Well in the 70's the letter was in the VIN. But the terminology dates back to before Dodge put D's & W's in the VIN's, so I don't know how/when it got started. I think factory brochures/literatures may have referenced D/W in the 60's.
My "guess" is D was for Dodge (Ford used F, Chevy used C) & W has origins in military terminology because the first 4wd Dodges were military.
Sorry that I can't document any of this.

Bucky

 

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125215

Here you go.

 

I'd be surprised if it wasn't more about the Power "Wagons" have "4WD", or the "WC" Dodges there were before.

 

Someone has got to know!

 

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125215

Here you go.

that dont tell you much at all

 

Anything better is welcome. I'm sure the OP is still searching, too.

 

Well Dodge started designating truck models in 1956 the D series" trucks and then about 1965 switched to the D and W series amongst other letters. The vans were "A series as an example.  D stood for 2x4 and W stood for 4x4. 100,150,250,350 and so on for weight capacity. Or in other words, "W" just means 4x4, no significance, just the letter they picked I guess. So it was explained to me once by a Mopar historian anyway.

Norm

 

http://www.allpar.com/model/ram/ram-trucks-C.html

 

My Grandfather swore the W was for work and the D was for driver.

 

It's looking like the "D" most likely came from "Dodge" (like "F" as in FORD F150) and I'm suspecting the "W" may have come from the "W" in Power Wagon or some earlier similar name...but that's just guessing.

BTW, none of the links provided although interesting reads have not answered the question. They have addressed the fact the the letters where used for various things but not why, or if the letters stand for something.

I find it hard to believe that Dodge might have just picked a random letter....we just haven't run across anyone who actually knows why they chose them yet.

Emnestor... That is a possibility, although I thing just about every truck back then was primarily used for work.

 

If you don't find your answer, I hope you can still sleep at night. 

 

I always figured it had to do with the platform.  After all, there were A, B, and C bodies around the same time.  Where the W came from is beyond me.

 

To add even more don't forget the old "Job Rated"

 

haha, i've admittedly always wondered the same thing.

 

Could it be the W was connected to Power Wagon.
The W was used for the 4X4 & the D was the 4X2s.
Jim

 

I'd be surprised if it wasn't more about the Power "Wagons" have "4WD", or the "WC" Dodges there were before.

I'm suspecting the "W" may have come from the "W" in Power Wagon or some earlier similar name...but that's just guessing.

Could it be the W was connected to Power Wagon.
The W was used for the 4X4 & the D was the 4X2s.
Jim

If the "W" is derived from Wagon as is Power Wagon, why not use the "P" from the first word or both initials "PW"?

I find it hard to believe that Dodge might have just picked a random letter....we just haven't run across anyone who actually knows why they chose them yet.

I don't find it hard to believe at all. It's done all the time by every manufacturer. In this case "W" simply designates a 4x4 model, BTW even this isn't consistent. When Dodge released the Mitsubishi based D50, they did not designate the 4x4 version as the "W50". The 2wd and 4wd models were both called the "D50".

While the Allpar link doesn't specifically state where the letter "W" came from, you can see that in the past Dodge used a series of letters and numbers to identify models in their truck line. It probably got too complex to follow and they just simplified the designations to just a "D" or "W" along with a three digit number which identifies the capacity of the truck. More recently, Mopar dropped the "D" and "W", and began using 4 digit numbers to identify just the capacity. Simpler, yet.

Ed

 

If the "W" is derived from Wagon as is Power Wagon, why not use the "P" from the first word or both initials "PW"?

The P series step/ chassis vans started in the late 50's. I think the W came from the military's designation of WC_ _ in the 40's.

 

The "W" definitely stands for 4x4 and the "D" definitely stands for 4x2. Why those letters were picked, still not a solid answer, just guesses...

 

The P series step/ chassis vans started in the late 50's. I think the W came from the military's designation of WC_ _ in the 40's.

