• The Chevrolet 3100 series, available as a pickup, panel truck, canopy express truck and Suburban.SONY DSC image by Tim Osborn from Fotolia.com
  
  At the end of World War II Chevrolet entered a new era of "advanced design" with its trucks between 1948 and 1953. It was in this period that Chevrolet unveiled the 3100 series. The Chevrolet 3100 was available as a pickup, panel truck, canopy express truck and Suburban. It was also supplied simply as an individual chassis to custom commercial constructors in order that they could create a bespoke combination to meet their customers' exact requirements.
  
  

Chassis

• The Chevrolet 3100 was powered by a six-cylinder, overhead valve (OHV), 3.5-liter, 216.5 cubic inch displacement (CID) Chevrolet V-8 engine which was capable of cranking out 90 horsepower at 3,300 rpm.
  
  The V-8 engine was located at the front of the vehicle. It had four main bearings, and a compression ratio of 6.5:1. The Chevrolet 3100 was 196.6 inches long with tires which were 6.00 by 16 inches, and the body rode atop a wheelbase of 116 inches. The Chevrolet 3100 was rear-wheel drive.
  
  

Front Suspension

• The front axle in a Chevrolet 3100 was a reversed-Elliot type of construction featuring steel drop-forging with spring seats forged integral with an "I" beam which was heat treated to assure maximum levels of robustness.
  
  The Chevrolet 3100 made use of non-adjustable, direct double-acting, bayonet type shock absorbers mounted outside the frame. The shock absorbers were attached to an upper and lower bracket with the attachments cushioned by rubber grommets.
  
  The front shock absorbers on the Chevrolet 3100 consisted of three concentric tubes known as a piston tube, reservoir tube, and dust-shield tube. They were permanently sealed, meaning that they required no maintenance unless there was a need for them to be completely replaced.
  
  

Rear Suspension

• The rear axle in a Chevrolet 3100 was a semi-floating type with hypoid gears and was mounted in a pressed steel banjo type housing.
  
  The rear shock absorbers on the Chevrolet 3100 were mounted outside the frame and rear spring. They were attached at the upper end to a bracket riveted to the frame and, as with the front shock absorbers, the attachment to the brackets were cushioned with rubber grommets.
  
  

Brakes

• The brakes on both the front and the rear of the Chevrolet 3100 were the duo-servo anchor type and utilized the momentum of the vehicle to assist in the brake application.
  
  Each brake consisted of one wheel cylinder located at the top of the brake flange and just below the anchor pin. Each wheel had two brake shoes which were connected by a link and a helical spring.
  
  

Production Figures

• According to Conceptcarz, total production figures of the 1949 Chevrolet 3100 amounted to 1,037,600 in 1949.