I'm new here but I have searched and learned a lot.

I have been wanting to build a crew cab on a LWB frame for a while now and waffled from the dent to the 92-96/97 for a while. I have finally made up my mind to do it on a dent. While I am not new to these trucks, I am new to some of the specialty trucks that came out in this time frame.

The original plan was a LWB with a crew cab on it and the bed would end right in front of the rear wheel wells. I didnt think this would look all that great and the discovered the camper special. That should give the bed a more balanced look and all.

So onto the questions. Was the camper special ever available in 4wd? Searching and googling is hard to tell because I cant tell if the couple I have seen were factory or custom. Do all the camper special beds have the tire carrier hidden in the front of the bed?

Thanks

 

Ive never seen a 4x4 with the spare in the side of the bed. Id be suprised if they came from the factory like that.
Maybe some of the companys that did the 4x4 conversions like Marmon ?

 

so were there 4wd camper specials with the extra wheelbase? I want a camper special bed without the hidden spare if they made them because that bed had like 14" from wheel well to end of bed instead of the 26" or whatever it was.

 

If your wanting to build it... don't see why it really matters. But if you want that stock numbers matching plan i too haven't seen a factory 4x4 camper special with the hidden tire in the box side. for some reason i think it was just an earlier year option like 73 - 75 or something( just a guess) depending on your fuel tank you can always hide it in the rear between the frame rails ( of course thats limiting if your running a big big tire) Isn't a Camper special just a beefed up regular cab/ext cab.. say 3/4 ton with bigger springs dual batteries an badges also i think they were auto's too. I know someone or a few have done this with there rigs so i'll let them chime in with the specifics.

 

I am just trying to figure out which frame to go with, bed, etc...

I dont want to mess with stretching the frame and dont want to mess with a bed with the hidden spare as it would be useless when I had to cut it down to only about a foot long. I have been thinking about cutting down one of the factory toolbox doors on the side and putting it on the bottom to store chains and stuff maybe.

 

hmm so i'd say extended cab short box. Some one's gotta have alll the dimensions of these trucks. or do a " search" on wheel base's and different cab an box's and what they add up to vs frames.

 

Here's a '73 SCS that's a 4x4:


Not factory though.

 

there were no factory Super Camper Special 4x4's, there are multiple threads of people doing 4x4 conversions on here, they did make shortbed crew cabs from the factory though

 

I'm confused...your title says you're wanting to build a short bed crew...all dentside 4x4 crews were short beds. Are you wanting to go shorter than that? And I believe the term you're looking for is SUPER camper special (except for 77-79 they dropped the super)...but there is also a camper special package. That being said, there were NO SCS's built as 4x4's.


But I'm still confised as to what you're wanting to build because you're talking about longer beds, shorter beds, building a short bed, wanting a longer frame, etc. Are you wanting a full long bed 4x4 crew, where you'll need to stretch the frame for this to work or a short bed crew (which is what all 4x4 CC's were).

 

yes. I want it shorter than a crew cab short bed. I want it to be the overall length of a LWB truck. It would only have about a foot in front of the wheel wells and behind.

A crew cab is just too long. A LWB is just about right. Wife would have a hard time driving a truck that long. If I have to convert a 2wd frame to 4wd, no big deal. I can do that.

I am gonna piece together from threads on here and maybe be able to explain myself better.

I grabbed these out of the cab on a bronco frame thread.

If I just slap a crew onto a LWB, it will look like this extended cab on a SWB. the bed looks like crap.




If I used a LWB or camper special frame then the bed would wind up looking like this cab on a Bronco frame.

 

I think this with a crew cab would probably give me exactly what i am wanting.

 

That answered one of my questions. I thought that was the case but I wasnt 100%.

Maybe I have made it clear as mud now.

 

I think I get what you are saying. You want to get a SCS frame and make it a 4x4 with a crew cab and a shorter short bed. Right?

 

Yes. A camper special would let me keep the axle where it is, and give a shorter bed a more balanced look. I was just gonna cut the front of the bed off until I discovered the camper special. I would rather the bed not look like an explorer or a small crew 4x4 bed but maintain the overall length of just a lwb truck.

I want to go with a 460 with ZF and np205 until I have everything together for a 4bt or 6bt swap. Haven't decided if the 4bt would have enough grunt for towing yet.

 

Ok I am in Charleston WV an right below the house is a 75 F250 Camper Special 2wd 360 auto for sale.