Hi, I got a 1947 Chevy 1-Ton that has a four speed manual transmission. Unfortunately, the first gear is a 'grandma' gear (goes about as fast as my grandma can walk). That leaves me with three useable gears. I probably could try to do 50mph, but the engine already screams at 40mph. Is there an easy way to make this old farm truck highway-proof? If it would do 55mph without overheating, that would be great. 60mph would be even better. Since the transmission is the problem, I assume a different transmission would do the trick, right? I do not have a clue about which transmission is the right one. Or is it better to change the differential? Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first Chevy truck. Thanks, Andy, Minnesota (brrr ... cold)
RE: 1947 1-Ton: How do I get it to There is an overdrive unit you can get that bolts to the back of the trans to give you that extra gear but not 100% sure if they make them for this old truck. Im sure someone in here will know.
RE: 1947 1-Ton: How do I get it to The transmission is not the problem you probly have a 5.14.1 gear ratio in the rear end, here's a simple way to cure this, if you can find a 47-72 CHEVY rearend pumpkin with a 4.11 gear you can do 60-70 doing about 2000-2200 rpm, this works i've had 2 guys do this already, all you need is the pumpkin. Jesse Hazell Chevy Duty Tech.
RE: 1947 1-Ton: Top Speed What jesses said is the simplest way to go , also Gear Vendors used to make an overdrive unit for your tranny but it involves a bit of re-engineering as you have a short Torque Tube that needs to be deleted when you do this . It'll never be a fast truck , unsafe to drive over 55 ~ 60 with those brakes and steering anyway . Buying your tires by the overall diameter makes a _lot_ of differance - I'm running tall skinny Dayton radials on my truck , it helped out a goodly bit . Keep asking as different folks have addressed this in different ways , try all the various old truck boards out there and collect the answeres . -Nate
RE: 1947 1-Ton: How do I get it to I had the same concern with my 51. It would go 50mph but the engine was screaming. While I had it all apart during restoration I removed the 4.11 ring and pinion and replaced with the 3.55 ring and pinion. Got mine through these folks. http://www.patricksantiquecars.com/
i have a 1948 chevy 1ton truck i have a 1948 chevy 1ton truck and i wanting to put new suspnsion under it with updated front suspension and updated rear dually suspension and i would like to know what would fit under it from a diff year of dually chevy so if you can tell me and help me out that would be great thanks email me at bluegrandbetsy@yahoo.com
I have the same thing on my truck. But as Nate points out, unless you do away with the sreight axel with those leaf springs you do not want to go too fast. I like mine the way it is. Keeps the wife from wanting to ride all the time.
SWMBO Rides Along ...Since I added seat belts (wise as these trucks are DEATH TRAPS) but there's no way she'll ever drive it and that's fine with me .
