An Eagle Cap Camper Snapped A Ram 3500 Dually In Half, Mopar Refuses $17,000 Repair Bill

volaredon said

Back in the 70s my dad had a 71 Ford F250 reg cab camper special. The whole reason he had that truck was to haul the "Saturn" brand truck bed camper we had back then.
That thing had what amounted to a hitch with receivers on both sides, and a platform with tires/wheels on both sides that slid under the overhang portion, behind the trucks bumper, and carried the extra weight of the overhang.

That brings up a related question
In the 90s I had a 78 D200 that was called a "Camper 9000", it's gvw was the "9000".
What ever happened to " camper special " packages, what was different about them vs a same model truck that wasn't a "camper special ", and why don't we see them any more?

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My '72 D200 is a "Camper 7500". Spent most of its life with a camper on the back from talking to a previous owner and just from the fact it has none of the typical battle damage you see on working trucks. Does have holes in the bed though indicating it had a 5th wheel at some point.

On that note, if the GVWR is 7500 lbs and the truck weighs 4400 lbs with me in the driver's seat, that means it can carry an extra 3100 lbs load right? I forget the rear GAWR off the top of my head but it is a full-floating Dana 60 and the truck uses 8-lug wheels.

I'm glad I ended up with a 3/4-ton because I certainly wouldn't want any less brakes or suspension when towing my Duster on a car hauler trailer (total weight around 5500-6000 lbs). I "upgraded" to 1981-93 front discs as it originally had front drums that were totally shot and man it really has some "whoa" power.