Going through some of my old boxes of photos I found some pictures of my old trucks that I had in my lifetime so I shot the photos with my iPhone and to my surprise they didn't come out half bad. Since everyone here at FTE loves truck **** and a good story here's my Ford Truck story. Thanks to Turbohunter for giving me the idea. Please add to this thread if you have a story to tell.

Here's what started it all for me. 1972 Ford F250 Ranger XLT Camper Special. I purchased this truck as a senior in high school back in 1979. I really wanted a 79 but they where way out of my student budget and this truck was very clean and well cared for by a retired Navy commander and commercial airline pilot. (See the tags on the front bumper) I used to love to just drive to Moffett NAS just so the Navy Guards would snap me a proper solute. I kept this truck until late 1982. I still have the license plate, 883 Nora Mary King.






After my 72 and a few other trucks I purchased a 1979 Ford F250 4X4 Super Cab in 1983. I called this truck the Enterprise becase it was big and white and I was a Star Trek fan. This truck went through many changes over they years, It got lifted, painted Midnight blue, New 351M engine and C6. I kept this truck until 1997 and I sold it to buy my first home, it was a heart wrenching choice. I couldnt find any of the Midnight Blue photos but it was a real good looker, I had the inside painted as well, it was a close frame up restoration.












At one time during the time I owned the Super Cab I brought my Ex a 1979 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT. I sold it in 1995 and I hear its still around although I haven't seen it myself. Here's a shot of it just before I owned it.




This brings us to today, You have all seen this truck here at FTE, Purchased in 2006 it's a 1979 Ford F350 4X4 Ranger Lariat. This was the truck I wanted and couldn't afford when I was in High School, Just like my lovely wife (A former cheerleader) I got what I always wanted, the hot cheerleader and my dream Truck!



Yes I have a thing for 79's. Maybe because it reminds me of my younger days or maybe they are just cool trucks. This is my story, Lets see your story.

 

Very nice trucks! I've only had two worth showing on here, so here 'goes...



79 Bronco with a swapped in 460. The person I bought it from was convinced it was a 390... This is the day after I got it. Had 33" all-terrains; pretty much stock (other than that 390..er...460)



A couple months later: cut fenders, 35" BFG Krawler, rear roll bar, painted the top and bottom, interior and grill with bed liner. The interior was garbage, so it was a no-brainer to strip the carpet and spray it.


Here's my current ride: 77 F150 Ranger XLT, I'm only the second owner. The driver door was caved in when I got it, but was lucky enough to find a door at the junkyard in prety decent shape. It had ancient 33" tires when I bought it, just purchased the 36" Swamper TSL radials showed in this picture. I have 4" suspension lift to put on it, but
I'm rather lazy...



Very clean interior, love the wood and chrome steering wheel the PO put on it.

 

Awesome awesome thread. Can we keep it going with other peoples stuff Steve?

 

This is the most interesting story I have. The truck that started it all.

I bought a two-toned blue '77 half ton, 2wd, 351m, auto. It had a HUGE steel cattle pusher on the front. The bumper was made of 3"x10"x1/4" C-channel, reinforced with 2"x2"x1/4" square tube. The "brush guard" was 3"x3"x1/4" angle iron. The rear bumper was a piece of 4"x12" wood resembling a railroad tie. I think the previous owner used it to mow down bank walls or something. I remember cutting off the "brush guard" and the front end came up 2"

Fast forward. The first marriage was ending and my plans to go on the Hotrod Power tour were set. I told the ex, "Come hell or high water, I'm going on the power tour!" (we were supposed to use her car for the trip)

A friend of mine had a 1984, 3/4 ton 300 six, four speed 4x4 for sale. The body was rotted really bad, but the running gear was ok. I asked him how much he wanted for the truck. He told me to buy him lunch and the truck was mine. ...it cost me a cheese steak and an order of fries.

Now I had three weeks to swap bodies from the 2wd to the 4wd so I could make the power tour. I swapped the body over to the newer 4wd frame and even had a spare couple seconds to throw a paint job on it. Remember what I said to my ex wife about the power tour? You can see on the top of the windshield, I named my truck, "Come hell or high water". I finished the truck with hours to spare. I was a long hauler in 1998 on the power tour!

This was my first dent. I've been in love with them ever since!

 

Hey Alan that's a great story and your first truck is indeed a gem!

 

Thanks, Steve! If you look on the driver's side, I had to move the fill tube up to match the gas tank on the newer frame. This is probably one of the only dents with a single fuel door ahead of the back wheels.

 

So no gas tank behind the seat? That was a good mod, now you have more room for "Stuff"

 

well i have only been driving about 7 years but ive had a few trucks in that time, all FORD of course

my first truck was a 98 f150 with the 4.6. belonged to a friend of my dads that he did some business with, he sold him a yak 18 that we flew down to TN and my dad took this as partial payment. we flew the yak down and drove it back home.
all i did was level it and put the wheels and tires on, this pretty much started it all



i used that truck all through high school and wish i still had it, i used to see it ever now and again but i dont any more, its prolly in a yard some where

during the time i had the white one i bought my 76. it was across the street from where i used to work and i fell in love with it. my buddy had a 74 at the time and i was kinda looking for one and this one fell in my lap. i had this one during HS too and it was alot of fun, i will never sell this truck, especially after the resto. i beat the hell out of it and it loved every minute of it, it never let me down and eveyone in school loved it.





