1946 Chevy Prius Truck

[MetroMPG]

HA. That's awesome.

imwoody36, mind if I split it into a dedicated thread?

[Bill the Engineer]

Steve,

Glad to see it's coming along nicely. It's been over a year since I'd seen it. Nice!

Bill the Engineer

[freebeard]

The 2nd configuration is much improved, although you could still bob the truck frame to that shorter wheelbase. Have you upgraded from the ratchet straps yet?

What do you plan for the front wheels? The PCD is 5x100? Maybe you could find some steelies that would fit and use a wide low-profile tire to maintain the final drive ratio. Then you could have a reasonably matched big-and-littles.

I'd put the truck rear-end in backward and put a bronze outboard boat propeller on the yoke, but that's just me. =)

Since you like repurposing boats, consider an aerodynamic boat tail:

[Hoopie]

So after I took a break for the holidays I decided to weld the two together. This was a bit stressful. I measured, nudged, measured, tugged, measured until I thought/hoped it was true. Then said a prayer and started tacking it together. I continued measuring after every weld.

[Hoopie]

I had a car with electrical issues and decided to talk with a local guy who's know for being any expert with finding gremlins in cars. When I drove up I noticed a ton of Prii in his lot. In the course of conversation he discovered I liked weird automobile creations. So he showed me his Cadillac Northstar powered 1949 International pickup. As we were swapping stories the idea of Prius power came up. Until then I always joked about Prii. But the idea started growing. So thanks to Jeff at CRT in Batavia I came home with my first Prius. Then the adventure began.

[Hoopie]

So first gen Prii have a 4x100 bolt pattern. Also the track is much narrower. So I searched the inter web and found a 4x100 to 5 x 4.5 adapter that was 2" wide. This way I can run 5 lug steel wheels and maintain the proper track. As far as tire size and final drive I'm working on that. Not sure if it will hurt to run a little taller tire. We'll see.

[Hoopie]

So a 46 Chevy truck places the gas tank under the seat. This is plenty of room for the HV Battery. I'll need to get creative on how to keep it cool. But there's plenty of room between the truck floor and the Prius floor. This area should accommodate a fan and some duct work.

[MetroMPG]

This is a ton of fun to watch.

[Hoopie]

So on February 10th we were able to get everything together and I heard it run for the first time. Up to this point I had never heard a Prius start and run. I was somewhat of a anti Hybrid person. It was ignorance. I never paid attention to them, therefore had no memory of what they sounded like. My first thought was, it sounds like an electric generator. Weird, I'm used to V8s, loud, obnoxious, gas guzzlers. This was a little hum. Then as I celebrated this mile marker it happened... it died...I thought, oh crap, what's wrong? Looking to Jeff he, informed me that the batteries charged and it turned itself off. Obviously I was new to the Hybrid world. Now I needed to hook up the controls.

[oil pan 4]

If you wanted to save weight in the back you could put a trailer brake axle. They are available in 1,350lb to 7,000+lb capacity.
The smallest capacity brake axles are only electric as far as I know. The 3,500lb axles and larger can be electric or hydraulic.
Only problem is I just don't think an electric trailer brake axle on a truck would pass a vehicle inspection.