084: Mike Gigliotti’s 1948 Willys Truck and 1964 Truck
This is my 1948 Willys Pickup, has a 1953 nose, dump bed. I got a ’79 Chevy 3/4 ton and put entire running gear in Willy, PS, PB, tilt wheel, 4-speed sm420, 2-1/2 ton shocks from ’53 M-37Dodge, front chevy leafs, LT1 350 engine. This truck wheels so good, it’s like a Cadillac on the trail.
My ’48 is exactly the way I want it, I built it with junk yard parts, this truck has 3/4 ton running gear, LT1-350, 4-sp granny, pos. trac 4:11, ps. pb. tilt wheel, dump bed, I put 2.5 yrds of dirt on this truck and hall it anywhere, thats 7500 lbs.!! It handles it like nothing, and dumps it where I need it, this truck is rode hard and put away wet every time, has never let me down, hands down, the best truck I’ve ever owned!
One time, 30 miles down a abandoned mining road, a bunch of jeep buddies and myself were doing it right! High mountain, started raining and snowing, a 40″ digger fell across the trail, this thing must have been 150′ long, with no chainsaw and blocking the only way out, I hooked er up to the dump bed framing, when I began pulling, since the bed is way higher then axle, it pulled the back down, the Willys began to do what Willys do! it honkered down, grabbed traction, and moved what was probably a 40,000 lb. tree. Needless to say, Willys saved the day!
-Mike Gigliotti
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I don’t want to correct Mike, however if I understand him correctly the 40,000 pound tree was in fact moved by his ol’ Willy with a heart, lung, liver and kidney transplant from a Chevrolet and it was this organ donor who in fact saved the day.
Yep mikes a blessing
Hey!!That’s my good friend Mike’s trucks!!!…..mike is a realy handy,and talented man!!!