I was wondering how any of us obtained the passion that we do, and I have fond memories, of many things. I am a 73 to 79 F series fan (dentsides). I love these trucks and after running across some old pics, I remember why I love these so much.

This was my dads truck, and this truck was purchased brand new. This was a 77.5 F 250. Back in the 70's off roading was a little different than it was today. Front dana 60's had to be ordered and not many of them were really available, so aftermarket stuff was very limited, and options were slim.
What were folks that were really interested in off roading to do. Many of the early guys (old dudes) took things to extremes, and actually did some pretty amazing things for that era.
During days when 36 inch tires were huge, along comes a guy that decided to lift a truck but did not want to be limited to small lifts and smalll tires.
Rockwells were not easy to find, and at the time not cheap. Installing then under a daily driver was out of the question, or was it?

Here is an old photo of this vehicle.




The rundown:

52" Michelin Heavy fronts with custom hand made 22.5" wheels
All spring lift with custom leafs
1970 460 with mild cam headers and a 4 speed and a 205
1410 u joints and custom shafts from JE Reel. (they were in business back then and still are)
Rockwells with Detroit rear, and open front
Selectro lockng hubs
Chessy roll bar and KC lights
Cheesy visor
Cheesy glass panel sun roof.
Back when Smokey and the Bandit was hot on the big screen, and satin jackets were cool, pops may have wore his pork chop side burns a little too long, but he had a bad a$$ truck!
Thats sort of how I got the fever.
Anyone else care to share???????

 

Thats breathtaking.
Looks pretty amazing! I wish I had some pictures to share. Sadly enough my stories of off-roading blow my dads mind. My generation is the first to wheel I suppose. My cousin is also the same.

Actually at a family reunion my family was talking about my cousin and I. We only see eachother once in a long while. We go years without seeing eachother, 200 miles between us you know.. but we both grew up looking pretty similar and having the same intrests.

Its funny to hear my stories or my cousins, compared to my dad or uncles. Funny to think about really.

 

For me it started before I was born. My Mom was getting close to having me, and needed to induce labor so to say. So she jumped in my Dads 74 pickup and went jumping section lines. I was born later that day. Lol. Than when I was around 14 my Dad and I started to build up is. 74 Bronco that he had previously rolled. And from there it just kept going.

 

Awesome times. I am pleased to hear that many of us have similar memories while we were young. As Fathers day approaches, I was looking through some stuff and found some additional pics to the ones above. I found many of my uncle (fathers brother) whom has recently passed away. He too was as responsible for this 4wd addiction that I have.
It sure was a treat to be 7 or 8 as I recall and being thrown the keys to one of the trucks and allowed to drive them on our own (private property off orad). I see that same look when my daughter gets to drive my truck all by herself.
Part of driving these was only a portion of the fun, for me working in them provided some sort of satisfaction. A Little bit of it was bonding with the old man, even though truth be know, I was getting yelled at, and some of it was the satisfaction of fixing or building something with your own hands.
Again, much of this stuff was not even available in any kit form so it was all left up to the imagination, as well as the talents of the fabricator.
I recall these wheels, and they were steel wheels from a cement truck. Since they would not bolt up to ther rocky hub, something had to be done. We'll make a set, so off we went. Cutting chores were handles with a torch. Even though the plasma machine was invented in the 50's finding one in a normal shop in the late 70's and early 80's was probably not going to happen. It was not understood, and considered magic, so an old school guy probably did not have one. We did not, so cutting the centers of the wheels out with a torch was the only option.
later some centers had to be cut. Each of thfancy pants holes were cut with a hole saw.
Yup, a hole saw, alright several hole saws. The centers were flat plate steel. Once cut, drilled and true, they were placed inside of the wheel outer and squared up. A small jig was made to take up equal space around the wheel, and then the entire wheels was placed into a press. The press was used to hold the wheel and center against the jig, and the stick welder was used to tack the wheel cemters in place.
Once the tension was removed, the wheels were placed on a spin balance machine and the runout was verified.
After a few attempts the wheels were true and then painted that awful silver color.
Not many aggressive tires were available for the street so these tires were used. They did not work well at all, and some AG tires were used for the heavy off road.
Many times, I remember towing a trailer that held the other tires. We ould drive to the off road area, get out, lug ot this giant jack (long reach and tall enough to lift the truck) this thing was huge and heavy, take out some tools, (no air tools). Rip off one tire at a time, and install the aggressive tires. Once the tires were on, it seemed like half of the day had gone by, we could play in some mud. After some of the day had gone by, the process was performed all over again, so we could drive home.
This was a long and boring process. Changinf these tires out was a pain, but was all worth it when pops would put me behind the wheel and let me drive!
You could not beat the smile off of my face.
Still to this day, I can remember. I see that look on my face every time I get back into one of my old trucks, and to turn the tables a little, My Pops gets a similar look on his face, when he gets behind the wheel of one of mine. My daughter gets that look as well. It is something that many may not understand, but a bonding experience that everyone should experience..............

