Any Ford truck experts?

[RustyRatRod]

I have had this 75 F250 now for approaching a year. I have learned a lot about them in that time. I had one before about 20 plus years ago and always wanted another one.

I know this isn't a Mopar, but maybe some of you will find this interesting. Maybe someone can answer my question.

This one is an F250 Camper Special with a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of 8100 pounds. The more I dig, the more I am beginning to think I may have somewhat of an anomaly.

I have the original certicard, which clearly says it is an "F253". I did some research and sure enough, they were technically classified from F250 all the way to F259 depending on their GVWR and whether they were 4WD.

Mine is the absolute heaviest rating that you could get an F250 2WD in. In fact, it has a higher GVWR than a LOT of F350s did.

I am running into for instance, the coil spring dilemma. Nowhere can I find 8100 pound coil springs for an F250. I have to jump up to an F350 to find a listing.

It's an interesting truck for sure. Although the original engine (360) is gone, it has a transplanted 351M. I spoke with the original owner's wife, as he is deceased and she verified they had the engine replaced as "something went wrong" with the other one. Everything else is original to the truck.

T18 4 speed with the extra low first gear. Dana 60 with 3.73 gears. Large front AND rear factory sway bars. Dual piston front calipers. It's a beast of a 3/4 ton truck.

Here is my question if someone might know. ....and this is simply out of curiosity, not that I think it's "worth this or that" cause I don't plan on selling it. I am just wondering how rare this thing is?

I mean......"I" would have just bought an F350. Certainly the truck is more capable of a lot of F350s from it's era since the GVWR is higher than a lot of them.

I even talked to one of the older guys at the local Ford dealer. He said that this truck was referred to as a "3/4 ton truck on a 1 ton chassis"......and I have heard of that before.

I find this kinda stuff interesting, whether it's mine or somebody else's. It's always cool to look back at how they did stuff back then.

Anybody got any ideas? Just pondering on another sleepless night. Thank you drive through.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I also found this, which shows the difference in the upper spring pockets on the heavier trucks like mine (on the bottom) and the lighter ones on top. Pretty drastic difference.

 

[dozer556]

The F250, F251, F252, F253, F254, F255, F256, F257, F258 & F259 were 3/4 ton 2WD trucks. The F260, F261, F262, F263, F264, F265 & F266 were 3/4 ton 4WD trucks.

The GVWRs for the models were as follows (per the Ford Pickup Truck Red Book, I don't know why some models are not listed):

F-251 6,900
F-252 7,500
F-253 8,100
F-255 7,800
F-256 6,350
F-257 6,600
F-260 6,500
F-261 7,100
F-262 7,700
F-263 7,100
F-264 7,700
F-350 6,600
F-351 8,000
F-353 8,350
F-354 9,000
F-356 10,000
F-358 9,300

According to the Red Book, Ford cranked out 177,220 F-250s of various flavors in 1975. Leaving out the 4WDs, they made 86,106 standard cab Stylesides and 29,622 SuperCabs. I couldn't find a breakdown that went further than that (i.e., specific model figures).

So your heavy F-253 might not be a one-off, but I'm guessing it's probably pretty uncommon, given the production figures and attrition rate.

Cool truck, regardless. There are probably not very many of them left on the road today.

 

[ramenth]

I've got a light duty F250 with a 7500# rating and a 300 inline. Grandad bought it new and I've had the truck, personally, for over 20 years.

If you're looking for spring rates on the front, from everything I've read on 'em the front coils weren't rated on GVW, they were rated for the engine weight. That's from what I understand on how to purchase them.

A 460's coils, on the same GVW as my truck, was rated higher than what my 300 has.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Hay thanks. Oh hell, I know it's far from a one off......that's a hoot. Not really where I was goin. LOL

But yeah, in my trucks configuration, the F253 was the largest......standard cab, 2WD, 8100 GVWR. The WIKI article doesn't go any farther breaking it down. Where can I find this here "Red Book"?

The F250, F251, F252, F253, F254, F255, F256, F257, F258 & F259 were 3/4 ton 2WD trucks. The F260, F261, F262, F263, F264, F265 & F266 were 3/4 ton 4WD trucks.

The GVWRs for the models were as follows (per the Ford Pickup Truck Red Book, I don't know why some models are not listed):

F-251 6,900
F-252 7,500
F-253 8,100
F-255 7,800
F-256 6,350
F-257 6,600
F-260 6,500
F-261 7,100
F-262 7,700
F-263 7,100
F-264 7,700
F-350 6,600
F-351 8,000
F-353 8,350
F-354 9,000
F-356 10,000
F-358 9,300

According to the Red Book, Ford cranked out 177,220 F-250s of various flavors in 1975. Leaving out the 4WDs, they made 86,106 standard cab Stylesides and 29,622 SuperCabs. I couldn't find a breakdown that went further than that (i.e., specific model figures).

