does anyone know where i can find a radiator support for my 72 f250 4x4. all the repops seem to be of 2wd only. it looks like the inner fender wells are interchangable tho. i am hoping to be back home from duty in puerto rico for a couple weeks in FEB. and want to get some of the front end work done so i can send the fenders and hood to paint. thanks in advance!

 

this is how i left her in july. excited to get some work done!

 

Nice truck where you located? The core supports are the same for a 2wd and 4x4. There is 2 different Core supports for the 67-72 trucks. The only difference between them is the size of the opening. Small opening and a large opening for a super cool radiators. The 4x4 trucks got a large opening support from factory. For additional cooling.

 

I don't know what the parts books show but my 72 with the 300 had a very small radiator and corresponding sized hole. So does that mean there were just a six and V8 or were there 2 V8 ones?

 

The best I have deduced is that the inline sixers & 302s typically got the small "window", and FEs got the big window core supports

 

the truck is located in connecticut right now. i bought it when i was living in michigan but i since got stationed in puerto rico for two years. i left it back home with the family and am going to do what i can when i can. i was just concerned when i looked on dennis carpenter and saw that the support they had said 2wd only. i have a very large radiator in the truck now because of the 460 in it. so can i just buy the one they have and if need be cut the opening to be wider?

 

Not exactly. The radiator mount would have to be removed prior to opening up the window.... Then welded to get account for the wider radiator.

 

for the bump side trucks there is actually 3 different core supports,

the one for the 6 cyl which has a small opening, then the other two are basicly the same except one has a 4 inch lip where the radiator mounts, the other one the radiator mounts flush to the core support

here is two different types with the large opening side by side, i dont have a photo of the 6 cyl one but i can take a pic of it, i have all 3 types

 

Smirks, My deduction is there just weren't many 4wd trucks made back then. They were pretty rare unlike today. It was probably mid 70s when the 4wd craze really started. Trucks have changed a lot since the 60s.


John

 

I also had a 72 with a 302 and that hole was kinda regular sized.

 

Ok, and your sure the 4x4 F250 didn't take a different one? I almost seem to remember something about them being different. Maybe Jeff or ND can verify.

 

how bad is your support? they are not hard to repair...i dont know what would be different about the core support for a 4x4.. beside what radiator is being used.. i had to rebuild mine using parts off a early dent.. you can make any of them work for the application, by drilling some spot welds and switching brackets around..

link to some pics.. there are pics of my core support being repaired in it..

71 Ford Truck Project by Russell Plumley | Photobucket

 

I seem to remember a thread not to long ago with the debate that there's a 4x4 core support and inner fenders specific to a 4x4. I think ND pulled out the book and listed the core support and inner fender part numbers. The inner fenders were the same part number except there was 2 drivers side inner fenders for the bumpside. One was the standard one and the other special made just for the optional Onan generator pack.

 

My 71 4wd f250 came with a I-6 300ci that came with the wide rad opening that had the 4" side lip guild support rails like shown in mrcman58 photo. And when installing a FE I also installed the big 460 supper cool rad with no problems.

And later replaced with a 73-77 rad core support by just adding a few extra latch bracket square holes. There's many radiators that mount different, some have a front mounting rail some have non and some our rear bracket mounting.

I like the later core support as it has an opening for the cool air intake ducting into the carb. No need for cutting one unless you run two like, I've done.
Orich

 

the radiator support in my 68 4x4 highboy appears to be the same as the 2wd type, but the inner fenders are different than a 2wd truck