A '50 1/2 ton Chevy pickup My friends just got has a Truckstell Overdrive. It is in the closed drive line about 12" behind the trans. It is cable operated and the case looks like it could hold a planetary set. Any one know how these work? How do you shift them and when? How strong is it? Are there parts anywhere? Literature? Thanks, Tom

BotP:

I just Google'd it and there is a bunch of info there..Also, oddly enough, there is one on the H.A.M.B. Classifieds yesterday at 1:59am...page 6 as of now, near the bottom.

Sincerely:
Paul...aka xerxes

Xer, Thanks! The one on the H.A.M.B is a lot like it. There is something different on the driver side. I'll get pictures today if I can. I found some stuff on Stoveblot and a little here. A guy called Kimo posted here and there. Tip-Toe-Matic, I'm gonna' name my next cat that! BOTP

I contacted the hamber and it looks like it is sold. Anyone know if you can get parts or service bulletins for them? I think it would be cool to have one but he $800 asking price was steep to me.

On one thread on Stovebolt they mentioned someone asking $2,000 for one! Thats getting into Gear Vender territory! The things I've read say they were made in Portland but the one on the '50 says Cleveland, Ohio. They also wrote about a manual. I'll keep looking.

There are overdrives of that type for the Model A Ford still available new for about $2000.

The only one I was aware of for a torque tube Model A is the Mitchell Overdrive and i wonder if they are still around? Are there any others?

Tom,

MACS lists it in their new catalog for $2195. It is the Mitchell unit and it replaces the whole torque tube assembly. I should not have used plural in my previous post as this is the only one I am aware of.

http://www.macsautoparts.com

Sam, thanks for the response. Several years ago I contacted Mr Mitchell about doing an overdrive for the torque tube chevy and he seemed interested. We had begun some phone collaborations and then sadly he died. The family told me they intended to keep the ford unit available, so I'm glad to see it is still around. I just wish we had been able to do one for our Chevys.

I'll check out your link

I scanned some Truckstell literature a few years ago to a PDF file - if you are interested, I will see if I can find it.

Yes, I would like to see anything you can find. We need to know about it so we don't destroy it. Thanks, Tom

If you find it I would appreciate it.

I found it - the PDF is over 3Mb with sales brochure(s) and several installation instruction guides with exploded diagrams, etc. I sent it out to a few folks that e-mailed me this am
Ken

Hi Ken,

This sounds like something that might be an addition to the Inliners Tech Tips. My email is tjtenold@pacbell.net, or webmaster@inliners.org.

Thanks,

Tim

Another site that should welcome such a resource is The Old Car Manual Project. See

http://www.tocmp.com/

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

I got the copy that Ken sent and it is a lot of information. I haven't read it all yet. Thanks Ken! Tom