1970 Dodge Truck - Loaded For Bear

The original bed on Daryl's '70 was so rusted he started to make plans on blowing out its completely rusted-out wheel wells and replacing them with Pro-Street tubs. Shortly after this decision one of his friends called Daryl and told him he spotted an abandoned shortbed Sweptline sitting in a parking lot at a neighborhood taco stand. The news was too good to be true, so Daryl blew it off as a practical joke. A few weeks later another buddy called with a report about the same truck. With an "aw shoot," Daryl rushed to check it out. When he arrived, he discovered an old orange Texas Highway Department truck with a blown Slant Six and its roof cut off. A whopping $300 later and with a little bit of work, Daryl removed the only good part the truck had-a perfect dent-free bed. After Daryl gave up his search for an original chrome rear bumper (not a big ugly camper bumper), Daryl custom-fabricated an all-steel roll pan and filled the postholes on the bed. From here, Daryl shipped his Dodge to Phil's Collision in Lindsay, Texas, where after about eight months, the '70 Dodge returned in a fully slicked coating of '02 Dodge Bright Silver DuPont paint.

Daryl works as a dispatcher for a trucking company running 18-wheelers over the road. He attributes Greg Saddberry, one of his friends at work, for helping with "a lot of the work" on his Dodge. Along with his good buddy's assistance, Daryl made plans to have his Dodge appear factory- original while incorporating as many modern features as possible. For the front suspension's update, the Dodge's original straight axle was dumped in favor of a Mustang II frontend with 11-inch disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering from Fatman Fabrications. The only pieces retained from the '70 Dodge were the cab, frame, and rearend housing. Utilizing Greg's massive home shop, they spent numerous hours on the chassis boxing, filling all unnecessary holes, and welding all the original brackets on before the frame was sent out for powdercoating. The original 8 3/4-inch Mopar rearend housing was stuffed with a 3.55:1 geared limited-slip differential.

Daryl didn't indicate on his tech sheet whether or not he was running a hidden hitch behind his license plate. We're betting he does. How else could he haul his Super Stock '64 Plymouth to the drags? That's right, just like his Uncle Dale, after the drive home from work Daryl backs his Dodge D-100 Sweptline up to a tandem trailer and heads off to the drags.