OFF THE RESERVATION SATURDAY! 1936 Dodge MD-30 Half-ton Commercial Express Jim Fenton of Agawam MA owns this very attractive 36 Dodge Brothers pickup, which was officially called a Commercial Express. This was really the first year for light duty Dodge trucks built to truck standards. Powered by a 70 horsepower 201 cubic inch L-head six cylinder gasoline engine with a floor mounted shift-lever 3-speed synchro-silent transmission. Rear axle ratio options included a 3.7 and 4.1 to 1 for pulling stumps or comfortable road travel on the standard 6.00x16 bias ply tires. My friend Paul Vito looked at my own GMCs bias ply tires and smiled wryly and the famously said give me a groove and Ill follow it! which is too funny because its so true. Dodges truck sales were miserable to the redesigned trucks featured Fore-Point load distribution which was a fancy term marketing used for their construction. Dodge engineers moved the front axles forward which shifted the load forward in relation to the axles. This way the front axles carried more of the loads weight than previously able. Fore-Point resulted in greater stability and allowed for a minimum over-all length. TThe standard practice was to paint the four fenders, running boards, the filler panel located between the running boards, and the cab and cargo box black. Another major change in the construction of 1936 light-duty trucks was the adoption of a truck-type frame featuring parallel side rails with double drops and five heavy cross members. Moving the front axle forward and the change to a truck-type frame meant that for the first time Dodge half-ton commercials were real trucks. The Commercial Sedan (Sedan Delivery) was the only exception as it was a modified 2-door Dodge sedan.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 08:00:02 +0000
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