Re: Model A Trucks, generally.

Posted by Craig VandenBerg on Oct. 15, 1998 at 11:15:25

In Reply to: Model A Trucks, generally.
posted by Joe on Oct. 15, 1998 at 08:13:24

: : Hey! I'm mightly impressed with the board members. Thanks to all for the responses and suggestions. It shure seems like the real thing is the best answer. Especially with the help that you folks put out. I guess I'm going to be looking out for a restorable pick up, with dually rear wheels? This truck will be going to work. As well as trips to the post office.
: Dear J
: Finding the pickup won't be too hard. A lot of pickups, mostly restored, seem to be extant on the MAFCA web site classified and other places.
: As to "dually rear wheels", in that case you'll want to be looking for an AA truck, probably a 30-31 version (although a few are around with the earlier square cab from late '29 thru June of '30.) The dual rear wheels allow a load of up to 2-1/2 tons in the truck.
: The AA trucks are a bit problematical in that they were made for carrying a load and by todays standards are a little bit slow and underpowered.
: If you plan a mixed use for the truck (frankly, load carrying in a Model AA truck will likely occupy less than 5% of your driving time) you will want to find one with the rear end differential geared in the lowest ratio possible. There were 6 different gear ratios available over the production of the AA truck with the span ranging from 5.11 to 7.25 to one.
: Even with the 5.11 gear ratio, the high speed capacity of the truck is not as good as the car. 45 mph is the standard truck top end although some claim to do a trifle better. (Those with accessory overdrives can do much better.)
: The Model A "commercial" pickup truck (either closed cab or roadster type pickup) is probably a better bet if you plan on any "touring" or casual trips to the hardware store in it. These were made on a standard Model A car chassis and are a clone of the car in all respects mechanically. Loadwise they will carry in the back about 500 pounds or perhaps a smidge more (figure about equal to the weight of three other full sized human occupants.)
: The downside to the "commercial" car type pickup is the short length of the pickup bed. You can't really put anything longer than about 6 feet in it, even with it overhanging the bed. Lumber is out of the question as a result, unless you make up some sort of specialized brackets mounted to the headlight bar/fender at the front and to the rear of the bed and carry the lumber "side saddle". Capacity is limited in any case.
: Restoration of the trucks in general runs a bit easier than the cars. You're spared the problems with interior upholstery and as the trucks were commonly built from parts left over from the car line at Ford, they have more variables as to "what is correct."
: Also, since trucks were generally sold and used to "do a job", the smaller details such as interior trim frequently were merely painted gloss black rather than nickle or chrome plated. Again, Henry used the truck line to use up functional but otherwise rejected or outmoded parts.
: In my view my commercial closed cab pickup is the ultimate in "cute" although I like the roadster pickup, especially if the fabric top is removed (which most didn't but restorers tend to make them so.)
: Two books I would suggest are the AA Truck Shop Manual by Jim Schild (which specializes in the AA truck) and Restoring the Model A Pickup by Mac Hils (which specializes in the A commercial truck) . Both are available from any of the major Model A parts suppliers.
: Hope this helps - welcome to the hobby.
: Best regards,
: Joe
Hi J
I have to agree with Joe`s comments about trucks. One thing to remember about the AA truck is it is quite a large vehicle as it was built along the lines of today`s straight truck. Also, I think you would be happier with a pickup truck, if a truck is what you are looking for and don`t want such a large vehicle. I have a closed cab `29 pickup and I get it out almost everyday for trips to the store, post office or any excuse to drive it. The only problem with trucks are they were built as a work vehicle, not used as the modern day pickup is i.e. truck/everyday transportation vehicle. This means some of them are quite beat up but, being tough old Fords a lot of them survived. You may find parts bent or broke that you won`t find bad on cars such as running boards. But, many of these parts can be replaced with good repro parts. As Joe said, the bed is quite small. About enough room for a bale of hay and a small calf or boxes of stuff from the hardware or lumber yard. Being built (stock) with the same drive train as a car, they will move right along as a car will. About 45-50 MPH. The main thing is have fun and original Model A`s are reasonably easy to find parts and help with the project. They are well worth the time and effort to keep going.
Good luck.
Craig

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