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Hey all. I posted a while back about buying my first bumpside truck. It was a '72 Highboy that I found in Colorado and had shipped to Iowa. It was a good solid truck but I kept having thoughts of owning one built in the 60s. Something about an older truck kept my wheels turning. I found a buyer for the 72 and as of about 3 weeks ago, I purchased this 68 from Washington state. The seller and I talked quite a bit about it on the phone so it made me feel more comfortable buying something sight unseen from 1700 miles away. It was kind of a bittersweet story because he bought the truck for him and his son to restore together. His son passed away in a car accident in 2015 at the age of 16. Therefore, the seller didn't have any need for the truck anymore. He had other vehicles he wanted to focus on too. He was happy I got it and I assured him it wasn't going anywhere. I plan to restore it someday and put it back to its original color which was sky view blue and white. The engine was swapped for a 302 at some point in place of the original 360. I plant to put another FE engine back in during the restoration. It'll be a driver for now, but I'm excited about what will happen in the future
A con of the 68 is the potential for having the bendix steering gearbox. I don’t remember exactly which ones had it but my 68 250 does and it’s been finicky so say the least.
A con of the 68 is the potential for having the bendix steering gearbox. I don’t remember exactly which ones had it but my 68 250 does and it’s been finicky so say the least.
If your '68 F250 4WD has P/S, it was swapped in, because...
F100/250 4WD's were not available with P/S until 1973, then it was Power Assist P/S
Garrison Power Assist P/S: 1973 F250 4WD; 1974 F250 4WD before serial number T80,001 // 1973/75 F100 4WD
Bendix Power Assist P/S: 1974 F250 4WD from serial number T80,001; 1975/76 F250 4WD; 1977 F250 4WD before serial number Y20,001.
And, with Power Assist, the manual steering gearbox is used, because it has nothing to do with the P/S system!
Thanks guys!! I'm excited about it. Pretty solid truck for the most part. Passenger fender has a hole in the lower rear as other trucks this age do, but that's about it. As far as the steering goes, I will eventually graft the 78 or 79 F250 box into the frame as I did on my 77 crew cab. It was quite the chore but it worked out well. As Number Dummy said, it has strong arm steering now . I'll put up with that until I tear it down for restoration.
I haven't posted on this site in a long time but I like to look and see what some of the topics are for the old Highboys. This one brought back some old memories for me; I found my special Ford pickup back in 1976. It was the very first vehicle that I purchased and it is to this day(43 years later) my special toy. When I found this 1968 F250 4x4 it had a seized 360ci Fe in it so I had to tow it home after I purchased it. Then I took mine completely apart and did an off the frame restoration. 4 years later I finely was able to take it for ride. I originally replaced the 360 with a 390, added a power brake booster, years later did a power steering conversion and then replaced the 4 speed with a C6. Last year I pulled the 390 out and replaced it with a 427 side oiler. I am really looking forward to driving my '68 some more this spring/summer.
Good luck FordIowan with your "The One" '68. These old Highboys are getting harder come by.
Nice. That is my favorite color on the old trucks. Im looking for a 4x4 for now. Have procrastinated on a couple and missed out but will find mine eventually.
Hey all. I posted a while back about buying my first bumpside truck. It was a '72 Highboy that I found in Colorado and had shipped to Iowa. It was a good solid truck but I kept having thoughts of owning one built in the 60s. Something about an older truck kept my wheels turning. I found a buyer for the 72 and as of about 3 weeks ago, I purchased this 68 from Washington state. The seller and I talked quite a bit about it on the phone so it made me feel more comfortable buying something sight unseen from 1700 miles away. It was kind of a bittersweet story because he bought the truck for him and his son to restore together. His son passed away in a car accident in 2015 at the age of 16. Therefore, the seller didn't have any need for the truck anymore. He had other vehicles he wanted to focus on too. He was happy I got it and I assured him it wasn't going anywhere. I plan to restore it someday and put it back to its original color which was sky view blue and white. The engine was swapped for a 302 at some point in place of the original 360. I plant to put another FE engine back in during the restoration. It'll be a driver for now, but I'm excited about what will happen in the future
That is a beautiful truck. It is a bittersweet story, but you've got yourself a very nice starting point.
Sky view blue and white would look awesome. Looks like you had the 3 post west coast mirrors originally. They would look great on that thing.
number dummy, mine is 2wd.
Yes, I think the color will look good. And yes, I want to put either the 3 post mirrors or west coast juniors back on it. I have a set of west coast juniors but not the 3 post. I like painting trucks back to their original color if possible. This color is okay but the paint is fading and it doesn't really fit the vintage I don't think
I haven't posted on this site in a long time but I like to look and see what some of the topics are for the old Highboys. This one brought back some old memories for me; I found my special Ford pickup back in 1976. It was the very first vehicle that I purchased and it is to this day(43 years later) my special toy. When I found this 1968 F250 4x4 it had a seized 360ci Fe in it so I had to tow it home after I purchased it. Then I took mine completely apart and did an off the frame restoration. 4 years later I finely was able to take it for ride. I originally replaced the 360 with a 390, added a power brake booster, years later did a power steering conversion and then replaced the 4 speed with a C6. Last year I pulled the 390 out and replaced it with a 427 side oiler. I am really looking forward to driving my '68 some more this spring/summer.
Good luck FordIowan with your "The One" '68. These old Highboys are getting harder come by.
Very sharp truck Jim. Hope this one turns out that good. I plan to do a pretty in depth restoration on this one too. What did you do for power steering? Might be one of the first things I do on this one.
That is a beautiful truck. It is a bittersweet story, but you've got yourself a very nice starting point.
Thank you. It is a pretty solid truck. I was looking for one with good cab mounts. I don't mind putting new floors in but didn't want to do cab mounts too. I think the driver's floor needs patched and the passenger fender needs attention but that's it for rust repair.
I did my power steering conversion over 25 years ago. It looks like the same place I got my kit from is still selling them. Ibeling Repair & Conversions
I'll bet they are quite a bit more money these days. But there is a good article on doing the conversion with your own parts on one of the other forums.
Basically you use the integral steering gear/box from a 70's 2-wheel drive ford pickup. I can say from experience that it works really well.
02-15-2019, 08:57 AM
I don’t remember exactly which ones had it but my 68 250 does and it’s been finicky so say the least.
. I'll put up with that until I tear it down for restoration.
