How Many Of You Drive Your 60-66 Trucks Daily?

[b2948kevin]

How many of you use your 60-66 trucks as daily drivers? Do you enjoy it? Also, what upgrades, if any, would you consider necessary or recommended for this and why?

I was thinking about making my 66 Stepside LWB my daily driver. I live in a fairly congested city (Bellevue Wa), though it's not a downtown metro. I commute maybe 15 miles roundtrip daily to work, but I do drive some highway and I would like to make sure I could drive 100-200 miles highway in a day if I have reason to.

[rustyrodknocker]

66 burb everyday. and its rough. I wish it looked as solid as yours. I drive wherever I want when I want. it is coming off the road in acouple weeks for some updates. power steering and no more flintstone floors. I just sold my 68 pickup. 292 4 spd. 4:56. power nothing. drove it all over oregon. if it was a 60-66 I would have kept it forever. Ive never had a latemodel car or a car payment. gas is cheap. payments, interest and insurance is expensive.

[markeb01]

My truck and I are retired now, but for at least 10 years it served as a daily driver. IMHO to make one of these a reliable daily driver, the following upgrades are most important:

. Power steering for both daily comfort and emergency maneuvering.
. A decent highway gear in the rear axle.
. Individual grounding of all light sockets so you don’t experience chronic electrical gremlins.
. Windshield washers - considering where you live.
. Reliable windshield wipers along with a regular application of Rain-X.
. A factory deluxe fresh air heater - for defrosting and comfort.
. Matching outside door handle key locks if you don’t already have them.
. Some form of storage in the bed (like a large tool box) or perhaps a soft bed cover.
. Disc brakes up front are a nice to have if you do a lot of freeway driving.
. Any form of hood lock so your battery stays where it belongs.

[nachodog2]

I use mine everyday, my girls get picked up from school in it and it's my weekend driver, runs to the swap meets and momma's house 20 miles away. Iagree with markeb01 on some of those upgrades. Matching key locks on outside door handles is a must. I've done the disc brake swap, rearend swap, t5 upgrade, and grounds are good. Power steering......not an issue yet and i live in sunny california so no heater no problem. It get's more stares than a soccer mom van at the school, my girls love all the attention they get, so much so that my 11 year old wants to build one for when she's able to drive.
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[cb1965]

i drive my '66 daily 30 miles + roundtrip to work. love it every bit. still have drums all around and manual steering. 327 with 5spd manual trans 373 rear.


im currently working on my '65. has power steering, power brakes, crate 350, still need a trans and 5 lug rear.

[oem4me]

My trusty '62 C-20 gets pressed into service whenever the regulars require hospitalization. Used it recently for about two months straight. It's mostly stock, but I sure wish it had power steering.

[old cruiser]

Mine is my everyday driver. 230 3 on tree 3.73 rearend. Don't have any issues driving it anywhere. Saying that I'm looking at an o/d gearbox maybe.
Would make it better for those 150+klm trips.

[63CHEVY62GMC]

i drive my 63 c-20 to school and everywhere else every day

[protrash64]

I've been driving my '66 quite a bit and agree with Marks list, but the one thing I would do is power disc brakes. I have manual brakes and they work well but for traffic I would want the comfort of assist. I've driven down the freeway and just sitting at traffic lites gets old holding down the pedal.

[1963c-10]

My 63 is the only thing I own right now, so its my daily driver. Love it the way it is, and wouldn't change anything except for maybe some paint. Back window defroster woulda be nice if the factory had thought about it.

[duallyjams]

Not every day but it does get used every week.

[Rich 5150 69]

Dailey driver, 140 miles a week, has been sinse`93

[krazy_texan]

Im working on getting mine to daily driver status right now i am currently trying to work out some brake issues crossing my fingers that i have them done this weekend. I did not get rid of the front drums and dont intend to but i did upgrade to a dual master cylinder, next few weeks i am going to get the floors and rocker panels fixed then hopefully by christmas hoping on a new set of doors with matching locks

[dracko]

My '64 swb has been my only mode of transportation for about 3 years now and it hasn't let me down yet. Definitely needed some work here and there, but always fired up and got me around town....even in -40C temps.(Studded tires are key) Still all stock with a 230 and 4 on the floor, but will soon be adding a 327 and power steering.

[b2948kevin]

Right on! This thread is turning out really good.

Mark, thanks for the list. I had something like this in the back of my head, but it's good to get some additional items as well as some validation on the 5speed tranny, etc.

Anyone else out there? Any other comfort/reliability/safety upgrades that should be considered must-haves?

[Clyde65]

I try to drive mine alot, it used to be by daily from like 2002 to 2007, then I bought my Sonata for the longer trips and mileage. 2009 I replaced the tire 350/400 with the 4.8/4l60e and I have done a bunch of upgrades/repairs so i can basically use the truck for weekends and shows. I still drive the truck a couple days a week just because I love to drive the truck.

BTW I have had my truck for 22 years, it was my DD from 1989 to 1996, then I got a company vehicle, but still drove the truck some.

[Indian113]

Our 64 is going to be a DD when I get it finished. I have tried to make every improvement a item that will make it safer and more dependable.

[likaroc13]

maybe add a good radio for some tunes, and seatbelts if you don't have them...those are a couple things mine needs

have contemplated many times making mine a daily driver...but the last nice truck i did that with, i regretted and sold it (i made it too nice, IMO)....since i figure kids will be on the agenda in a couple years, i'm leaning towards a Burb daily driver instead

[50bomb]

Originally Posted by oem4me

My trusty '62 C-20 gets pressed into service whenever the regulars require hospitalization. Used it recently for about two months straight. It's mostly stock, but I sure wish it had power steering.

Clean truck

[ChevyFreak60]

[IMG]http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/attachment.php?attachmentid=830107&stc=1&d=1321640438[/IMG]

1965 chevy factory 4x4 half ton daily driver.

[MisterC]

I haven't done this yet, but high on my list is soundproofing of some type (dynamat, fatmat, etc.) and some level of sound system suited for your style.

[Surfdaddy]

I don't drive mine everyday, but do drive it every weekend between 30 and 200 miles over the weekend. I would do power steering and brakes even if you keep the drums. (that's on the top of the list for my truck) Add AC, you'll be able to drive farther and not get as tired. If you have time swap to a overdrive auto (something like a 700R4) to get the mileage up to where you won't go broke driving it.

[kieth]

I drive my 66 gmc every day......Kieth

[Str8axle]

Daily for me if I need to go anywhere. Power steering, an o/d, and an engine re-seal are in the near future.

[Rich 5150 69]

So Ray how did you happen to run across a rust free pu in Jersey....?