 

I know where your comin from. My Dad bought most of the parts in the begining. I did most of the work. I find it relaxing to work on my vehicles. The bonding for my Dad and I came from workin on and wheeling the bronco. I think I drove it more than him. Lol. But of course I wanted my own rig. I started with a 78 pickup. And than its kinda been a compatition to see who can go more places lol. Now we both help eachother work on both rigs and help eachother out on the trails. Its nice now that we both have CBs to just talk along the trail. Even if its just to say "I bet you can't make it up that!" I enjoy the time with my dad. When I was really young I didn't get as much time around him as I do now. Its something that I take for granted sometimes.

 

Wow, that is very very cool!!

Neat that you have that pic

 

What got me into ford trucks was my grandpas 1982 F150. Was white w/ a blue stripe, 2wd, and said Explorer on the end of the bedside. had running boards, a sheetmetal/ blue bulb window topper, the spare tire mounted to the front bumper w/ a whitetail buck cover, and the cool "off road" lights as he called em. (really they were only clearance lights). Cant really explain it, but i loved that truck. Then when we started turning 16 my buddy picked up this 84 F350 diesel, threw the cheapest set of mud tires on he could find, and the rest was history.

 

thats definately cool to be on the forefront. i remember my dad had some kind of special edition 79 chevy with a factory roll bar and brush gaurd and tri-color paint. i know where the truck is rotting at right now but the owner wont give it up. i remember sitting on the center armrest while we hit logging trails and stuff. not the safest thing to do, but who thought of that in 1985. its amazing the advances we've made in safety awareness over the last 25 years.

 

Yeah, I hate riding in any vehicle without a seatbelt. Especially off-road. I'll smash my head into the roof and injure my neck haha.

 

Hey Ed tell your dad that he has achieved complete awesomeness.

 

Hey Ed, looks like your dad is running rockwells too in the pic. Do you have any more pics you could share?

Rich

 

I dont have too many pics of this old truck, this was just a blown up picture that my brother has hangin in his garage. We have been looking through the pics but none are any better at describing the truck than this one. If I find any, I will post more.
Ols truck is long gone. Not even sure what ever happened to it.

 

Any idea what year that picture was taken?

 

That pic had to been taken somehwere in the mid to late 80's. Truck had been rolling around like that for several years prior to that, and stayed on the road until about 1995 or 96.
Started life as a 77.5 F250, then had to be re-registered as an F600, and additional weight fees could be applied. This eliminated smog requirements, and changed the bumper height requirements so it could be street legal. This truck was among the first around to be rolling 44" gumbo monster mudders, if any one can remember those, and after a few broken axles, the Rocks went under it.
Good times in that old rig.......

 

My interest began on because of my uncles and my grandpa. They all had 70s fords. I really thing that is why I like the dentside. I am not particularly brand loyal, but when I got old enough to afford my own stuff, I got my truck solely based on the fact that it was a dentside.

Their's were all stock. They used them for farming and coal mining, but even so, they went some pretty cool places for what a little kid thought was possible. The lifted thing just grew with my abilities.

Cool old pic, Ed. I always like to see what stuff looked like back in the day. It seems like since there wasn't digital, there isn't much of that stuff around. It reminds me of the trucks in the magazines when I was a kid.