1924–1928 Graham Brothers / Dodge Truck Screenside Delivery: Slatted Cargo Body on Dodge Running Gear

From 1924 through 1928, Dodge Brothers and Graham Brothers sold commercial vehicles using Dodge gasoline engines, conventional manual gearboxes, ladder frames, and rear-wheel drive. The Screenside Delivery combined that running gear with an open-sided cargo body whose vertical slats retained crates, parcels, produce, or bottled goods while allowing faster access than an enclosed panel body.

The name is not as uniform as a modern model designation. Early vehicles can be cataloged as Dodge Brothers commercial cars or as Graham Brothers trucks, while later examples increasingly reflect Dodge ownership and distribution. Best known for its open slatted body and its connection to the gradual absorption of Graham Brothers by Dodge Brothers, the Screenside Delivery is now studied as much for commercial-body originality as for its mechanical specification.

That distinction matters to collectors. A genuine screenside body is not simply a pickup box with wooden rails added during restoration. Its framing, side structure, tailgate hardware, roof treatment, floor, and relationship to the chassis must agree with period commercial-body practice and with surviving factory literature.

Quick Facts

The designation spans several model years and more than one commercial chassis specification. This table therefore separates well-established family characteristics from details that must be confirmed against the serial number and year-specific parts literature.

No single universal chassis code covers every truck placed under this 1924–1928 description. Capacity ratings, wheelbases, brake equipment, wheels, and even the manufacturer wording on plates can change with the model year and chassis. A serial number should consequently be checked against a correct Graham Brothers or Dodge Brothers truck reference rather than decoded from a passenger-car chart.

Why the Screenside Delivery Matters

The screenside body answered a specific commercial need. It provided much of the containment of a closed van while reducing body weight and allowing a driver or loader to reach the cargo through the side openings. Beverage distributors, grocers, bakeries, laundries, dairies, and other local businesses could display their goods and painted advertising without surrendering the practical access of an open body.

The truck also records a corporate change in physical form. Graham Brothers built trucks around Dodge-supplied mechanical components and sold them through Dodge Brothers dealers before Dodge acquired control of the truck maker. A surviving Screenside Delivery can therefore combine Graham body or truck identity with Dodge engine, transmission, axle, electrical, and service components without being an improvised hybrid.

That corporate history makes careless restoration particularly damaging. Applying a familiar Dodge badge to every component, or presenting a late Graham-badged truck as an early independent Graham product, erases the sequence that gives the vehicle much of its historical value.

Historical Context and Development

Graham Brothers and the Dodge Dealer Network

Brothers Joseph, Robert, and Ray Graham entered truck manufacturing after developing commercial-vehicle conversion equipment. By the early 1920s, Graham Brothers trucks used Dodge Brothers engines and other mechanical units, and Dodge dealers supplied an established national sales and service network. The arrangement gave Graham access to proven high-volume components while giving Dodge dealers a heavier commercial line than passenger-car-derived delivery vehicles alone could provide.

Dodge Brothers acquired a controlling interest in Graham Brothers in 1925 and the remaining interest in 1926. The Graham brothers subsequently departed and became involved with Paige-Detroit, which became Graham-Paige. Chrysler purchased Dodge Brothers in 1928, adding another corporate transition at the end of the period covered here.

These dates explain why registration records, advertisements, data plates, and restored badges do not always use one consistent manufacturer name. They do not, however, prove the identity of an individual truck. The physical serial plate, frame, engine number, body construction, and period paperwork remain the evidence that matters.

The Commercial-Vehicle Market

American delivery work in the middle 1920s still demanded low gearing, generous ground clearance, simple mechanical service, and bodies tailored to a trade. Ford's Model TT and later Model AA, Chevrolet's commercial chassis, International models, REO Speed Wagons, and numerous assembled trucks competed for fleet and owner-driver business. Purchase price mattered, but so did the ability of a local dealer to supply ignition parts, bearings, clutch components, and axle service.

The Screenside Delivery was designed for work rather than competition, and no homologation or meaningful factory motorsport program shaped it. Its engineering priorities were low-speed pulling ability, durability on unsealed roads, straightforward repair, and a cargo body that could be loaded repeatedly during a delivery route.

Body Design and Appearance

The upright radiator, separate front fenders, exposed running boards, high cab, and narrow track identify the Screenside as a commercial vehicle of the pre-streamlining period. Behind the cab, evenly spaced vertical slats give the body its defining rhythm. Depending on specification and coachwork, the upper body could include a roof or canopy extending over the load area, with painted lower panels providing space for a business name.

