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74 Chevy Camper Special Weird Option

13K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  Chevrolet4x4s 
#1 ·
Not sure where to put this one so it goes here.

This is a new one on me.




I been pillaging things of this truck . a Friend of mine {yea I have 1 or 2} bought it for the drive train for his mud truck said the previous owner said you could load stuff on it until the rear bumper went to the ground & would not lift the front because of these .

I wonder what these would be called ?

Have you ever seen one of these set ups before?

It sure seems to be s factory set up.




R :thumbup:
 

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#3 ·
Camper Special

Helps to stabilize the camper and bed to the cab.
This same truck may have holes near the windshield where some more stabilizers were mounted to support the big Cabover campers.

Has absolutely nothing to do with keeping the front wheels on the ground.
Just helps to keep the frame from flexing in the center with the camper load on it.

We all know how much flex is in our pickups.
If not---park the truck with the left front and right rear wheels on a block.
Then you will see how much the cab and the bed move around.

With the cab and bed tied together----the camper will seem less topheavy, and the truck will not have wavy feel to it when hitting bumps or waves in the road.
 
#5 ·
Hey, I have a camper special from '74 but I don't remember these. Must have been an option? Mine is a 'heavy-half' 1/2 ton.

Some of the other equipment was about a mile of 0 gauge cable running everywhere with two batteries, a big A/B switch on the driver floor in front of the seat, a big electrical plug in the upper driver cab corner, 12 bolt limited slip with a 3.40 gear.

It's strange though it was just a 2WD 2 bbl 350 three on the tree.

I don't have original pics to share- it's been through many changes.

This was the last go 'round. Believe it or not I tore it down for a frame off resto and a 3 inch body drop.... and other things. ;)

Still working on it! This pic was shot Aug of '02
 

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#6 · (Edited)
59 is correct.

Those are part of an option package that could be added to a camper special. That package is VERY rare, even back in the day.

I can't get the pics to load...hey it's around 6am when the HR site goes goofy :)


The front fender stuff was a 3 bolt chrome plate that bolted to the rear upper edge of each front fender, then there were 2 chromed "shocks" that came with the kit, to attach to the overhang of the slide-in camper. These were for hiway use only. You could not use them off road, because it would tear up the camper. A bunch of us used to "run the beach" in Rhode Island all thru the 70's. A friend had a 73 with those.

There should be all the option data & RPO codes listed on the label on the glove box door. I'd save anything related to that option besides just the parts & panel cut-outs, including the title, VIN, option list, etc. Might have some good value in the future.


One more very rare option for 73 and perhaps 74 was the FLEETSIDE wooden floor!! I had one in 73


Edit; There should also be 2 small exterior portholes on the outside of each of the bedsides. Then there were 4 brackets that were hand-screwed into those holes for chaining the camper down. Back then there were rumors that those tie downs were not legal in some states because it did not hook to the chassis.
 
#7 ·
F&J said:
Edit; There should also be 2 small exterior portholes on the outside of each of the bedsides. Then there were 4 brackets that were hand-screwed into those holes for chaining the camper down. Back then there were rumors that those tie downs were not legal in some states because it did not hook to the chassis.
A bit later in this generation of trucks----a steel tube was mounted to the frame under the bedthat extended to the outer body. A slide in bar was slid in and and retained with a clevis pin. Now the camper was tied to the frame thru those same holes.

Bryan
 
#8 ·
Well I got the glove box door will have to look @ it .

I snagged those chrome fender things.

Yes it has 4 holes in the bed for the camper to tie down to.

This is a 8 lug truck.

I guess what I was trying to say was after being a camper toter then a auto wrecker it was used to haul wood & the guy would/wood :thumbup: load it until the bumper was on the ground & it would/wood go!

I will be getting the title & Id Plates for future build .
I wish I had the room to store it because its a Florida truck & quite solid but its gots ta go out of my Friends yard.
 
#9 ·
I never saw a "camper special" option on any truck less than 3/4 ton. All camper specials had full floating rear axles.
GM never put full floating axles in 1/2 tons.
All half tons, heavy halfs or not have rear axles not suitable to carrying anything more than a sack of groceries in my opinion.
 
#10 ·
This truck had a 14Bolt FF .
Before this went to the Shredder I noticed that the Entire floor had been crushed up & in from repeated excessive overloading unfortunately I was unable to snap a pix of the damage.

Some 14 bolts were semi floaters, these are junk IMHO :spank:





R :thumbup:
 
#12 ·
The Grill got kicked in & then Cut up & then to the shredder :smash:

I saved the trophy bow tie {Like a scalping}

I have a title with plate.
Sweet Unmolested Dash bezel, & 100MPH instrument cluster {with gages}

I got the Stainless that goes around the cab.

There is a very nice hood that needs a new home. soon!

I saved the side emblems for my collection.

O & I got a Compleat Front Suspension Spare parts fit both my trucks.

I got a nice spare tailgate for my truck





R :thumbup:
 

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#15 ·
C-10 said:
Nice grille... please keep me in mind if the future project has a change of plans.

Did it have a 350 emblem in the lower driver corner?
Thanks.....I will But I have every intention of using it when I build the diesel rig.

It has the place to mount an emblem, but didn't have one when I bought it. If you have one that needs redone click the link and it shows you step by step how to do it.

Shane
 
#16 ·
Chevrolet4x4s said:
Thats just wrong :drunk: .

Shane

Wasn't me who had a temper tantrum on it . :nono:
I saved what I could.

The Drive train went to a mud truck . :rolleyes:

If I had the land, it would sit out back until it turned back to dirt . well with metal being so high .... maybe not.

$8.50 per 100lbs & they pay the Bone yards $15!!! last time I checked.




R :thumbup:
 
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