We’ve been singing the praises of the newer RAM stuff here at CC, but we’ve hardly lost sight of what came before. A prime example of that would be from the days when RAM was still spelled D-O-D-G-E as is the case with this wonderful example from 1978.
Back then trucks were trucks and not afraid to get dirty, men were men and not afraid to ride four abreast in a single cab on a bench seat with the seatbelts carefully tucked away between the cushions, and boys rode in the open bed with the dogs. The single cab regular bed format ruled the roost and 2WD examples were as plentiful as 4WD ones. 4WD was really only chosen by the folks that had a genuine need for it, be it due to actually using a truck in dirt and muddy conditions or if there was plentiful snow and ice. Well, here in southern Wyoming where this truck lives all of those conditions exist, and often all at once, so this is a very appropriate vehicle for the area.
I found this truck over a year ago as I was driving by and noted the writing on the windshield. On some level I was actually interested in possibly purchasing it to the point of calling Jason Shafer on the spot and discussing it at length. That’s probably the only reason I haven’t shared it until now as I drove by again last week and it was obviously gone. At the time I loved the color and how it has worn over the years, not to mention just the overall aesthetics of this truck; that hasn’t diminished with time as I scrolled through my phone this evening and came across these pictures again.
I have a thing for those old aluminum camper shells, they all look marvelous on an older truck even if the lines don’t always complement the truck itself; unlike today’s molded and body-color-painted items these almost always acted as a separate accent piece designed to stand out in some way and not just blend in. But the green paint with those oh-so-70’s white steel wheels (factory option) along with the white stripe and white shell, what’s not to like?
This particular truck with the Power Wagon package sports the 318ci V8 according to the owner whom I called using the number on the windshield rather than opening his hood in his driveway. Back then Dodge offered the 225 slant-six to start things off, then the 318 as the starter course on the V8 menu, followed by 360, 400, and 440ci V8 options. Yes, a 440 which equates to 7.2liters, far larger than the 5.7 Hemi available in today’s 1500’s and larger than the 6.2 Hemi in the 2500/3500 series. But wait, there’s more – New for 1978 was also a 243ci Diesel inline-6. No, this wasn’t a Cummins but rather a Mitsubishi!
I was and still am a bit perplexed by the paint. The dark areas look at lot like Medium Green Sunfire Metallic but the lighter areas especially on the driver’s side look like Mint Green Metallic. At least parts of the truck have been repainted so the brochure I looked at wasn’t too much help and the Mint Green may just be really faded Medium Green. Or something else entirely, but whatever it is I like it.
Inside is a bench seat and since this is a Custom trim cab, it likely started out as green vinyl all over. There’s a very long lever for the 4-speed manual transmission and a shorter lever for the transfer case that on Power Wagons apparently has five positions including one for full time all wheel drive. Presumably the other four positions are the traditional 4Hi, 4Lo, Neutral and 2Hi. I had not previously realized that full time AWD was available this early, but it’s a very handy mode for roads that vary between wet, dry, icy, and muddy, and constantly changing conditions between those.
Yup, that’s a pickup bed from before people got all worried about scratching the paint. I wonder how long some of that stuff has been rattling around back there.
This side isn’t as pretty as the other side and the truck did exhibit a fair amount of rust – according to the owner the floorpans were pretty shot and I could note a few other visible areas that were concerning. In this end this is what put me off along with realizing that while the idea of an old truck sounds great, actually using it for more than just very local stuff is not that appealing.
Looking at these pictures again I’m struck by how perfect this truck looks forty-one years after it rolled off the assembly line and made its way out here. I guess America has always built great trucks, with an option for every need or desire and a solution for every use case. I hope this Dodge ended up with someone who appreciates it, as it seems as honest as a cowboy wearing his hat on a horse.
I had a buddy who bought up a two wheel drive version of this truck at a State of Colorado auction in the early eighties. It was a former State Parks vehicle, so for a fleet rig it lived a fairly stress free life (lots of low speed driving, not much heavy hauling).
