Hello all, I have been a forum stalker for some time, but now I am planning to do a restoration on my 1966 F250 4x4. A little history...

My great uncle worked at the San Jose, CA Ford plant and followed this truck down the assembly line, every detail. He passed it to my uncle in about 1974 and it remained with him until his death in 1992, my aunt kept it until 2012 and passed it to me (his favorite nephew, as well as his only nephew). It is sentimental and it needs work. It runs, but the engine has 186,000+.

The plan is to do a full restoration, but right now I am concerned with safety.

I really have one question right now, I want to swap the front end out, a Dana 44, with one of the 1970's front ends (coil suspension, disc brakes and power steering). I have read a lot of threads on here, but none seem to address the 1966 F250 4x4 specifically. Is there a year that will bolt right up? Or am I living a dream?

I really appreciate any help i can get. This thing is going to be a DD not a monster truck.

Thanks in advance!

 

Welcome aboard, glad you found your way in.

I am not a 4wd guy, so I might be off here but I believe your truck might be tied back to the pre 65 family and be harder to swap parts under than the 2wd trucks.

You might have to do a sheet metal swap to a newer chassis. That ol guy looks like it would ride like a buck board so you could even think about going to a 100 chassis.

4x4s have came a long way since then. Hope you can find a plan and get it to your liking.


John

 

Maybe I'm just strange, but I wouldn't change a friggin' thing on that truck.
Re do the brakes, maybe change it out to a double pot master cyl if it doesn't already have one and drive the crap out of it. It got 186,000 miles on it the way it is, if it's not chopped up, I wouldn't be the guy to chop it.
Then again, I've been driving straight axle trucks since the '60's, so the ride wouldn't bother me.

 

Thanks for the replies. My research has shown that you are likely right John, 1965-66 F250 4x4xs were odd years between the old and new. The truck is absolutely bone stock and is difficult to drive on my suburban neighborhood streets. Might have to bite the bullet and have a pro do it, my daughter loves this beast and my wife won't let her ride in it without some safety upgrades. Thanks again.

 

A '76 or '77 highboy front axle is easy to swap in and that would get you disc brakes. Add the booster, M/C, and proportioning valve off of the same truck and you will have great brakes.

Personally I would just rebuild all your brakes to brand new condition and install a booster, differential valve and dual master cylinder off of a '68 to '75 highboy.

 

I hope you do a full restoration on it rather than modify it. I drive both of my trucks all over the place and they still are bone stock with single master cylinder. I worry way more about someone rear-ending me than me ever rear-ending someone else, but I'm a careful driver.


These old trucks stopped fine with campers, trailers, loaded down so there shouldn't be a problem as long as the brakes are in good working order.









There were only 1,559 1966 F250 4x4 Styleside pickups made. How many are left? How many are original?


.

 

This is certainly an interesting topic. My only experience with Slicks is 66 2wds but I've had a couple of 4wd's. My last was a 97 Dodge diesel that drove pretty nice. It used a Dana 60 but many 4wds used Dana 40's. I didn't like the split front axle on my 91 Ford F250 because of a long turning radius. I may be wrong but Chevrolet used a fully independent front end. Seems like measuring the track width and position of driveline would be the first step. From there, finding the suspension that would be most compatible with your 66 4wd. The good news is that the lug bolt pattern is the same on most 3/4 tons.
Hopefully members who currently have later model 4wd's could supply measurements and pictures to identify possible candidates for a swap donor.
Many members will disagree but city driving and carrying a load thru difficult terrain pose different challenges. These old trucks have long stopping distances and stiff suspensions compared to their modern cousins. Adding Power steering and brakes are the "biggies, replacing worn steering components, changing the spring rates, different shocks, a sway bar, tires and even tire pressure will make dramatic improvements.

 

If anything I would leave it stock but I am a little biased in the 4wd drive arena myself. I might think about a front end from under say up to about 72 4wd as that would probably be pretty much a direct bolt on affair. I would also be looking for a little better gear in the later 44 something more like 4:10 to 3:50 if you plan on a daily driver. Im guessing you are probably turning the standard gear in your truck that was a 4:56 in the 3/4 ton in the early years. Just rebuild all the breaks replace all rubber lines as they will swell shut over the years. They do stop very well with everthing working like new but again the technology is what it is. I drive my 65 all over and it stops just fine. I also run a 3:56 gear an it is a very loveable intermediate gear for work or just driving. Welcome fellow 4wd owner and enjoy this site. Lots of helpful information here and people to help answer your questions. Good luck with that family 4x4 l will be watching your progress.

