Half & Half 78 Dodge W-100 OR W-150, 440 AT

[4TWNTY6]

I recently purchased a 78 Dodge W-150 Power Wagon(thats what the decals say on the fenders) sweptline short bed, the VIN decodes as a W-100, the core support tag reads W15, it is a D code factory 440, 727 AT with auxilary transmission cooler, full time 4wd, with a 8 3/8 rear axle, D-44 front axle with 3.90 gears, and has a factory skid plate. Truck is black on black with bucket seats, unmolstered with original paint that is getting thin and is showing it age but has no visable cancer just some surface rust showing on roof and hood, it still has its factory wheels and dog dish hub caps. What I find intresting in my research is that the 440 was only availible in the D or W 100 trucks and not the 150, and another intresting feature is the small 8 3/8" rear axle installed in a factory 440 truck.

I am the third owner, I did trace it back to the original owner that ordered this truck new and owned it up till about 3 years ago, I have talked to him on the phone and by e-mail and he claims that the rear axle is original and the only repair to the body is the left front fender was replaced from a small parking lot accident, so it still has one of its original Power Wagon 150 Decals.

So do I have a 100 or 150 or both and has any one ever seen a small 8 3/8" rear axle in a 440 Power Wagon!

[712edf]

Half tons of that era (late 70's) used either your 8 3/8" or a 9 1/4" rear, the 8 3/8" should have 10 bolt cover & the 9 1/4" a 12 bolt cover......Dodge did start using the 150 terminology about then, don't know the difference (higher GVW,springs). Does your truck use regular or unleaded? During this time certain truck makers would use higher GVW ratings to avoid going to catalytic converters..I think yout truck is an original heavy-half...

[4TWNTY6]

It takes regular gas not unleaded, the rear axle is the light duty 10 bolt 8 3/8" and it has the light duty rear springs, the original owner did add one leaf to the rear springs to increase load rating. I also have a 77 W-100 with a 360 that has a 12 bolt 9 3/4" rear axle with the same rear springs as the 78 W-150, there is nothing heavy duty about this 78 W-150. One other thing that was tipical of the 150's is the steering box change and this 78 has the newer steering box, so far the only things that I see that are heavy duty W-150 is the steering box, w15 core support tag, and the "Power Wagon 150" fender decals, maybe this is how dodge fooled the Feds, a 100 in 150 descise.

It could be possibly that is when Dodge was making that transition from the 100 to the 150 series?

They should have called this one a "Power Wagon 125"

[712edf]

In 1975 my father bought a brand new (still on the hauler) chevy 1/2 ton short-bed 4x4. It was rated at over 6000lbs GVW therefore it ran on regular, not unleaded..6000 lb GVW was the cut-off point for that year for catalytic converters. It would go higher in later years...Yeah I think the 150 designation was a "paper" thing and possibly a marketing thing. All the big three have followed similar mumbering games, from double digits to triple to what we have now, 1500,2500,3500,etc....Even farm tractors followed suite...The higher the number the more capable the machine.

[OLD DODGE]

For the 1978 model year you could get a D100, D150, or a W150. No W100 was offered.

D100 GVW= 5000#, 5500# optional
D150 GVW= 6100#
W150 GVW= 6100#

The 440-8 was available at an extra cost($548.75) as engine code ED6 but was only offered with the A727 automatic transmission (also at an extra cost $360.15). The ED6 option included a 70 amp-hr battery and increased cooling. Can you post a pic of your core support tag?