bit. I called Chevys of the '40s and asked them what I was doing wrong. Their answer? No, no, that part won't work. What moron told you it would?

 

Well, you did. They said they'd pull the tape of our phone call and verify that what I was telling them was true. They didn't know how it possibly could be true because nobody in their shop would recommend that part for my 1950 truck. It just won't work.

 

Well, a while later I got this E-mail:

 

Hello there,

 

I had the phone call listened to and looks like we did mess up on our end.  I would need box dims and weight of that part boxed up and ready to go for a label and that way we can get it back from you

 

So they're at least admitting that it was their fault. But they want me to box up the part, measure the box, and weigh it so they can come get it and presumably give me a refund. Now none of that is particularly difficult, but the real problem is this: I cut the ball studs off my truck on their advice, believing that they knew what they were talking about. Now I can't put the truck back together, either with the new parts or with the old parts because the ball studs have been permanently removed. The truck is immobile, tying up my main lift, and I don't have an easy solution other than finding a new pitman arm and a new wheel bracket with their ball studs still installed, and then find a usable old-style drag link with all its internal parts still intact. Doing a quick check of the usual sources, I'm coming up dry. So I'm a little pissed at Chevs of the '40s. And their response is only "send it back and we'll give you your money back." That's a major fail. I'd just tell the customer to keep the part and refund his money anyway, maybe even refund the entire order since we also f*cked up his truck with our bad advice. Whatever. I'm done with them.

 

I decided to figure out my own solution. Two years ago, I needed new rear shock links for my '41 Buick. The Limited's rear shock links are unique and the usual sources couldn't supply a correct set. I experimented with some spherical rod ends (also called heim joints) and swedge tubes to make my own. Here's a refresher:

 

 

Anyway, I found the rod ends I didn't use and compared them to the incorrect drag link. The 5/8" hole in the rod end will fit perfectly on the wheel bracket and pitman arm. I need a slightly longer swedge tube and some jam nuts, so I ordered all that from Summit Racing and should have it tomorrow. It won't be correct but at least I'll have functional steering that should last indefinitely. It's not like the added NVH will be noticeable in the truck. I wish I could find some tie rod ends that would work so it would look correct, but they all seem to use tapered studs. So I'll stick to the plan and see how my Frankenstein drag link works. Having an adjustable drag link might even be helpful for alignment purposes.

 

I can make a functional drag link using rod ends and

swedge tubes. I ordered a longer tube

and it should work just fine.

 

Better yet, the replacement I'm creating costs about 1/2 of what Chevs of the '40s charged me for that incorrect drag link. I'm still steamed, but at least I think I have a solution.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I had a similar problem with my truck. 11/16 threaded on one end and tapered on the other. I ended up using 3/4 heim joints on both ends with a 4140 in the middle. I had to bore out and tap the 11/16 end and made a tapered bushing for the other. I also made a stud out of a bolt on the lathe for the 11/16 end. I definitely doesn’t look correct but it works great. Good luck. Mike

[Matt Harwood]

Summit Racing comes through again. Ordered parts at 8:00 last night and they're in my hands this morning. Nice!

 

[Matt Harwood]

My Frankenstein drag link works perfectly! Installation was easy with the right hardware and it all fit just as expected. A little adjusting and tweaking and everything lined up. The end result is virtually ZERO lash in the steering--just a twitch of the steering wheel produces visible movement at the tire. Nice! If there was any looseness in the steering causing the shimmy, it should be gone now. Rebuilding my Buick's steering and front suspension is on the "to do" list for this winter; I hope it feels as good as this stupid truck.

 

    

Custom drag link fits perfectly and eliminates any slop in those joints.

There's plenty of movement to permit suspension flex so bump

steer should be a non-issue, unlike with the original setup.

 

I installed cotter pins after torqueing all the 

fasteners to spec.

 

Then I greased the tie rod ends. 

 

The hardware is all grade 8 with safety washers on the rod ends so that if the end links break, they can't come loose and send the truck careening into the ditch. Bolts are 5/8-18 fine thread with nylock nuts and some blue Lok-Tite. I was going to drill the bolts for cotter pins and use castle nuts but my drill bit must not have been sharp enough because it just couldn't make much progress through those hardened bolts. Either way, it's not going anywhere.

