46 pick up 1/2 or 3/4 ton?

[oldford2]

Trying to identify if this truck is a 1/2 or 3/4 ton. 3 speed on the floor and tires (if original size) are 650-16.
Does the serial number help? 799c1420533
Chassis and springs look very heavy duty
Thanks
John

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by oldford2

Trying to identify if this truck is a 1/2 or 3/4 ton. 3 speed on the floor and tires (if original size) are 650-16.
Does the serial number help? 799c1420533
Chassis and springs look very heavy duty
Thanks
John

799c1420533 turns-out to be a 1947 1/2 OR 3/4 Ton pick-up truck. The "799" denotes a 1947 Ford vehicle with 239 cu. in. engine. The "C" means "Commercial", which in "Ford"-speak means a pick-up or sedan delivery of less than 1-Ton. The "1420533" indicates a fairly early build in the 1947 production run. So....likely a 3/4-Ton from your description. DD

[oldford2]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

799c1420533 turns-out to be a 1947 1/2 OR 3/4 Ton pick-up truck. The "799" denotes a 1947 Ford vehicle with 239 cu. in. engine. The "C" means "Commercial", which in "Ford"-speak means a pick-up or sedan delivery of less than 1-Ton. The "1420533" indicates a fairly early build in the 1947 production run. So....likely a 3/4-Ton from your description. DD

Thanks Coop, sounds like good info and you answered my questions. but you got me worried a bit. It has been registered for the last 30 years as a 46. I don't think the RMV cops will find out so mum's the word.
Thanks again
John

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by oldford2

Thanks Coop, sounds like good info and you answered my questions. but you got me worried a bit. It has been registered for the last 30 years as a 46. I don't think the RMV cops will find out so mum's the word.
Thanks again
John

Well, since this one WAS an early-production vehicle, I guess we can ASSUME that it was possibly sold sometime in later 1946. We know that SOME municipalities registered NEW vehicles as "current" year of sale, rather than actual "MODEL" year.


You should remember that the vehicle serial numbers originated when first stamped into the pad on the upper bell of the transmissions when the engine and transmission were first married. Those engine/trans combos were then shipped to a vehicle assembly plant. When the engine/trans was installed in a chassis, Bubba hand-stamped the serial number found on the transmission into the chassis rail, or other appropriate vehicle surface. So, that "7" in "799" indicates that that engine/trans was destined for a "1947" vehicle. I'LL NEVER TELL! DD

[bobH]

Referring to your picture... If you could pop off the hubcap, and count the lugs, might identify 1/2 or 3/4, 5 or 8 lugs ??? Maybe. DD would know. And, as DD noted, 7 in the 799, designates 1947 model year. Might look to see if the same number is actually on the frame (near steering gear)

[truckdog62563]

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There was no post war 3/4 ton before the F-2/F-3 of 1948. The 8 x 6.5” pattern too was first introduced in 1948. Stu

[V8COOPMAN]

Let's get this over here on this thread where it belongs. DD

[rotorwrench]

Ford made the equivalent to a heavy 1-ton with a 4-speed and a Timken Detroit rear axle. They made so damn many 1 1/2-tonners during the war that they likely started converting the design to the 1945/46 civilian model with a V8 as the power plant. Ford started making trucks before the war was over in 1945 and they actually made a fair amount of them. The 59C was the 1/2-ton in 1945. The 59T was the heavier model with the longer 134" wheel base. They didn't label it as a 1-ton so that's why I generally refer to it as the equivalent since it could be a heavy 1-ton type with single rear wheels or a 1 1/2-ton with dual rear wheels. Basically it was just a truck. They also made the 598T 158" wheel base (larger) trucks. The Buss chassis were even longer 194" wheel base.

In 1947 they had three different light trucks. The 79C, 7GC, and the 7HC depending on which engine it had since 1947 was the intro of the later H series 6-cylinder. The next size was the 1-ton 122" wheel base and they were Y series with 79Y, 7GY, and 7HY. These 1-tons were introduced in 1946.

[GB SISSON]

Does the truck in question have a full floating rear axle? Wide 5 pattern wheels? I thought the 3/4 ton's last year was '42. And what is the wheelbase?

[oldford2]

113" wheelbase. How do I know if it is a full floating rear end?
John

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by oldford2

113" wheelbase. How do I know if it is a full floating rear end?
John

If it looks SOMETHING like this. DD

[jimTN]

finally someone asked the right question. Way to go GB!

[rotorwrench]

They are the Timken Detroit rear axles. They were only used in 1-tons and larger after the war till the Bonus Built trucks came along in 1948. The war halted all civilian production and it took Ford a while to get back into full civilian production again after.

Folks have to remember that all the old guys that ran things at Ford before the war were gone after the war and it took the new team a while to retool for some of the stuff that had been slated for introduction in 1943 or 1944 but didn't make it. Henry Ford II had a whole new team but many of the designs were already completed in clay before the war shut things down. They had to produce cars & trucks to get America rolling again and only then could they retool for the 8BA era. It's a wonder that it only took them three years to do most of it. The Bonus Built trucks were ready to go in 1948 but the Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln lines of cars had to wait another year since the bugs hadn't quite been worked out on them. The Rouge plant had been changed a lot for the war effort so all that stuff had to go and new tooling had to be set up by guys that didn't have the know how of Pete Martin, Charles Sorensen, and above all, Edsel Ford. Henry Ford was likely not all there like he had been before the war. That's why Hank the Deuce was brought it to run things after his father died. The US War Department had threatened to take the place over if he hadn't been able to come in and run things like they wanted.