My guess is that you're suggesting that the letter "P" was already used... (btw, what did the "P" stand for?) Ok that sounds plausible. But if the letter "W" was used because it was available, then it opens its own bit of confusion. Lets say the "W" means wagon, from the words "Power Wagon". It would be in stark contradiction to the use of the word wagon as Dodge has used it to describe certain vehicles. The Ramcharger, for example, was considered a wagon, as they were often titled as wagons or utility wagons (Remember, the Ramcharger arrived before the use of the letters SUV were coined) But if there is one type of vehicle synomous with wagon, it would be station wagon. Certainly a open bed pick up truck could not be mistaken for a wagon of any sort. However, Dodge did use the name "Power Wagon" to identify their 4x4 trucks, but you had to include the "Power" part of the name, for it to make sense.

Now I do know that "WC" in reference of the old military Dodge trucks was for "Weapons Carrier". Maybe using the W was to recall some Dodge heritage or pay homage to an earlier design, but the W series really has nothing in common with an old military weapons carrier. Otherwise I suspect that they would had used either PW or WC so that there was no doubt what the letters meant.

Personally as I stated before, the "W" was used apparently for no other reason than to separate its 4x4 identity from the 2wds. The letter doesn't need to come from any particular word, but that it has its own meaning.... Then again, maybe that's why Chrysler ultimately dropped all the letters, because people kept asking what the "W" meant?

Ed

 

I contacted Chrysler Historical to see if they might shed some light on this, but I am not holding my breath.  Getting answers to little annoying questions like this is very rare, but someone might know it offhand and provide the answer.

 

I wouldnt hold my breath either. Usually small trivial details about popular vehicles comes out almost as quickly as the vehicle, itself. Dodge has used letters and numbers before. In fact its quite common. Small blocks are "A" blocks big blocks are "B". There were A, B, C, E bodys etc. then there were some exceptions to add to the confusion. The L in LA stood for "Light". The "R" in RB referred to raised deck big blocks. The name "Superbee" was a play on the use of B blocks installed in B chassis vehicles. The Ramcharger was a wagon and titled as AW100 or AW150 if i recall correctly.

Ed

 

The D and W series all started at the chrysler proving grounds in Auburn Hills Michigan.  They were testing a 4x2 truck and 4x4 truck in the off road course next to the headquarters.  The Hill climb was done first by the 4x2 and it was stuck immediately, so the technician called the head engineer and told him the results and the engineer responded "Duh its two wheel drive".  The 4x4 did the hill climb easily, actually it was the best in the history of dodge trucks.  The technician called the same engineer and told them the results and the engineer responded "Wow that's amazing!!!!!".  So they decided to make the 4x2 a D series for Duh and the 4x4 a W series for Wow.  This is a true story it happened in the early eighties.    I heard it from a friend of a friend of a friend who also bought a jeep in a crate back in the forties.

 

The D and W series all started at the chrysler proving grounds in Auburn Hills Michigan. They were testing a 4x2 truck and 4x4 truck in the off road course next to the headquarters. The Hill climb was done first by the 4x2 and it was stuck immediately, so the technician called the head engineer and told him the results and the engineer responded "Duh its two wheel drive". The 4x4 did the hill climb easily, actually it was the best in the history of dodge trucks. The technician called the same engineer and told them the results and the engineer responded "Wow that's amazing!!!!!". So they decided to make the 4x2 a D series for Duh and the 4x4 a W series for Wow. This is a true story it happened in the early eighties. I heard it from a friend of a friend of a friend who also bought a jeep in a crate back in the forties.

That explanation right there is good enough for me!

 

Well I have to say I am impressed. Chrysler Historical got right back with me this afternoon. Here is the reply:

Hello Lanty,

The "D" and "W'" series goes back to 1957. "D" meant 2 wheel drive and "W" meant 4 wheel drive. These were just engineering initials. We also had the "A" series which were the 1964-1970 A100 and A108 compact vans and pick-ups. The "B" series were our full size vans from 1971 to 2003. There was no other meaning than just a quick identification of the model/drive. I hope this helps.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Danielle Szostak-Viers

Historical Services

CIMS 410-11-21

12501 Chrysler Freeway

Detroit, MI 48288

So there it is, basically no significance other than what they put to it. Right from the horse's mouth, as it were.