 

I still need to figure out the alignment. It's somewhat straight right now and I used my adjustable drag link to make sure the steering was centered. The steering wheel is now off by about 115 degrees, so I'll pull it off the column and reposition it. I still suspect the toe is way off which is why it's so prone to wandering around at speed. Not sure how I'll adjust it, but we'll get to that later.

 

While it was up on the lift I looked carefully at the rear wheels, which is really where I suspect the shimmy is originating. There's the one wheel that looks very much like it's a 16-inch tire crammed onto a 16.5-inch wheel, and I think that wheel is the problem, but not for the reasons you'd think. I pulled off the hubcaps to look at the lips of all four rear wheels (three are normal, one is weird) and what I really noticed was this:

 

  

There's a lot of clearance around the hub and wheel studs.

 

With some measuring, I could see that there's almost 1/8-inch space around the entire hub, and looking closely it seems that the inner wheel isn't centered properly. I pulled a lug nut and there's even more clearance around the 1/2-inch wheel studs; it appears that the holes in the wheel are 3/4-inch. So there's A LOT of slop in there and when Roman put it back together, I don't think he was aware of how loose the clearances really were. That inner wheel might be off by as much as 1/8-inch which doesn't seem like much, but at 40 MPH that kind of off-center slop can probably cause some significant vibrations. Or worse, all four wheels are off by some amount so none of them are spinning concentrically. Check it:

 

This photo shows the misalignment a little better.

 

And there's about 1/8-inch clearance around the

1/2-20 wheel studs.

 

I recall we had some trouble finding lug nuts for this truck--we replaced all the wheel studs because the old ones were too short. The lug nuts were literally only holding on by 2 or 3 threads (more hack work). Regular 13/16" lug nuts barely covered the 3/4" holes in the wheels, so I had to really hunt to find these 1-inch lug nuts with shallow cones. They work OK, but they don't help to center the wheel and obviously do nothing to help center the inner wheel.

 

I have some thoughts on how to fix this. One, I could simply take the wheels off and mount them more carefully, but that seems imprecise and temporary. I thought about making some kind of hubcentric ring for the hub to hold everything in place while I install the wheels, and that's still a possibility. Then I did some looking around and found these lug nuts with shoulders and washers that are designed for vintage mag wheels:

 

 

The shank on that lug nut is about 3/4-inch deep and measures .685 in diameter, which is roughly 11/16. Using these should properly center the wheels on the wheel studs and the washer should cover enough surface area that the wheels will be held securely. I did some rough measurements and it looks there's about an inch of wheel hub between the outer wheel face and the brake drum. I'm going to order a set and see how they fit.

 

I'll get the truck off the lift tomorrow and put the rear axle in the air and spin the wheels to verify my theory, but I'm hopeful that I've found the source of the major shimmy. It certainly seems plausible...

 

[63RedBrier]

Great sleuthing, Matt!  Keep us posted on how the new lug nuts work out for you.  Hopefully, they will eliminate the shimmy...

[Matt Harwood]

First, conclusive proof of my theory:

 

 

 

I think it's a combination of the non-concentric wheel mounting and the odd wheel with the tire not fitting on it properly. One way or another, that wheel and tire have to be replaced.

 

As far as solving my concentricity problem, it's never easy. I thought I had the solution with those shank lug nuts, so I pulled the wheels to measure the hub thicknesses and determine how long a shank I would need. The wheels are each 1/4" thick at the hub, plus the 1/2" spacer being used to get the tires away from the leaf springs, plus the .15 or so thickness of the washer that comes with the lug nuts. It's not so critical that the spacer be perfectly concentric so I think a .75" shank on the lug nuts will work. That will cover both wheels, the washer, and leave a little bit to help center the spacer. The next size up with the lug nuts is 1.38" and that's just too much.

 

But it's never easy. Check it:

 

 

We installed fresh studs when we rebuilt the brakes. The original studs were too short and the lug nuts were only holding on by 2-3 threads. So we installed longer studs. You can see the problem now: the threads don't go all the way to the base. That means these lug nuts with the long shanks won't be able to thread onto the studs far enough. I don't recall why we selected these studs--probably because they were the only 1/2-20 studs long enough for the spacer and two stacked wheels with enough threads left over to be safe with the lug nuts installed. Who knew we'd need more threads?

 

Anyway, time for plan C, which is to get a 1/2-20 die and cut threads all the way to the base of the studs. 

 

And plan D is to buy some expensive new studs, tear it all apart again, and install fully threaded studs, then use the .75" shank lug nuts.

 

Why is it always uphill with old cars?

