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Just to either debunk or confuse the issue further, I ran my VIN on my 1997 F250HD on FordEtis:
VIN 1FTHF26GXVECxxxxx
Build Date:
03.06.1997 Vehicle Line: C346 APA MCA China Body Style: Single Cab (2 Door) Version: 350 Series Engine: 7.5L OHV EFI NA V8 Gas Transmission: E4OD(4R100) Drive: LHD 4WD (PTD) Axle Ratio: 4.10 Emission: With Altitude Requirements Air Conditioning: Manual Air Conditioning Paint: Oxford White #2
Minor Features
Medium Opal Grey
Styleside Box - STL Inner/Outer
133"/3378MM Wheelbase
(-)"XL"
Kentucky Truck Plant Build
Less Special Equipment Package
With Convenience Group
8800 LB. GVW
With Off Road Appearance Pack
With Rubber Floor Covering
With Noise Insulation Pack
With Heavy Duty Trailer Towing
Single Cab (2 Door)
Rear Bumper - Steel Step - Black
With Front Licence Plate Bracket
With Steel Spare Wheel
LT235/85R-16E BSW A-T Tyres
With Conventional Spare Tyre
With Heavy Duty Suspension
With Handling Package
4.10
Less Rear Axle Limited Slip Diff
7.5L OHV EFI NA V8 Gas
With Skid Plates
With Tilt Steering Wheel
With Speed Control
Heavy Duty Battery
Electronic AM/FM/Stereo With Clock
With NAAO Radio Frequency
With Light Group
Oxford White #2
350 Series
E4OD(4R100)
C346 APA MCA China
So there you go - not entirely correct, no Off Road appearance package, the radio may have been changed before I took stewardship of it as it has a plain Ford AM radio. It actually has a rating of 8600 GVW and it doesn't have altitude emissions. Other than that, it's correct except for saying F350 series in the report.
I have been told an F250HD is just an F350 with a TTB by several people that have ties to FoMoCo.
I have a friend that has a former city truck, a 1995 F250/8800 GVW. It has a D in the VIN for incomplete truck, a Ford-applied sticker in the doorjamb stating it was an incomplete vehicle and another sticker that says it's been completed by a local truck body supplier. He was fortunate to get the full paperwork that shows it was ordered w/o a bed.
Discuss amongst yourselves for a few moments.
Last edited by raystankewitz; 10-30-2016 at 06:23 PM.
Reason: Missing information
I have been told an F250HD is just an F350 with a TTB by several people that have ties to FoMoCo.
That's very much true. In this era of truck, the only differences are the badges, the 4wd front axle, and the size of the blocks under the rear leaf springs. And the GVWR, if you're interested in the paper trail.
yeah,the only thing odd about it,is the D in the vin indicating the truck is a cab and chassis.being an f250,ford should of used a different vin code here imo to show the truck is still a pickup but with bed delete,rather than sharing the vin D like a drw cab and chassis truck.i dunno why they did this but it is what it is.it's still just a f250 pickup sold without a bed,as opposed to a narrow frame spacing/narrow rear leaf spring, vehicle.
Doing a bit of asking around, the "D" in the VIN means incomplete vehicle, not C&C. According to my sources (that may or may not be reliable, depending on amount of alcohol consumed), any truck shipped without a bed will have a "D" in the VIN and an incomplete vehicle sticker in the doorjamb.
I'm not sure how this would apply to F-Superduty and F-450/550.
We have several trucks at work that most likely started as incomplete C&C vehicles so I'll take a look at the VIN numbers to see what I find.
Doing a bit of asking around, the "D" in the VIN means incomplete vehicle, not C&C. According to my sources (that may or may not be reliable, depending on amount of alcohol consumed), any truck shipped without a bed will have a "D" in the VIN and an incomplete vehicle sticker in the doorjamb.
I'm not sure how this would apply to F-Superduty and F-450/550.
We have several trucks at work that most likely started as incomplete C&C vehicles so I'll take a look at the VIN numbers to see what I find.
All 3 of my cab-n-chassis trucks have a D in the 3 slot. Pickups have a T
By the way Cab-n-chassi means just that. a Cab with a bare chassis(AKA no bed)
^^^^ Well, we _usually_ use "cab & chassis" to refer to the trucks built on the narrower _frame_, with the shorter rear axle, etc. This one is obviously an exception. I would say a more encompassing term for both types of trucks would be the very one Ford uses - "incomplete vehicle".
