I’ve evolved into really liking vintage medium-duty trucks over the last couple of years. We recently saw a nice 1968 Ford F-600 here on Barn Finds, and this 1970 Dodge D500 ex-Wyoming Fire Department Truck is another cool one. It’s posted here on craigslist in beautiful Tempe, Arizona, and they’re asking $6,000 or best offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
Today is my birthday as I type this, and I was trying to find something I really wanted to write about, so thanks to Rocco for tracking this one down. Not to mention, Tempe, Arizona will be 79 degrees today, and we’ll have a high of 17 where I am right now. Not much of a birthday present. Thanks for nothin’, Mother Nature. At least it’s sunny out, and I’m still alive, so there’s that.
Sounding tough, Dodge’s “Medium-Tonnage” conventional cab stake-body trucks were made until 1977 or so for the U.S. market and longer in Mexico. Their heavy-duty trucks went away around 1975, and this 1970 D500 was part of the family that included the D600 and D800 medium-duty trucks. I would never need a stake-body truck, but I would love to have this one just for driving around for the fun of it. The seller says it was used by a fire department in Wyoming to bring fire crews and equipment to wildfires.
You can already tell the exterior needs a bit of work, that is, if you plan on heading to Pebble Beach during their annual Medium-Duty truck series. Just kidding, but I wish they’d have one. Being a Wyoming truck, it appears solid other than some missing paint. The interior looks like it’s seen some age, with the painfully cracked steering wheel, and there’s a visually painful crack in the dash that you can see just to the left of the wheel. This truck has a four-speed manual, as expected.
There were two engines available, a 318 V8 and a 225-cu.in. OHV slant-six with 140 horsepower, which is shown here. No power steering or power brakes were on board, but that was often the case with trucks and even some passenger cars in the 1970s. The seller says it’s in great shape for its age (I wish I could say the same thing about myself, as another year goes by), and it does run (I stopped running five years ago). Are any of you into medium-duty trucks? If so, what would you use this Dodge for?
Happy Birthday SG. I’m sure I speak for all of us Barn Finders: we are thankful that you are part of the BF staff, and that you write up interesting vehicles like this Dodge for us to enjoy. Your writing is always high-quality, entertaining, and fun. Your willingness and interest in writing up all sorts of “vehicular conveyances” (snowmobiles, bicycles, ATV’s) keeps BF interesting.
Happy birthday, Scotty!!! 🎵🎶🎂🎉, and here’s a 🎁😁
Neat old work truck, but a slant 6? Hmm..
Hope the friends and family surprise you with something awesome-like a ‘70 ex-FD Dodge 👍🏻
Wow Scotty. As the saying goes, another year older, another year wiser. ( At least I think thats how it goes). I couldn’t say it any better than Bob just did. You bring one of the mosy important, and best things to all of your write ups….. You bring YOURSELF. And I certainly hope you keep doing that. Thank you for all the wonderfull variety you bring to the table too. As Bob said, you keep Barnfinds interesting.
As for this truck, love it!!! The one big surprise is the Slant 6 under the hood. One things for sure, no matter when they hit that key, they knew they could count on it starting back in its active days, and I’m sure it wont take much to get it going again. Another great find Rocco B. And another great write up too Scotty!!! Keep them coming!!!
You guys are way too kind, thanks much!
Happy Birthday Scotty G., wishing you many more to come!
Scotty hope you had a nice birthday 🎂 meal 🍽. 🤝👍
You say it’s your birthday,,,give me 5, still alive, ain’t no luck, learned to duck,,when you hit 70, birthdays lose a lot of zing, but we can all agree, we’re all a little better knowing this guy. It would be unfair to say one writer is any better than the others, they all do an outstanding job, but Scotty sure adds a personal touch.
RE: Weather,,,Scotty, we’ve been over this and over this,,there is no utopia when it comes to that,,
This truck was a bare bones unit, and clearly just an equipment truck. Trucks had similar ratings, the D500 would be the top of the lighter duty. No hoist and I’d have to think it was used in the forestry dept. as the door sticker may indicate. This truck is far too “used” to be a fire truck. I bet they used this truck every day, it sure looks it. The 6 was adequate for their needs. I can say without reservation, this is another “beast”, and if you can drive this, safely, you can drive just about anything.
Happy Birthday, SG!
It’s a well known fact, the more birthdays you have, the longer you live!
Happy Birthday! I was born this time of year,
& I think that I saved my parents money by not
having to buy so many gifts,as it was right after
Christmas.I felt cheated when some of my friends
had birthdays during the school year & got to have
well-attended parties.
Another one of those “I think it’s really cool & I’d
love to buy it,but what would I do with it?
Happy birthday, Scotty! And may many more be headed your way. Remember, when you’re 50, your Give-a-Turkey is busted; but wait till you turn 70; it’s left the daggoned building.
Now for the truck. I look into that engine bay and find something that’s about as rare out west as a winning Powerball ticket. You just don’t see a six under the hood in anything larger than a 3/4 ton. But I guess that “Leaning Tower of Power” will move the truck just fine. Probably a New Process 435 transmission, coupled to a single speed rear axle. Tranny and rear end will probably last forever in this beast. But it’s going to be a long space between shifts.
Looks like an idiot light for oil pressure. That’s actually a good thing in reality. I remember a memo from one of the warranty analysts who said that they had far less catastrophic engine failures in vehicles with warning lights than they did with gauges; operators saw the light flash but, unless they were vigilant with the gauges, they didn’t see the oil pressure needle at the bottom of the gauge until after they wondered what was happening to their power…
Looks good overall. A longer wheelbase than I would like but you could make this into a ramp deck and use it to haul your antique tractor or super slow Brass Era car to the show…
The oil light was a better idea, assuming it actually came on when it was supposed to, explaining the term “idiot light”.
6k? Take that money and get a 16′ bumper pull trailer, cheaper registration, insurance covered by the tow vehicle, almost zero maintenance AND much lower load height. The truck? $1500, shorten it into a super-sized pickup. Congrats on another trip around the sun, Scotty!
Happy birthday Scotty. I’m with you, I love these trucks and everything they stand for!