So your heavy F-253 might not be a one-off, but I'm guessing it's probably pretty uncommon, given the production figures and attrition rate.

Cool truck, regardless. There are probably not very many of them left on the road today.

 

[j par]

I think the value of the truck would be heavily swayed by where it's being sold ? I'm sure down there in Georgia all you need to do is put a rebel flag sticker in the back window and you'd have rednecks banging down your doors to get the damn thing away from you! Lol up here in liberal Oregon that same rebel flag would probably get you shot at! Lol it's always supply and demand. My friend and I looked at a 72 or 73 a few months ago for about $5000 I think it was. The guy really didn't know anything about cars or trucks and the body was an absolute great condition and it was the extra cab the first year of the extra cab so that should tell you what year it was. Around here we look for things 74 or older so we don't have to go through D.E. screw (D.E.Q.) or have to deal with catastrophic converters. It was an F 250 and the body was in probably the best condition I've seen a truck of that vintage in that hadn't been restored but the drivetrain was pretty toasted and needed to be gone through so we didn't feel it was worth 5 grand at least here in Oregon. As a side note he ended up buying a 73 Chevy Suburban in perfect running condition for $1000.
Another side note: would anybody really try and put that much weight in the truck to see if the old bird would still do it? Doubtfully, it's more of a collectors item at this point.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Well, as usual, you missed the point. I said nothing of value. But thanks for your "input". lol

 

[ntsqd]

Per a friend of mine:
"the Ford Pickup Red Book was published by Classic Motorbooks about 20-25 years ago and it's long out of print. I believe the author is Peter Sessler. "

I've had Fords a lot longer than Mopars and this is all news to me. Interesting thread!

AND if the brakes & running gear are in good shape and I needed to move that much weight I'd use that truck. I see no issue with doing so.

 

[aaadave]

I know one thing, you got a hoss of a truck. I had a 69 camper special, I believe you could have carried a full size car in it lol. wished a thousand times I would have kept that thing. as far as the 360 goes, your better off without it. mine had one, and although it was a good engine, it was a complete dog and milage was around 8 or 9 at best. I finally put a Cleveland in it and power went way up as did the milage. even pulled a jd 350 dozer with it awhile. dave.

 

[ntsqd]

In KA (no idea about anywhere else), one tons fall into a different set of rules. They have to have the cab clearance lights for instance. Don't know if a "heavy" 3/4t would have to as well, i.e. rules based on actual GVW, or not.

With a 351M in there you've got the big block bellhousing so a 400 is a bolt-in. Same everything as the 351M except for the crank's stroke, 4" vs. 3.50" With a decent and appropriate cam, timed correctly, it will pull as hard or harder than a 460 (3.85" stroke) w/o the mileage penalty of those extra cubes. Other than originality and probably some weight there's no loss in the FE 360 being gone.

 

[bighammer]

Curious Rob, does your pick up have the extra long wheelbase?

 

[dozer556]

Per a friend of mine:
"the Ford Pickup Red Book was published by Classic Motorbooks about 20-25 years ago and it's long out of print. I believe the author is Peter Sessler. "

I've had Fords a lot longer than Mopars and this is all news to me. Interesting thread!

AND if the brakes & running gear are in good shape and I needed to move that much weight I'd use that truck. I see no issue with doing so.

Peter Sessler did a lot of the Red Books for Motorbooks International, but this one is still available.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0879387890/?tag=fabo03-20

 

[RustyRatRod]

Curious Rob, does your pick up have the extra long wheelbase?

No. That was only available on the F350. It was called the Super Camper Special.

 

[RustyRatRod]

In KA (no idea about anywhere else), one tons fall into a different set of rules. They have to have the cab clearance lights for instance. Don't know if a "heavy" 3/4t would have to as well, i.e. rules based on actual GVW, or not.

With a 351M in there you've got the big block bellhousing so a 400 is a bolt-in. Same everything as the 351M except for the crank's stroke, 4" vs. 3.50" With a decent and appropriate cam, timed correctly, it will pull as hard or harder than a 460 (3.85" stroke) w/o the mileage penalty of those extra cubes. Other than originality and probably some weight there's no loss in the FE 360 being gone.

I have a warm 400 short block already assembled. Gotta get heads done. But this 351M runs fantastic, so I am in no hurry. Especially now since I finally got the intake oil leak fixed. This one has to be approaching 20 MPG. I drive it everyday and can go 7 solid days on a tank.

 

['73red-duster]

If that 351 is running good, I'd stick with it. I've had 2 400M's, and they pulled good, but mpg really sucked. 3/4 ton, two wheel drive, on a good day might have got 12 mpg.

 

[MOPARMITCH]

Rob. I found out that my 92 D250 Cummins truck has many 1 ton parts on it. Particularly the suspension stuff on the rear. And It has a 4000 lb front suspension , but it is 2wd.Happy when I found out I basically had a 3/4 badged 1 ton truck. I did do a 390 engine for my brother in laws 72 F100 4x years ago.