Well, I got back here to Texas Friday afternoon after driving the 1598 miles in less than 42 hrs. I was not surprised with the dismal MPG but I was perplexed by the US Gear unit. I didn't really track the first tank of gas as it was up hill over the mountains out of central California on I-40E while I was getting acquainted with the split shifting unit hooked up to the ZF5 transmission.
As far as milage, on the best tank I got 12.9 MPG, the worse was a disappointing 10.6 MPG. Now the confusing part is I got the better milage when not using the US Gear unit. I alternated tanks using it and then not using it on every other full tank and ran about an average of 200 miles per tank. I maintained a steady 65-70 MPH the whole trip. I divided the milage by the gallons on each topped off tank and each time, on the tanks I did not use the splitter on, I got the better milage???
The engine would drop to around 1550 RPM when the 5th and a half gear was engaged but the truck seemed to drag a little. I could feel a bind on the rear and not much power was left over. It didn't seem like I was getting the power out of the 460ci 7.5 liter that I've enjoyed on other trucks equipped with this engine. It would take time to increase the speed to around 70 MPH without really putting your foot into it. I never redlined it.
It is an all stock engine with the California emissions package intact so I will be looking at options to open the engine up and help it breathe a little better. So any recommendations are appreciated. I noticed that with each shift with the splitter engaged after 4th & 5th had about a 300 RPM difference, so a significant reduction in RPM was seen but not in MPG gain? Maybe I'm not using this unit correctly but can anyone explain how a lower RPM does not equate to a higher MPG???
And to answer all the questions and the confusing VIN, the truck WAS originally ordered as a "C & C", bed delete, (code 66D) through Century Ford with a SRW axle and a Dana 50 front axle and then had the dually conversion done at a local fabrication shop thru the dealer. The bed is all metal, not fiberglass and shows a list price of $3225, the US Gear unit lists for $3551. The Alcoa wheels are listed at $1047 and the adapters are not cheap ones either, they are shown on the invoice at $909 and the total invoice has a MSRP as equipped total of $36,782.38. Rather pricey, even for 1997.
The truck is almost as clean and original as the day it was driven off the lot and now has just over 63k miles after the drive home. I'm very happy with it even if some of the commenters think it is a "hack job" though an argument can be made about that, being as it was a dealer prepped custom made truck.
So is it a F250HD XL 4X4 Dually? It came off of the Dealer lot as one so I'm confident in calling it one now. Custom ordered and a conversion? Yes, but one none the less.
65-70 mph is why your mileage was poor. You're driving something with all the aerodynamics of a dairy barn. These were designed to operate with optimal mpg at 55 mph. All in all, your numbers aren't that bad. I drove my 89 F250 with about 1000 lbs of stuff in the bed, pulling a 92 Lincoln MK VII from UT to PA, and averaged around 9 MPG at 60-65 MPH. Sure, I blew the rear main seal in Nebraska and dumped a ton of oil between there and here, but it made it. LOL
Delete as much of the California emission as you legally can, get a better cat added. That will let it breathe much easier. Also, with the low mileage on the clock, a complete tune up will likely be in order...which will probably increase the MPG a hair.
As for the gears...I don't have experience there. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of the system will pop in.
And to answer all the questions and the confusing VIN, the truck WAS originally ordered as a "C & C", bed delete, (code 66D) through Century Ford with a SRW axle and a Dana 50 front axle and then had the dually conversion done at a local fabrication shop thru the dealer. The bed is all metal, not fiberglass and shows a list price of $3225, the US Gear unit lists for $3551. The Alcoa wheels are listed at $1047 and the adapters are not cheap ones either, they are shown on the invoice at $909 and the total invoice has a MSRP as equipped total of $36,782.38. Rather pricey, even for 1997.
The truck is almost as clean and original as the day it was driven off the lot and now has just over 63k miles after the drive home. I'm very happy with it even if some of the commenters think it is a "hack job" though an argument can be made about that, being as it was a dealer prepped custom made truck.
So is it a F250HD XL 4X4 Dually? It came off of the Dealer lot as one so I'm confident in calling it one now. Custom ordered and a conversion? Yes, but one none the less.
.[/I]
No confusion on our part, it was Yours. We ALL told you it was a F250 that was converted to a dually. YOU were the one arguing that Fact
As for the hack part. Once you show us the front "adapters", that will let us know if it was a quality conversion or a hack
10-30-2016, 06:22 PM
Minor Features