Wheel type and body details require caution. Surviving trucks may wear wood-spoke wheels, steel disc wheels, later split rims, replacement lamps, or fabricated beds assembled over decades of farm and commercial use. A visually plausible part is not necessarily correct for a particular serial range.

Engine and Drivetrain

The best-documented four-cylinder Graham-Dodge truck specification uses Dodge Brothers' 212.3 cu in L-head engine. Its 3.875-inch bore and 4.5-inch stroke produced a long-stroke layout suited to low engine speeds. Both valves sat in the block, simplifying the cylinder head and valve gear at the cost of the breathing efficiency expected from later overhead-valve designs.

A single carburetor supplied the naturally aspirated engine, with exact carburetor make and calibration dependent on year and application. Battery-and-coil ignition, a distributor, liquid cooling, and a belt-driven fan followed normal Dodge practice. Owners should consult the correct engine and truck manual before specifying carburetor, distributor, generator, starter, oiling arrangement, or electrical voltage, because production changes and later replacements are common.

The period rating most often associated with the Dodge four-cylinder truck engine is approximately 35 horsepower. That figure should not be treated as a universal output for every 1924–1928 screenside chassis, since rating methods and specifications changed. Period literature does not provide a consistently comparable torque peak or safe modern-style redline.

The following table limits itself to specifications commonly documented for the principal Dodge four-cylinder installation.

The gearbox provided the low ratios a laden delivery truck needed rather than close spacing for acceleration. There was no synchromesh assistance of the kind later drivers take for granted. Clean shifts depend on matching engine and shaft speed, pausing in neutral, and using double-declutching where necessary.

Chassis, Suspension, Steering, and Brakes

A separate ladder frame carried the engine, cab, screenside body, and cargo. Beam axles and leaf springs tolerated poor road surfaces and concentrated loads, while a live rear axle delivered power through a propeller shaft. The basic architecture was conventional because commercial buyers valued repairability and load capacity above low unsprung weight.

Steering was mechanical and unassisted. Large steering-wheel diameter supplied leverage at low speeds, but worn kingpins, spring shackles, wheel bearings, steering joints, or a loose steering box can turn normal period heaviness into imprecision. Excessive wander should not be dismissed as an unavoidable feature of an old truck.

Brake specifications must be verified by exact year and chassis. Mechanical service brakes and rear-wheel arrangements characterize many earlier commercial vehicles, while brake systems evolved during the later 1920s. Installing later axles or hydraulic components may improve usability but can substantially alter authenticity.

This chassis summary deliberately avoids assigning one wheelbase, tire size, or braking layout to the entire range.

Body flexibility, a high load floor, narrow tires, and commercial spring rates define the truck's road behavior. An empty screenside body leaves the rear springs lightly loaded and can produce a sharp reaction to broken surfaces. A correctly distributed load settles the chassis, but the truck still requires speeds appropriate to its brakes, tires, steering geometry, and tall body.

Driving Experience and Handling Dynamics

Starting requires familiarity with manual ignition and mixture controls where fitted, as well as the procedure specified for the carburetor and starter. Once warm, the long-stroke four should pull from modest engine speeds without needing the rapid throttle movement of a small modern engine. The useful operating range is narrow, and progress comes from selecting the correct gear before a grade rather than attempting a late downshift under load.

The unsynchronized gearbox rewards a measured hand. First gear is primarily a starting and load-moving ratio, while the gap to the upper gears reflects commercial duty. Gear whine is normal to a degree, but heavy knocking, jumping out of gear, or persistent grinding after a competent double-declutch points to wear rather than period character.

Steering effort builds rapidly when stationary and eases once the truck moves. On the road, a sound front axle should deliver deliberate rather than nervous response. Tall sidewalls and leaf springs absorb minor road damage, but the rigid axles transmit larger impacts through the steering and body.

Brake pedal effort and stopping distance demand anticipation, especially if the vehicle retains an early mechanical system. Pulling under braking can result from contamination, poor adjustment, unequal linkage travel, distorted drums, or worn axle and suspension parts. The correct driving rhythm leaves ample distance, uses engine braking, and avoids sustained speeds that exceed the cooling and braking capacity of the chassis.

Identification and Originality

Serial Numbers, Engine Numbers, and Manufacturer Plates

These trucks predate the standardized 17-character VIN. Identification rests on the manufacturer's serial or chassis number, the engine number, data plates, registration records, and physical specification. Plate wording can identify Graham Brothers, Dodge Brothers, or a related corporate description, but plate style and attachment must also be examined because reproduction tags are available.