It was his daily driver for a few years, and then his occasional work truck for a few more, and gave him great service. Also a 318 V-8, mileage was “decent for a pickup” but nothing to write home about. It came with an increased load rating, and between the heavier springs and the budget interior appointments, it was a penalty box on the highway.
Of course, overall comfort didn’t matter much to our younger selves, and my buddy has always viewed it as one of his smarter purchases.
That Mitsu 243 diesel sounds like it was a royal pain in the tuchus to live with, judging by this Popular Science test of 1978.
Nobody knew WTF they were doing with Diesel engines in trucks in the late 70s. They would try anything to get MPG figures that didn’t shock buyers.
For a year or two, International Harvester installed an N/A Nissan Diesel into the Scout II. Motor Trend ran it in a 1/4-mile drag race against a track star from a local high school team. The Scout won, but barely.
Ironically, at the time the US distributor for the Nissan diesel engine was…Chrysler.
But for some reason, Chrysler decided to use a Mitsubishi diesel in their own light trucks. Probably had to do with the horsepower ratings: 100 hp the Mitsubishi diesel, versus 81 for the Nissan. And even then the Dodge took 34.3 seconds to reach 60 mph! I’m surprised that the International (with the lower-powered Nissan diesel) managed to make the same run in 30.0 seconds, albeit with 91 pounds less curb weight, and a lower (numerically higher) axle ratio.
By Jim Donne and Rich Cheppos no less. Must have been after Car and Driver fired Cheppos the first time.
The diesel was seen as a waste of money that will never pay itself off. You know, just like it is now.
Jim Dunne’s okeh. I’ve long found Ceppos’ work a whole lot more respectable than that of Jan Norbye, who was long paired with Dunne in Popular Science. Norbye’s journalism was sloppy, full of sloppy research and baseless opinions dressed up as facts.
I’m as old as this truck. Some days I feel like the left side when I wake up, and some days like the right side.
I’m much older.
I feel like the rear bumper.
Hah!
+1
I’m much older too, and I feel like the camper shell. An older model, a little faded, but light, strong, and quite functional though not as flashy as those newer editions. Nice truck, by the way. I seem to remember going through a phase of being intrigued by the Power Wagon of that generation, though thinking it was a pale imitation of the original PW. The modern PW package available on the lower end Ram (Tradesman?) is a very good truck and good value.
I like it, rust would have it flagged at the border so I couldnt get it complied untill repaired but nothing is impossible. Nuthin wrong with Fuso diesels, Mitsus heavy vehicle division make some good trucks all sizes catered for.
I had a 1977 power wagon it was black had the 440 mag it would go just about anywhere those were the days 😀
As someone from the great white salted North I’m just happy to see one in any shape!
Most of these north of the border have probably been recycled several times by now.
It was Dodge trucks that showed me several ingenious ways to keep your box together when the boxsides started flapping in the wind.🤔
I think it might be a ’77, they had clear front turn signal lenses with amber bulbs, the ’78 had amber lenses with clear bulbs. About the only difference between a ’77 and ’78 aside form the availability of the Mitsubishi diesel late in the ’78 model year.
4X4 Dodges of that era usually had the New Process full time transfer case. The front axle could not be disengaged, and the shift positions were 4 high, neutral, 4 low, and 4 low lock. The case had an inter-axle differential to accommodate the driven front axle, and the 4 low lock position locked the differential out, improving traction in sloppy conditions. Worked well but the constant drag of the driven front axle adversely affected fuel economy.
Here’s the brochure for the ’78’s, it shows clear lenses (?). Thanks for the 4WD info!
Sure does. Maybe they changed during the model year.
My 78 Power Wagon has always had Amber lenses I’m the second owner since it was brand new my uncle was the first he bought it when I was just 8 years old so I’ve been around it since it was new
There was a Hi lock position too.
Yes there was. It has been some time since I drove a truck with the NP203 transfer case!
Picture of t-case knob on my 1978 .
I have a bone stock 1978 Dodge /Power wagon/ Adventurer/Prospector W150 . That’s a mouth full ..ha ha !. And yes 1977 are clear front turn signals 1978 Amber .
