Looks familiar-ish

Other than the one shiny wheel, the white letter tires, the stupid lift job and the stupid foot step, this would have been a common sight from the time of my childhood. That rig would have been just an old rig, kept in service beyond its years because newer rigs cost money. It would have been used for serious work, thus it would not have been lifted, but it may have had a plow blade or some other makeshift whatsit cobbled onto it, and it would have shown more rust.

Post apocalyptic? I don’t know. Maybe if it had a wood-smoke burner conversion. I do appreciate the fact that someone is keeping it in operation.

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9 thoughts on “Looks familiar-ish

  1. I remember Scouts and Jeeps pick me ups as the winter cars in NW PA in the late 70’s. They all had rifle racks in the cab.

  2. It looks like it has power steering and six lug axles, decent chance that’s a Chevy frame underneath, which would explain the height. And why the front axle looks to sit a few inches to far back. Pretty clean for a flatfender pickup, really.
    But why would being an old work truck preclude a lift or a non matching spare? Who cares if the spare rim matches, especially on a beater, as long as it’ll mount up.

    • The non-matching spare isn’t the issue. It’s the fact that it appears new and shiny, and is likely a cast wheel.

      The only reason to do a lift is for appearance. It raises the CG, making the vehicle less useful, while doing almost nothing to increase ground clearance. See Joe’s comment below;

      “…without the lift and step. It hauled a lot of hay to the cows in the winter and fuel to the tractors and combines in the summer.”

      You don’t deliberately spend money and time to fuck up a serious work truck by raising the CG making it less stable in rough terrain (especially while carrying a load), and raising the bed almost always makes loading and unloading more difficult (the lift kit fans probably never thought of that). I never knew a farmer, carpenter, odd jobs worker, hunter or field hand who ever did dumb shit like that. Not that it hasn’t happened, but I knew a lot of those guys and they never did it.

      Surely someone will find a way to rationalize it. A worker hasn’t the time nor the inclination, and therefore doesn’t need to look for a rationalization. He also tends not to care so much about appearances, preferring substance.

      I know I’m going against the grain though, in this “appearances trump utility” society.

  3. We had one very similar to that. It was all green and, of course, without the lift and step. It hauled a lot of hay to the cows in the winter and fuel to the tractors and combines in the summer.

  4. The lift may be to gain fender clearance, to accommodate the wheelbase not being exactly the same as the original chassis.
    The spare wheel IS a steel rim, just not the same as the road wheels.

    In Eastern PA, the station wagon version was more popular. Dad had a couple. One was used for snow plowing, with a straight-6 in place of the 4 cyl. The hunting cabin had the 4cyl, with dual cabin heaters and a pto winch. Never saw one with a lift kit. The highest lift I recall was a ~’62 Ford F-250 with the factory lift. Awkwardly tall to use the bed.

  5. It doesn’t seem post-apocalyptic to me. It looks more like something a lumbersexual would drive in the city. Antique macho. If the one in the picture saw more dirt than it’d get from a driveway or parking on a shoulder, I’d be amazed.

  6. it’s a jeep pickup w/ a lift kit, for christ’s sake. they are still around, mostly with small block chevy or ford v-8’s, some of the savvier people putting olds/buick 3.8 liter v-6’s in them. common as dirt in north eastern oregon, and the same can be said w/ old dodge power wagons which are really prized. almost all of them will have small blocks of some sort or another, w/ an occasional big block chevy or olds and/or pontiac thrown in just to keep things interesting. post-apocalyptic my aching butt. john jay
    p.s. out these parts, they get used …. for serious business. cj-3 & cj-5 tubs are very very popular, as well as land cruisers, old ones. and, yes they get very dirty, and they haul around a guy and his favorite dog most of the time, or the elk camp coming in and out of town for r&r. some of you people need to get out of seattle and los angeles a little bit more, … , or, maybe it is just better you stay where you are. post-apocalyptic. amazing.

  7. p.s. no. 2 . read the other comments. 1.)lift kits, within reason, work just fine. too high, and they can bind drive lines and torque tubes. and, play hob w/ the suspensions. moderate lifts are very good for rocky and rutted terrain. 2.)these parts, people don’t use little 100 lb. bales of hay much anymore, except for gentleman types with a few pet horses to feed. real cattle people haul 1100 lb. bales around on dodge and chevy diesels, guys with flatbeds on the back two or three at a time, if the ground is flat. otherwise, two bales in plenty. that old pickup would be a little weak in the knees with one such bale, i am thinking: plenty of power, not enough by way of underpinnings.
    good old trucks, however, for hauling people and an occasional elk.

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