No universal online passenger-car decoder should be used to identify every Screenside Delivery. Compare the serial with a year-specific truck reference, then check wheelbase, frame dimensions, axle type, springs, brakes, wheels, engine casting details, and body mounting. A number alone cannot validate a truck assembled from several donor vehicles.

Matching Numbers and Date Evidence

Modern matching-numbers language fits these commercial vehicles imperfectly. Engines, transmissions, rear axles, wheels, carburetors, distributors, and bodies were routinely repaired or replaced during working life. A retained original engine is desirable, but continuity of ownership, early registrations, period photographs, service invoices, and traceable body history can be more informative than an unsupported claim that every component is factory-fitted.

Casting dates and component numbers should fall into a plausible sequence relative to the chassis, not merely share the same calendar year. Specialists should evaluate number fonts, plate fasteners, stamped surfaces, and evidence of grinding or restamping. Fresh paint around an identification plate deserves the same attention as the plate itself.

Authenticating a Screenside Body

The body is the most difficult and valuable part to authenticate. Inspect the sill structure, slat spacing, corner posts, roof supports, floor, tailgate, latch hardware, cab-to-body relationship, mounting brackets, and old fastener holes. Period photographs of the individual truck are exceptionally valuable because commercial operators often rebuilt bodies to suit changing cargo.

Surviving wood rarely remains entirely original after a century of weather and work. Proper restoration can replace unsafe timber while preserving dimensions, joints, hardware, and reusable samples. A new body built without measured patterns may be attractive, but it should be represented as a reconstruction rather than an untouched factory screenside.

Paint, Hardware, and Equipment

Commercial trucks were frequently repainted in fleet colors and lettered for their owners. Period-correct color does not automatically mean factory-applied paint, and a modern color name is not evidence of an original formula. Original layers hidden behind plates, beneath moldings, inside the cab, or between body members can establish a credible finish sequence.

Headlamps, tail lamps, mirrors, horns, gauges, wheels, carburetors, and electrical components are commonly swapped. Restoration should begin with the truck's serial range and parts book, not with the appearance of another restored vehicle. Safety additions such as turn signals can be installed discreetly and documented without being falsely presented as factory equipment.

Variant and Body Breakdown

Graham Brothers and Dodge Brothers sold working chassis with bodies selected for specific trades. Terminology changed between catalogs, so the divisions below describe the principal commercial forms rather than suggesting that every body was offered under an identical trim structure in every year.

Exact production totals for Screenside Delivery bodies are not consistently documented. Nor should every surviving slatted body be assumed to be a catalog-built screenside. Dealer-installed and regional bodies were normal parts of the commercial trade, and a locally built period body can be historically legitimate even when it differs from factory illustrations.

Performance and Dimensional Specifications

Reliable standardized acceleration, quarter-mile, and top-speed tests are not available for the Screenside Delivery as a single model. Body weight, cargo, axle ratio, tire diameter, chassis capacity, and year all influence performance, while period truck literature concentrated on payload and durability rather than road-test acceleration.

Likewise, there is no defensible universal curb weight or wheelbase for every vehicle in this range. Published dimensions should be attached to a specific chassis serial range and body. Quoting a passenger-car top speed or the weight of a bare truck chassis would give a misleading picture of a completed screenside vehicle.

The absence of one performance figure is itself useful when evaluating a seller's claims. A precise top speed, weight, or payload quoted without a chassis designation, axle ratio, and source should not be repeated as a model-wide specification.

Compared With Related Dodge and Graham Models

Dodge Brothers Passenger-Car-Based Commercial Vehicles

Passenger-car-derived Dodge commercial vehicles generally used lighter frames, springs, axles, and bodywork than purpose-built heavier Graham Brothers trucks. Their shared Dodge mechanical ancestry can lead to confusion, particularly after decades of axle, engine, or wheel substitution. Frame size, wheelbase, spring count, hub pattern, brake layout, and serial data are stronger identifiers than radiator shape alone.

Graham Brothers Express and Panel Trucks

The Screenside Delivery differs chiefly in cargo architecture. A panel body protects goods and offers lockable space, while an open express body accepts irregular loads. The screenside form favors repeated side access and ventilation, making the surviving body structure central to both its utility history and collector value.

