Ray Geophysical Seismograph Truck

[John Waak]

Here is one you probably have not seen before. It is a mid to late 60's Dodge Power Wagon retrofitted for use in the oil exploration industry. Modifications to seismographic trucks included such enhancements as a heavy-duty rear step bumper, and conduit protected electrical wiring. Trucks with large sand tires (also referred to as DC-3 tires) were usually sent to Saudi Arabia. This truck appears to be new. An identical truck may be parked immediately behind the truck pictured. It is possible that this picture was taken from the Houston, Texas ship channel. From there it would have been loaded on a cargo ship and sent to its destination. Ray Geophysical has since been purchased by Halliburton. I am grateful to the Geophysical Society of Houston for sharing the picture.

[Gordon Maney]

Neat picture!

[712edf]

I love the tires. Remind me of the original Honda 3-wheeler tires back in 1970, before knobbys came on them.

PW looka good in white. Don't see many that color.

Bucky

[74w300uteline]

Filler neck

Is the fuel filler behind that big fat tire?

[John Waak]

The fuel filler is in the correct place of the bed wall. The aftermarket fender has been radiused such that the filler pipe is now inside the fender area.

[Clint Dixon]

There are a couple pictures of trucks outfitted like that in the French Dodge Book. But I don't think they showed any names on the doors. I'm going to have to dig that book out and look through it. Thanks for the photo!

[Doc Dave]

I like the elevated steel frame over the bed that is integral with the headache rack. I presume this is for a tarp cover of the bed area, allowing people to be inside the bed during a sandstorm?

[Barbedwire]

Steel frame

I would guess that the steel frame is for carrying geophones and cable. A geophysical crew would lay out the cable to record vibrations from either explosives or thumper trucks that generate waves through the ground. The lines of data recorded then give an indication of oil bearing formations.

[CSCameron]

Great pic, thanks for posting!

[Tom Petroff]

Thanks for Sharing!
Note how much they enlarged the rear fenders.
Enough to put the filler neck between the tire and the fender.
Those tires are way larger than the picture suggest!
Awesome!

[Kaegi]

DC3 tires

a common mod in Alaska and in desert areas back in the day