This is my 1977 Dodge W200 power wagon, or as it was know in the Army, an M880 cargo 4x4 utility vehicle. The Army calls them 1 1/4 ton trucks because they are rated to carry 2500 lbs. in the bed, but they are essentially the same as a civilian 3/4 ton truck, or Dodge W200 ( Personally I think the Army designation is more accurate.) This truck came with a 318 CID V8, 727 Loadflite automatic transmission, Dana 60 rear axle, Dana 44 HD full time front axle, and NP203 full time transfercase. That just about covers the drive train. I bought this truck in September of 1998 with only 23,200 original miles on it at a bid sale here at Utah State University where I got my undergraduate degree. Since that time I have done quite a few things to inprove it. The brake fluid had corroded a lot of rubber seals in the brake system over the years. So the first thing I had to do that Fall in 1998 in order to get it road worthy was to go through and replace a lot of components that were affected. This included replacing the master cylinder, rear slave cylinders and brake shoes, as well as all four rubber brake lines just to be safe. I also ended up rebuilding the front wheel brake cylinders later that Fall. In the Early summer of 1999 I pulled the original maual steering box and installed a power steering unit and pump that I pulled out of the same year 1/2 ton truck from the wrecking yard. Also during that summer I got some paint and repainted the fading camoflage paint scheme that the truck came with since before this the primer was beginning to show through. I also painted a thick coat of industrial grade OD green paint and primer in the bed to arrest rust growth. In the fall of 1999, I discovered that a rubber boot had rotted years ago over one of the ball joints and had allowed water to get in and corrode the joint. As a result, the joint was shot so I decided to replace all four ball joints, and both inner U-joints while I had it all apart. Spring of 2000 I replaced the NP203 transfercase with an army surplus NP203 that I bought at Boyce Equipment in Ogden Utah the year before for $150. During the summer of 2000 I put on new 16"x8" wheels and Big O XT 265 75R16 tires. I also partially stripped the truck down to the frame and repainted the entire frame from the cab back in order to arrest some serious rust that was taking hold over the wheel arches. I will eventually do this right and sand blast, then paint the entire frame but I've taken care of the important part for now. I had a problem where the old, hard, cracked valve guide rubber seals were allowing oil to drain down into the engine after it was shut off. In December of 2000 I replaced these and since then I have had no problem with blowing blue smoke out my tail pipe. During the summer of 2001 I replaced the old leaking radiator with a brand new one. I then added a 4" Tuff Country suspension lift that gave me more center clearance underneath and will allow me to up grade to larger tires in the future. More recently I added an MSD blaster II ignition coil that I may mate to an MSD ignition module in the future. Oh and I painted my formerly white wheels black. Looks much better with the camoflage paint scheme.
Other little odds and ends I added over the years include an automatic electric choke, factory dual horns, factory glove box light, cigarette lighter, tilt back bench seat, heated air inlet air cleaner to aid in cold starting( these government surplus trucks were really bone stock rigs). I have a lot of plans for future upgrades of this truck including a big block V8 engine swap(it only has a small block 318 right now), and maybe swapping out the 727 loadflite automatic transmission that is currently in it and dropping an NP 435 manual 4 speed in, though I'm not entirely set on this yet. Recently I freed up the pintle hitch (pic1, pic2, pic3) so that it will swivel 360 degrees. I also got some "D" shackles to go on the front of the truck and I'm working on getting a complete black out light kit for the truck, but so far only have the Black Out light that mounts in the grill. Last of all, I've finally started working on redoing the camo paint scheme in the bed of the truck (pic1, pic2, pic3) |
