Hi there, I've had this truck for a couple of years. I've never driven it, I acquired it with a busted D44 front axle, broke at the knuckle.

I have been scraping together parts to swap a better axle under it. No I didn't get a D60, but I did find a HD44 closed knuckle and that's what we went with.

Here's ole broke ass laying in the weeds.



Prepping for the shop (de-mousing)

Yeah, we ended up stripping it to an empty housing because the left knuckle was full of rust, a spider gear was busted in the diff... bas kingpin bearings, bad diff and pinion bearings... it was all bad in regards to bearings. So she got stripped empty, blasted, cleaned, epoxy primed and reloaded with goodness.

Here's a look at the tiny kingpins in the 65 D44 vs the 1975 HD44 pins.





there she is, ready for work.

I love the old Fords. My last pickup was a '66 F-100, 240 straight 6, 3 on the tree. 286,000miles on it when I installed a new long block. I miss that old dependable behemoth. It got roughly the same 12mpg loaded, or unloaded. Did a lot of work with that truck.
Your's is looking good.

292, 352, or 6 banger Dave? One for sale on CL down here just like it but green and with a 4 or 6 BT Cummins swapped in, pretty cool truck but it's not nearly as straight as yours. I passed a 64 that was a longbed stepside 4x4 with a 352 about 6 months ago, it was a cool truck an old rancher I knew had owned it for at least 40 years. But it had just lived too hard a life smacking into mesquites and the occasional cow while bouncing and banging around in the rocks, would have been too much project for me.

I had a '68 like that. The 240 was the same as the 300 except for the stroke. Most of the parts other than the rods and the block were interchangeable. It was very reliable but didn't have quite the torque of the 300.
The guy I bought it from had a good 4 spd in his shop so I took it home with that in it for an extra $100 (this was in the late 70's).

This one came with a 352 but it has a 360 in it now from mid 70's.

If I keep it I have a 71 390 I can drop in there

I moved to California with everything I owned packed in and on a '68 ford mustang. (Looked like something out of Mad Max, with spare tires and jerry cans chained on top of the trunk.) Five years later, it was a '66 F-100 headed back the other way..
Shifter tubes are a problem on the column shifter. I went through 5 junk yard replacements, (none worked) before swapping to a floor shifter.
That 240 straight 6 had enough room under the hood, that I stood along side the engine, under the hood in a pouring rain, changing spark plugs, without gwtting wet! (Try that with anything modern).
And yes, the 300 had a longer stroke, and the 250 was a bored out 240. (Only 3 engines would fit without modifications. )
First gear would just about climb trees, but 3rd gear didn't like hills much.

Thanks for the reminder. I did exactly that myself. It was a lot easier to stand inside next to the engine than it was to get on a stool and reach over.

I later had a '73 Blazer with a 3 spd and a 307 engine. I got it from a dealer who'd had it on the repair line for months. The shift linkage was shot and he couldn't find the parts. Before I bought it, I found a 3 spd floor shift kit that would fit so I knew I could fix it. I got it for a basement price because of it. $35 for the kit, under 2 hrs to install it, and I drove it for another 100k. It would have been better with a 4 spd but I always had low range if I needed it.

the wheelbase on my truck has been lengthened about 8" to make this style of bed fit properly. The 65 F250 4x4 would have come originally with a 120" wheelbase and the boxy earlier body style box

Did they cut and weld the frame or just move the axle back? Hopefully it was done in a decent manner and not all hacked up.

unbolted the spring perches and moved them back, drilled new holes and rebolted. they did a decent job of it.

If you don't keep it, your friend Tom is going to buy it. Since he's been lusting after it since the day you brought it home.

Tzone is the green Ford in your avatar yours? Pretty sharp looking little ride.

No it isn't. I was gong to paint mine like that one but went a different direction. I had a 78, which I sold. I'd like to do another now I that I have a little practice in. I know I can do it better this time.

Unless Dave sells me that truck. Then I don't have to do anything. It's perfect.

Love this truck

Great story and photos as usual! Love the truck.

Great old truck.

I had a '66 F-150 with an original 352 back in the 80's when I was in high school. I sold it years ago, but still miss it today.

Great thread Dave. Please keep updates and photos coming.