48 FFPW Fresh from the field

[MrMarty51]

You found a real keeper there.
The wifey was very stern about Me NOT bringing more vehicles into the yard,until,I found a 59 W100 for two hundred dollars,She even went and got the money out of savings for Me,WHOA,I think She was thinking in terms of how much that D model is saving Me in parts,but,She actually did not complain a bit when I backed the trailer into the yard with that pickup loaded on it,I could`nt believe it.LOL
I hope to,someday,find one of them flat fender models setting in some farmers yard or field and He`ll let it go at a price I can afford.
I want a flat fender.
thats all.

[DavidGB]

Broken springs

I have seen a lot of broken springs over the years, but never like that, right in the middle. It boggles the mind trying to envision the manner of impact required to cause that, and, not a lot of collateral damage at the same time. Quite impressive.
DavidGB

[Matt Wilson]

I have seen a lot of broken springs over the years, but never like that, right in the middle. It boggles the mind trying to envision the manner of impact required to cause that, and, not a lot of collateral damage at the same time. Quite impressive.
DavidGB

The spring pack that was on my truck when I got it had a few cracked leaves, and I believe most of them were cracked at or near the middle, too. The truck had been used to hoist things (who knows what) with the winch. It had lugs or eyes welded to the front bumper, obviously for connecting some sort of A-frame or similar setup. The left frame horn was buckled/wrinkled just behind the front spring attachment, and the frame extensions allowing the attachment of the winch had been welded and reinforced with additional plate at some point.

Looking at the springs on Bluto's truck, I was thinking that they may have broken due to fatigue, i.e., repeated overload cycling of the spring pack in service. This would cause gradual cracking and eventually complete breakage of a single leaf, which would in turn further overload the remaining leaves, causing them to become fatigued and broken. Eventually, so few intact leaves would remain that they would likely fail all at once. This scenario would result in springs being broken but not necessarily any obvious damage to surrounding components. I wonder if it was used as a hoisting truck at some point.

[DavidGB]

Matt,
I suspect your scenario is correct as to the cause of the broken leaf springs. In one of the photos posted showing front bumpers mounted, it looks like brackets welded to them for an A frame possibly. It hadn't occurred to me that the damage could have resulted from fatigue vs impact.
DavidGB

[Matt Wilson]

Matt,
I suspect your scenario is correct as to the cause of the broken leaf springs. In one of the photos posted showing front bumpers mounted, it looks like brackets welded to them for an A frame possibly. It hadn't occurred to me that the damage could have resulted from fatigue vs impact.
DavidGB

Ahh, yes, I missed that one pic with the bumper still on it. It does show the brackets you talk about. It's interesting but also sad to see how these trucks were abused over the years. At least this one is getting some much-needed attention now.

[Brutus I]

Wow it's a small world. I almost bought that truck off Craigslist a few months back as a parts truck. Could really use that bed as the one on my 48 is a second gen. Decided not to because of the distance (although it would have been close to Lubbock which is where I grew up). I'm glad I didn't now that I see someone is going to keep her whole and do a full restore! Even better that the new owner is from College Station which is where I moved to Georgia from! Gig em ags!

I was also bit by the bug about a year ago and bought a 48 from up in Wisconsin a few months ago. It was owned by a construction company and still has the name barely visible on the passenger door. I tried googling some info on the company but all I could find was obituaries for men who once worked there. So neat to learn about the history of each truck and make them like new again. You've already done a lot more work than me. I'll be working this winter on getting mine stripped down to the frame and parts stored so I can send the frame off for blasting and painting next year and start putting it back together piece by piece.

Keep us updated on the progress!

[Bluto92]

Hey, thanks for letting me have it Brutus. I knew at least 4-5 guys were looking at this truck but the pictures didn't do it justice. This thing is solid. I think it just got naturally sandblasted out in the Panhandle. None of the rust is deeper than cosmetic and the bed sides are almost perfect. I have to buy some high $$ parts that were missing but the initial cost was too good to pass up. Plus I'm a sucker for a good road trip. Figured it was a start either way but it turned out to be better than a parts truck. Lucky for me you left TX before you saw it. Speaking of small worlds I think I know the truck in WI that YOU bought. I was searching a 1,000 mile radius and came across a '48 up there in WI and a '50 in WV. I think it was yellow. I thought about making that trip but it was just too far after seeing some local trucks that were way worse than their pics. I almost drove to Arizona on a whim but I had enough pics (and serial #s) to realize the cab was from a WC, the motor wasn't a T137, and the bed was the wrong series. That one truck taught me more about Power Wagons than anything else so far. Of course T137.com was invaluable in that regard. Guess I got lucky. At least until I dig into the drivetrain...

So are you an Aggie? I was Class of '92. If you come in for a game let me know. We can talk trucks. It's not like we can talk football, right?

[Brutus I]

Oh man you had to go and mention football. What a heartbreak this year has been. I'm looking forward to them joining the SEC because I'll be able to catch more of their games and maybe attend some out this way. Sure hope it helps the recruiting being the only SEC team in Texas.

The truck I got is red. I'm leaning toward making it Omaha Orange. This is my first restoration project so I wanted something that wasn't too rough. Think I found it although I still have my work cut out and so much to learn.

Did the seller have any background information on the truck? Are you going to do drivetrain first?

[JStinson]

Wow it's a small world. I almost bought that truck off Craigslist a few months back as a parts truck. Could really use that bed as the one on my 48 is a second gen. Decided not to because of the distance (although it would have been close to Lubbock which is where I grew up). I'm glad I didn't now that I see someone is going to keep her whole and do a full restore! Even better that the new owner is from College Station which is where I moved to Georgia from! Gig em ags!

I was also bit by the bug about a year ago and bought a 48 from up in Wisconsin a few months ago. It was owned by a construction company and still has the name barely visible on the passenger door. I tried googling some info on the company but all I could find was obituaries for men who once worked there. So neat to learn about the history of each truck and make them like new again. You've already done a lot more work than me. I'll be working this winter on getting mine stripped down to the frame and parts stored so I can send the frame off for blasting and painting next year and start putting it back together piece by piece.

Keep us updated on the progress!

Where in GA are you?

[Brutus I]

Dallas

[JStinson]

Gotchya, that's about 2.5 hours from me. I'm in Junction City.