i finally got my truck back running after sitting outside in 20 below zero wheather tring to trouble shoot what was wrong. found out it was a bad choke. while i was doing all of this trouble shooting i noticed that the front grill dont quite fit right on my truck. like it was made for a diffrent year truck or something. so i did the vin decoder in the tech article section and it stated that i had a 72 f250 2WD. but my truck is 4wd and according to the guy i bought it from it is also a f100. so i toke it to a buddy who knows a lot about older trucks and what they look like. he said he could not tell which year it was but it definately wasnt a 72. he told me about the thing about checking the tail lights. appartently the put the year on them. they said i have a 73. all of this is very confusing to me. i really need to know which year truck i have so that i can buy parts for it. with out having to go through all the trouble of taking parts back and fourth. so what i am asking is can anyone tell me how to post pics on thissite so that i can get some help from you all about identifing what i have. i also have a digital camera. so as soon as someone tell me how to do it i will post pics

 

Hi,

Sorry I can't help you with the picture posting. I just wanted to throw an idea at you. Take a look at the top of the passenger side frame rail a foot or so to the rear of the motor mount. You may have to scrape some oil and dirt off. There should be a VIN stamped there. See if it is the same as your VIN in the door. Sounds like maybe the body was switched.

Lee

 

You can go to the picture gallery and compare your truck against pics of other years. Also, I'm not sure if you've posted your vin code, but if you do, someone can decode it for you.

 

i went out there and toke a look at my truck there is no vin on the frame at all. the only thing that is there is a metal hose that is not connected to anything. i also looked at the trucks in the pic gallery. and truthfully i cant tell which year i have.

 

Is there anything in the doorjamb area of the door? It should be an aluminum tag that's pop rivited to the door. Or, what does your registration have on it? Where do you live? There ought to be another FTE guy nearby...

 

send the pic to sean.murray @ osan.af.mil . I'll post it for ya! The user gallery was down the last I checked.

 

I couldn't see the vin number by my engine either. However it is also stamped on top of the passenger side frame rail under the cab, approximatley directly beneath the passenger side seat. With a mirror I was able to see mine quite well. Good luck.

 

ok i will check for that vin number again but that ground out there is really cold. and i will also take some pics tomorrow when it is daylight outside and send them to you. but thanks for all the help everyone

 

i also knew about the one in the door jam that was the first one i looked at to match with the title. and it says the same as the title.

ohh by the way my vin is...
F25YRQ67457

 

The cab may have been replaced so the door jamb label may be incorrect. Does it have 8 lug or 5 lug hubs? Basically what I'm saying is the guy might have had a 4WD F100 that had the cab put on off of a 72 F250. Do the body lines match up? In 67-72 the body line protrudes out from the truck, 73-79 the body line sinks into the truck. In 67-72 the hood goes out and comes back to the grill, 73-79 the hood slopes down to meet the grill. That's the only way I know to describe it.

 

Model


I did a quick check and got this from the VIN decoder:
Year: 73
Series: F250 - 4x2 Pickup
Engine: 8 Cyl, 360ci, 2bbl
Assembly Plant: San Jose

Sparky 2a (formerly Sparky )

 

i went out there and checked for the vin on the frame beneath the passenger side seat and there was nothing there and i also sent the pics so hopefully he will come through and post them opn here for me so i can get some help

 

Easiest why to figure out the grill is first look at the headlights. Do they have aluminum bezels or are they surrounded by platic that is actually molded as part of the grill insert. If they are plastic, your in th wrong chat as they are from a '73 or later mdl truck. If you have a solid metal grill then you have '67- '69 grill. If you have aluminum bezels around the headlights and plastic inserts then you have narrowed grill to '70-'72 model. The '70 aluminum grill surround is different than the '71-'72 but you need to know where to look to tell the difference. On the '70 surround there are four tabs in each opening for the rt and lt plastic inserts to bolt to. These are spaced two on top and two on bottom. on the '71-'72 grills the inserts have 2 more attachment points but these are on the sides of the opening, one per side, as well as 2 on top and 2 at the bottom. The inserts are different as well. the '70 grill is rather, well, ugly (unless you have a 70 like I do!). It is a grid pattern. the 71 and 72 modles have the 6 mounting tabs vs. 4 on the 70. The difference between the design on the 71-72 is a bit harder to explain. Easiest way is if the plastic insert has a metal bar mounted in the center webbing of the casting or one could be mounted there to dress it up it is a 71. The 72 insert has 2 distinct plastic rectangular opens per plastic grill, sepparated by open space in the middle, where the dress bar from the 71 would be mounted from the earlier description. There you go, clear as mud. Too bad its of no use to identify anything but the inserts and wont help I.D. the truck unless you kown the grill is original. And I think thats where this whole thing started.

 

yeah the grill is not the orginal grill off the truck so even though you broke it all down for me. it helps me none. but i really appreciate the help though. i sent some pics to ratsmoker and as soon as he post them for me. i am sure someone will be able to tell me what this truck actually is.

 

does anyone else know how to post pics on-line because i sent them to ratsmoker and he hasnt posted them yet