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I recently purchased a 1948 Suburban and am trying to find out exactly what I have. Serial number 5,947,198 tells me it is a S11C. The wheelbase is 139 1/2 inches. Is this common on the Suburban? Seems to me it is longer then some of the specs I have seen.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Jim
Jimmy
First I want to say is Welcome. Where are you located at and have
you joined The National De Soto Club ?
You have the correct Wheel Base. Now remember you need 18 plus
feet to park it. For The S-ll Suburban there is only one size.
Which Clutch Assembly and Transmission do you have ?
You can ask The 1946-1948 Club's Tech for help ( look to your upper
left under Resources ) and ask folks like me that "shoot from the hip".
Rodger & Gabby
FltSgt@outlook.com
Thanks Rodger.
3 on the tree Fluid Drive transmission.
Will reach out to the tech support folks for my vehicle
The wheelbase on the six passenger 46-48 Desoto Deluxe and Custom models as well as the 3 passenger business coupe was 121.5". Those Custom models which were capable of carrying more than six passengers had an extended wheelbase of 139.5". This included your Suburban. These extended wheelbase models were included in the Custom production numbers.
Your fluid drive transmission actually has four forward gear ranges, two in the low gear position and two in the high gear position, although there is usually no need to go through all four gears going from a standstill to highway speed.
Congratulations on your new and rare Desoto.
Mac
Welcome, Jim!
Got any photos of your great Desoto?
Welcome to the site.
I'll also congratulate you on your "new" car. And the Suburbans are quite rare.
Since you have a Fluid Drive transmission, you do NOT have "3 on the tree". When you pull the gear shift lever towards you, it will only go up into reverse. The great thing about Fluid Drive, which is a semi-automatic transmission, is that once you get going forward, you don't have to use the clutch anymore, unless you want to shift into reverse. So when you come to a stop sign, don't put in the clutch - just stop and then go. What you will need to do when accelerating is to let up on the gas pedal somewhere between 12 & 15 mph so that the transmission can shift. You'll probably hear a "clunk"-type noise when it does this. When slowing down, the transmission will shift down all by itself without you having to do anything.
If you haven't yet joined the NDC, you really should consider it. That way you can be in our annual convention which this year is being held in Ft. Wayne, IN from 16-20 July. You don't have to be a member to show up and look at the cars and meet people, but you do have to be a member if you want to put your De Soto on the show field on Saturday. Even if your car isn't ready for the show, you'll see lots of De Sotos and meet lots of new friends. While there may not be any other Suburbans at the show, there should be quite a few S-11s, and lots of De Sotos with Fluid Drive.
Bill Noble
Welcome to the Desoto Suburban family. I have been driving, as my daily driver, a 1947 Suburban since 2003.
I have gotten to know this model very well. Don has as well. Check out his recent thread on converting to power steering. I have converted the front to disc on mine. San Francisco hills and brake fade you know...
A lot of people get confused on the clutch and transmissions on these cars. As a rule most of the 1946 to 1949 Desoto Suburban's came with a Fluid Coupling mounted on the output of the crankshaft (think flywheel and ring gear), a clutch on the back of that, and a semi-automatic 4 speed transmission on the back of that.
That said one could order several combinations:
1. Fluid Coupling - Clutch - M5/M6 Semi-automatic (Standard issue).
2. Flywheel - Clutch - 3-Speed Stick.
3. Fluid Coupling - Clutch - 3-speed Stick.
4. Flywheel - Clutch - 3-Speed Stick -Borg Warner Overdrive.
5. Fluid Coupling - Clutch - 3-Speed Stick -Borg Warner Overdrive.
I started out with #1 above the stock shipping setup. I know have version #5.
Go over to the Chrysler Imperial Site and read up on the Stock Set in the repair series. http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/index.htm
Best, James