this is making for a good education..

 

the HB goes from 1970 to 1977 In 1977 F250's were changed 6months into the year. Some were highboys and some were low boys; if transfer case & tranny are joined truck is Lowboy

http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/Dana44_2.htm
read up on that link for your front axle info(dana44 heavy duty)
the rear axle is a dana 60
the front axle if it is a 79-77 is a dana 44HD with open knuckles disc brakes and 8 lug hubs to match the rear. Heavy Duty Dana 44 solid front axle from a 1976 Ford F250 4x4. This axle is the same for the years 1976 to 1977.5 on the F250 4x4 trucks. The major change is to open knuckle ball joints with disk brakes and 5-297x u-joint. This design was running a front leaf spring setup with 3" tubes and 1/2" walls.

the engine choices were:
300-4.9L
351M- 5.8L
360-5.9
390-6.4L
400-6.6L
460-7.5L
the transmission either were an automatic c6 pr a np435
the transferccase is a divorsed np205
the 1970-1977.5 f-250 trucks are indeed higher than and 77.5-79 truck whether that be a f150 f250 or f350. when FoMoCo changed the suspension design half way through the year in 1977 the did market the 1977 f250 HB as the highboy(HB).the highboy nick name was just a marketing thing in 1977 to get people to but their trucks.
the lift part that everyone is talking about is the truck is 4 inches higher than any of other fors trucks. it was not intened to be a "lift" of any sort. it was because the trucks had a biggger load rating and the added heiveir springs which lifted the truck aprox 4 inches(note" some truck have complete leave spring, and some have a "lift block)

marshall

 

prior to 77 the only engine options were a 300 and the 360,no 390 or 460 .in 77 the options included the 300/351m and 400.also all trucks left the factory with the same lift hardware, actually all ford 4x4 "s had blocks.also transfer case options were a 205 or the 203