Post-Transition Dodge Trucks

After Chrysler acquired Dodge Brothers in 1928, truck naming and engineering continued to evolve. Later Dodge trucks may offer more modern engines, brakes, cabs, and serviceability, but they do not carry the same Graham Brothers corporate connection. Parts that bolt onto a 1920s chassis can still be chronologically wrong, particularly axles, brake assemblies, wheels, steering components, and engines.

Ford and Chevrolet Rivals

Ford's Model TT and Model AA benefited from enormous production and broad parts support. Chevrolet and General Motors commercial chassis provided another mass-market alternative. Graham-Dodge trucks appealed through the Dodge dealer network and the use of established Dodge mechanical units, but surviving body-specific components are generally much harder to locate than equivalent high-volume Ford parts.

Ownership and Restoration Notes

Engine and Cooling System

Long storage can leave valves stuck, piston rings corroded, oil passages contaminated, and water jackets packed with scale. Before attempting to start an unknown engine, establish free rotation, inspect the oil, lubricate the cylinders, test compression, examine valve action, and pressure-check the cooling system. A cosmetic repaint should never precede an internal assessment of a block that may have freeze cracks or severe corrosion.

Carburetor and ignition problems are often compounded by worn throttle shafts, vacuum leaks, fatigued distributor bushings, incorrect advance components, or mismatched replacement units. Radiators must be evaluated for flow as well as leaks. A truck that idles without overheating may still fail under load if the core, pump, fan, or water passages are deficient.

Transmission, Clutch, and Rear Axle

Gearbox restoration may require bearings, bushes, seals, shaft repair, and gears that are not available as routine catalog items. Check for cracked cases, damaged mounting ears, excessive shaft movement, and teeth broken by years of hurried nonsynchronous shifts. Clutch linkage wear can prevent full release even when the friction components remain usable.

Rear axle noise must be diagnosed before dismantling because setup information and replacement gears can be difficult to source. Incorrect bearing preload, damaged teeth, worn axle shafts, and leaking hub seals all deserve attention. Lubricant specifications should come from period service information interpreted by a specialist familiar with vintage materials, especially where modern extreme-pressure additives may conflict with yellow-metal components.

Frame, Cab, and Screenside Body

Inspect the frame around spring hangers, crossmembers, steering mounts, engine supports, and body attachment points. Commercial trucks were overloaded, towed from unsuitable points, and repaired with heavy welds or added plates. A reinforcement may be an old working repair rather than evidence of fraud, but cracks and misalignment beneath it can make the chassis unsafe.

Wooden cab framing and screenside members can decay internally while retaining paint. Probe sill ends, lower posts, roof edges, floor supports, and joints hidden behind sheet metal. Missing proprietary hinges, latches, brackets, and forged fittings can consume more restoration time than rebuilding the engine because each may require pattern work and small-batch fabrication.

Parts Supply and Specialist Support

Routine ignition pieces, bearings, seals, wiring supplies, and some engine components can often be adapted or sourced through Dodge Brothers specialists and antique-truck clubs. Correct commercial body hardware, gauges, wheel components, brake parts, axle gears, and Graham-specific identification pieces are much less predictable. Buying an incomplete project because it appears mechanically simple can therefore be expensive.

Service work should follow mileage and operating conditions rather than modern annual assumptions. Frequent lubrication of chassis joints, inspection of wheel bearings and brake adjustment, cooling-system checks, and attention to fuel deterioration are essential. Trucks driven infrequently still need regular exercise and inspection because seals, cork floats, electrical contacts, and mechanical linkages suffer during inactivity.

Buyer and Inspection Points

A credible inspection begins by establishing what the truck actually is before judging paint or upholstery. The following checks concentrate on the expensive and model-specific problems most likely to affect a Graham Brothers or Dodge Brothers Screenside Delivery.

The strongest purchase is not necessarily the glossiest restoration. A sound, documented truck with an old but authentic body and clearly disclosed mechanical replacements can be more significant than a fresh vehicle assembled around a reproduction bed and an uncertain identity.

Collector and Market Relevance

Screenside trucks survive in smaller numbers than ordinary open commercial bodies because their timber and mixed-material construction deteriorated quickly after working service. Many were converted into flatbeds, farm trucks, tow vehicles, or stationary equipment. Others lost their bodies when the chassis remained useful but the wood structure did not.

Collectors generally value a verifiable screenside body, coherent serial and component evidence, correct Dodge-Graham mechanical specification, early photographs, fleet lettering, and restrained restoration. Original commercial paint or legible business graphics can be worth preserving even when worn. Such evidence documents how the truck worked and can be harder to replace than polished hardware.

