Flew one-way from NC to Los Angeles two years ago and bought a 66 Camper Special for $3K and then drove it home with my then 6 year old son... It made it all the way back and seems to be stock as hell with the exception of where someone hacked out the original radio...

At any rate, it is a 4 speed manual transmission and apparently has a 4:11 rear. The result is that it is screaming at 65 mph. There is a local mechanic that drag races and would swap out the rear for free. The problem that I have is that I hate to change anything that is stock. A local body shop guy doubted that the 4:11 came original. If that is the case, I will swap it out to make it more driveable.

So... Can anyone help me figure out if it is stock?

The door plate has the following info:

Wheel base- 129
Color- W
F 100
Body- 281
Trans.- A
Axle- 08
Weight- 5,000 lbs.
Cert. Net HP- 172???
rpm- 4,000
DSO- 74

The VIN # is F10YK874192

Any help that you gurus could offer is much appreciated.

 

Does your truck have the split rims used on all Camper Special trucks ??

F10= F series conventional cab truck, 1/2 ton 2WD
Y= 352 8 cylinder engine, 2 bbl carburetor
K= Kansas City Assembly plant
874192= June 1966 Build date, 1966 model year truck

------------------------------------------------------

129= wheelbase in inches
W= Medium Blue
F100= 1/2 ton 2WD truck, 5000# load rating
2= Medium Blue Crush Vinyl & Medium Blue Wicker Pattern Vinyl
81= 81A= base model truck
A= NP435 4 speed manual trans.
08= 3:50 ratio open rear axle, 3.3M load rating, Ford code WDM-J-W-T(could be any of the 3 letters after the WDM). This code is found on a tag affixed to the differential housing.
5000= 5000 pound max vehicle load rating with load, persons and full tank of fuel
74= DSO= Seattle...where the original selling dealer ordered the truck from. This was not a special order truck, it was bought off the lot.


Of note...this truck was assembled in Kansas City but shipped to Seattle/Portland area...nearly all west coast trucks have an assembly plant code of R..San Jose, California...


Welcome to FTE...if you are in Washington, feel free to contact me if you are in need of parts as I have lots for these trucks.






- cs65

 

I will have to figure out what you mean by that. I am far from a gear head- just knew what I wanted and then went to get it. My left butt cheek was numb for about a month after 5 grueling days of driving at about 64 miles an hour... I passed one vehicle, an older RV pulling a trailer, from LA to Chapel Hill, NC- hence my interest in a different gear ratio. The local mechanic would swap out the rear, parts and labor, just to get mine... Makes me wonder what I have.

 

Yep. It has the split rims to receive the inboard riding hubcaps- but no hubcaps.

 

Keep the rear end you have..a desirable ratio to many

Wheels...KEEP THEM !!! Those are very hard to find wheels as they are Camper Special ONLY


- CS65

 

If I've got this right, and no doubt numerous people will correct me if I'm wrong, a relatively simple way to tell what your rear gears are, if the tag CS 65 mentioned is missing, or someone changed the ring and pinion but left the old tag, is the following: Jack up the rear of the truck, put your NP435 in 4th gear, have someone turn your drive wheel one full rotation while you count the number of rotations the driveshaft makes. If it turns a little over four then you have a 4.11. If it turns three and a half times it's a 3.50, as per your door plate. If it turns three and a quarter times then it's a 3.25 ratio. I have the NP435 with 3.50 gears and it is pretty comfortable at 65 mph with 235/75 x 15 tires so someone may have indeed altered yours. Remember that tire size will also play a part in how many revs your engine has to turn. Good luck with your truck.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think there is any doubt that it is a 4:11 based on a couple of trustworthy vintage mechanics that I have had look at it. As I understand you, something in the info that I sent suggests that it came with a 3:50. If that is the case, I would consider restoring it to the original gear and get down the road a little more comfortably. I am not looking to go 85 mph or anything, but with all that power under the hood, it seems like a shame to not keep up with the flow of traffic on the highway...

 

CS65,

I appreciate all the help. Your info corresponds well with what I was told about the truck. The guy that I bought it from was the second owner. The first owner was a doctor in Oregon. It supposedly moved to CA sometime in the early 80s and had been off the road since 87.

I will definitely take advantage of your expertise if a need advice or parts in the future. Thanks again.

Kevmon

 

Dont do the above with the engine running..If you choose to do that, simply jack the truck up in the rear and put it on stands, put the truck in neutral and with chalk mark a wheel and the driveshaft and rotate the wheel and see how many revolutions you get.
Ive never heard of a Ford 9' rear end...which is what this is...with a 4:10 or 4:11 ratio....



- cs65

 

The big question is whether what is on there is original... Doesn't sound like it if it is truly a 4:11 and it was just a dealer ordered truck- not special ordered by someone. CS65, just out of curiosity, does your truck have three gas tanks like mine? I have the one behind the seat and then one on either side of the bed...

 

My 1966 Ford factory Workshop Manual lists axle code 05 as a 4.11 ratio in a Ford 9 inch rear end. This can be found in Group 1, Vehicle Identification, page 6.

 

sabre...the door plate code is 08...not 05...

kevmon...look under your truck...if you look under from the rear bumper area...is there a cover with bolts in it or not?
If you look under the front area of the rear wheel and look where the driveshaft attaches...is the front of the rear end as you see held in the axle housing by nuts and studs in a circular pattern?? There are 2 nuts on the driver side which holds the ID tag onto the axle and differential assembly...if you can, remove the tag and see what it says...there will be a tag held on the rear cover also by 2 bolts as well if there is a cover you see bolted to the rear axle assembly...
Originally there would NOT have been a removable differential cover as viewed from the rear bumper area looking forward.

I got all of the decode info I posted prior from the Ford Truck Master Parts catalog. Sec 40.1,pg 13, LH column is where the rear end info is from the MPC. Its date is January 1975...of which the CD was made from ; the final version of the 64-72 truck catalog.


- cs65

 

Kevmon,

WELCOME TO FTE!

Your new-to-you '66 F100 CS sounds like a sweet truck indeed!
As was mentioned earlier, 5-bolt, split-rim wheels are pretty rare these days; heck, '66 F100 CS trucks are pretty rare to me!

WE NEED SOME PICTURES - ASAP!

BarnieTrk

 

are those rims hard to find cause theres a guy here in portland selling a set for cheap?

 

How cheap is cheap?? Im an hour away from Pdx...


- cs65