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FREEDGUY 
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 Topic: A CAMPER SPECIAL ?
Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 8:10pm |
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Back in the early/mid '70's , there were CAMPER SPECIALS available in the Ford models of pick ups, what "made" them "special" and did other manufactures offer this "package" ??
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Ed (Ont)
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 8:36pm |
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GM did. But I don’t know what made them special.
Edited by Ed (Ont) - 29 Jul 2021 at 8:37pm
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Lars(wi)
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 8:44pm |
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Fords had a longer wheelbase, factory pigtails for trailer hook ups, many were on a F-350 frame.
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I tried to follow the science, but it was not there. I then followed the money, and that’s where I found the science.
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shameless dude
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 9:00pm |
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Dodge had the first mas produced class A motorhome, ford had the 3/4 ton camper special pickup, they also put out a pickup mounted camper that was all fiberglass, after a few years on them they would start to squeak, the fiberglass and foam rubbing together. GMC had a class a motorhome, was all fiberglass, had an Oldsmobile engine and front wheel drive. still see quite a few of them still on the road yet. toyota had there class c camper, still see a few of them out there yet. most of them caught fire and burned to the ground. there were also alot of class a motorhomes that were made and put on different chassis, gave people a choice of what drivetrains and/or frames they wanted. alot of those are still being built today.
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FREEDGUY
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 9:03pm |
Seems like my grandpas Ford was a F150 "camper special" ?? It was brown and had an "extended cab" if memory serves, I was 7 
He put a "truck camper" in the bed 
Edited by FREEDGUY - 29 Jul 2021 at 9:04pm
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shameless dude
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 9:04pm |
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did it have the "camper special" chrome words rivited on it?
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FREEDGUY
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Posted: 29 Jul 2021 at 9:08pm |
seems like it was a decal, I do recall the chrome version of designation though on other models
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Dakota Dave
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 8:16am |
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I had a couple chevy camper specials. they had one extra leaf and a rear bumper that you could extend out past the lowered tail gate. the camper special badge was the only other differance. Nieghbor had a ford camper special it had a side compartment below the bed and one extra leaf and a badge on the side.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 8:51am |
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All FORD Camper Specials had a tool box built into the bed fender, behind the passenger door... at the bottom..... I dont think the F150 was ever a "CAMPER" special.. I was thinking in the mid 1970s they made a TRAILER special F150.. and it had the tool box.
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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Ray54
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 12:01pm |
Dad had 68( gee how time fly's and the memory) Ford 100 had the tool box on the bottom front of bed. Not a Camper Special, several friends of his did.
They had to have more springs/suspension to keep from swaying with the big slide in campers of the day.
Edited by Ray54 - 30 Jul 2021 at 2:34pm
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DaveKamp
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 3:49pm |
I have a 1974 Chevrolet C30 one-ton made specifically for carrying a slide-in camper.
There is no emblem on it saying Camper Special, but it's missing a fair amount of it's emblems.
The differences:
It has a Dana 70HD rear axle, full float, 4.10 ratio, limited slip. Single rear wheel. Standard spring stacks 11 foot extended step-side bed. 350ci 4bbl turning a Turbo-Hydramatic 400.
The serial number range for this model only spans about 4500 units made in 1974... they were all special order.
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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.
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DMiller
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 4:04pm |
 Lars(wi) wrote:
Fords had a longer wheelbase, factory pigtails for trailer hook ups, many were on a F-350 frame. |
There were few made and ALL had a Ford Camper Special HARD Emblem attached and only in F250 Chassis. WB was 6" longer, bed was also at 8'6" Inside dimension, there will be a Door on the Passenger side of the Bed side panel where the spare was hung on the frame, Made in early 70s and discontinued, I owned one in '79.
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Kansas99
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 5:14pm |
DaveKamp wrote:
I have a 1974 Chevrolet C30 one-ton made specifically for carrying a slide-in camper.
There is no emblem on it saying Camper Special, but it's missing a fair amount of it's emblems.
The differences:
It has a Dana 70HD rear axle, full float, 4.10 ratio, limited slip. Single rear wheel. Standard spring stacks 11 foot extended step-side bed. 350ci 4bbl turning a Turbo-Hydramatic 400.
The serial number range for this model only spans about 4500 units made in 1974... they were all special order.
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Seems you could special order about anything from GM back in those days.
Stepdad had a 77 GMC 1 ton dually that was a camper special had a tipi emblem behind the door on the cab and he ordered it with a 454 with "rv" cam and 456 rear end. You could pass everything with a 24ft gooseneck with 15,000# of cattle in it except a gas station. His cousin ordered a 77 1 ton 4x4 single wheel GMC with a 350 truck motor (cast rods and pistons) with a 4 speed, it was no racer but pulled very well.
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JTOOL
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 7:37pm |
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Only saw one when I worked at Western Auto back in the early 90's. If I remember correctly, the wheels were 8 lug and the outside mirrors were larger and further out from the cab/door.
