VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans 1958 viking 40

I just bought my 1958 viking 40 do not know much about them could some body help me on what size motor they came with

Does it look like this one?



This one came with a inline six, either a 235 or a 261, you can tell by the hood emblem (blue background)and side emblems, there is no V symbel for a V/8 engine. most of the grain bed trucks were sixes, American farmers were conservative and bought the no frills Chevrolet sixes. I had a 1957 C6500 , same cab, it came with a 261, 4 speed granny with a 2 speed rear axle. We still have some of these rugged trucks in our area hauling grain and peanuts.

Look on the VIN plate on the driver's door post it should show the capacity rateing and the engine size.

That's the nice thing about the Internet...you can look up information that you need on just about anything. Go to "Google" and do a search for your truck and you will find some information there.

yes it looks like it the door plate shows the first engine # is a 235 14000 gvw. does that means it is 1 1/2 ton

Not exactly!
GVWR
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the maximum legal weight for a vehicle. GVWR is most important for trucks carrying cargo. The gross vehicle weight includes the empty weight of the truck, driver and passengers, fuel and cargo. When a truck goes through the scales on the highway and the weight exceeds the GVWR, the driver will be fined and forced to remove cargo.
Heavy Trucks
The GVWR is determined and set by the vehicle manufacturer. The manufacturer uses the load rating of several individual components to calculate the final GVWR of the truck. The components that affect a truck's weight rating are the frame, brakes, axles, wheels and tires. Heavy trucks have a straight steel frame; manufacturers will offer frames with different thickness and strength. A too-heavy frame reduces the load capacity so the manufacturer attempts to reduce frame weight while maintaining the desired load capacity. Brake ratings are rarely a factor in GVWR calculation. Modern truck brakes significantly exceed the requirements for the weight rating of the trucks.

What this really means, basically, is that you need to subtract the empty vehicle wt. from the vehicle GVW to get the capacity rating. My C-6500 was rated at 18500 GVW and the book showed it to be a 2.5 ton chassis. I never weighed the chassis and grain bed but I bet that the warrenty was valid only up to 18500 lbs. total GVW. I once had it weighed with a load of gravel and it weighed 26,000# (empty weight was around 13,000#)

That was way overloaded. Maybe that is why one of the rear wheel rims broke off the axle. I would consider de-rating one of these 52 year old trucks a bunch!

The 31-3200 series is a 1/2 ton. The 3600 is a 3/4 ton, the 3800 is a 1 ton and the 4000 series is classified as a 1 1/2 ton truck The 6000 series the 2 ton. The actual load capacity of the truck will actually much higher and will vary depending on the suspension options. The 1/1/2 ton truck in 1958 had a 235 engine as standard and an optional 283 engine.