You Opinions Please!

[Bob B.]

This ought to be good: What do you guys think of '67-'72 FORD trucks? I have one in my driveway right now (temporary, of course!). It's a '69 F-250 Ranger Camper Special with a 390. Belongs to a friend's old man, I am doing some brake and steering work on it. Truck is pretty clean and orginal. If you ask me, it's kind of lame. the 390 is a great engine, and this one runs good. The 'Twin-I-Beam' front end is hard to work on, handles bad, and is good at wearing out front tires. Cab has more leg room than a Chevy or GMC, but the instrument cluster is small and poorly laid out. A/C is a hang-on type, and doesn't work near as well as a factory Chevy/GMC setup. The bed sides are double wall only halfway up, and the seems like to rust. These trucks did come with disc brakes. I would rather have a same year Dodge!

[flashed]

I like them ,saw a one ton 69 flatbed ford today that that looked nice .

[67_C-30]

I've got a '71, and it has been a part of my family since the 70's. My granddad drove it 78 miles round trip commute to and from work from 1979 to 2002 when he retired. The truck has 357,000 miles on it, and the only thing it had done to the engine was a head gasket he and I changed in 1993. It has a 240 6 cyl 3 speed. It has a terrible bottom end knock at the first startup of the day, but it only started doing that about 150,000 miles ago! You're right though, the front end is terrible, and even when totally rebuilt, it doesn't come close to a Chevy. The trucks have pretty clean lines, and SWB's look nice, but I wouldn;t go out and buy one. Paw Paw gave this one to me because he and I had worked on it some, and its kinda like part of the family. I drive it every once in a while, and use it around my land. We started calling it "spot" when we were kids for obvious reasons!

[factorystock]

I always liked the 67 thru 72 camper specials,a good traditional truck design. But the 73 thru 79 looked too bulky and wide. Here is a 68 F 250, these trucks were available with power front disc brakes.They did like to run Ford twin I beam trucks in baja off road races with great sucess.

[oldblue1968chevy]

my bud has a 69 lwb 360 3ott its his gpaws hopin he works on it this summer i still give him crap about it

[jojo]

I like those old fords, they are almost always up on craigslist around these parts. I prefer the long bed fords. I like the dodges too though. Theres a guy whos been trying to sell a '69 dodge short bed for months (on craigslist) for like $1700. If I had the money, I'd pick that one up for sure.

I guess I like all these old trucks. What can I say

[kgt]

Wait....let me check the top of this thread....yup i am in the right place...then why is there a ferd contaminating my fav. website....??????....lol...

kidding...I wouldn't be caught dead in one, i would rather be nice to my mother in law..lol..

[67ChevyRedneck]

Love 'em. I saw quite a few at the Charlotte Autofair this past weekend.

[vectorit]

I like the body lines, and the overall look of those Fords.

Hate the twin I beam.
Hate the steering ratio.
Hate the gauges.
Engines bug me for all kinds of reasons.

But, they are still good trucks. Just need to be a fanatic to really love em.

[Bob B.]

factorystock, this truck is a twin to the one in the picture you posted! There is an all-original '70 short 'Styleside' (that's Ford-speak for Fleetside) down my street that does look pretty good. They are harder to restore than a Chevy/GMC. Not near as many parts around, not as many re-pops either.

[special-K]

Well,they`re pretty nice trucks but they don`t come even close to comparing to 67-72 GMs.GM built a better truck in those years and the proof is in the puddin`.That`s why the Ford guys ate up the rust issue of the 73-77s.Fact is,the 67-72 Fords rot faster and worse than 67-72 GMs.The V8s were antiquated.GM got it right in`55 after waiting long enough for perfection.The Big 3 all built great sixes.I think Dodge built the truckiest truck in this era due to it being a`61 design and retaining solid beam front end.I``d hate to see the alignment specs on a Twin I Beam after Baja!! I guess you can scrub a tire farther on the dirt and spend a lot of air time.It was a mistake on the road and Ford never admitted it.
Ford`s motto back then:Ford,the Better Idea.
Mine for GM:GM,the Best Idea.

[Shyguy]

My dad always liked f*rds better so I grew up with them around. He use to haul them and Mercurys out of the St. Louis area when I was a kid. I guess to some of you it would be ancient times.

My first vehicle was a 56 lwb stepper and over the years I have owned a few older ones.

The 67-72 f*rd trucks never caught my interest, looked to much alike.

When I went out on my own in the mid 60's I started liking GMs better because of the styling, reliability and ease of working on.

Danny

[Hubscrub]

They Make Good Scrap Metal....................................really though they are not too bad looking but if i have to own one it will have a chevy running gear

[Rob H.]

