Sad square body 4x4

It’s so rare that I come across one of these in my travels and when I do I hate to see them in this kind of condition. I don’t know why there is not more around here. Maybe Florida is just too damp? If I see another 72 through 93 other than mine once a month I’m lucky.

Not many here either, can't recall the last time I actually saw a 72-81 on the road. Still see an occasional 81-93.

I used to see a sweet, original looking '73? step side on the road on my way to work, and it suddenly disappeared. Haven't seen it in at least 6 months. Never got a pic of it because it was too dark out when I would see it.

It's almost as if the '70's trucks never existed around here. Not only do I not see them on the street, I never see them in JY's anymore either. BUT, I still see the occasional van.

While we don't have salted roads around here, we do have salted air being so close to the Gulf. I'm sure a lot of trucks just rotted away (from the top down). Actually saw the outer roof skin blow off an early '80's truck while going down the freeway..

I'm sure you'll be seeing it again soon with a Cummins swap, big exhaust tip, and wheels that stick out 12 inches past the body. That's what all the cool kids want these days and apparently they're worth big money.

I bought a rusted out cab from a friend of mine to get all the frame parts off the bottom of it. It was from florida and the roof was so rusted it did the ^ tent over the windshield while it was being towed once. But everything below that pint was clean and rust free.

Still some around here, 1979 Dodge Warlock.

"Square Body" is a Blunder Motors term and they rightfully deserve that name. Their trucks, especially the 1980 and down are truly square.......like the Clueless Owners that drove them back in the day. Mopar guys, and I'm sure '80's Ford Owners take offense to our trucks being called Square Bodies.

A Mopar guy and myself had a conversation a number of years ago and he referred to the First Gen Dodges as "the Soup Can" trucks. I'm sure he's not the only one that called them that, and the name certainly fits them well.

Still tons of those trucks around here. The local classifieds they are anywhere from free to tow away to about $2500. Anything over $2500 sits for months.

Saw these two the other day. Both have been sitting awhile, but by the looks of the club cab, maybe just a month or so.

My wife's aunt has a loaded 93 always garaged Retired school teacher she uses it to go get her food at the store and church on Sunday.
Was her husband's who drove it to work and back close to home.
Is like new. 1993 LE 1500 4x2.

There is a red 4x4 Cummings Diesel truck parked outside of the barn where I store my Cuda each winter. Odometer shows 90K on the truck. It is owned by a landscaping company, but has not been used or moved in approximately 5 years. Rockers and drivers floor are rotted. Squirrels have filled every crevice with walnuts. Each year I tell the storage manager to advise the owner I will give him $1,000 for the truck and take it up to my Farm and fix it to be a daily farm truck. It just sits and rots away - filled with walnuts.

To your point, I opened this thread thinking I was going to see something about a Chevy truck.

Only clean low mile diesels are bringing muscle car money. Beyond that it's all in the eye of the beerholder.

Square body Dodge is a term of endearment when I use it. I love the '72-93 trucks, and especially the '72-'80. I pay absolutely zero attention to Chebby trucks. I don't read about them or talk to anyone about them, and if they are working on one in one of the many TV shows, I can't change the channel quick enough. So, I know nothing about Chebby trucks, what they are referred to, and couldn't care less about them. Sorry for confusion though.

If you do instagram, check out 'tingrilledodge' , lots of cool pics there of our favorite trucks. (and they references them as 'square bodies' too)

I used to call them old style but the first couple generations of the round ones fall into that category now too.

I refer any '60 ish to '71 a "swepty" a term I got from here.
72-93 I call D series.
94 -05 1st Gen Ram
06-10 Gen 2

I like that; "tingrilledodge"

i wished i had some pics of the 72 or 73 [maybe 74, i can't remember] 4x4 i had back in my junkyard days. i do remember it was a faded "baby" blue original color.
the axles, springs and chassis were beefed up, and we bent up a "big basher" front bumper out of 2 1/2 or 3" pipe [what ever was there at the time].
made a rear bumper from 6" pipe [that was the frame rail's inside dimension], the bed out of 1/8" plate with a rough cut 2x4 oak floor], and a roll bar from 3" pipe.
then, applied a "beer" paint job of red and black. the red was a combo of all the tiny leftovers from numerous body shops and dealers around the area.
man, was that truck HEAVY ! i think it weighed around 7,000lbs empty !
but it sure could haul stuff as well as PUSH stuff out of the road. it had 4.10 gears if i remember correctly, along with 32" tires, [mounted on 10" heavy steel truck wheels] which were the biggest you could get back then and still be road legal.
it was powered by a station wagon 440 with a converted 727 transmission to the short tailshaft needed for the divorced transfer case. all junkyard sourced parts.
i sold this beast in 1983 so i could pay the down payment on my house and the transfer costs involved.
i know my wife took a picture of me hugging this thing in the driveway the day it went away, but that was back in the day of cameras you got instant pictures, or you had to take the film in to get it developed.
the picture is here somewhere, stashed in a "photo book" [remember those ?] or in the many envelopes containing the negatives you received with your developed pictures.
i miss that truck to this day !
when it was sold, i gave a 30 day warranty with it, but unfortunately, the kid i sold it to rolled it on it's top the second week he had it ! when i called the kid, he was all over me for saving his life ! it seems he wasn't wearing his seat belt, and because of that, he ended up in the rear corner of the cab with his head. because of the strength of the front "basher" bumper and the 3" pipe roll bar, the cab was mashed in a straight line from the top of the bumper to the top of the roll bar, leaving enough room for his head to not get mashed. he put a new cab on it, then sold it to his neighbor. his neighbor ran it for a long time, then it disappeared.
i re-discovered it late in 2019, and it still exists, owned by the same family ! the bed is still in perfect condition, as well as the chassis and drivetrain. it is getting worked on to be back road ready as of the fall of last year. the paint now is a gaggy dark blue-green, and the owners are not sure what color they will paint it when road worthy.
i can't wait to see it again !

Sounds like a beast! I had a '67 utiline with a big pipe bumper up front and 4.10 gears that would shove a metal dumpster several feet (I know this to be a fact)

I'd hate to hear what you guys would have thought about my old 77 4x4. At least the one pictured was all the same color...
Mine was an original blue cab, it had 2 tone orange doors, one front fender and the hood were red, the other fender was white, the 8' box was gold, and a nasty rusty looking Meyer's snow plow hung on the front.

The last time I used it, I had all the plywood sheeting, and all the roofing material on it for re-roofing my 24' x 32' garage. The truck was a beast.

Sadly, after I pulled the plow off of it, I drove it to the junk yard, pulled the battery and left it there. The truck had nearly 300,000 miles on it and it really showed. Everything was shot. I was going to try to save the tires and wheels until the first 3 lug nuts I put the air gun to broke off. I figured the truck was trying to tell me something. Gene