@@ericrombouts7698 the reliability thing is kind of hit and miss. I’ve got an 06 Silverado with 790,000 on the original drivetrain. Nothing but fluid changes and wear and tear parts being replaced. I also have a 2015 that has about 200,000 that’s just now starting to have a few problems. But all you hear about now from gm is the millions of recalls. Thousands and thousands of trucks blowing engines or rear ends or transmissions only weeks after buying them. Pretty sad.
Not true at all but I still love many of the old trucks. Easier to work on and a bit tougher but no way am I ever going to take an F 150 from 2000 over a 2023
I’m sorry you missed out on getting that as your graduation gift instead. That would have probably still been in the family today, eh? Enjoy the memories of the ol gal! I see them around here in the farmland areas on occasion, still doing work. Gotta love living outside the rust belt for the prolonged lifespan of your truck frames. 😆
Use to drive my 1975 f250 4x4 from Ca to Colorado,four wheel everywhere and back home again full of deer and elk . What a pickup ,I still miss it . I think the Ford F-250 from late 60s to 77 was the best looking truck ever made ❤️👍
My dad bought a 77 f-250 highboy brand new. When I turned 16, that's what I got to drive. Now it's mine & I have people trying to buy it all the time. I would love to have 2-3 more just like it!
Right on, Brotha! I always think of the idiot fools that purchased GM pickups back in that era. How stupid can men be to not physically see the obvious difference between a Ford TRUCK and a GM PICKUP! GM's were for the girls and the boys that sit when they pee! Lol
My dad's first truck was a 1977 F250 (1st half last of the highboys). He gave it to me as a father-son project since it was no longer running, and we were able to get it back on the road again. It remains my favorite vehicle to drive. 🤠
love the old highboys, when my dad was alive he had 5 of them at once. All ranging from 360s to 460s. My favorite was his 76 green one on 44s and a 390.
@@tomjoad8272 I'm not a fan because of the extra U joints. The benefit is you have a less extreme angle on the front drive shaft and the transfer case can be lowered if the truck has a lift kit, Without lowering the engine and transmission.. The front axle pinion is too low for my taste though
After I finish my 94 Chevy, my next project is a 1973 f250 highboy with a 360, C6 and divorced NP205. I'll probably replace the closed knuckle HD Dana 44 front axle.
you will be paying big bucks for a highboy d60. they have a narrow frame and the leaf spring mounts are wayyyyy different. honestly just buy dana 44 stuff from yokon and it will be fine. a all stock 44 will run 40 inch tires.
Years ago my mom lived on a farm in Kentucky where there resided a black shortbed Ford F250. It had been there since new in 1975. 8 lug wheels, check. Cast iron t-case seperate, check. Granny low 4 speed manual, check. Mud tires, yup. It even had farm plates since new in 1975. Time i got around to driving it the thing was not really road worthy but I'll tell you what it was Always Off Road worthy. We even pulled the stuck tractor out with that truck once. 2 funny stories about that truck... First one was the right rear spark plug broke off years ago and was tough to get to. Eventually it got stuck in the cyl head so it just stayed that way, 7 cyl 351 cleveland. Second one was every year when i went down we would cut either firewood or cedar for fence posts. The common theme was "dont bust out the back window" when loading wood in the back of that truck. There was no headache rack and no slicer just a one piece. Every year..."don't..." then SMASH.. Window got broke so many times and not once was it my fault. Last time i was down there that window never did get replaced. Truck either went under the new barn or you had a wet seat. Winter a/c too.
Divorced T-cases make overdrive trans swaps so cheap and easy it’s almost a crime not to do it. Nobody wants a 2wd ZF-5 or NV4500 these days, you can get one darn cheap and have a sweet pickup that’ll move down the road at speeds that keep up with modern traffic.
I didn't hear any mention of the front axle on a real 'Highboy' will be a low pinion. There's a crossmember on the front of the frame that's visible under the front bumper and there's a crossmember the 'Highboy' has that if you've ever tried to install headers you would have to contend with. Kinda hate to be that guy but here I go.. 'Highboy' is a pet name. Nobody really called it a highboy until after the 78 version came out and that was to seperate it from the 78 and on 'lowboy'.
I have 1977 identical to this one with the divorce transfer case and 8 lug wheels my great uncle bought new has 40k miles he parked it in 1985 and it sat basically til I inherited it a couple years ago
@ricochetey you totally missed the point. Build one, to find one and restore, as my '76 divorced transfer case f250 was. And I built a '69 390 with four barrel and nitrous, 35 inch BF's yes build one.
