Hi,new here w/question.I have a 75 power wagon W250 club clab w/318-727 combo,full time 4x4.I just picked up a 82 w150,ex GOV. truck w/73000 miles on it.has sl6 w/4spd,part time t-case.I'm thinking on putting the whole 82 drive line in the 75 to save gas but am scared I will ruin a good truck so tell me,does the 225 belong in a truck?thanks

To be honest, as much as I enjoy slant six's, with your truck I'd find a 400 to put in there! Or keep the 318. You would more than likely get the same or better gas milage with a V8 as you would with a slant (less work moving that big, heavy truck around).

I agree, unless you want to put some money into the slant. If your going to keep the slant, definatly a 2bbl is needed. My 1bbl could barly lug my car around! I had trouble getting up to speed, and going up hills. Scince the SS upgrade, it drives even better than a new car, and thats with the 1bbl exhause still on! It will haul som rear end if you want it to.

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

I have to disagree with you there Eric W. I have an 83 D150 Custom with a 225 and a 2bbl BBD with the 4 speed overdrive and I get roughly 20 MPG in the city. She has a very slight misfire and too much total timing but she pulls the pig and gets good mileage, for a full size truck at least.

Coming out of left field.
83SlantRam

The slant does OK as long as the gearing is right with the tranny and the rear axle ratio to keep it in the powerband... The 318 would have a bit more power if worked up properly(no replacement for displacement), and could match the MPG if you pick the cam and carburation carefully...

some of those Govt. trucks came with the NP435 granny geared 4 speed and some really granny rear gearing (like 4.30's...with a direct manual gear box)... I had an apprentice that had one of those govt. forest service trucks... revved to the moon, couldn't get it over 55 mph with the gear ratios, but still got 20-21 mpg...

-D.Idiot

hell yeah a sl6 belongs in a truck, i had a 78 d-150 long bed w/ NP-435 manual, 4- speed and it was a get r done and them some truck! it towed my 73 dart @ 75mph real nice and was a great work truck. i ran a 1bbl holly 1920 on it and it was good for top speeds of 90 to 95mph. infact i did a parts run from sea to pdx @ speeds of 85+ last thrusday in it.

slant six trucks rock! i'm dying to get another one!

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

If I were you and if it is feasible, I would run both trucks. Turn the '82 into the daily driver. For what its worth, my daily driver is a 77 utiline (think warlock) with a slant six, and I love it, but I wouldn't convert the 75 W250.

That clubcab has some heft to it and full time 4x4. Your never gonna get great gas mileage from her anyways. I would do all I could to make sure my 318 was in great tune and try to squeeze every MPG I could out of it. Maybe go a little higher with the rear gear ratio if need be and lighten it all you can.

This is coming from someone that owns 3 slant six trucks, two '77s (the utiline w/ 727 and a short bed 4spd overdrive truck) and an '84 long bed. all three are slant sixes. If I had a 75 W250 club cab w/ a 318.... it would stay a 75 W250 club cab..... w/ a 318. I love my slants so my opinion isn't biased, just what I feel is most realistic, and what I think is what your better off with.

$0.02
Dietz

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for profiles and pictures of my mopars--> http://www.fquick.com/dietz_diggler

I see it several ways, I've owned almost every dodge truck combo from 72-00 and it depends on what you want.
I now drive a 92 2wd cummins 5speed wich gets 18-20mpg pulling a 6000# trailer and will out pull anyone elses diesel I know. I am using a 84 1ton 4wd military crew cab and installing my cummins. I woldnt go back to a gas engine for my tow truck . BUT my slant truck towed my trailer at freeway speeds(70-80) with the same load and got 15-16mpg with a modified carb but took a while to get up to speed... my slant got 17-18 around town, its also a 2wd.

In stock form I woldn't even think of putting it in a fulltime 4wd.a modified carb and free flowing exhaust and a part time lockout conversion is in order at the least. i always got better fuel milage out of a 400-440 and better puling power than out of my 318-360 that even went for my 00 1500 WHERE THE HECK IS THIS TECHNOLOGY THEY TELL US ABOUT? 35 YEARS AND NO BETTER FUEL MILEAGE? But my turbo efi /6 at 7psi pulled better than any gas big block ive owend and got better fuel mileage. So its all in what you want, a bb would be an easyer build read motor mounts, trans and drop it in. The /6 more work but definatly cooler. the 318 is ho hum in stock form and a gas hog for as little power that it makes, but the most indistructibe v8 ever built Sorry if I ranted too long and I may or maynot have helped

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Nick
86 d150 turbo /6.
64 valiant 4 door

