New member 73 for free

[Orsalak]

How is it going gentelmen (and ladies). I'm new to the board and I am excited to get some help and hints from all of you.
Story how I got my truck goes like this. My wife's grandparents passed away and Grandpa had a 73 Dodge power wagon adventurer camper 7500. It has a 360 and a 4 speed, light green with green interior (the interior is in great shape) The truck only has 55k miles on it (as Grandpa only used it to go on hunting trips) a very straight body with 3 cancerous spots of rust on it (above both rear wheels and in front of the drivers door on the bottom of the fender).

No one in the family wanted the truck as it was sitting for 10 years and no one thought it would run. I towed it home put gas in the carb and a battery in it and she started right up! I did the breaks got the heater working right and took the split rims off (kept them) and put some cheap chrome aftermarket rims on it. I drive it every week and that has led me to my next endeavor and my first bit of advice from all of you. How should I add disc breaks. I am looking for a cheap but effective way to make the truck safer and a little more road worthy. Thanks in advance.

[Orsalak]

Sorry I forgot about the other problem I am having. The truck has (or had) two gas tanks. The tank under the bed is gone and as it is a 73 it has that weird split fuel filler on the cab. If I want to put the tank under the bed back in where can I go to get one of those? It was a one year deal so it is very hard to find in a junk yard. Thanks again.

[Gordon Maney]

Are you sure it says 7500?

Welcome to the group!

[Orsalak]

Gordon Maney thanks for the welcome yes it sure does I have a pic but I am not great at posting pics to chat rooms. Why is that a point of interest?

[rxinhed]

Should you not be able to pickup the spindle out for a later disc brake truck (75 to 93) and use the bulk of the parts? Get the master cylinder and other things attached to the donor truck and switch pieces from one to another.

It has been sometime since I've seen a Camper Special. This truck has the service cubby under the bed on the right side? Thirdly, the handful of the Camper Special trucks that I recall had pressed in areas to receive additional fuel tanks on the left side of the bed...areas to be cut out and a fuel fillers added for the front and rear frame tanks. I liked the dual filler, was very nifty idea.

[Gordon Maney]

I am not aware of a model 7500.

[712edf]

Here it is listed in a 1974 brochure. Also listed is a Camper 9000 & camper 10000.

Bucky

[Orsalak]

The truck has an 8 lug Dana 60 in the rear and what they call a Dana 44 hd in the front. The 44hd makes it capable of 1000 more pounds to haul. The truck does not have a w200 badge on it, where that should be there is a chrome decal that says camper 7500. It is a very burly truck.
There are only two things I wish it had first a b or rb engine and second is the cub cab. I am a fishing guide in West Yellowstone Montana and if it were the cub cab I would use it as my guide vehicle.
Rx there are no cut outs in my bed. But it does have locking tool box on the bottom of the bed. So you think I should just take the stuff off a newer truck from a junk yard? The truck has power breaks already would I still need to take the master cylinder.

[712edf]

I have spent the night in West Yellowstone, Mt. I had some soup for dinner there then we headed up to Kalispell the next morning. This was in July 1978. Good memories!!

The club cab wasn't offered in 4x4 til the next year, 1974. The 400 was available that year too, then the 440 was offered in 75.

Easiest way to get disc brakes is to get an axle from an 81-84 W200 & swap the whole thing out. Some say axles from married t-case trucks won't work with divorced t-case trucks (yours). Some say they have done it w/o any problems..... or you can swap the hubs off the newer axle.
A Dana 60 from a W200 will also work. 75-79 axles would have drive flanges which you could replace with Milemarker Selectro 11034-1 selectable locking hubs. 80-93 Dana 60 fronts already came with manual hubs.

Bucky

[Orsalak]

Thanks Bucky! I will check into those options. What do you think about this guys write up I found on the web.... http://www.offroadexchange.com/diskbrakeswap.htm Seems like it could work.

[rxinhed]

I think the right badge looks like this:

[Orsalak]

It says camper above that in a cursive script.

[horace]

i think the Camper 7500 was an equipment package but also told the pu GVW pu weight plus additional carrying weight so, if the truck weighed 3500 it woul haul 4000.

[rxinhed]

I believe Horace is correct with that GVW assumption, also good marketing strategy by Dodge.

[712edf]

That is correct according to the brochure I posted above.

Bucky