1974 J-4000 P-up

[jeepnmatt]

i have recently found a 1974 J-4000 pick-up. it has a closed knuckle front axle (D30 or D44?), power steering, AMC 360, AT, 4x4, D44 rear axle. the driverside rear axle shaft came out of the housing while the guy was driving it and he ended up parking it. its kinda rusty from plowing snow. it has 6-lug wheels which makes me believe its a 1/2 ton truck. is there anything special about this truck? i am absolutely positive it is a J-4000. not a 1000, 2000, or 3000. i didn't believe it at first and had to go look for myself. its for sale and i'm thinking about getting it only if its worth something in addition to the engine and snow-plow. thanks for any info! matt

I thought after about 1972 all the AMCs are J10 or J20?, plus I thought the J-4000 is the big 1 ton? Are you sure its a dana 44 rear? My 1970 J-3000 has a dana 53 rear and a 44 closed knuckle front and is 3/4 ton according to the service manual. Post the vin # and GVW if you can and I'm sure some of the other guys will know for sure, or I can look up in my manual for you.

'74 is when they changed over to the J-10 and J-20 labels. if it has 6-lugs, then it's a dana 44 front and rear, which makes it a 1/2 ton. I'm real confused now on the 6-lug closed knuckle front. Maybe someone did some mix and matching of parts. Sounds like what you're looking at is a '74 J-10 with a quadratrac transfer case, Is the rear axle pumpkin offset to the right?
A J-4000 does not always mean it's a 3/4 or 1 ton. The 4000 is the code for an 8 ft bed and there are further subcategories that break it up into 1/2, 3/4, 1 ton, and camper specials and dualies. It gets confusing.

Chris

[jeepnmatt]

the rear diff is centered. i forgot to look and see which x-case it had. i am absolutley positive about all the other info. it is possible that some swapping of parts has been done. possibly wide-track axles have been swapped in? the front is closed knuckle for sure. it does have an 8 ft bed. i will try and get the VIN sometime this week. thanks for the info! matt

Hi Chris, I figured you would know.

It could also be a leftover '73 resold as a '74, unless someone did some major swapping of parts. Who knows, Jeep did some weird stuff with their inventory during this era. the VIN will clarify what it really is. A while back, I once had a '73 wagoneer that was titled as a '73, was made in '72 but had the Buick 350, which I thought they discontinued in '71. Also had the D20 transfer case behind the T400. It had the new AMC style gauge cluster.

Chris

I read something once on a web site about willys/jeep/Kaiser history that said you could special order a buick 350 up to about 74 because of left over inventory. I think the small company did just about anything for a sale and to stay alive.

[badvibrations]

chrisnsarah is right, '73 is supposed to be the last year for the J-4000 designation and J-10 & J-20 started in '74. The GVWR for the 4000 series trucks is:
J-4500, 5000
J-4600, 6000
J-4700, 7000
J-4800, 8000
I've seen a 4600 that had D-44 front & D-60 rear with 5 lug wheels so I'd bet that the truck you're looking at is more than a 1/2 ton.

Why drive a luxo-box SUV when you can lay in the dirt busting your knuckles under old iron? '77 CJ-5, '64 S2A Land Rover

Guys, I have a 1973 J-4700 with the 5-lug D60 rear and the 5 lug D44HD (Heavy Duty) front. The front on your '74 IS a D44. I'm just not sure whether its a 44HD or not. By the way, my D60 rear IS centered.

I'm big. I'm heavy. I've got true four wheel drive. Therefor, I own the road!