1977 Dodge Power Wagon Camper
Hello Everyone, I found a 1977 Dodge Power Wagon 4X4 camper that I am thinking about purchasing. I don't know a ton about this camper but am very interested in it and was wondering what everyone's th...
Forum Discussion
Tonw07 wrote:
Was able to finally take the camper out on its maiden voyage last weekend just a couple hours away. I put about 230 miles round trip. I threw on my dirt bike just in case we had problems but thankfully I didn't need it. We ended up going to a brewery for a summery solstice party and it worked out perfect. I guess one thing to note is my windshield wipers stopped working so I have another thing to put on the list.
Hoping to take it out again this week. Sure is tough to go camping when I only have Sundays off but we're figuring out how to make it work.
Oh yea, I averaged about 6.8 mpg on the trip, looks like I should really figure out the leak in the secondary tank because I'm definitely going to need it!
When you say they quit working, is the motor still working? Considering the age, your bushings have probably rotted away and the transmission (linkage bars) has fallen apart. These bushing are as close as most auto parts in the Help section by Motormite. They are little round plastic things with a locating tab on the side. They can be a real stinker to pop in but the wipers will work like new. Get some dielectric grease and lubricate them with it and they will go in easier.
It isn't too bad to get to them. They are under the panel in front of the windshield that the wiper shafts poke through. Just remove the wiper arms, remove some screws and the panel pops off. Some of the screws are hard to see. Once the panel is off, everything is right there. When you buy the grease (you'll use it on a lot of things.) pick up some valve lapping or grinding compound. Use a screwdriver with a good tip, not worn, dip the end in the valve grinding compound and it will bite the head of the screws rather than round them out. Considering the age of your unit, you can bet there's a little rust on the threads. I had a similar truck named Betty that finally got sold with nearly 400K on the clock. Albeit there wasn't much of the original truck left. I had to replace the small block with only 340K on it. Darn, you'd think they would last longer than that!