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

I think that is easier said than done. Unless you have some sort of die holder that will go down between the studs you will have to remove them to thread them and then you have the problem of holding the threaded end without damaging the threads. I think I'd just get a piece of grade 8 threaded rod and cut to the proper length.

[dalef62]

Matt,

Why don't you have someone machine you two spacers with shoulders on them for the wheels.  The thickness on the shoulder would be small to take up the space between the wheel and the center hub but once the wheel nuts where tightened down there would be no stress on the shoulder.  Make the spacer the thickness you need to move the wheels away from the frame and the bolt holes the same size as the studs for a tight fit.  

Hope you understand what I am trying to describe.

[Matt Harwood]

Am I the only one who always has bad luck working on old vehicles? It seems like every time I tackle a job, it grows exponentially with unforeseen circumstances. I very rarely tackle a project where it goes according to plan where I have all the tools, parts, and supplies I need to finish it on time and on budget. Or maybe that's not unusual and I shouldn't be surprised, but like a fool I keep going out there and trying again with these old cars. And every single time they kick me in the teeth. Why do I even bother? What kind of fool am I? Didn't I learn anything from that accursed Lincoln? Here I am pushing the boulder uphill again.

 

Anyway, today's struggle was two-fold. Last night I bought several 1/2-20 dies to cut some threads on the wheel studs and made a trip to Summit Racing this morning to pick up lug nuts. I figured I'd just tap some threads, install some lug nuts, get it back on the road. Easy, right? No, it's never so easy.

 

But first, here's that wonky wheel and tire. The bead isn't seated properly and it's a ticking time bomb. I've ordered a replacement wheel and I'll try to find a tire (these are an oddball size, 255/70/16) so I can put it back together. But after today, I have some time to do that; the truck isn't going anywhere under its own power for a while. I let all the air out of it just so it doesn't let go sitting in the shop.

 

    

Wonky wheel and tire were a ticking bomb.

 

Anyway, on to the second task, which was to tap some threads. I didn't expect it to be easy, but I figured that if I took my time and used lots of cutting oil I could do it without much trouble. The die I bought has a hex so I could use a deep socket and a breaker bar to cut the threads (neatly avoiding the problem suggested by @JV Puleo). Well, it was considerably more difficult than I expected. Eventually I got one of the studs fully threaded, but it took about an hour and was exhausting. I can't do that 15 more times. So we move on to plan D, get some new studs. Summit surely has them in stock, I can pick them up tomorrow, and be back in business pretty quickly. Great!

 

One stud threaded. Not looking forward to

studs 2-16. Too much work and I doubt the

die would survive that long.

 

Oh, but not so fast there, smart guy! I didn't remember all the specifications of the studs (flute diameter, flute length, length under the head) that we used when we installed them a few months ago. I had to pull the brake drum to press out one of the studs and get some measurements. The brake drum came off without a fight, but with my luck there was a fresh surprise waiting for me inside. Check it out:

 

    

Yep, the brake shoes that were OK four months ago have completely fallen apart.

I guess it's good that I took it apart, otherwise I'd be driving on these.

 

The friction material has completely separated from the shoes. They weren't like that when we rebuilt the brakes in July, but apparently the 25 or 30 miles I put on it in the last few weeks was just too much for them to bear. So now I have to find some new brake shoes or have these relined. In the grand scheme of things, it's a good thing that I found out now instead of putting it back together and trying to drive on those brakes. But it was still frustrating.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know what kind of axle is in this truck. I don't believe it started life as a dually, just a regular single-tire 3/4-ton 3600. The pumpkin looks like standard 3600 stuff, but what about the ends? The drums are huge and it uses full floating axles. Is that stock 3600 and will stock 3600 brake shoes fit? I don't rightly know. So I have a fresh puzzle to solve (along with the wheel stud puzzle that still remains an unknown) before I can put it back together again. Does anyone recognize this axle:

 

This looks like a standard 3600 axle, but is it?

 

Oh, and the truck probably has to go back to North Carolina for a VIN inspection so we can fix the title. The seller(s) ignored our requests for help for months, but after we sued the seller, the owner before him (whose name is still on the title), and the broker who sold it to us, people finally started to pay attention and things started getting done. We will also be suing them for a lot of these broken things that were misrepresented by the broker (Runs and drives great! New gas tank!), as well as for the transport costs of shipping it back to NC and back to Cleveland again. And sadly, this is all because some cheapskate idiot didn't feel like paying sales tax on the truck when he bought it and tried to do a title skip. Instead of a few hundred bucks it's going to cost him thousands, maybe tens of thousands, and now that I'm pissed off I'll be aiming to burn all of them to the ground. I'm tired of the sh*t rolling downhill until it gets to me. No more. Someone else can be the outhouse this time.

