While trolling on craigslist I found a listing for a 7 hole Ford rim.
7 LUG Ford Rims W 256/75/15 Tires Set of 3 $100 (Tenino) What truck would they fit?

 

97 Slope Nose F250. The true odd duck of the 'larger' trucks. Tried to fill the delivery boy gap. Did not do so well.

 

Concur. Epic fail.... what was Ford thinking?

 

1997/99 Light Duty F250.
1997 was the 1st year for the New Body style F150 also. Ford has never said, but from what I understand they were real nervous as to how John Q. Public was going to accept the radical new body. Pickups are Ford's bread and butter. If sales dropped on them drastically Ford would have been hurting big time. So they wanted to keep the old body style for a year to help blend the new body style in to main stream U.S.A. Why Ford chose 7 lugs is a mystery. To help differentiate the light duty new body style F250 from the heavy duty old body style F250 I guess. 1998 was an even more weird year. In that "year", not "model year", but the 1998 year, Ford produced all three F250's. L.D. 7 lug F250, H.D 8 lug F250 in the very beginning, and the 1999 F250 Super Duty. I personally have never ran across one of these 1998 H.D 8 lug F250's. They got to be rare as hen's teeth.

 

Supposition on my part, but it has all the looks of bean-counter nip and tuck.
1. Use last years dies until they need maintenance, then retire them.
2. Squeeze every penny you can out of it. I bet the 7 lug parts were a whole nickle cheaper in bulk. But like you said, an easy way to differentiate at the parts counter, especially because it was the old chassis.
3. Target the most budget minded market sector you know of: Small Fleet.
These things were strippers. The least of everything. This is what business would opt for if a van was too big or if you didn't want the chemicals in the cabin with you like pest control. Did they only come in Fleet White? Every one I have ever seen has been white.

 

Parts and service guys didn't like the looks of the 1997/03 F150's with their drooping snouts. Didn't like the looks of the 1980/86 F100/350's & Bronco's either.

Stubby front end and slanted headlights looked like 1977/81 Courier's (that were "rebadged" Mazda's).

 

So are you saying there was an 8 lug pickup in the 98 model year? I've actually seen a few of the 7 lug F-150 body style but always thought there was no 98 Model year for the "real" F250-350

 

Yes, there were 1998 F-250/350's and the USAF bought a lot of them as CC's and in 4wd. The US government purchases materials and aircraft by fiscal year appropriations which starts October 1 of the previous calendar year. The USAF gives each vehicle a unique serial number starting with the FY number whether it is an aircraft or a bulldozer. My USAF squadron in Alaska had at least 8 of them, all 4wd CC's in USAF Strato Blue. They were also used around the missile sites. You will find a lot of them surplus around military bases.

 

The SD came out in 98 as a 99 model, aside from the holdover OBS trucks.
The F250LD became the F150 7700 (7700lbs GVW) until 2003 when it went away. That kept the seven lug wheels, then from 2004 they went to a six lug pattern.

 

So actually they were just 97 or 99 model year trucks that were manufactured in 98 so that's what the government calls them? I've owned a few old military trucks over the years and their data plate often runs in the face of what seems correct. I want to assume the data plate is made and affixed by the agency after they take delivery.

 

WB, the Ford model year starts in October and ends in September of the next year. Ford built F-250/350's starting in October 1997. Ford quit producing the old body style in December, 1997. The Super Duty production started January 5, 1998 as a 1999 model. The Federal Government allows an early start for model introductions. The US military is not the only large purchaser of trucks as the Forest Service and BLM also buy trucks. Jeff can post the consecutive unit numbers for the 1998 model year as proof straight from Ford itself.

 

I've never been asked to do this and therefore don't know where to go to do it. I would have assumed somewhere on FMC Dealer but don't see there where I can. The funny thing is, Ford does not have any parts cataloged for a 1998 F250H.D./350. I originally posted it above because I remember you and I were in a discussion about them in the past. Ford's computer catalog only shows the F250 L/D. But you've seen them.

 

One never knows what one will find in an out-of-date catalog, example: 1990/2001 Light Truck on microfiche:

F4TZ-16054-A (replaced F2TZ-16054-A) Right & F4TZ-16055-A (replaced F2TZ-16055-A) Left .. Front Fender Aprons

Two of the multiple applications: 1994/98 F350 & 1997/98 F250 H/D

 

That's one of the beauties of the old books and microfishe. 1st they have old info that obviously Ford deleted at some time. But more important, they show multiple years for a given number. I, using the Ford computer, have to give it car, lt.truck, or medium duty truck. Then a Specific Year. In this case of 1998, my computer goes F150, F250 (L.D), then F53 RV etc. chassis. Skips F250 H.D. and F350. Not even there to click on. Where as in the 1997 year it shows F150, F250, F350, F53. If I click on F250 and then add in a basic, like say 16005, it shows me the whole part number for the fenders on both L.D and H.D. F250's.
So I believe Rich. I just can't prove it looking up the application in my Ford computer software. I wonder if Ford only made them for a short time for fleets like the Air Force?

 

Thanks Jeff and ND for putting to bed this old myth. I knew that Ford couldn't shut down their factories for three months without it being big news, so they would have produced trucks during the three months to pay the bills until the SD started production.