Auction interest tends to favor complete, running examples because restoration requires cabinetmaking, sheet-metal repair, mechanical machining, obsolete wheel expertise, and historical research. There is no stable model-wide price that accounts for body authenticity, chassis capacity, year, condition, and documentation. A beautifully finished reconstruction and a preserved original may appeal to different buyers for sound reasons, provided each is described honestly.

Cultural and Commercial Relevance

The Screenside Delivery belongs to the streetscape of 1920s commerce rather than to racing. Its slatted body displayed bread trays, beverage cases, produce, and other packaged goods while broad body panels and canopy edges carried hand-painted advertising. In period photographs, trucks of this kind often function as both delivery equipment and mobile storefronts.

Marque clubs, antique-truck organizations, and Dodge Brothers historians now provide much of the specialist knowledge needed to preserve them. Their practical contribution includes serial research, parts interchange information, patterns, technical manuals, and contact with owners of unrestored reference vehicles. Because there was no significant performance aftermarket or motorsport program, preservation culture centers on commercial authenticity and operability.

Film and display use can encourage brightly restored advertising trucks, but a theatrical livery should not be mistaken for documented company history. When original fleet identity is known, period photographs and surviving paint should govern typeface, wording, colors, and sign placement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What engine was used in the 1924–1928 Graham Brothers Screenside Delivery?

The principal documented specification is a Dodge Brothers L-head inline four with 212.3 cu in, approximately 3,478 cc, of displacement. Its bore and stroke were 3.875 by 4.5 inches, and approximately 35 horsepower is a commonly published period truck rating. Exact equipment and output should be checked against the model year and chassis.

Is it a Graham Brothers truck or a Dodge Brothers truck?

Either description may appear depending on year, serial range, catalog, plate, and registration. Graham Brothers used Dodge mechanical components and Dodge distribution before Dodge purchased 51 percent of the company in 1925 and the balance in 1926. Identification of an individual truck requires its physical serial information and period documentation.

Does the Screenside Delivery have a standardized chassis code?

No single factory chassis code identifies every 1924–1928 truck grouped under this description. Multiple commercial chassis, capacities, wheelbases, and annual specifications were involved. A seller's code should be verified in the appropriate truck parts book or serial reference rather than accepted as a family-wide designation.

How can an original screenside body be distinguished from a reproduction?

Compare the body sills, joints, slat dimensions, roof supports, floor, tailgate, hardware, mounting brackets, fastener holes, and aged material with period photographs and surviving reference vehicles. New timber does not automatically make a body inauthentic, but a wholly reconstructed body should have patterns, photographs, invoices, or retained original samples supporting its dimensions.

What are the major restoration problems?

Hidden wood decay, cracked or altered frames, cooling-system corrosion, seized engines, worn nonsynchronous gearboxes, obsolete wheel assemblies, and missing body hardware are the major concerns. Body fittings and commercial chassis components can be harder to obtain than basic ignition or engine-service parts.

Are parts available for a Graham Brothers Screenside Delivery?

Some Dodge engine, ignition, bearing, seal, and service parts remain obtainable through specialists, clubs, interchange research, or careful remanufacture. Correct screenside hardware, gauges, wheels, axle components, gears, identification pieces, and body fittings are considerably scarcer. Completeness should weigh heavily in any purchase decision.

What makes the Graham Brothers Screenside Delivery collectible?

Its appeal rests on the scarce slatted commercial body, Dodge-derived running gear, and direct connection to Dodge's 1925–1926 acquisition of Graham Brothers. Collectors place particular weight on documented body continuity, coherent serial evidence, period business history, correct chassis details, and restoration that distinguishes original material from reconstruction.

Collector Takeaway

The Screenside Delivery deserves preservation because it shows exactly how a 1920s truck maker, component supplier, dealer network, and commercial body trade worked together. Dodge supplied the mechanical foundation, Graham Brothers developed and sold truck products around that foundation, and the slatted body solved the daily problem of carrying accessible, visible cargo through crowded delivery routes.

Its most valuable component is often not the 212.3 cu in engine but the fragile structure behind the cab. Preserve that body, document every replaced timber and fitting, and resist the temptation to make all 1924–1928 trucks conform to one convenient specification. A correctly researched example is a physical record of the Graham-Dodge transition, while an undocumented recreation is merely an attractive old truck wearing the right silhouette.