The time capsule
Old dodge trucks of this era always remind me of my country cousin arguing the virtue of Chevys while remonstrating the others. (I am
A Ford guy simply because my Dad is , probably because my Grandpa was too)
Which makes me ponder why Dodge was always the little guy—where there really any substantive differences in these trucks?
I mean they are all push rod powered on a ladder frame made somewhere in the Midwest United States.
Is it just tribalism? Marketing? Or were dodges truly inferior?
Growing up in the 70s, I was surrounded by Ford guys and Chevy guys.
Dodge never had an advocate in my little world.
Dodges seemed to lose magazine comparison tests that I read.
They had smaller fender openings, and couldn’t hold the bigger tires that everyone seemed to want.
They looked the same throughout the decade, and through the next, too.
Chrysler Corporation was getting a bad reputation then and it didn’t help the perception of inferiority. Guilt by association with the Aspen/Volare and then K-cars, maybe?
To me, they lacked the good looks of the GM trucks or the overbuilt nature of the “heavy” Fords.
And they seemed to start rusting earlier. Sometimes within the first year. Chevies and Fords waited until year two. 😁 It always seemed to be a Dodge with the bed sides flapping around from corrosion, and rope holding them upright.
None of this is factual, just perceptions and opinions of a kid at the time.
Those are as good reasons as any. One of the simpler explanations might be that Fords and Chevys simply looked better than Dodges. The truck division got a bad case of Exner-itis when the Forward Look hit, and they just didn’t look so good. It’s tough to sell a vehicle, even a truck, that looks like it was styled in the last decade. One of the biggest problems during the sixties was the weird styling dip towards the rear of the pickup bed.
More critical was that the body integrity on Dodges was worse than the competition. It wasn’t that great in the sixties but it fell even further with the big styling change in 1972. It was not uncommon to find Dodge trucks with the drivetrains still running strong while the bodies, beds, and frames disintegrated around them. Frankly, if not for the extensive government fleet contracts, I’m not sure the Dodge truck division would have survived.
I think one of Dodge’s problems, as far as perception was it’s starters. Chevy and Ford and International started with a RRR, RRR, RRR, RRR, Vroom sound. The Chrysler Highland Hummingbird starter sounded quite wimpy. PEW, PEW, PEW, PEW, and often no start. Try again, PEW, PEW, PEW PEW, sometimes starts, sometimes not. Try Again. You get the point. They’re all good trucks if they start.
Just to nitpick but it’s not a D150, it’s a W150. D is two wheel drive, W is four. I was the very unhappy owner of a W150 “Macho Power Wagon” from 1977 until it finally broke me about August of 1981, when I broke the steering wheel in anger when something broke for the umpteenth time. It broke down constantly, leaked everywhere it could leak at one time or another, and had welds that looked and some of there were, scary bad. It was a fun truck, when everything worked on it. In the just over 4 years I had it, I put over $4K worth of parts and repairs in it and I did most of the labor myself. From day one, it had electrical problems, and as soon as the warranty expired, stuff started breaking. A couple of power steering pumps, a transfer case chain, an alternator, and as far as the engine went, it was a gutless lump when I got it, and it was a decent running, but always leaking something 1HP per cubic inch lump when I traded it. I’ve only hated two vehicles I’ve owned, the PW and my ’99 Grand Cherokee. It was no contest, the PW was worse, but it hung around over 4 years, the Jeep was gone in a year and a half.
Right you are and I know I knew that! Headline shall be corrected…
Actually in the early 70’s “full time 4wd was the norm at GM and Chrysler and not uncommon on Fords. The shift lever would be 4 hi, 4 hi lock, N 4 low 4 low lock. So they had a center diff and selecting the lock position would lock the center diff. Now the Fords and GMs had drive pucks in the front hubs while the 1/2 ton Dodges had the axle connected directly to the rotor’s hub. Once the energy crisis hit there were kits to convert them to part time 4wd and that included locking hubs for the full fuel and wear saving advantages, on the Ford and GM. So the bulk of them were converted by the mid 80’s. Since you couldn’t disconnect the front half shafts from the wheels people with Dodge 1/2 tons were not as likely to convert to part time 4wd.
