I recently aquired a '52 3600. I am told that she is a factory stake bed. The vin is 6ksh1543. The truck has 17 inch wheels and huge rear brakes. I would like to find out what the vin should tell me and if it has the same wheel cyclinders as all 3600s of that year.
Hey 52stake, after looking up the serial # it would appear as though you've got a 1 ton, not a 3/4 ton. the 6 means that it was assembled in Oakland, Ca, the ks designates 1952 3800 series 1 ton, the h means it rolled off of the assembly line in August and the last 4 digits are a sequence number. Grab yourself a tape measure and measure the wheelbase. If it's 137 inches, it's definitely a 1 ton. If it's 125 1/4 inches, it's a 3/4 ton.
good info Ken, We measured up the wheel base, it is 160 inches. We noticed that the frame is doubled up. The rivits look like they are factory. Thanks for the info
Is the frame over the rear axle straight or does it have a hump? When you say the frame is doubled up, do you mean at the very back of the frame there is an extention for about a foot?
52 stake bed Tailgater, The frame is flat all the way back. By doubled up I meant that there is a channel inside the regular channel. That runs from the point that the frame becomes straight (forward) running aft to a couple of feet behind the cab and difinatly looks factory.
I will have to look at mine to see if it is like that. I don't think it is. If it had an extention at the back it would have indicated that it was once a pickup. You can't tell mine was a pick up by these pictures yet but keep checking and I will eventually get it on there. http://www.81x.com/Tailgater/Cars_and_Trucks
