About the only heavy towing I do any more is going to tractor shows. Now I only carry about 7,500 pounds on a 24 foot goose neck.

My truck is a little different from most in that it looks "old", but I drive it as long as there isn't snow on the ground.

The cab is a 1959 Chevrolet Apache that I got in 93. The cab, fenders & hood were sitting on skids when I picked them up.

I first put this on a 1978 3/4 ton chassis with a 350 & 700R4.

A lot of time I would be hauling around 10,000 on the trailer and It didn't take me long to wear out that combination.

So I then switched the cab over to a 1985 1 ton dually chassis. I also went to a 368 Cadillac engine and TH400 transmission.

I like the 1 ton dually a lot. It seams to pull with less jerking, feels better on corners and stops better.

Last summer, the 368 finely wore out. This fall I completely rebuilt the running gear and put in a rebuilt 6.2 diesel and TH400 transmission.

This is my first diesel and I'm looking forward to driving it this summer.

.. Ray

Looks good Ray. Duramax/Allison for it's next life?;)

Nice job, getting some milage out of the cab huh? Good luck with it.

How about some bigger pics? Look nice!

looks nice

[quote=How about some bigger pics? Look nice![/quote]

Thanks guys. I'm glad you like it.

I've got a lot of sweat and my fair share of blood invested in this truck and I'm really proud of it.

It rides and tows nice. I think the best part is that there is NO COMPUTER, so I can work on it my self.

Unless something happens to it, I plan on this being my last truck. I'll just keep up dating it and my son will get it when I'm gone.

There are more photos of it in "my garage". .. Ray

That thing is awsome!! Its always cool to see people build different style trucks and that thing is definatley one of a kind!

Yeah, not something you see every day - unless you're Ray's neighbor! :D

Very nice, that is one cool old truck.

Yeah, not something you see every day - unless you're Ray's neighbor! :D

My neighbor thinks I'm nuts to screw around with this old stuff so much.

Tom .. I like your avatar.

I live in farming country and I've seen my share of stuck equipment. Don't think I've ever seen a tractor with triple tires in that deep.

There has to be a story behind that one! .. Ray

Looks good Ray. Duramax/Allison for it's next life?;)

X2:D;):)

You will be driving that truck for many more miles.

Really sharp looking Ray! Getting your money's worth on that cab huh? :) So how many miles do you think you have on the cab between 3 engines now? Again great looking truck. A guy down the block from me has a similar (I believe) '59 Apache, but he has the short bed on it and is lifted a good 8"- 10". Now I can say I have seen 2 Apache's.

Your truck rules!

awesome ride ray....

especially the fact that its all home built.... beautiful work :thumb:

My neighbor thinks I'm nuts to screw around with this old stuff so much.

Tom .. I like your avatar.

I live in farming country and I've seen my share of stuck equipment. Don't think I've ever seen a tractor with triple tires in that deep.

There has to be a story behind that one! .. Ray


Yeah, there's got to be a story - but I don't know what it is. I found the picture while surfing the net one day.

Really sharp looking Ray! Getting your money's worth on that cab huh? :) So how many miles do you think you have on the cab between 3 engines now? Again great looking truck. A guy down the block from me has a similar (I believe) '59 Apache, but he has the short bed on it and is lifted a good 8"- 10". Now I can say I have seen 2 Apache's.

It has over 300K on the cab.

I've had to replaced the speedometer, both driver door hinges & door latch, the passenger door latch and both wind shield wiper transmissions because I just wore them out.

Because this is driven all the time, I converted the vacuum wipers over to 2 speed electric. Also made both door windows electric.

I've also had 2 windshields put in. ( still has the original wrap around back glass though )

This truck started life as a 1/2 ton short bed just like your neighbors.

Because this is driven all the time, I converted the vacuum wipers over to 2 speed electric. Also made both door windows electric.




Vacuum wipers suck (pun intended). I bet most folks on this board don't know what they were, but in synopsis, the wipers ran off the engine vacuum. That meant when you stepped on the throttle, and hence 'lost' engine vacuum, you also lost your wipers! :eek: It also meant that coasting down hill, your wipers ran 90 miles an hour.