The life of a grain truck isn’t an easy one. They are a workhorse from the word “go”. When they are being used, they are beast of burden, and when they are not, they sit silently. These are the kind of lumbering trucks that gives Lohnes that stirring feeling, and I’ll admit that I like the idea of repowering one of these things into something like a flatbed car hauler. Throw in a modern V8, an updated braking system, put a set of Alcoas and good tires on it, and make sure that the heater works and I’d drive one of these, no doubt. But that’s just me dreaming.
It has been a minute since we checked in on Welker Farms and the work they do to vehicles. We’ve shown you their series on restoring an International conventional semi tractor and we’ve shown you some of their videos that are centered around the farm’s prize piece of equipment, a Big Bud tractor. But this time around, Nick Welker is taking on a new project, and it involves this Dodge LCF grain truck. At some point in the past, a Chevrolet 350 raided from a K5 Blazer took the place of the original Chrysler engine and was mated up to the transmission from a Chevrolet C-series medium-duty truck. The combination runs…sort of…but it could work better. So it’s time to drag Babe the Big Blue Dodge out from the arctic Montana winter and into the shop for some much needed love.
My honest opinion is anyone who would put a Chevrolet engine in this truck should be castrated and his tools taken away from him.