I've driven both over the years, I like the look of the Fords and I even like the way the ride and drive. I drove a 69 that a friend owned from Tennessee to NE Kentucky once, I hated the fact you had to scrunch down to see the gauges. I've had alot of Fords over the years and the twin I beam always sucked! Then in 1980 to make things worse they put the twin traction beam on the 4x4s, which made them eat tires. Definately not a better idea. So after all these years of having Fords, now you see why I had to come back to my favorites, the 67-72 GM's!

[Boog]

I have often heard it said that on a quiet night you can actually hear Fords rusting away.

[sanford66]

My dad had a 72 ford 1/2 ton sport custom for years. You guys are right about the twin i-beam front end, they do suck!! The steering box felt loose and there was a lot of play in the steering. The old 390 kept bending pushrods too! I would never own one. Joseph

[PowerPro]

I hate the 390... just try to replace intake manifold gaskets on one once. I'll never work on another one.

I bought my Chevy cause I love the looks and it's easy to work on. I hate the F*rd for the exact opposite reason.

[factorystock]

I appreciate any make clean original vehicle. An person who has been around and is honest, will know all vehicles have some advantages and disadvantages. The Ford usually appeals to truck people with its design and features. Chevy usually appealed to the lighter end of the market with more car like features.In the world of rough use, construction trucks, ambulances ,rental trucks, Fords usually got the sales. If your into personal street performance, with more carlike styling,Chevy is usually your choice.By the way, the reason the 67-68 Chevy pickup hood disappeared in 1969, is because Chevy wanted their trucks to look more bolder and truck like.Going even further back, Chevy put torsion bar front ends in their large trucks in 1960, by 1963 they went back to the traditional I beam front end. Ask yourself, would you take your '68 Chevy pickup on a high speed off road race with a ball joint front end or a '68 Ford with king pins?.

[jdfarmer]

i own both a 72 chevy c10 and a 69 ford f100. I like them both for different reasons. You can hate on the twin I beam all you want, but ford did away with it for economic reasons. It still is a great ifs system.


Keith

btw i have mentioned this site at a ford site for those who enjoy another flavor, so if you are interested in 67-72 fords check out fordification.com not my web site just a place of good info

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by Bob B.

What do you guys think of '67-'72 FORD trucks?

F ound
O n
R oad
D ead

[1968bigblock]

Found
on
road
dead
..........

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by factorystock

I appreciate any make clean original vehicle. An person who has been around and is honest, will know all vehicles have some advantages and disadvantages. The Ford usually appeals to truck people with its design and features. Chevy usually appealed to the lighter end of the market with more car like features.In the world of rough use, construction trucks, ambulances ,rental trucks, Fords usually got the sales. If your into personal street performance, with more carlike styling,Chevy is usually your choice.By the way, the reason the 67-68 Chevy pickup hood disappeared in 1969, is because Chevy wanted their trucks to look more bolder and truck like.Going even further back, Chevy put torsion bar front ends in their large trucks in 1960, by 1963 they went back to the traditional I beam front end. Ask yourself, would you take your '68 Chevy pickup on a high speed off road race with a ball joint front end or a '68 Ford with king pins?.

I can say that the door hinges and swinging tailgate latch seems to be a much better design that our Chevy/GMC's.

You may have point about off road race, but as far as on the street (where I drive mine) the Chevy is WAYY better. Not even close. The engines (at least the V8's without any doubt) are far superior as well.

[Stano]

...

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by Stano

Hi my name is stan and I have a problem...I own a ferd. Actually I have been a hater of fords since I was a kid. Everyone I had experiences with from family to friends has been not good. Well in 2004 my wife and I bought a 01 Expedition. It was not out of love but we needed 4x4 tow capabilities and haul our new set of twins that were on the way as well as our older daughter. I preffered suburbans and tahoes but were way out of our price range for same year and options. I was only interested in it because it didnt have the same ol crap the older fords I had dealt with over the years closer to gm technology you might say. Long,short arm torsion bar ifs front suspension, new modular style engine 5.4 drove good rode good hauls trailer good and not bad off road either. Only repairs I have had to do since we bought it then has been oil changes oil pressure sensor and tires. Only on second set in 6 years. I wouldn't buy another one cause I think I got the only good one. LOL I think fords products have improved greatly in the past 10 or so years. I have worked on alot of them. Still preffer good ol chevies though.

Just don't let that 5.4 go too long between plug changes and don't let the timing chains get too worn. The plugs are notorious for breaking off in the head (Ford techs even have a special removal tool to get these out at about a 60% rate of success) and if the timing jumps (which is not uncommon at all) bye-bye motor. They are an interference design that pretty much swallows itself if something goes wrong in the valvetrain. My friend that owns a mechanic shop describes them as a disposable engine, and he's a Ford guy!

[Cdshinne]

drove my 70 f-100 to the bait store then fishing hole today with the standard shift and original 360! So you know I'm going to have nothing but good things to say about those old fords... well except the bed seems to be getting wider, tailgate is getting skinnier, and the doors rattle like crazy but she is ford

I do love the old truck tho!