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It all started in 1977 when I was 8 years old. My dad brought home the "new" truck that was a 1968 dodge D200 camper special with 383 4 speed. He bought it with a buddy's dealers license for $800 and a bad kingpin. I think it had about 100k miles on it. The truck was used mostly for going to the lumberyard, the dump, and baseball practices. I do remember not having any problems hauling anything or lack of power. My dad used to say it got 8 mph loaded or empty. The only concern he ever had was when we went to get a load of sand. The loader was dumping sand in the box and he was watching the rear springs so they wouldn't bottom out. The loader operator stopped filling because the tires were squishing like they were almost flat, but the springs were still a couple of inches from bottoming out. We took our load to the weighout and it said we were 3 ton heavier than we went in. The drive home was slow but my dad said that was the smoothest ride in that truck he ever had, usually he referred to the ride as a lumber wagon. That was a defining moment for me because all of my friends parents had "pretty" trucks that wouldn't be used to their potential.
I recieved the truck about ten years ago because the brakes went out on it. I found a '65 w200 to convert the truck to 4WD because I remember that although the truck had good power, the traction wasn't always there. One day my dad had stuck in the back yard on a slight incline in wet grass. A 383 with an open 4.11 rear isn't good in that situation. I have been working on the truck but time is a factor. I keep telling people at the Iowa ralley "maybe next year".
I recieved the truck about ten years ago because the brakes went out on it. I found a '65 w200 to convert the truck to 4WD because I remember that although the truck had good power, the traction wasn't always there. One day my dad had stuck in the back yard on a slight incline in wet grass. A 383 with an open 4.11 rear isn't good in that situation. I have been working on the truck but time is a factor. I keep telling people at the Iowa ralley "maybe next year".
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