Dodge Van tow vehicle ??

In '74 I bought a new B300. It had a 318, auto and a dana 60 with 3.73 gears. I believe that back then only B300s had 8 lug wheels. They also had quite large front rotors and rear drums. One thing that helped a lot was headers, the exhaust pipe connection on the manifolds was tiny, something like 1.5 in. Also a lighter advance spring in the dist. I put a deep sump cast aluminum trans pan on for more fluid capacity.

It wasn't real fast, but it did OK. The 1 ton suspension and big brakes were a major plus, just what you need for handling a load. And I did a lot of car hauling in the 70s and 80s, race cars, moving cars for people, sometimes out of state, and junking cars. The place I hauled the junk cars was strictly a crusher, he didn't care if you added stuff to the load, as long as it was metal, he paid you by the pound. I was always on the lookout for heavy scrap metal to put in the next junker.

Vans were different than pickups back then. I believe that both 1/2 and 3/4 ton vans got the same brakes, both 5 lug rotors. Vans were a big thing back then, I saw a lot of them around and noted differences in them. I kept mine plain, no murals or shag carpet interior, I wanted an all purpose utility vehicle, not a useless show truck. It got some insulation and plain plywood inside. Just a basic long wheelbase, but not extended body, panel van, tinted windshield, chrome bumpers and mirrors, and 8 lug aluminum slotted wheels.

Lots of people used them for towing, then as now, the heavy duty ones would handle it better.