Last week, I joined my friend Eric Johnson to look at an old GMC truck he found for sale. He bought it, but getting home was a challenge. And as Eric guessed before we even first set eyes on it, it’s not a 1940 model like the ad stated.
While the truck runs and was able to drive down the seller’s driveway and around the neighborhood, we planned to tow it home. We made a trip to pick it up, but towing the GMC using a tow bar behind Eric’s Toyota Tundra didn’t work out. We needed a trailer to get it home safely.
On Sunday we got an early start for our second attempt, first picking up a trailer that Eric arranged to borrow from a friend. We made the trip back to the seller’s house and, fueled by Hardee’s biscuits, loaded up the GMC. We stopped once on the way home to check the load. Eric moved the GMC forward a few inches, bringing its sheetmetal within a half inch of the front of the trailer.
This minimized some swaying that he previously noticed, and it then rode nicely with a little more tongue weight. The Tundra pulled the load at highway speeds of around 45 to 50 mph with no issues. With the Toyota burdened by a substantial load, watching the instantaneous fuel economy display was entertaining.
The GMC is safely at Eric’s house, ready for its new owner to start showing it some love. According to the serial number, it’s actually a 1945 model, a CC303 2-ton. Eric plans to begin checking it out and making repairs to get the truck roadworthy. I look forward to sharing more details of his experience with this neat old vehicle.
