1937 1 1/2 ton ford truck value

68HILLBILLY

68HILLBILLY

Senior Member
got another quick question. what is a ballpark value on a real decent running and driving 1937 ford 1 1/2 ton flatbed truck . this truck was driven home more than 70 miles from an auction and did fine. it has some rust around upper windshield and very little in bottom of one door. it has a replacement 49-53 flathead (heads say mercury ) runs and starts perfect road worthy as is. fenders , running boards, hood, grille , etc. are all in very good shape just old paint. just looking for some ballpark opinions, just a very solid old farm truck with very little rust and no big dents. I am thinking of buying it, but have never bought or sold one of the big trucks. the owner priced it to me at a firm 4200.00 . does this seem reasonable? thanks
 
I paid $3,500.00 for my 40 One Ton Express (picture attached) back in 1995. It was a good driveable truck with all the hard to find parts such as the large hubcaps accounted for and in decent shape. I'd say $4,200.00 in todays dollars would be a fair price for what you're looking at. Keep in mind that the large trucks with the 4 speed trans and high geared rear aren't that user friendly. On the other hand since there's so few around they get a lot of interest.
 

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I know this is not the same truck but... I paid $3500. for my '34 as it had sat for 40 years in a shed - I didn't know if it would run. Luckily for me the '38 V8 in it ran awesome after new ignition parts including a rebuilt coil by Skip. With other misc parts to make it driveable, some body work supplies and a little tractor paint, I had just under $5,000. into it. With 4 new tires and tubes the tally is now right about $6,000. I initially figured as long as I wasn't too much over $5000, I could always get the money back if I had to bail on it if I ran into engine or ****** issues.

I have more time to put into it and a few leaks to fix but I think I am about there in my out of pocket to get it to where I wanted.

Seems your price is certainly OK if it is currentluy drivable.
 

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Sounds good to me,the big guestion is do you have room for a big truck?also a big truck is not the sort of thing to take for a sunday drive.If you add the value of the cab ,hood,grill and engine its pretty cheap and these can be put on a 35 to 39 car chassis to make a 1/2 ton pickup.I love the big trucks but they do have limitations.Just my two bits worth.Tony.
 
thanks for the info, got plenty of room for the truck , I live out in the country on 5 acres also have plenty of low traffic country roads to drive on. I have some other early fords already but I really like this big ol truck and it runs like a top. I was a little worried about parts like tires, brakes, etc. it really needs new tires 20x 7.00 6 of them. that might put it out of my budget range.
 
Believe it or not, the mechanical parts for the big trucks are actually still easy to get. With a few minor differences, the 4-speed trans was largely unchanged from 1928 thru about 1955 (can't remember the exact year off-hand). Also, wheel bearings, brake cylinders are interchangeable through about 1965.

A good source for these parts is Joblot Automotive in NY...they have lots of good stuff. I bought a complete set of front wheel bearings from them. NAPA still has the brake cylinders last time I checked.

Tires might set you back close to a grand. I've been in need of tire replacement on my COE for years...but I've never had a flat and I don't drive it fast enough to lose control. I've got 7.50x20s all around and there is only one US-made version left of these. 6.00x20 and 6.50x20 have more options.

COE Dan
 
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