Re: '60's 1500 Series Truck Questions/VIN listed

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

In Linda Tripp's secret telephone recording, Monica and MikeIIDC@domain.elided
were heard saying...

>What exactly was the 1500 series made for in the 60's.  I had found one

Mike,

Howard is going to have to supply the specifics, but a 1500 series truck will
have some *big* GVWR... like make 15,000 pounds???  With a high GVWR, I would
expect it would have been destined for some medium duty service roll... the
sky's the limit.

>This may be also, because it also said on that plate that it was rated
>with a maximum GVW of 15,000 lbs!  Was this designed to be used as a
>wrecker?  I can't imagine what you could put back there to need this
>much support!

Geez... if I'd just have read a little farther, I would have seen this GVWR.
The truck could have been used for anything from a fire tank truck, road
construction, wrecker, you name it.

>Regardless, once again, I am intrigued!  So if I got this, could I put a
>regular bed on it?  Did they come in a size to fit this WB?  Also, it

I doubt a regular pickup bed would fit, but I really don't know.  But with
enough ingenuity, metal, and a MIG welder, a guys like Tom Mandera or John
Fleck could get just about anything to fit... sort of. <grin>

>has the BIG rim front tires (20" rims, maybe), like an old fire truck.
>I kind of like this idea-makes the front stand up nice and tall.  The
>owner of the garage assured me that this was a 4WD, but there was no TC
>shifter that I saw anywhere.  Did IH make full-time 4WD for certain
>uses? 

Did you crawl underneath to look at the drive train?

>Did they make them that rode on these taller tires?  Of course,
>they also assured me that it had a 345 or 392 in it, and it has one of
>the old straight 6 cylinder engines, though I don't know what size.  The

Now you're confusing me.  You say it *has* a 345 or a 392, yet it's a straight
six... that doesn't match.

>I am assuming that it is not geared too highly, as it was probably made
>with much more grunt than speed in mind, but could it be made into a
>good tow rig?

I'll bet it's geared very low and would get *horrible* gas milage.  Just ask
Steve Caldwell about that with the old fire tanker truck he recently bought.
He's going to have to mount a 1000 gallon tanker back on it just so he can
make it to the next gas station.

>I would think it would be ideal for this, if it would go fast enough to
>get you anywhere!

And you like making OPEC rich.

>So, to those of you with the knowledge, the information, and the books
>with the info in them (I implore you, John Landry, Howard Pletcher, and
>Scott Satterlund, among others), could you please look up the VIN and
>tell me anything you could find out about this beast?
>
>VIN:        SB341877C

Sorry, I can't help you there except to say that this is *not* a light duty
truck.  It's a commercial *medium* duty truck.

Have fun,

John L.
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