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dang, Matt, get your spurs on.

 

  Ben

[Matt Harwood]

Another trip to Summit this morning (fortunately it's only 20 minutes away) to pick up replacement wheel studs. These are about 1/2-inch shorter but are threaded all the way to the base. Cost about $35 for 20 of them. Went back to the shop and removed the old studs and pressed the replacements into place.

 

  

Removed the old studs and pressed in the new.

 

With all the new studs in place, I reinstalled the drum on the side of the axle with brake shoes still intact. I took some measurements and decided to mock up the wheels to test my lug nuts. The holes in the wheels needed to be enlarged about .010" which I did with a drill bit. The lug nut shanks fit perfectly with zero slop. I mounted the wheels and threaded the lug nuts with washers onto the studs. The hardest part of the job was getting the inner wheel lined up with the outer wheel so the lug nuts would slide through both sets of holes but with the help of a floor jack it was no problem. With the lug nuts snug, the wheels aligned perfectly and the studs were exactly the right length.

 

Lug nuts fit perfectly and there are exactly enough threads

on the studs to secure them properly. Remember that

the lug nuts extend through the wheel holes by .75 inches

so there are plenty of threads grabbing the studs.

 

     

Wheels line up correctly with even clearance

all around the hub. No more wobbly wheels.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the rear axle and get some replacement brake shoes. Everything I've found suggests that it's a standard 3/4-ton 3600 axle with 12-inch drums. Unfortunately, brake shoes for these aren't terribly common. I found some at O'Reilly's (unlikely to fit, but for $35 I had them order a set for me anyway), a set on eBay for $180, and a set from a vendor for about $90. I ordered them all and hopefully one out of the three sets will be correct and we can get this thing back on the road. The others I'll simply return. And if my luck holds out and none of them fit, well, I'll send out the shoes I have to be relined.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[kgreen]

Phew, the effort here is exhausting.  I think if I ever want to buy a vintage car, it would have to be through you Matt.  Seems like you would have all the problems solved by the time I showed up for a test drive!

[pvfjr]

Nice truck! The instant I saw those convex hubcaps on the back I thought, "Man, this truck is really begging for some dually simulators."  I was glad to read further and discover you'd found some.  What a difference!  It hurts to see old stuff looking goofy like that. 

[Matt Harwood]

A little progress the last few days. Found a replacement wheel for the oddball 16.5 and took all four rear wheels to the tire shop and had them mount up a set of 245/75/16 Michelins. They're slightly narrower and taller than the 255/70/16s that were on there before, but the 255s had the sidewalls touching on the dual rear wheels, which obviously isn't good. The replacement wheel fits just fine and we'll use it as one of the inners so the outers will look symmetrical. 

 

  

One new wheel and four new tires. Ready to go.

 

One set of brake shoes showed up today (the ones from O'Reilly's obviously didn't work) so I tore into the brakes after work. I was promptly stymied by some little clips that hold the shoes in place. I've never seen anything like them before, they slide onto the retaining posts, then you bend them down to lock them in place. They'd obviously been bent and unbent multiple times and just gave up when I tried to reinstall them. I tried using some C-clips but I didn't have any on the shelf that were big enough. So I'll hurry up and wait and order up a set of clips (those little things are $3 each!) and wait for shipping. Feh.

 

Started to install the rear brake shoes but...

 

...these little clips need to be replaced.

 

  

At least the shoes are correct. As soon as I have the clips, I can

put it back together and see if my shimmy is cured.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Randiego]

Matt,

 

What a story.  I just tuned into your 3600 Tow Truck saga.  Wow!  If I were back there in Ohio, there is only one guy that I would deal with when it comes to my classics......YOU. Not only are you knowledgeable but you are a thorough, principaled professional. 

 

I too bought a car (off of Hemmings) without going to see it in person.  BIG MISTAKE.  Never again.  But the pictures looked so good...........Right? And the individual represented it as "all original paint" and everything replaced.(That is my 36 Plymouth P2 Touring Sedan in my inset pic).  When it showed up to my warehouse/shop from Michigan (originally a California car) I was thoroughly disgusted.  The "original paint" was not.  The engine ran but very poorly.  I too spent several months sorting out the car.  I will never do a frame off as the value is not there, but as a survivor/driver, it is sorted out mechanically. 

