grimjaw
1/2 ton status
I was thinking about the old Fall Guy show due to an earlier post. I wanted a better look at the Bedside compartment. I found a sit with alot of good info and a few pics. This picture is from one of the truck that a guy in Alaska won in a contest from the show. I know questions about this truck pop up here so I thought I would post what I found.
From the site...
MY TRUCK!!!! - was Colts name for his GMC and was usually uttered when stolen by the bad guys, or wrecked which was just about every episode.
The truck had a 350/V8 motor and automatic transmission with four inch lift springs. The lower front fender lips had to be cut back to clear the bigger tires which were about the largest available at the time the show aired in late '81; 15 x 36 x 16.5 Dick Cepeks on 9.75 by 16.5 inch chrome spoke rims. Standard accessories on trucks #1 and #2 were a citizens band radio, big antenna whip mounted on the bed side, chrome rollbar, 6 off road lights (Cibie's and Daylighters),a winch and a push bar with chrome brush guard. The stunt trucks had some or none of the options that #1 and #2 did (and very few had the logo).
Of course Colt's truck (#1, and possibly #2 also) had a secret compartment in the bed for stashing the bad guys or storing bounty retrieval gear like a bean bag stun gun or a flywheel inside a pizza box. The bail jumpers always fell for the old pizza delivery guy trick!
UPDATE:
The truck pics immediately above and below were of the custom jumper built in '83 by 20th Century Fox. Mechanics Rob Johnson, Don Harback, and the rest of the shop's crew donated over 400 hours of time to build this special stunt truck to reduce the amount of scrapped trucks the show was experiencing. The 20th Century Fox accountants had veto-ed the custom jumper truck idea it seems. Built from many wrecked trucks accumulating in the back lot, it was basically a '79 and had no transfer case, front driveshaft, or front axle shafts (welded in steel rods for added strength) and was essentially a 2 wheel drive! The engine and trans were moved 3 feet back and lowered to sit half in, half below the cab (the air cleaner sat about where the center of the bench seat would be). An aluminum radiator and electric fan were centered over top of the front axle housing. A five gallon fuel cell was added and the rear driveshaft was only about 14 inches long. Burbank springs were used in both the front (7 leaf, 4 inch lift) and rear (stock height, 9 leaf, no lift, with 4 inch aluminum blocks) along with 8 KYB gas shocks, 2 per corner. Both axles were heavily trussed and gussetted with huge bump stops added. The cab floor was re-inforced along with the cab back and a roll cage through-out with down bars extending into the bed. The front windshield was Lexan and stuntman Mickey Gilbert was actually suspended by bungie cords and didn't make contact with the seat on impact. The truck was balanced before every stunt on centered jack stands, then jacks removed from the front and back (balancing was done by adding or subtracting steel plates to a weight box in the bed). Balance and lower weight were critical for a flat, smooth landing. The end result you ask? How about a truck that could survive a fall of 14 feet and jump 100 feet at 40 mph and drive back to the shop for another shoot the next day!!! After this truck was built 20th Century Fox only needed 2 others. One was a close-up truck (#1) and another was a high speed driver for camera shots (#2). At present I haven't found any info on how many seasons this truck lasted.
UPDATE:
The truck pics immediately above and below were of the custom jumper built in '83 by 20th Century Fox. Mechanics Rob Johnson, Don Harback, and the rest of the shop's crew donated over 400 hours of time to build this special stunt truck to reduce the amount of scrapped trucks the show was experiencing. The 20th Century Fox accountants had veto-ed the custom jumper truck idea it seems. Built from many wrecked trucks accumulating in the back lot, it was basically a '79 and had no transfer case, front driveshaft, or front axle shafts (welded in steel rods for added strength) and was essentially a 2 wheel drive! The engine and trans were moved 3 feet back and lowered to sit half in, half below the cab (the air cleaner sat about where the center of the bench seat would be). An aluminum radiator and electric fan were centered over top of the front axle housing. A five gallon fuel cell was added and the rear driveshaft was only about 14 inches long. Burbank springs were used in both the front (7 leaf, 4 inch lift) and rear (stock height, 9 leaf, no lift, with 4 inch aluminum blocks) along with 8 KYB gas shocks, 2 per corner. Both axles were heavily trussed and gussetted with huge bump stops added. The cab floor was re-inforced along with the cab back and a roll cage through-out with down bars extending into the bed. The front windshield was Lexan and stuntman Mickey Gilbert was actually suspended by bungie cords and didn't make contact with the seat on impact. The truck was balanced before every stunt on centered jack stands, then jacks removed from the front and back (balancing was done by adding or subtracting steel plates to a weight box in the bed). Balance and lower weight were critical for a flat, smooth landing. The end result you ask? How about a truck that could survive a fall of 14 feet and jump 100 feet at 40 mph and drive back to the shop for another shoot the next day!!! After this truck was built 20th Century Fox only needed 2 others. One was a close-up truck (#1) and another was a high speed driver for camera shots (#2). At present I haven't found any info on how many seasons this truck lasted.