I’m 65 now. Ever since 1975 I wanted a F250 hi-boy. In 76 I got a 250 brand new but only 2WD because that is all I could afford. I only kept it a year because no traction in Michigan winter. I don’t have a lot of regrets when it comes to material things - but for almost 50 years not getting the 4x4 high boy at that time is a regret. The 1977 models changed suspension and no longer highboys. They kept leaf springs on the front but inverted more like GM models of the time.
That "divorced" T-case necessitated a factory 4" lift for clearance hence the "highboy" moniker. I was unaware of the 8 lugs wheels though, that it good to know
nice one! have a 75 with 130 original. ha thousand. noticed the coil conversion. been looking at that though I have no real reason since all is tight. got it from a friend who bought it new and put a camper on it and took his wife to park's and such. never been off-road though it is a full time 4×4 which means it's been in 4wheel drive since inception. have the big hub locks to put on and needs the transfer conversion to quit spinning the front unnecessarily. changed the 360 to a 390 from mom's 68 galaxy 500 and now it's really happy. ps I would entertain selling at a ridiculous price of course. heck has the original carpet with no holes. it's the solid green metallic 1975f250 xlt ranger.
IIRC, they also had a narrow frame compared to other F series trucks. Enough so that a standard bed wouldn't line up on the mounting points, and vice versa. Had to give frane and floor mount spacing to DVAP, !when when looking for a replacement bed for my 73.
The other acceptable answer to this question is the greatest trucks ever made! Nothing I want more in life than a 76 crew with supped up 7.3 and a ZF6👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
A 76 F350 would be 2 wheel drive, that wouldn’t be a HiBoy. If you have a 76 HiBoy then it was a factory F250. The only and all HiBoy’s were 1967 - 1977 F250 4x4 trucks
@@warrenmcelroy4718 Correct, but two different body styles. 1967 - 1972 Bump Sides and 1973 - 1977 Dent Sides. 1978 and 1979 Ford trucks were Dent Sides, but no High Boy F250s.
@@15Jeep the body style doesn’t matter, the running gear is what makes a HiBoy which is why I said 67-77, and I’m fully aware the 78/79 trucks weren’t HiBoys which again is why I said 67-77… although the F250 suspension design changed halfway through 77 so there are some 77 model year F250’4x4’s out there that aren’t HiBoys
@@warrenmcelroy4718 I realize the body style is not a determining factor. I was simply adding to what you stated. I am aware of the criteria that determines the "High Boy" characteristics of Ford F250 4WD trucks. The NP205 being 'divorced' from the NP435 or C6...including some other details.
Im glad you posted this. I have had my 77 f250 "highboy" for 20 years now and i always wondered why it was listed that way and why i kept calling it that. But know i know it is indeed a true highboy and why.
One of the things that make a divorced transfer case what it is, is the short drive shaft between the output shaft of the transmission to the input shaft of the transfer case!
If it's been sitting outside without running for any length of time, get ready... it's gonna need a lot of money and elbow grease. If it's been outside, condensation may have gotten to the motor. My 79 w/400 had pitting on the push rods really bad. I bent and broke one so I had to shorten a jeep 4.0 9⅝" push rod by an eighth inch and weld it back together and it works... I also had to put in a new fuel tank, fuel hoses, timing set, all the engine gaskets, and that's just a fraction of things I've had to do for it. I only dug it out of the weeds 4 months ago and it's still taking my money. Just did the timing set and gaskets and pushrod over the weekend. Only gave 1200 for it though. Probably have 2k in it now and still have to get another set of tires because the cheap Walmart Goodyear wranglers that sat in the bed for two years broke the belts and its dangerous to drive over 40mph now, so needless to say, get a decent set of tires with a 10 ply rating
Our farm truck forEVER (like at least 30 years) was a 76 highboy with a 351, 4-speed, and (if I remember correctly) front and rear Dana 60s. It was an awesome truck that always went where we needed it, pulled big trees out of the woods for firewood, pulled other trucks and equipment out of creeks and mudholes, just awesome.
@@Kevin.W. Oh, it had been through more than one engine and I think more than one transmission. It was a farm truck, not all that nice, used all its life. I'm sure it was a factory 360, I didn't know that about them. It was a 351 from at least the early 90s til it met its maker in 2007 or so.