My father’s freind had a K-5 Blazer full time 4WD back in the 70’s. 7mpg was the best that it would do.
Yes! It was a little worse for Dodge. Full time 4X4 Dodge’s with the Dana 44FBJ front axle used an unusual for the time (and somewhat weak) unitized hub bearing assembly. These axles were used on W 100, 150, and some lighter 200 series trucks, and they really couldn’t tolerate wheels with any more offset than stock. They also had an often overlooked wheel bearing zerk fitting accessible through a hole in the brake rotor when you took the wheel off. On top of that, when the bearings did wear out it they required a special press set to disassemble. The only way to convert these axles to part time was to basically replace everything from the axle housing out, including the shafts. As you pointed out, converting GM and Ford full-timers didn’t require much more than a locking hub set as they didn’t change from the hub and spindle design used on part-time 4X4’s.
I think my friend’s Scout II had the same setup.
No Scouts had full time 4wd from the factory, even though the early Scout 80 carried All Wheel Drive emblems, which we now equate with full time systems. They did have a single speed IH built transfer case on the option list in some years however the 2 speed Dana 20 was far and away the most common in the SII.
I like it! Except for that grille. I loved the first couple of years of the series and then again those starting in the early 80s. But I never got the mid-late 70s grille designs on these otherwise attractive trucks.
I did my “play pickup” thing back in the mid 80s when I bought a 63 F100 that was in a condition similar to this. Mine was a 6/4 speed with 2wd, so about as simple as they came. I didn’t use it enough and used it as trade bait when I was buying another car.
Everyone loves the “idea” of old trucks, but few want to actually drive one. Some of these old beaters can still be used as actual work trucks, since you’re not worried about damaging the bed or body or scuffing the leather seats or tracking mud into your cut pile carpeting. I had my ’66 Ford F2150 which looked really cool and would get nice comments at every gas stop, but I would never have invested the money to restore it properly. I just cant stand the standard cab set up with the back of the seat upright against the rear window. My Dad’s ’75 Chevy Stepside was worse than my ’66 Ford which somehow had more leg and arm room. Those square Chevies were like ElCaminos in the Bay Area. Owned by a lot of young guys who put big wheels and tires on them, dual exhausts, and fancy paint accents.
I ran across a nice ’77 Chevy Stepside at a gas stop last week. It was Black with red accents and had a nice set of wheels,dual exhausts and chromed step sides. Brought back memories. I complimented the owner who was probably 77 years old himself!
Here’s a pic of a similar type truck. Man, those are good looking rigs!
Creating the heavy half-ton class to circumvent emissions regs and put big-blocks in half-tons ended up being moot after the 1979 energy crisis, because the Big 3 dropped the big-blocks from their heavy half-tons anyway.
For Dodge, the 440 would never return, and the biggest gas engine even in the heavier pickups would be the 360 until the 1994 Ram’s 8.0L V10. Ford would briefly discontinue their 460 after 1979, leaving the 400 as top dog, but the 460 would return to replace it in 1983. GM never dropped the 454 from the heavier trucks.
Jim ;
Unless you were a truck nut or Dodge fanatic you owe Jason BIG THANKS .
When new I didn’t like how these looked but they were pretty rugged, the interiors turned to dust under the sun by the mid 1980’s but if taken any sort of care (and of course, you didn’t get a Monday or Friday build) they were every bit as good as Ford or GM .
In the very late 1980’s I began buying and re selling the W150 short bed versions, i6 automatic, A/C (very cold !) and dual fuel tanks factory fitment, they cleaned up nicely and flew out the door .
A year or so ago I was offered one ot these for FREE .
No one wanted it sadly so it went to Pearson Auto Wrecking near China Lake, Ca.
My big brothers 1979 W200 long bed crew cab is still humming along just fine .
-Nate