Chuck's Coleman doesn't have any outside badges, the first pic below, but I don't have pics of his cab interior. As I was cruzing through my file pics I did wonder if an F-350 Coleman might have the distinctive hub covers that are pictured on the '51 half ton below. The '55 Fabco had normal F-350 looking front hubs with their logo and the 6 x 7.25" exposed pattern. Stu

 

[QUOTE=NumberDummy;10328390]There is no such thing as factory installed 4WD in an F350 until 1979.

turns out that Fabco was the 4wd conversion, there is a unmistakable label on the tailgate. posting some quick pictures in a few, its living under the deck right now, so its tuff to get any good shots, but i think youll get the jist. please let me know what you think. my bud is interested in what you guys have to say~

 

 

A Fabco is I suspect the rarest of the original conversions. I've seen only a handful in pictures, none in person. Your friend's truck looks to be in great shape, and rust free.

Now maybe not so good news. The axles are not F-350 axles as would have been on the original. An original would not have lockouts, and would not have 8 lug x 6.5" bolt pattern. They'd have 6 x 7.25" bolt pattern like in my earlier picture. Obviously the wheels are customs, look to be 15° tubeless truck type rims, maybe 19.5s or 17.5s, and with the flat center look like the ones Stockton used to sell. They called them their Power Wagon Series. They stick out further than stock because of the flat center, where the stock Budds would have been dished.

So, that's what I can add. Others can have their say. If Chuck is following this I'd like to hear his take. Stu

 

yeah these rims were some custom made thing from the last owner, but he does have the originals in the barn, as for the axles... thats too bad, i'm guessing that will be news to him. but yes it sure is in good shape! better than my 78's underside~

 

Stu, The Fabco you posted from hemmings is the same truck as the one for this thread. Wheels are about all thats changed.

 

Great eye! I had to look myself. The marking on the driver's door are the same.

 

No kiddin~ exactly the mark on the door!

 

sure looks to be a tight truck. nice!

 

Sure looks to be the same truck, doesn't it. Further evidence that there's few of them around. Here's the old FTE thread about the green '55 Fabco, and in it is a link to the Hemmings description and photo of your friend's truck.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...fabco-4x4.html

This same thing (same truck on different sightings) happened to me on an F-3 M-H that was/is located in Alaska. My first tracking of it came from a web site where the guy robbed the M-H for parts in his restoration of another truck (go figure!). Then the same F-3 M-H showed up for sale on the old Bonus Built forum, missing it's bed and with a different hood. I at first thought it was two different trucks, but looking closely at the rust and overspray markings showed it to be only the one truck. I never did find the truck, though, and the seller on the BB site never followed through that we heard about. Pictures of it below. Stu

 

i didnt know we had so many detectives on this site. its funny how these old rare trucks seem to come back around with different wheels and body parts but the same old primer spots. looking at the pic of the fabco t-case, it looks like the front drive shaft is engaged/disengaged on the nosecone of the front output shaft. seems kinda weird. to bad about the axles, it would have had the 6 lug front and back wouldnt it? maybe the front axle was broken and replace with a dana 44 or something. it would be interesting to see how they made the switch to the eight lug. still a cool truck though.

disregard the ? about the 8 vs 6 lug wheels Stu. i see you already posted that.

 

The stock axles would have been Timken B150 split case units. In that old thread I linked above the green '55 Fabco has them. This one looks to have Danas. Stu

 

Hey Stu !! your last picture ..show's under -direct--overdrive...what was that in??will it fit behind my flatty??just trying to get to high-way speed..under 7,000 rpm..

 

Ken - Look at that picture again, please. It says "Direct" / "Neutral" / "Underdrive". Not Overdrive. That's in the 55 F-350 Fabco that is discussed in the old FTE thread I linked to above. Stu

 

seeing what I want ..sorry..nice truck he has though..