Beautiful Blue 1974 Ford F-250 Highboy Is Pure Perfection
By Brett Foote

Does it really get any better than a nicely optioned Highboy painted in this classic shade of blue?

 

That truck does have great curb appeal and is in fine condition. Beautiful color. It does have some mods and just on a couple personal opinion notes I never quite understood the need to lift a highboy unless mud bogging. To me one of the signature signs of a 73-77 highboy is the in-cab fuel tank. When the stock fuel tank is removed it kinda takes away from the ambiance of owning a highboy.

 

You want to mark him down for removing the gas tank from the cab??? That's funny.

 

This truck is touted as pure perfection, but with removed in-cab tank and a fuel door for the aft axle tank, it ain't. No fuel doors until 1977.

This truck has also been lifted higher than a stock High Boy, has aftermarket wheels and rear bumper, a steering column from a 1978/79 and a 'gypo' air cleaner.

If you think a Mustang tank located where the spare tire is...is safer than the in-cab tank, you don't know beans about the exploding Pinto gas tank FIASCO!

 

nice, but not perfection. the tank moved from the cab is a deal breaker. the rear bumper and the mirrors don't work either.

I agree on the lift kit , don't take a classic that was known for it's ride height and made it just another punky over lifted pick up.

 

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Looks pretty good to me, though I would have liked to have seen it in the original Medium Ginger Metallic (which I think is a great color).

 

I've seen other builds where the in-cab tank is moved. Obviously the later trucks had the aft mounted tank.

So which one do you guys prefer? Is it worth it to relocate the tank on a highboy?

I actually liked the modifications on the truck and really like it overall. Except maybe the lift and wheels. If it were mine, I would go steel wheels and poverty caps (even though they were never offered for the front on f250 4x4s). To each their own.

 

Personally I always liked the in-cab tank. Only sacrifice to me is lost storage behind seat and perhaps some fuel capacity. I drove these highboys daily for a 14 year period back in the day and never considered it a problem. In cabs never rust out like the ones in rear nor the fuel line going to it and while I never cut one open, they seem to be made of thicker steel than the out of cab tanks. Unless they were dropped and rustproofed, those rear tanks were rusting/leaking in the 80s less than 10 years old in this part of country. Also don't forget scads of trucks had in-cab tanks for decades prior. Safety reasons are sometimes stated for relocating it and while that might make one sleep better, common sense may indicate if a heavy truck like an F-250 Highboy is in a bad enough accident that the in-cab tank is compromised/ruptured, not likely the occupants will survive anyway.

Aside from that its personal preference to do with your truck what you want. Everyone views these things differently and only you can decide if its worth the money and work to relocate it and how it may or may not affect future value better or worse. Most likely the value on highboys will continue to rise. One guy I talked to relocated his because he wanted to use the space to install a big sound system behind seat. An example of personal preference. Admittedly I like to keep things stock in my old vehicles. When I was looking for a highboy, I passed on 3 nice trucks that had the tank relocated and saw a few others that had been relocated so its not uncommon. I didn't really know if it was because of safety or the cab was replaced but I expect more often the latter when rusted cabs are replaced with ones from other than the highboy.

 

Your arguments that the in-cab tank being better are indeed valid. My truck has both (1974 in cab 17 gallon and 17 gallons or so out back). I use the in-cab tank mostly since the fuel gauge works and the tank doesn't leak at all. The rear tank leaks if over 3/4 full and gauge doesn't work. The safety argument is invalid-- a rear end collision would be highly unlikely to damage that tank, and an accident bad enough to damage the in-cab tank would likely be fatal. I just want the convenience of one large quality tank somewhere under the truck to free up storage space inside the truck, and avoid the filler neck sticking out the side. I like stock, but there are some things that there is no good reason NOT to upgrade-- the headlights being a great example.

 

Dang guys - by "perfection" I highly doubt he meant "100% stock". It's obvious he meant its the best configuration (his opinion) of a stock highboy and tasteful mods. No need to bash.