 

Yep, I can put a passengers nose in their lap if I get on the brakes in a quick stop. There is nothing wrong with drum brakes. My buddies 1966 F250 4x4 is approaching 500,000 miles and he still runs single master cylinder and drums all the way around.


.

 

Subscribed to this thread. I would think with the family history, originality, etc. of your truck you would want to keep it bone stock as much as possible. I am in the process of a resto-mod on my stock 64 F250 4X4. I started down the path of stock resto only to find too many issues for my liking with availability of axle parts on the original 4:56 Dana's in my truck. I wanted to get away form the 4:56 and go to 3:73 or 3:54 (which is where I ended up) but in order to do that the cost for changing the original axles was silly. And I do all my own work, so to pay someone else would be a non-starter (for me). So I still have my original axles end to end complete in storage, but went for later model swap. Anyway, you can see what I'm doing now on my build thread. I used a 77.5 non-highboy 4X4 as my donor truck, but I have leaf springs - I think your 66 has coils...Very nice truck you have, TA455HO and others make very good points about being able to drive these as stock trucks. Choose wisely my friend....

 

1966 F250 4x4 was leaf spring front suspension while the 1966 F100 4x4 SWB or LWB used coil springs up front.


It's easy to swap out the F100 4x4 with a later model F100 4x4 with disk brakes.


F250 has about the same challenges that you've run into. Probably easier and better to use a later model F250 leaf spring front end on the 1966 F250 - like 1976-1979.


.

 

My bad, I thought somewhere in there I saw he had an F100....I would have had to change carriers, get axles made, etc. to go form the 4:56 down to 3:54 or 3:73 so it just wasn't worth it. My frame, springs, etc. all remain same - for the moment. Will box the front section for the 77 power steering box. But other than that, it has not been a big deal (to me) swapping the later axles.

 

Up to about 73 the axle will be a bolt on job. You could find some in the 70s vintage running a more highway all around friendly gear. Later than that frames got wider and spring perches will probably have to be moved and or fabed up for later model axles to fit. Steering is done differently too. 1964 Fordtuf has probably studied up on that and can explain what might need to be done to make the switch. Im not looking to upgrade to disc breaks on either of mine so an early 70s will suit me just fine. Im leaning on upgrading my 63 to a later model axle that will be a bolt in when I get that far. Had my eye on a few 70s vintage frames but when I pulled the trigger to go get them they were gone. Both supposedly were turning 4:10 gears. Those are quite a bit more road friendly than that deep 4:56.

 

There are advantages to running the 77.5 - 79 non highboy axles - such as they are easier and less expensive to come by than the highboy trucks. To me, my personal opinion as a former shop owner and mechanic, the ball joint front axles are easier to deal with than the king pin type axles strictly from a parts availability and front end alignment stand point. The ball joint axles have caster / camber adjustments that can be made with offset upper sleeves. Nice if you want some extra miles out of those tires you just spent $200 each on...The front axles all the way up to 79 will line up with your front leafs. The rears you need to weld new spring perches on the rear axle (see my build thread) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ld-thread.html because the later trucks had a wider frame behind the cab. New perches cost $40.00 and its not a big job for a good welder to do it. And you don't have to strip out the entire axle to do it, thats a lot of baloney. Drain the diff and leave the cover off when welding, thats it...have fun, and good luck if you go this way.

 

X2

With 186,000 on the clock it is a pretty good bet that ALL the front end components are worn.
I would freshen everything that moves, from the trunion bearings to the tie rod ends.

As mentioned earlier a conversion to a dual master cylinder is one concession I would make for safety's sake. With an all new brake system these trucks worked just fine, even when towing.

There is no way these trucks will drive, handle or feel like a newer rig. With that being said however, when they were new the were a reasonably easy and comfortable truck to drive, but they were trucks.

Changing to a coil spring front suspension is a major task on your truck, not something a backyard mechanic should attempt, in my opinion. I would look at a body swap onto a newer chassis, if you are set on a coil spring conversion.
A front axle sway to a '75-'76 F-250 front end is pretty much a nut and bolt swap and it will give you a ball joint open knuckle front end with disc brakes. That might be an acceptable. compromise.

I understand you wanting to keep your '66 on the road and have a dependable rig. Perhaps a later truck would be a better choice for a daily driver, especially if there is a concern for occupant safety.

Good luck, and welcome to the site.