This is my work partner. It’s been with me almost as long as my wife. It is a 1971 D200 (3/4 ton) two wheel drive Sweptline Dodge truck that started life as a ‘Camper Special’. It weighs 4200 pounds even before I get in it. I have loaded as much as 3000 pounds into it, though not often. It complains if I do.

It was not nearly so pretty when I bought it in 1980. The color was that icky blue/green often seen on these trucks back in the late 1960’s. I got it for $750 from a racing team in Tennessee. The engine was from one of their race cars, a 383 cubic inch thing with all kinds of leftover racing parts installed but worn out from abuse. It either stalled when I stepped on the gas or took off in a cloud of smoke and burnt tire rubber.

I sold the engine and its equally racy transmission to a local hot rodder who paid me more for them than the truck cost me. Then I bought and installed a modest 318 cubic inch engine and a more civilized transmission that I got as a set for $150. After I bought new tires, rebuilt the brakes and fixed all the minor problems on the truck I broke even. Well, not even, I actually had a great truck that had cost only my labor.

Long before I bought this truck I did a considerable amount of research on the vehicle I would need for my career as a builder. I preferred Dodges so I bought the repair manual for Dodge trucks built from 1961 to 1971 and learned all I could about engines, chassis and available equipment.

From what I read I decided I wanted a 3/4 ton truck with two-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive may seem useful and has that macho aura but I did not plan to plow snow or go where no man has gone before. Neither did I want the lowered gas mileage nor all the extra mechanical parts that could breakdown.

I decided on the 318 engine for its economy and because it had sufficient power for my needs. I learned to decipher the vehicle identification numbers which gave me information about horsepower, quality of internal components and lots more. I learned that one particular model of 318 engine came with 245 horsepower compared to the 150 to 200 horsepower of the others. Just knowing where ID numbers were located on the engine impressed junkyard dealers and helped when haggling prices.

I would have preferred a four speed standard transmission but I never found one I liked. I did learn that Dodge trucks of that era come with one kind of automatic transmission but there are subtle differences in the performance of various models and I made sure I knew which was the best. Identification numbers helped with this choice too.

The rear axle ratio is important knowledge to learn about any vehicle. How many of you knew that? The axle ratios (there are many) make your vehicle the fastest drag strip racer in town with the worst mileage or one with really good mileage but a little poky off the line, all with the same engine. My truck came with a heavy duty rear axle built by the Spicer company. With the 318 engine, an automatic transmission, a 3.54 rear axle ratio and slightly over-sized rear tires I got 26 miles to the gallon the three times I drove it from Maine to California and back. That was with the back loaded with stuff.

Okay, I sense some of you are getting sleepy from boring gear-head tech talk so I will stop for now. But I’ll be back, because there is more.