i traded the white truck in on this, although not a truck its still a ford. 04 marauder. this turned into a HUGE money pit and the best thing i ever did was sell it. selling it freed up a ton of cash that ive been having a ton of fun with buying more ford trucks! it was fun while i had it but it was time for it to go.


while i had the car i had this 91 ranger as a DD, nothing special just a beater, we still use it as a shop truck around here. you can see the HB in the BG


i got tired of the lil ranger and bought my 96 bronco which has been on DD service since
almost 170k on it and its still pretty clean, and runs great.


ive had a bunch of others since i sold the car, i never kept most of them long enough to tag them and kinda went on a buy and sell rampage.

the night i sold the car i picked up this 77 f100, this was a neat lil truck but a total basket case, i ended up trading it for the next truck


this truck, a 96 ranger. i ended up selling it too a kid as his first truck. nice kid and i recently found it down state randomly and thought that was pretty cool.


in the midst of all that buying and selling i also picked up this 79 f250. 300/435/205 with d60s front and rear. it needed a motor so i bought a reman long block and put it all back together, i had alot of money tied up in it but still sold it for some reason. a guy i knew off the marauder forum actually bought it so that was pretty cool, he now uses it as a plow truck for his house. it looks clean but it really wasnt all that. some PO along the way did a half assed resto on it so it being a plow truck really dont bother me





right before i sold the blue 79, i picked up a 97 crew cab. i was just cruzing CL and i stumbled upon this truck. i had to have it when i saw it and went to check it out, ended up driving home with it.


that pretty much sums up all the fords ive had that were road worthy. ive had a few others in there as parts tucks n what not but they arnt worth this thread. i currently have the 97 crew cab, the 76 HB and the 96 bronco.

 

The three you have now are awesome. The bronco looks in really good shape.

What was wrong with the marauder?

 

thanks, it needs a good bath right now but other wise its pretty nice for around here. most are all rotted and clapped out.


absolutely nothing wrong with it, i just put a ton of money into it. started with a tune, then some gears, then a stall, headers, blower blah blah blah lol. it was never ending. i guess i just got tired of it. i sold it to a guy who had one already and he dosent live very far so i get to see it every now and then.

 

steve, i really dig the white one you had, but your new one ton is beautiful as well. you cali guys are lucky you dont have rust.

 

Thanks, I really miss the "Enterprise" as well, I had it for 14 years and put a lot of work in it and took it to many places. Lots of good memories. Now I have "Candy Cane" to build new memories with my wife and kids.

 

I'm bumping this thread, Lets hear your stories and see the history.

 

you wanted some history well unfortunately i don't have some pics of all my rides but i will just stick with my trucks......here it goes..... General Custer was my first truck i never actually got to drive it, it was a gold colored 76 3/4 ton 390 4 speed my dad said i could have it when i was 8 years old kept it till last year when my cousin bought it off me for $1000 for his son's first project truck it is now in running driving condition with 4x4 and a 300-6 he loves the truck as much as i did and i had enough other projects it was good to see it stay in the family and get completed too............a month after i started working on the drilling rig i still work on in 2008 i bought my first true pride and joy my lovely 7deuce when i got her it was an act of mercy i saved her from the scrappers it had a rebuilt 390 and a c6 the tranny only had 1st and 3rd i had it rebuilt bought the bumpers and roll bar off of my buddy for $300 for the whole set i drove it and drag raced it and did so many stupid things unfortunately ticked someone off and they dropped a hand full of small nuts down my carb and ruined 4 cylinders and my good heads so i got another 390 which was turned into a 410 and last summer my girlfriend (now my ex) drove it while i wasn't around and she couldn't figure out the floor shifter i had in it and she wound her up to 60 mph in 1st gear and drove 5 miles like that until it made it home (i was home then and heard the cries of anguish and it burned into my soul) she fried main and rod bearings twisted oil pump drive rod in two broke the crank in 2 places and cam in same 2 places (she limped in on 3 cylinders ) so i pulled the 352 and what i think might be a cruise-o-matic out of smokenchoke(67 f100 2wd i drove for 3 months before i clipped a tree and screwed up front driver side of her) i am more in love with her now than ever because she is part of 2 of my gals........ red dawg 78 f150 had a 351m only thing i had done to her was put new tires and 16" white spoke's drove her for quite a while and on good friday 2011 she caught on fire and thanks to my friends mother and my scarred hands and a 12 pack of keystone light we got the fire out (it was in the middle of the highway when it happened) spent 8 hours the next day and re wired all that was destroyed under the hood but that 351m never ran right afterwards so i pulled it and threw in a 460 and she is my beauty queen i love her almost as much as my other gals lol ......i bought a 88 ranger for my wife it had an issue with the tranny seals kept blowing out i finally got that fixed ........ and then my unique sweetheart da twister originally a 1966 f100 custom cab camper special it has a dana 60.2 or 60.3 rear end with 4.10 gears granny 4 speed and a 352 but motor was bored .40 and had an rv cam installed and was the running-est as$ bugger i have ever seen for as little work that was in it... it decided it was hungry for dizzy's and ate 3 of them in a week so i pulled the motor and got a 391 hd industrial FT and installed a new custom made pilot shaft bushing and haven't had any problem of any kind other than gas mileage is low at highway speeds but she has some extreme power i have pulled loads no one would believe with it just being an F100 future upgrades are gonna be a set of 2.78 gears in a 9" that is to be installed soon and a new set of heads and intake port and polished to squeeze all the potential i can out of a motor that no one else ever seems to use in a half ton .....i love being different..........

 

Great story Smoke! Anyone else have a good Ford truck tail to tell?