Hi, I'm new! Questions about GMC 4000

[IronGutsSpeedShop]

Hey everyone, new to this site and new to big trucks as well.

I had been casually looking for an early 80's topkick but i thought they seemed expensive for what they were and decided to hold off on the idea for a while.

I was rewarded for my patience with finding an old farm with a couple rusted out junkers and also what looks like a 60-63 GMC 4000 that is certainly weather beaten but the interior looks ok and it just caught my eye.

Of course, I have to have it haha. So i get a price and it was good, but i can't get it quite yet because:

1. It is huge
2. I need to rent or borrow a tractor trailer to tow it home (I think?)
3. I don't have room at my house so i have to store it close by at a lot for a small fee.

Not extraordinarily large hurdles, just speed bumps. I will definitely be picking it up. I think about it all day haha.

I had some questions, it has been parked for at least 20-25 years, do you think that the hubs will turn if there were aired up tires?

It seems like it either has a 351 or 305, but i didnt check closely because the sun was setting. Do you folks get most of them to be able to run after doing the usual fixings?

What sort of mpg do people get in these with the V6? i know MPG and 1963 and Huge Truck aren't synonymous, but I'm just curious.

thanks a lot for any help that you can give! I'm sure I will have a bunch more questions. and great site!

[TJ's GMC]

Hi and welcome aboard. Need some pictures! Mileage for a big rig like that......I'd say 10 on a good day. But that v6 has plenty of guts to pull just about anything. Heck.....towed 10K with my 3/4 ton....accelerated 4th up a grade.

[Charon]

Ok. A few things. First if it's a 60- 62 It will have a torsion bar suspension up front. And parts are VERY hard to come by. Now I like these and have had a lot of them but they are difficult. The 63 has the.beam front axle. Parts are much easier to find. Now these trucks with a,305 are painfully underpowered with a load. And empty they can see 6- 7 mpg. But loaded 5 is pretty average. Now if your patient and good with a wrench anything is possible. But expect a fair bit of money and time to get it on the road. Now I may get some people riled up. But I part everyone of these out. No matter the condition.

[6066gmcguy]

Howdy & Welcome to the Club.

As an owner of the smallest of the larger Trucks, I can tell you a few things. as a collector truck they are great, as a daily driver, well unless you like taking it easy & don't care how much you'll be supporting the oil companies, you mite not want to get this old of a truck.

My 1965 Rescue Squad gets 7 MPG, so for me its a gallon of gas just to drive to town. gearing is low for pulling power, not why speeds, I get maybe 60 MPH on level ground with a tail wind. Back in the day they didn't have the supper highways we have now & big trucks worked not played, so those problems were not of great concern, and with gas being only about 0.25 per gallon, MPG was not an issue for them either.

I switched out my fuel tank for a 50 gallon reefer tank, so now I can drive longer on a fill up, or more Mile Per Tank Full.

[6066gmcguy]

On a side note this is how my big trucks got from where they were to where they needed to be.

[David R Leifheit]

Originally Posted by IronGutsSpeedShop

Hey everyone, new to this site and new to big trucks as well.

I had been casually looking for an early 80's topkick but i thought they seemed expensive for what they were and decided to hold off on the idea for a while.

I was rewarded for my patience with finding an old farm with a couple rusted out junkers and also what looks like a 60-63 GMC 4000 that is certainly weather beaten but the interior looks ok and it just caught my eye.

Of course, I have to have it haha. So i get a price and it was good, but i can't get it quite yet because:

1. It is huge
2. I need to rent or borrow a tractor trailer to tow it home (I think?)
3. I don't have room at my house so i have to store it close by at a lot for a small fee.

Not extraordinarily large hurdles, just speed bumps. I will definitely be picking it up. I think about it all day haha.

I had some questions, it has been parked for at least 20-25 years, do you think that the hubs will turn if there were aired up tires?

It seems like it either has a 351 or 305, but i didnt check closely because the sun was setting. Do you folks get most of them to be able to run after doing the usual fixings?

What sort of mpg do people get in these with the V6? i know MPG and 1963 and Huge Truck aren't synonymous, but I'm just curious.

thanks a lot for any help that you can give! I'm sure I will have a bunch more questions. and great site!

I was fortunate to be able to get a 1963 4000 a couple years back, it had sat for a while but airing up the only flat tire was all it needed to get rolling. Mine had the "wrong" motor in it, was a v-6 just bigger than it came with. 305s were very common, 351 (ie. non magnum) would be an expected option. Haven't looked at the data plate in a while to see which was supposed to be in the truck.

On a truck this size, don't expect fuel economy. In the pickups a 305 can get 10, all day long, regardless of load. Something this size I would certainly expect less. The 305 is a stout motor though, so it will pull just about anything. Oddly the only motor I've had trouble with was a 351E, which I have been trying to replace for a couple years now (I have a correct '63 305 with plaid covers, Holley carb, and electronic ignition sitting on the ground waiting to go in my '63 2500 hauler). Time and money, always time and money.

I notice Charon mentions torsion bars... I know this to be true on the 1000 and 1500 series (1/2 - 3/4 ton) but could not say the same for a 4000. I'd have to check the manuals to see what they say was offered on a big truck.

Depending on how yours is equipped, the GVW can vary a bit for that series. 20,000 GVW is common (I used to have 2 - 5500 series which were 20,000s) and the '63 4000 I still have is rated at 24,000 GVW. Around here truck driver's license isn't required until it goes to 26,001 so I'm good with a standard driver's license IF/When mine ever goes on the road. Mine has a little over a 20' deck on it, 2 speed rear and at one time it had been fitted for an air compressor for air brakes (for the trailer).
Can't tell you though from experience the mpg, I didn't buy the truck rather I stored it, pulled the engine for the buyer, and got the truck for my labor. I was a bit more active in those days.

I know where there is a '60 4000 with tool boxes and man-lift, had a chance at it years ago but something happened (for some reason he stopped replying to my emails), I keep thinking I need it though and since I know where it is I may take my life in my own hands and ask him about it again (then the wife will kill me, but oh well... )

[Charon]

Front suspension. All light duty 1000- 2500 and all big trucks 3500- 5000 used torsion bar front. Here is a pic of the bigger series.

[TJ's GMC]

Just add more gears. It'll pull it. lol

[David R Leifheit]

Originally Posted by Charon

Front suspension. All light duty 1000- 2500 and all big trucks 3500- 5000 used torsion bar front. Here is a pic of the bigger series.

And I thought pickup torsion bars were heavy.
I can imagine the load on big truck torsion bars.

That would be a take-care situation for certain.

[IronGutsSpeedShop]

SO it must be a 63 then, because it did have a BEAM axle. And i was pretty sure i saw the button for the 2 speed rear end on it. The guy said that it was in really good condition before it got parked for 25 years or so. I'm ok with poor mileage for the pure amount of weight that it will be able to haul. I can't remember if it had 6 lug or 5/10 lug.

I should have snapped a picture but I didn't. the sun was just setting when i found the truck and I was too excited looking around the truck then the mosquitos set in.


I'm really astonished to see that it will fit on a 5th wheel trailer! Looks like I will be good to go and won't have to pay my friends with the Track-hoe hauler out.

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll have more to see soon.