The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1971 Camper Special

Can someone tell me what is different between a C-10, C-20, and Camper Special? I bought a 71 camper special yesterday, and this is the first I've heard of this model. My main plan for the truck is to drive it til spring, then maybe some changes.

I believe the Camper Special option was a heavy-duty 3/4 ton with a towing package, possibly a heavier-duty sway bar front and rear, etc., a transmission cooler, and some creature comforts like air conditioning. I believe the bed might have been a little longer than standard, also. It was designed to accomodate the big slide-in camper units, even the ones with over-the cab beds that were top-heavy and created handling problems with lighter-duty trucks. I've seen some of them tricked out with load-equalizing trailer hitches and electric brake controllers so a travel trailer could be towed, along with a slide-in camper. Some of them approached 1-ton load capacity, but only had single rear wheels.
Jerry

Going by memory only (not as good as it used to be) I think they had two fuel tanks, possibly also a basic set of tools.

Ah....I took a quick look at it yesterday but won't have it in the shop til next Saturday. I did notice that although it had the rear coils, it also had a leaf spring behind the axle, and also a cable running in the bed that supposedly plugged into the camper. Chassis wise, is it the same as a 1/2 ton?

Yes the Camper Special was a 3/4 ton truck set up for hauling a camper.They were usually decked out with a lot of accesories.The bigger campers were quite heavy and also very top heavy. It took quite a heavy duty truck to safely haul them.They were popular back in the early 70s,but since then the larger motor homes seem to be the vehicle of choice.

From what I know, if it's a C-10, it's a heavy half ton. C-20= heavy 3/4 ton. The longer bed Jerry was talking about is the Longhorn Model. The camper special was heavier suspension set up like a towing package. I don't know to much about the Chevy suspension, as my truck is a GMC 1500 1/2 ton with leaf springs. My truck has extra springs than normal for more weight. I'm pretty sure mine was called a camper special, but I'm not totally sure. Mine is only a 1/2 ton, but the weight plate says that it will handle about 1900 pounds of payload.

Camper Specials (Camper Customs in GMC) were mostly 3/4 ton trucks. Depending on year and equipment, they could be both coil or leaf spring (I've seen them both ways), though most were leaf spring. The leaf spring models were built using the GMC chassis, and came in 2 lengths. The regular C20 Camper Special used the standard 127" wheelbase, and usually (again, I've seen them both ways) used a Spicer 70 rear diff. The few coil spring trucks I've sen had the Eaton. The Longhorn, which had a 8.5' bed, used the 1 ton chassis, which was leaf spring on both Chevy and GMC, and had a 133" wheelbase. The Longhorn, also avalable without the Camper package, didn't come out until '68. All Longhorns were Fleetsides, and were availabe as a C20 or C30. Most Camper Specials were built for slide in style campers, however, some were built for use with chassis mount campers as well. I have seen both wheelbases that had chassis mount campers with the dual rear wheel option. Dual rears was optional on 3/4 tons at least until '71/'72.
Chassis-Cab Camper Specials were not available with the Cheyenne/Cheyenne Super side trim. It is not uncommon to see a Camper Special with a 396/TH400 combo, though the 350/TH400 combo wasn't uncommon in the either. I've never seen one with a manual trans or 4x4. The dual tanks were not factory, but a dealer install option. Most of them I've seen with the extra feul capacity option actually have 3 tanks, the factory tank in the cab, plus 2 saddle tanks on each side of the frame. IIRC, the saddle tanks were 20-25 gallon capacity.
I grew up around these trucks. My Grandpa had a '69 Camper Special he bought new, it was optioned with the 396/TH400, and always had a camper on it when he was alive. My Uncle Louis (Mom's side) still has the truck. My Dad also had a C20, not a Camper Special, 350/TH400, 4.56 gears and the Cheyenne package. My Uncle Fat Rat (Dad's side) bought it from us in '78, and had it for a long time. It belongs to a body man in GA now, as the Rat traded it for a '64 Chevelle SS. My other Grandpa also had a '70, his was a C10, and the fab shop my Dad and Grandpa worked for had a '71 C20 Longhorn. I came close to buying one myself, a '72 GMC Camper Custom, but passed on it because I really wanted a Task Force truck.

Longbox, here's what I do know as of right now. It is a 1971, C-20 Camper Special. It was originally equipped with a 400cid, and I'm told it is a TH350 trans, but I didn't look at the pan(it now has a 305 with the TH350). It's coils all around, but there's a leaf behind the axle. There's a spotlight, roof lights, and a cable laying in the bed. It does have the brake controller in the cab. That's all I know of it right now. I wo't have it home til next Sat. I'm just hoping to find what makes these trucks different from a standard C-10, or C-20.

I bought a 1971 c 10 in 1972. This truck is a half ton with the standerd suspension. The thing that I don't like about it is that the rear suspension has ciol springs and not leafs. On the 20 series that truck came with leaf springs and was the 3/4 ton. On the custom 10 series with the coil springs everything you hauled with excessive weight had to be shifted all the way to the front of the bed aganist the cab to prevent sway and bumper drag. It sounds like you have the big daddy package with a lot of extras.

I have a 1971 GMC 3/4 Custom with leaf springs. The owner was looking specifically for this setup for his slide in camper. Is the "Custom" the Camper Special?

The GMC with the camper package will say "Camper Custom", rather than just "Custom". The GMC used leaf springs on all models, exept mayber for some 1/2 tons. Chevrolet used coils on both 1/2 and 3/4 tons, leaf springs were optional on 3/4 ton, usually with the Camper special package, and were standard on the 1 ton and 3/4 ton w/Longhorn package.
big ragu, the Camper Special, which as I noted was built in both coil and leaf spring variants, would have had a TH400 originally, especially with the 400 engine, which was actually the 402 big block.

I have a similar 71 GMC Custom Camper and the info above is correct. Seriously heavier springs and a big sway bar.
The one I have is pretty plain Jane though and doesn't have any real fancy options on it.

On these the extra gas tanks, Mirrors and what not were all dealer installed options and that is the reason you see these trucks with so many different style mirrors, rear bumpers and with or without the secondary gas tanks.