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steve(ill)
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Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 7:53pm |
FORD offered it in the F250 and F350...
The F350 was called the SUPER Camper Special... Had the rear axle moved back 8 inches with same 8 ft bed... Carry a lot more load by moving wheels back further under the "in bed" camper..
Edited by steve(ill) - 30 Jul 2021 at 8:05pm
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Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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tadams(OH)
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Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 3:00pm |
And now all pickups are 4 door and 6 foot beds
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FREEDGUY
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Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 7:00pm |
tadams(OH) wrote:
And now all pickups are 4 door and 6 foot beds |
Sadly., the "beds" are closer to 5' beds  
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Thad in AR.
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Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 7:34pm |
steve(ill) wrote:
FORD offered it in the F250 and F350...
The F350 was called the SUPER Camper Special... Had the rear axle moved back 8 inches with same 8 ft bed... Carry a lot more load by moving wheels back further under the "in bed" camper..
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I had a super camper special like the one above. F350 that had a dually rearmed under it . It had no bed when I bought it. Or really drove good. I hauled all over the country with that truck.
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AC720Man
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Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 8:28pm |
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Dodge offered a camper special for many years. Last one sold new that I am aware belonged to a good friend of mine, just sold it last year. He bought it slightly used. 1998 4 door long bed. Tow package, 4.10 rear end. Extra leaf spring in the rear, heavy duty brakes, heavy duty alternator and dual batteries. Extra capacity transmission cooler. V10 gas engine. Had camper special badge on it. I’m sure I’m missing some other options but that’s what I remember at the moment.
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1968 B-208, 1976 720 (2 of them)Danco brush hog, single bottom plow,52" snow thrower, belly mower,rear tine tiller, rear blade, front blade, 57"sickle bar,1983 917 hydro, 1968 7hp sno-bee, 1968 190XTD
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DMiller
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Posted: 01 Aug 2021 at 7:36am |
Had a '77 Chevy K20 Scottsdale with Camper Special Package, mirrors were situated on large extended supports where could be rotated inward and used as conventional Pickup or Rotated outboard to see around a slide in camper. I bought the same mirrors and adapted to my rebuilt '69 Dodge W300 that became a '73 by recab.
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SteveM C/IL
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Posted: 03 Aug 2021 at 1:03pm |
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Had a 71 Chevy 3/4 ton CS. 402BB and T-400,Dana 60 with A/C and am-fm. Well used when I got it. Would have been a sweetheart new. Had the big mirrors too.
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FREEDGUY
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Posted: 09 Aug 2021 at 7:40pm |
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Did a "camper special" have a factory installed spare tire carrier in front of the grill or was this something my grandpa installed on his own ?
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Joe(TX)
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Posted: 14 Aug 2021 at 9:28pm |
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I have a 71 C20 Chevy that had an 8 1/2 ft bed. I had a 72 C3500 GMC which also had an 8 1/2 ft bed. Both had Eaton rear axles.
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DMiller
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Posted: 15 Aug 2021 at 5:38am |
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Camper Special Spare was behind the Right Bedside compartment door. Nose mounts were a aftermarket.
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Dan Hauter
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Posted: 15 Aug 2021 at 1:42pm |
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Two friends & I were headed to a tractor show & saw a 1970's era Dodge Class C motorhome at a rest area. Looked to be in pretty good shape. Impressive that it's still on the road.
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wade89
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Posted: 18 Aug 2021 at 8:24pm |
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Joe, the 8-1/2' was called the "Longhorn". Seems most of the Camper Specials GM built just had 1 ton suspension in a 3/4 ton truck. Must've been an insurance thing. Basically the predecessors to HD written on all the trucks nowadays.
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CrestonM
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Posted: 23 Aug 2021 at 8:19am |
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Not sure what year they started with the camper specials, but I’ve got a 1965 F-250 with the chrome “camper special” tags on the doors. When dad bought it in ‘78 it had a camper, but is long gone now.
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HaroldOmaha
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Posted: 01 Sep 2021 at 10:31pm |
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I have a 2001 f-250 7.3 camper special. 273,000 still runs great, no smoke. has 2 alternators, one for the camper, power plug in the inside of the box, dual batteries( I think standard for diesels) and a fuel line heater. box is starting to show it's age. get people wanting it all the time.
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FREEDGUY
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Posted: 02 Sep 2021 at 8:52pm |
HaroldOmaha wrote:
I have a 2001 f-250 7.3 camper special. 273,000 still runs great, no smoke. has 2 alternators, one for the camper, power plug in the inside of the box, dual batteries( I think standard for diesels) and a fuel line heater. box is starting to show it's age. get people wanting it all the time. |
Thanks for the post !! Is there any C/S logo's on the front fender area by any chance ?
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HaroldOmaha
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Posted: 02 Sep 2021 at 10:32pm |
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When I bought it used it was only a year old, no indication on the outside of the truck. Was told it was, had 17,000 on it. 2 wheel drive. super cab.
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