It does have the original interior and all of the tools, jack and handle that came with it from the factory! And there is somewhat decent availability for spares. 

 

I rebuilt the spedo myself (old grease coagulated around the gears and such), suspension, steering, new Rhode Island wiring harness, and many other items. 

 

The seller lied through his teeth about the car.  Sound familiar?  Anyway, it sure does get a lot of attention as there are few 36 "original" cars that are drivers.

 

Your story is heartwarming in that you have rescued this nice old Chevy wrecker.  And I do hope that you get "restitution" from that A#*^%*@e who sold you the vehicle.  We will all await the outcome from the proceedings. 

 

What would be sweet is that this story gets posted so that the seller will have a huge black mark against him and he can be "weeded" out. The world does not need individuals like that in our hobby.  Honesty and candor are paramount.  We are rooting for you, Matt.  

 

 

 

[Matt Harwood]

Finally had the parts and the time to get the rear brakes back together. The expensive new brake shoes were correct but those little clips proved elusive. The ones I ordered turned out to be too small, so I had to find an alternative. I found ONE larger one that I believe is correct but it was NOS and cost $12 plus shipping. No thanks. Instead, Roman found some C-clips at McMaster-Carr and some U-clips that are the recommended replacement for the original parts (at least according to a few guys on YouTube). Either way, we got everything back together. I debated having the drums turned (they're pretty badly scored) but given that replacements are unobtainium, I decided against it. This thing doesn't go fast enough and doesn't carry heavy enough loads to make perfection a priority. They'll work just fine and I don't have to worry about finding replacement drums (which may or may not be any better).

 

  

Got the new shoes fitted and all the hardware reinstalled.

 

  

Original clips proved to be difficult to find so we replaced them

with C-clips (white arrow) and U-clips (red arrow) that were

recommended by "experts" on the internet.

 

And golly, isn't that drum scored all to hell?

 

I'll reinstall the drums tomorrow and put things back together with wheels and tires on Saturday for a test drive. I expect my shimmy to be cured, but I learned long ago not to get my hopes up.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Half the battle is getting it to run. Then, when you accomplish that feat, the other half is getting it to stop!   Glad to hear you are making progress Matt.

[dalef62]

Matt, 

I would take a light cut on that drum just to clean it up some.  It will also take the ridge off the edge to make removal of the drum easier next time.

Dale

Edited November 19, 2022 by dalef62 (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Or have them spray welded and turned. I've done that a few times. It brings them back to spec and preserves the linings.

[Matt Harwood]

Put everything back together today. There are probably better solutions to the scored drums than the rough clean-up I did with a sanding disc on my die grinder to knock off the ridge at the edge, but given that this thing doesn't go more than 40 MPH and these are the rear brakes and the front brakes are in very good shape, I'm not terribly concerned. Am I cutting a corner? I guess. But if I lose one of these drums in shipping or they're cut too thin, then what? I've been warned by multiple people that Huck brake parts for these trucks are unobtainium, despite being Chevrolets. Add in this being a 3/4-ton with size XL 12-inch drums and the parts become doubly difficult to find. Given my bad luck in the past with sending parts away and hoping for the best, I think I'd rather have grooved brake drums rather than no brake drums. I've gotten very skittish about rare parts and pursuing perfection when it's not really needed. 

 

At any rate, I reassembled everything and had Melanie come with me to bleed the brakes, but it wasn't necessary. Good firm pedal. Then I reinstalled the wheels and torqued the new lug nuts to 100 lb-ft. Everything lined up properly and there were no issues with concentricity or spacing. The narrower tires don't touch, either, which is a good thing.

 

  
New tires fit in the wells perfectly. Torqued lug nuts

to 100 lb-ft. Both wheels aligned properly.

 

Even though it's 25 degrees in Cleveland today, it's sunny and dry so I fired it up and pulled it outside. I let it idle for about 10 minutes to warm up (it never really does, the thing runs ice cold) and then took it for a spin around the block. Problem solved! It tracks straight, rides smooth, and drives 100% better than it did before. That wonky tire was 95% of the problem. Brakes are good and once they warmed up they were effective and stopped squealing. The steering is surprisingly accurate and it doesn't wander anymore. The alignment isn't bad, although the steering wheel is still off by about 45 degrees, so I may try aligning it using a new tool I bought or simply adjust it with my adjustable drag link. It was extremely satisfying to finally drive it in good health. I just wish the weather was better so I could really enjoy it. I'll shoot a video drive next chance I get. We're driving it in the local Christmas parade next Saturday so maybe we'll get some footage there.