I just bought an '83 D 250 with a 318 2 bbl,/727 in it; drove it home 6 hours from Wis., with my loaded-up-with-monster-floor-jack-and-tools, '01 XJ Cherokee out back on a tow dolly, and struggled a bit on the hills; granted, the carb was sealed, where I could not adjust it, til I got home and pulled the steel plugs over the mixture screws (each side was ~3/4-1 turn too lean, according to the vac gauge) but floored, pulling some of the hills, 62-63 was max. On the flats it had more in it. It's plenty ball-sy, not loaded; one hill I was climbing when towing that Jeep, gas pedal floored, going 62, could not go any faster, and a Ford Circle Jerk Diesel, pulling an enclosed trailer (could've been empty for all I know) side by side up that same hill, passed me like I was sittin' still. I notice a heckuva difference now that I've got that carb adjusted out. (compared to driving it empty, the nite I bought it ) Now to map out that dist, and go pull that 4 bbl Edelbrock setup off the '86 in the local yard! Granted, the early '80s was the weakest time for the carmakers HP wise, since probably the '20s/'30's.
but after that, I hate to say this, but w/o alot of work, including possibly a turbo addition, if you are gonna do a LOT of heavy towing/hauling, I'd probably look to a V8 in a truck (or diesel); but with occasional use like that, I think the /6 would be OK. And no, I am NOT at all, a 360 fan! With their low compression, dished pistons (Why did Mopar castrate that engine like that) I've never had a stock 360 that would do what a 318 could not.(and I've had several of each) I may swap a set of these '92+ Magnum heads that I seem to be accumulating lately, onto it, down the road. (compression boost and 1.6 ratio rockers vs 1.5 onthe LA series engines)

I have no expectations of my truck ever being a rocket sled. I had a slanted D-100 at work back in the 80s that was a DOG; top speed was 70 no matter what we did. Everyone wanted to drive the straight-six Fords instead, but the Dodge truck was so much more a truck than the others that I didn't mind driving it. It took far more abuse than the others and never once broke down in the 2 years I drove it. Can't say that about the Fords.

I hope a slant belongs in a truck, because that's what I just got, and it's going to be my daily driver!

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

The 82 has SL6,NP435,NP208 case,the plan is put all three components in the 75 power wagon making it part-time 4x4 minus locking hubs. The 75 has 4.10/4.09 gears,I would be leaving those in place.I'm not worried about a daily driver,I have a company 07 Duramax for that.When I drive the 75,it's always hauling/towing something,but not necessarily in a big hurry.I know I'd need to install the two barrel.Anyone have a manifold they want to get rid of?Almost forgot,the 75 has 33-12.50-16 tires on it

Go ahead and put the slant in it. If you are going mudding/rock crawling in it, thats a diff story. Im sure that will be a bad... truck! As for the 2bbl manifold, check the parts for sale section.

Also, whats wrong with the 318 and trans thats in it now?

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'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

I love the /6 in my '87 truck. Its had a very hard life crossing creeks, hauling cattle and big loads of sand and mulch, and bouncing off of stumps and trees driving through poo. It actually got washed downstream once crossing a creek on the farm. I commute to work and haul trash in it now. It deserves a little break. I don't get in a big hurry with it but its got plenty of torque. I really enjoy the ride.
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Focus (North America)

A slant definatly belongs in a truck! My truck (77 d200 crew cab, ex military 2 wd 8" frame rails, read very heavy) came with a /6. it was warn DEAD and still got 12-14 in town and 16-18 hwy. I had a vac leak and burned a hole in #6 piston big enough to stick your thumb through and still had enough power to pull a tandem axle trailer 65 mph on the highway. But I had a dumb attack and put a 318 in, dropped to 5-8 mpg, less power, less performance. I'm building a / to put back in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Dave

1977 d-200 crew cab ex-army pickup wants it's /6 back
1962 Valiant 2 door, 170, three on the tree
1972 d-100 parts truck
80 volare wagon now a parts car

I'd stay with a 318 for power/mileage. 318s have plenty of both stock, so long as everything is tune-up and in good shape.


I've owned 15+ Dodge trucks so far and currently have 3-1/2 left in my fleet. Yes that's 3.5!


The first one is my 1983 Dodge standard cab stepside. It's a slant six 4-speed (with overdrive).
Cool looking truck, and runs awesome for a slant six. However still not very powerful in the overall scheme of things.
I've only towed locally with this.







Second is my 1990 Dodge RamCharger plow truck. Only towed locally with this truck as well.







Third is my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT, 5.9L Magnum, QuadCab shortbox. Truck has been all over the country and gets 17+ MPGs empty and 14 MPgs towing ~6,000 lbs. The truck itself weighs 5,200 lbs. My best run has been a 16.2 E.T. with trans issues (before I built the transmission).







The .5 is our 1964 Ford F-100 hot rod truck with a 1989 Dodge factory roller cam 360. It only manages around 15 MPGs, but has no overdrive (TF-727) with 3.55:1 gears. It has run a best of 14.00 E.T. at Wisconsin International Raceway.

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1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 (440 Six Pack, 4-spd, Dana 60)
1974 Plymouth Duster 360 (4-spd, 8.75")
1973 Plymouth Duster (225, auto, 8.25")
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 QC 2wd (5.9L, auto, Dana 60)