My gramps had a green one. I was a small kid at the time and it felt like a monster truck climbing into it. Was a great wood hauler. Probably my favorite truck we ever had. My 77 dodge W250 was a super close 2nd for me. It was my 1st truck
1977 1/2 was the last f250 with the Dana 60 strait front axle. High boy was just a factory lift. Such a joke to compare the 70's and 80's, or any years GM pickups to a Ford truck. GM's were for girls that were easily impressed with a cool looking dash, but were too stupid to look underneath and notice the difference in durability! Lol
Also the frame was more narrow. Ford used the frame from the F350, which was also the reason the earlier ones had the tank behind the seat because they wouldn't fit between the frame rails
My old man had a highboy. He owned it for about 36 hours. Bought it from my grandpa on Saturday night and got t boned driving to work Monday morning. Totaled it. I only remember it was blue, and my dad loved it.
More leafs in front and more in rear and rear are narrower. Also frame is narrower, and there is a crossbar in front. And extra shock on steering cause it's a manual box with assisted steering. This can be changed a lot tho to a power box without the shock
I just dug one out of the weeds 4 months ago, got it running, drove it til it gave me problems and fixed nearly everything. Just put a timing set and new gaskets throughout. Bent a pushrod about a week ago. All of them are pitted from condensation and once I got the bent one out, I noticed it had a crack so I had to take a 9 ⅝" jeep 4.0 pushrod, shorten it an eighth inch, weld it back together... and what do ya know? It runs good now
My dad had a parts bin 76. Last few years of highboy Ford threw whatever axles, transfercase, cladding, etc… at whatever. My old mans had explorer and ranger badging appearance package pieces and cladding.
My 1972 Highboy was stolen back in May 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. Someone hauled it off a week before closing on property I sold. It sat there undisturbed since 2003. Yes, it was in rough shape but that truck had my fingerprints all over it. Even inside the divorced transfer case. I was going to haul it to Michigan but covid set that plan back. I miss my truck.
The frame was straight behind the cab like a one ton chassis it has brackets that hold the front bumper on as the 150 and 250 standard the front bumper mounted directly on the front frame. The rear leaf springs were 2 in wide and more of them like a one ton duel wheel truck and had leaf springs on the front several other different parts had 2 both 4.56 Detroit locker axle would handle a big load or pull a very large trailer but were gas guzzling 73 was 360 powered the 76 was 351 m it was a little odd as it was a XLT two tone brown with lite tan insert and brown inter no ac had power steering and brakes
highboys are factory lifted 4x4 versions of 3/4 and possibly 1/2 ton (i don’t know for sure i’m not exactly a ford guy) older model ford pickups, and they sit higher compared to their 2wd and regular 4wd cousins, with beefier tires and the option of a big block and an manual, definitely a fun truck to drive and own, my grandpa had a 75 cab and a half f350 non dually 4x4 and it had a built 460 and the 3 on the tree, which was changed to 4 on the floor after an accident and it being used as a logging truck for a cedar sawmill in northern arkansas, truck was completely redone, repainted in numbers matching colors and seats reupholstered with factory leather, sad thing to see it go due to cab rot and the roof caving in
It confused me to. In most trans/transfer case situations the rear shaft goes directly into a transfercase a divorced - there’s a stub shaft from the transmission to the transfer case
A kid in high school had one of these back in like 2001. Custom flame paint job, just a beautiful truck. Well he rolled it and totaled it. His first truck was similar without the fancy paint and he rolled that one too. What a shame.
I believe that”Highboys” came with New Process 203 full time transfer cases as well as New Process 205 part time transfer cases. They also have narrower frames than 2 wheel drive F250- 350s. I have 2 of the 1976’s, one I bought new and it came with a 360 and automatic transmission with the 203 full time transfer case. The other one I rescued from a farmers field in Orr Minnesota. It’s got a 390 with a 4 speed transmission with the 205 transfer case. Unfortunately mine don’t look as nice as this one does. Also have a 1975 F150 4x4 and a 1977 F150 4x4. That’s enough projects to keep me busy and broke for the rest of my life .😂
Another one that can't exactly be changed or added on, highboys have a 3 inch narrower frame from non highboys along with highboys have a crossmember that is I believe welded to the frame that you should be able to see without climbing under the truck
Well theres a few other things factory lifted you can tell by hiw the mount the axle housing to the springs the other things is there was only a few years during the early to mid 70's 3/4 ton f250.
