'76 3/4 ton, light versus heavy.

I have a 76 D-200.
I swapped out the rear axle a number of years ago.
Now the lug nut size is different from front to back.
The rears are the 1/2"-20
The front is the larger 5/8"-18 size.
Can I swap the rotors or must I find a complete spindle set-up?
Ball joints?
Control arms?
I need to know what I'm looking for when I go salvage yard shopping.
The new wheels I bought do not fit over the larger studs up front.
Thanx in advance for any help.

Anybody ?

I'm pretty sure everything that came with the 5/8" studs was in a class by itself. It should have bigger ball joint studs and bigger tie rod ends, and heavy duty control arms, I'm not sure any of the lighter duty stuff will match up. You are likely going to need to change everything from the frame out on both sides as well as the tie rods, maybe even the steering link attached to the steering box.

I'm pretty sure the frame brackets the control arms bolt to are the same as the lighter stuff, and I believe the steering box itself is the same, but I never really got into swapping out the 5/8" stud stuff when I found out the ball joints and tie rods were not interchangeable. It wasn't worth the cost of the change over to me at the time. Gene

My W300 has 5/8" studs. Not sure about the 3/4 ton trucks?

Never seen anything but 1/2" on a 3/4 ton truck......

Ed

Bboogieart, can you post pics of the front suspension?

Sounds like your truck might have come with the 4000# front end. If it did, you can probably just swap the wheel studs for ones from a 92 D250 Cummins, those used the 4000# front end and have 1/2" studs.

Poorboy is right about not mixing and matching ld and hd stuff.

Are your front rotors a separate rotor and hub or all 1 piece cast? I don't think the 2 piece were used on anything but the 4000# axle.

I changed the rear axle years ago, for an '84 unit.
The rotors appear to be two piece.
I too, don't feel like changing out the entire front end.
"maybe swap the wheel studs for ones from a 92 D250 Cummins".
I like this idea. Will look into it, and report back.
Sure would simplify things if it works.
If not, well, we'll cross that bridge.

The truck only gets used to go to the dump or salvage yard.
Any other hauling I use the van.
Again, thanks for all the input and help.

They most definitely made a heavy and a lite 3/4 ton.
It looks to be the 4000# axle.
The '84 looks to have been the lighter duty truck.
Truck weighs 4600#s empty but with me in it,
going over the scale at the scrap yard.
I thought about drilling the holes in the wheel.
Then I thought better of it.
I see someone else has thought the same thing and was advised against it.
Again, Thanks for all that responded.
More pictures for clarity.

i am thinking there are special studs made to neck down the big 5/8 holes to the 1/2 inch studs----seems i was doing axles on a 1 ton srw cummins 89-90 and front to back were different because of a previous swap---i found some on a couple loose hubs and made it work....

Learn something new everyday.....never seen a setup like that on a 2wd truck.

Uses the same brake calipers as a dana 60 4x4 truck.

What is the gvw on the truck?

Ed

The heavy ones are called "9500"s and have bigger wheel studs. I had a 78 like that.

Do I just swap the studs or can I swap the disc?

I learned something today.
Looking to learn more.


That is most likely what the rear axle was I swapped out.
The replacement came from an '84 3/4 ton pick up truck.
At the time I never even thought to look at the studs.
I had it, I used it.


Tag says;
Front-3400
Rear-6200
Total-9000

Truck weighs 4400#s

It's says D-200 on the front fender.

Title just says Year-1976, MAKE-DODGE, VEHICLE TYPE-TRUK

Are you talking pick-up,
or the Tow-truck/Dump-truck/Flat-bed sized units?
Those were more than one ton or bigger, were they not?
Those would be even bigger studs yet.

I thought the 70's pick-up trucks were all
D or W 100
D or W 200
D or W 300

I've got a 78, but it says 150 on it.
It's Prospector/Adventurer in a half ton.


I'm pretty sure this is simply the heavy 3/4 ton.
The smaller version was simply a light 3/4.
Both D-200 designation.
Am I wrong in this assumption?

Was the 300 a 4 wheel drive, 1 ton truck?

Think you should be able to swap studs. Not sure the whole hub and rotor combo swaps.

As for model designation,. D is 2wd,. W is 4wd. 100 is light half ton, 150 is heavy half, these came about in the mid 70's due to emission regs. 200 is 3/4 and 300 is 1ton.

The 9500 tossed out above is referring to gvw.

Yes: The 9500 was a heavy GVW package that came optional on a D200 and probably a W200. It upped the GVW of what the truck could haul and of course it included lots of HD suspension components. They generally had an emblem on the exterior denoting the package. They came about due to the heavy campers of the day being too heavy for a D200 to carry.

I knew the W versus D thing.

Mine is 9000# GVW.
I suppose that puts it in the heavy weight class?
I have heard of lite and heavy 3/4.
Lite and heavy half ton is news to me.
I thought the 150 thing was an '80's designation for half ton.
We live- we learn.
Anyway, it seems I'm looking for the '90's Cummins parts, or possibly some replacement studs.
We'll see how it goes.
I'll get back when I have some news.
Thanks again.

I had a 73 D200 "Camper Special" Club cab. It came with a 400, 727 and the HD suspension with the 5/8" studs. I also had a 75 D200 Camper Special that came with 5/8" studs, that one was a 318 727 standard cab truck. The 78 Camper Special had 1/2" studs.

I believe it really depended on what box was checked on the truck order blank.

I've been involved with the D/W 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 debate before. I'm not going there again. Gene

Yeah Gene,
I get the check box, order sheet, deal.

Likely the best explanation.

As for the debate?
I'm not here for that either.
Planning on going to the parts counter today
to see what we can come up with.

After that it will be the salvage yard.

Worst case scenario would be to buy more new wheels.
Some how or the other those 16.5's gotta go.
That old beater has a lot of life in it yet.

Yes. Mine is a 1 ton Dump. Full Time 4x4.

Sounds like a neat rig.

You guys ever heard of a "Camper 9000" ?
I had a 1974 truck with fender emblems reading Camper 9000. It had the fat 5/8 lugs, super heavy Dana 60 or 70, not sure which. The rear drum brakes were immense and hard to find used.

In 1974 Dodge was still building big trucks like semi tractors and 4-5 ton trucks. Some of the pickup style campers were getting pretty big as well. It would not be out of the realm of possibilities Dodge created a super heavy duty pickup to cart around those huge campers. It could also be possible Dodge joined with a camper manufacturer to build a special unit.

After all that, the 1 ton (5/8" wheel studs) brakes and suspension was pretty massive and could be hard to find in some locations. Gene

I remember reading that the 150 designation was what allowed the '78 Little Red to have a higher GVWR and therefore escape the catalytic converter requirement.
I wonder if all 150s in '78 escaped the converter requirement?

Good luck on the stud search!

Dodge wasn't the only company to offer higher gvw half tons in order to get away from catalytic converter on the trucks.

Ford offered the F-150 starting in 76, Ih offered Scouts with the XLc package, GMC had I think the Big10 package and Chevy just called them heavy half.

It is a handy blunt object to have around!

That is one gorgeous Dump truck.

They put 5/8 studs on my 58 W100. D44 front and 8 3/4 rear. 6 on a 7 1/4 circle 1 ton style pattern.