My first Power Wagon

[OLD DODGE]

Congratulations on your first Power Wagon. If you can't get a trailer you can count on Ron to haul it for you. He has hauled one for me and for lots of other guys on this side of the country.

[maineSS]

Looks like the previous owner acquired some custom wheels- what size are they?

[inFALable]

Don't know about the wheels yet. I'm still a couple weeks out before pickup. I want to get some combat rims for it eventually.

[Ron in Indiana]

InFALable I sent you an email as requested but I seem to have looked at my calender incorrectly. It seems I lost a week somewhere and the 19th is THIS weekend. Please let me know if you are still interested in my offer. 59redtruck AT verizon.net

[inFALable]

Does anyone know where frame damage most often occurs with gin pole trucks?

[maineSS]

Check the frame right behind the cab where the front of the A-frame brace mounts, and look at the truck from the front to check for twist. Carrying heavy loads across terrain dangling from the boom is not good, but people did it back in the day, especially if it was a company truck. You should block the springs when hoisting, but most people didn't bother, so look over the front springs and shackles carefully before taking any long rides. You may be spending some serious time and coin on rebuilding the front axle/spring assy. Combat rims can be an absolute nightmare to work on if the insides have rusted- and most of them are. I'd stay with split rings or save up for custom rims if you want to go tubeless.

[74w300uteline]

referral for the Doc

Ron fetched my firetruck from; Kansas to Indiana, Indiana to Iowa,Iowa to Indiana fetched my crewcab from NJ. to VT. to Indiana. see if you can get Pieter his side kick to go along they're quite a team.

[Ron in Indiana]

Thanks Andrew, he's got it covered with my referal to a trailer place here. As Maxwell Smart would say "Missed it by THIS much".

[pwrwagonfire]

VERY cool, congradulations!

[inFALable]

I'm driving out to Iowa tomorrow morning to pick up my truck! I look forward to digging into it. I'll keep you guys up to date.

[inFALable]

Well I've got my PW safely stored in my shop. It was tough to maneuver without power steering but its in there. It runs and stops. I'm going to start with a steering knuckle rebuild and restore it mechanically first. The body is really quite excellent. The rear of the bed is pretty beat though.

Did PW's come with sun visors? I don't think so.

[Kevin Mienke]

Glad to hear you got it home. A lot of Power Wagons had sun visors, you will see them listed on occasion in the e-bay parts.
Might I suggest that you talk with Charles Talbert at M Series rebuild before doing your knuckle rebuild. I am in the process of doing mine now and Charles was very helpful in supplying me the parts I needed. I think you'll find his cups, cones and seals to be of superior quality to anything else out there.

[Jake]

Nice work InFalable,
Glad to hear you got the truck home and stored in shop.
You realize you got the best box ever built for these trucks I hope. Those sculpted stake pockets are the best looking ones Dodge ever built.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[inFALable]

Thanks guys. I'll get ahold of Mr. Talbert on my rebuild. It has Budd centers welded into 16.5" rims. I figure someone might be interested in them. I want to get a set of OEM 6.5" wide wheels or maybe combat rims. Gotta look for a deal.

[inFALable]

Update

I thought I should update my restoration thread.

I wish I could say that I've made tons of progress and be able to post a picture that looks different than my first one but that isn't the case.

So far I've mainly spent time removing junk that had been added to the truck over the last 59 years....reflectors, radio, antenna, and copious amounts of grease. I've cleaned out the cab to reveal some fairly badly rusted areas in the floor. I fire up the engine every week for a few minutes to keep oil on the cylinders.

This year I plan to finish the mechanical restoration. I received a Miller 211 MIG for Christmas so I can tackle more projects on the truck.

And because everyone likes pics here is one of what my oil filter looked like the first time I opened it up. It has now been bead blasted and will soon be painted.