 

Drives 100% better. Shimmy is cured!

 

But next up on Monday, the truck is going on a trailer back to North Carolina so the previous owner can get it inspected and get me a good title. He's not at all happy about any of this, but a bit of lawyering and the threat of a much bigger financial penalty (there's about $5000 worth of misrepresentation on the truck) got him to see our point of view. As far as we can tell, we only need to trailer it to the inspection station, let them look at the VIN, then trailer it home. It's a long drive for a 10-minute inspection, but the previous owner appears to be paying for it. My friend Mike Kendall, who handles all my short-distance transport, is taking care of it. Hopefully it's just as easy as they make it sound. I doubt it will be but we'll find out...

 

In the meantime, my project for the long Thanksgiving weekend next week is to finish another room in our basement and turn it into a home office. Audi Ute to the rescue!

 

Need stuff hauled? The Ute can do it!

 

[HarryLime]

My hat is off to you ,Matt . Well done.

[Dan Cluley]

Parade should be fun.  Are you going to cover it with lights?

[Matt Harwood]

The tow truck has returned from its adventure in North Carolina, where they determined that the reproduction door tag was no good. I expected that. Of course, 1950 Chevrolet trucks have no other serial numbers stamped on them, so after several hours of sanding spots on the frame looking for the "secret numbers," the authorities finally gave up. We will have to get an assigned serial number from the state of North Carolina and from there we can get a good title. The bad news (other than losing my original serial number) is that the truck has to go back a second time in a few weeks to have that assigned serial number affixed to the truck itself. That's another $2500 shipping bill. The first trip was paid by the seller, but he's balking at paying for the second trip claiming that since he offered to "store" the truck for us until then, he is off the hook for shipping. Yes, dude, I'm going to give you the truck that has no title except the one that's about to be created in your name, and, oh, yeah, you still have the pile of money that I gave you when I bought it. The money, the title, AND the truck "stored" in your shady backwoods chop shop? Yeah, that's not happening, bro.

 

Repro door tag was a no-go. Quelle suprise!

 

Back safely and without incident. I removed

the dually simulators to avoid theft.

 

If you'll allow me a bit of a digression, I'd just like to say PLEASE TITLE YOUR CARS PROPERLY. This idiot owed about $420 in sales tax from when he bought the truck. He decided not to pay by doing a title skip. To date, he's out $2500 in shipping (plus another $2500 upcoming), there's a warrant out for his arrest if he fails to comply with the title authorities, and they're apparently starting an investigation into his business for tax evasion (he runs some kind of used auto parts business--an investigation really can't be good news for him). Oh, and I'm sure the lawyering that we're about to do will not be cheap. All because he didn't want to pay $420 in sales tax. I know, I know, there are a whole lot of guys who think taxes are a sin and that something like a car that gets taxed repeatedly is some kind of offense against nature, but the seller here is about to be buried in a world of hurt over $420 in sales taxes he didn't want to pay. I'm out a ton of time and money screwing around with the situation (my fault, but in my defense they showed me a valid title when I bought it--it's only after the Ohio DMV saw it that it was declared invalid) and I'm still not done with it. So please, I'm begging you, title your cars properly, pay your stupid taxes, and just deal with it like an adult.

 

Digression over.

 

On 11/20/2022 at 7:56 AM, Dan Cluley said:

Parade should be fun.  Are you going to cover it with lights?

 

Yep. Melanie and Jen spent the morning decorating it in preparation for the parade. Now that it runs and drives properly, I'll have no problem running it across town for the parade and creeping it along in low gear for a few miles. It was practically made for this. It should be fun and we'll put my son, Cody, and some of his buddies in the back to throw candy or something. I like parades when I'm in a vehicle that doesn't make me worry.

 

     

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[13Caddy2]

only you Matt, only you---Tom

[pvfjr]

Wait, wait, wait.  You have an Audi Ute in the states?  As a 14-year Subaru Baja owner and two-time A4 owner, I need details!  

More on topic: The truck is looking good.  I'm happy to hear the shimmy is gone.  What a relief!