Wild 1977 F-100 Is a Real-Life Frankenstein

Crazy Project

We've seen some crazy projects in our time, but this 1977 Ford F-100 under construction by Tim Heerboth certainly defines the term. Heerboth has completely blown apart his classic pickup and is working on fitting it with a variety of wild components, including a very unique suspension setup and a Lexus V8.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

Lexus Hybrid

Essentially, Heerboth is working on combining parts from the old F-100 and a Lexus LS400, but that might be simplifying things a bit. Regardless, the mechanical bits located up front are all from the Lexus, including its 1UZ-FE V8 and the entire front suspension.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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Unique Setup

Out back, it's a much different story. Heerboth utilized the Lexus rear suspension in a way, but is creating a custom pushrod setup with F-150 leaf springs and the LS400 rear end. There are no adjustable coils here, but rather an adjustable link attached to a bell crank.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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Simple But Cool

The springs have been offset slightly to keep them from hitting each other while the truck is moving. Meanwhile, there's a long rod that crosses the chassis and connects a longitudinal leaf spring that's been tilted over clockwise at 90 degrees. It's a simple setup for sure, but also a pretty cool one.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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Standing Out

There's a ton of fabrication that's gone into this project, which is essentially the perfect definition of the classic American hot rod. And we applaud Heerboth for daring to be different in this regard. After all, he could have simply gone with coil springs, but why not do something to stand out from the crowd?

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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Long-Term Surgery

Plenty of folks will hate on the non-Ford powerplant going into this F-100, but Heerboth is simply using what he has on hand. And in the end, he's going to have a truck like no other on the road today. There's no telling when that'll happen, however, as this surgery has already been going on for roughly a year and a half.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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American Ingenuity

Regardless of what you think about it, it's hard not to appreciate the hard work and ingenuity that's gone into this project. And you can bet we'll be keeping an eye on Heerboth's handiwork to see how it all turns out in the end.

Photos: Tim Heerboth

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