Yes Tony, I've taken some baby steps in the right direction with mouse and keyboard but Maggie and I should have had a family so as there were some grand children around to help me along.
My truck always had 20" wheels and I have not seen many that don't. The first time I saw a L/L Chev with 18" wheels I was very surprised as I had only ever seen them on 20's and I had seen quite a few by that time. The TM's for the trucks that I have only show 20's and one of them has a strip of paper across the cover that is printed in red ink and says among other things.
SPECIAL NOTICE. The 160" wheelbase CHEVROLET TRUCKS imported by the Commonwealth Government for essential civilian users are equiped with:- HEAVY 10" x 5/16" FRAME REINFORCEMENTS, AUXILIARY SPRINGS, 7" WHEELS, 7-7.50 x 20 TYRES AND HAVE AN ALLOWABLE GROSS WEIGHT OF 14,300 lbs.
It goes on to give tare weights for Chassis and cab and trucks with platform,dropside or stakeside bodies.
Don't be taken in by these trucks only having five studs for the front wheels, There is a plate under the wheel nuts that obscures five of the holes in the wheel.
This leads me on to another mystery. The 30 cwt version of these trucks with the 9' tray used a heavier front axle and I mean heavier in every way including king pins and wheel bearings. Bearings are barrel rollers instead of the bicycle type cup and cones on the larger/heavier truck. It appears to be the same axle as under the 4x2 Blitz but narrower in the track.Figure that one out.
There used to be a fellow that drove a L/L Chev around Melbourne up untill about fifteen years ago collecting waste paper. Earlier in his career he had worked for Regent Motors the GM Holden agents and he told me that when the had both light and heavy trucks in the workshop they would swap the front axles over and not tell the owners. Hard to believe but that's what he told me and he was quite matter of fact about it.
There's an awful lot we don't know about these trucks.
You may have noticed Tony that I started a thread so as not to hijack yours. Keep up the good work.
David
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