3/4 ton

Our Feature Truck for December was discovered in front of our local shop decorated for Christmas! It was perfect for the season. No doubt this restored 1953 GMC ¾ Ton is an “attention getter” not just in local traffic, but with the decorations even the pedestrians stop and smile. The owners are Jack and Lana Williams of Independence, Missouri. It...

Thirty six years by the same owner! Mike Odom of Kingston, Illinois purchased this 1938 Chevy 3/4 ton at a farm auction about 1985 for $1275.00. Why? It was the beginning of the pickup craze in the U.S. that still is alive and well. Mike wanted an older pickup long before he had the money to buy one, much less...

WOW, a real World War II produced pickup! Few have survived and those remaining are usually restored with their trim parts chrome plated as before and after the war years. This 1942 Chevrolet ¾ ton pickup has been kept over 95% pure as it was during the final year before most all pickup truck production came to a halt in...

This special Advance Design pickup has come a long way from its early life on a Mid-Missouri farm. Owned and restored by Dale Jacobs of Dallas, Texas, this 1949 GMC ¾ ton has been down to the frame and came out just a little nicer than new. It’s the old story. It looked very nice and ran just as well...

Our feature truck article is a little different this month. One of the country’s leading truck restoration shops was ask to pick a favorite of those completed in their many years of rebuilding, General Motors Trucks. They chose this truck as their all-time favorite. This very special pickup is a 1953 GMC ¾ ton. The restoration company is Possum Holler...

When you need more room for wider 8 bolt non-split rim wheels on your stock 1946-1959 Chevrolet or GMC ¾ ton, there is a solution. (The long tie rod ends prevent the use of wheels much wider than the original split rims.) Customers have given us an answer! It is not difficult and uses all original GM parts. After the...

Here is a great example of a ground up restoration of a 1951 Chevrolet 3/4 ton. The project is being done by Line Creek Restorations in Northmoor, Missouri near Kansas City, 1-816-946-6000. When the project is finished, it will be a new truck!

The Trials and Tribulations of Installing a GMC 302 engine into a 1950 3/4 ton Chevrolet Pick Up by Joel Baumbaugh   Background: About 5 years ago I "upgraded" the engine in my truck from a 216 to a 235. Lately I have felt that I wanted/needed a little more torque (especially while the bed is full of something heavy...

During the early years of GM truck production, many examples exist which relate to their vehicles being designed more for work. Changing a trim part for appearance reasons was usually secondary if it resulted in unnecessary expense. Often parts were used that had already been on GM automobiles. This eliminated expensive new tooling costs and kept GM truck prices in...

The term artillery wheel is a nickname adapted from a scalloped type wheel often seen on US military vehicles in World War I. The similar appearance at a distance to GM's scalloped steel wheels quickly gave them the name artillery. On GM trucks, this style was first used during 1934-36 as a stock six bolt 1/2 ton 17 inch wheel...

  Leaf spring width on 1/2 ton pickups remained at 1 3/4 inches until the introduction of the two inch width on the Task Force 1/2 tons in mid 1955. The early narrow springs worked well considering the engine horsepower and weight limitations of the 1/2 tons. The two inch springs became standard equipment on the rear of the 3/4...

My truck began life as a 1972 3/4 ton Custom chassis cab with a 350, heavy-duty camper suspension and four on the floor. I purchased it new in November 1971, and by February 1972, I installed a camper body on it. It remained this way until 1995 when the camper body was no longer reliable, having developed some fatal leaks causing some structural weaknesses. It was no longer practical or economical to keep it as a camper. I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with it.

Featured this month is a rare 65 year old truck was saved from an unknown destiny almost 35 years ago. The survival rate of this style 1940 Chevrolet pickup is very low because they are rated 3/4 ton. Heavier demands were placed on almost all non-1/2 ton pickups and most were just “used up.”

Article and photos by MB Johnson Holdings Pty Ltd, South Townsville Old 4810, Australia. copyright 2004 MB Johnson Holdings Pty Ltd. all rights reserved. Sergies Lucas is a 51 year old self-taught timber craftsman with vision, creativity and a passion for achieving a standard of product that has long been lost to the world through natural attrition.

My name is Roger Uttecht. My truck is a 1950 GMC 3/4 ton Pick-up. I did a frame up restoration on my truck over a 2 year period. I used quite a few parts from Jim Carters antique truck parts. The Website provided me with quite a bit of information about what my truck was originally equipped as well as paint colors on the engine and so forth. The truck was originally green, but I painted it to look like a 1952 Chevy Dime Bank that Harley Davidson Motor company put out in 2000.

Here is my 1953 Chevrolet 3/4 ton. I have just about completed my restoration and I have been driving it to work everyday. I bought it two years ago for $6500.00. It was very stock and solid with only minimal rust. It was originally green but had been painted burgundy/black over the years. I really liked the colors so I decided to go with a popular Chevy color, Garnet Red Metallic/Black.

My truck is a 1966 GMC three quarter ton pickup with a short Fleetside bed. This truck came to me with the original factory build sheet showing a build date of 6-6-66, and factory equipped with the optional 351 cubic inch V-6, turbo 400 transmission, power steering, power brakes, 4.10 locking rear end, heavy duty springs, and custom cab. It was originally a two-tone truck, green and white, but I had it repainted a 1973 Cadillac color, Sage Metallic. It has just over 50,000 actual miles on it. I've owned it for about 5 years. I bought it from a neighbor who had bought it at the estate sale of the original owners about a year before. It was in great shape - no rust and no dents.