Want to help me out? If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up - That's all I ask! I'm a small channel and a simple thumbs up really helps appease the RUclips algorithm which in turn helps me grow! Thank you for watching, it means a lot to me as I bring these old beauties back to life. Have a great day!
@@CraigBrinker-jx9qc what does you wanting a truck have to do at all with rarity? Bottom line, this truck is extremely rare. I’m not saying it’s valuable, I’m just saying it’s rare - and probably so. Quit being so negative, all you’ve done is come in here and made yourself look silly to a lot of folks. And there are a TON of 8 lug wheels around, have you not seen all the PowerStrokes and Cummins trucks running around with every type of wheel imaginable on them???
I had an '83 heavy half ton 150. It could carry a lot of weight in the bed but did not have 250 axles. Great engine, the 300 but in '83 Ford crippled it with a 3.08 axle and horrible 4 speed manual with OD which had the gears spaced too wide and was terrible on hills with a load.
@@cheftomsd Ford didn't offer a 3.08 axle ratio. That's a Chevy thing. The Ford rear axle could be had with 3.00 gears. Doesn't sound like much of a difference (because it isn't), but you're tripping that fine line that separates the Chevy camp from the Ford Camp, and that's a battle you don't want to get mixed up with, if you can help it. Still, you have a point. The Ford "Town & Country" top loader 4 speed was really setup as a 3-speed with a built-in overdrive, so the gear spacing tends to be quite wide, compared to your typical 4 speed. The smart move would've been to replace the 3.00 gears in the rear end with 4.11's, or just get a replacement axle with the 4.11's already installed. Low gear total reduction would've been around 13.52-13.35:1, while OD would've been an effective 3.33-3.28:1. A nice spread, even if only separated by a couple of gears.
You were right on the park light lens color. I could stand in the showroom and see where my old inventory was parked. There was a shortage in the factory that year of the heavy springs or rear axles used on the F-150, I can’t remember now which cause obviously I’m old. I sold fords from 1974-1985. Then I became a Chevy man. Being a car guy from birth , I’m in the yard right now with 7 recent auction purchases working on different reconditioning issues with each one. I’m 70 yrs old and still flipping cars . Your so right when you told folks to recognize the rare ones. Time is valuable, don’t waist it on average projects . I’ve bought cars at auctions since I was 9 , got my First dealer license at 14, cruised lots of wrecking yards . I never considered it work, I still have fun bringing back another great car for the road.
Thanks for sharing, sounds like we’re two peas in a pod. I’ve been flipping vehicles my entire life for fun. The money that comes with it is just a happy bonus, I just genuinely enjoy fixing up old vehicles that others have deemed too far gone, or can’t figure out what’s wrong. And like you said, I’ve spent a lot of time educating myself and sharpening my eye for rare or desirable options that other people have overlooked. I can’t tell you how many vehicles I’ve pulled out of the woods that 30 other guys had a chance to get but decided the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze, but I with my knowledge have spied a highly desirable close ratio transmission, or two year only high performance engine, or rare piece of trim that sells for more than I can buy the entire vehicle for. I love it - there’s all sorts of treasures out there right under people’s noses if you educate yourself!
You want to talk rare trucks. While traveling on Rt 10 Arizona from Tucson to Phoenix back in the nineties, I came upon what appeared to be a fully restored, mid fifties, Ford F-150 with fresh red paint. I got next to it and in front of the door on the fender it read M-150. I thought Mercury never made a pickup truck, or did they ? As i slowly past it by, sure enough, it said Mercury on the front grill. I have never seen one before and have never seen another one since. I wonder if i saw the only one in the whole country ? Has anyone seen or heard of a Mercury PU truck before ?
Mercury trucks were sold and popular in Canada. I have a 1967 F100 with Mercury emblems and badging I was sent by a viewer in Canada, the Mercury trucks were popular and plentiful up there! They were not sold new in the US, so the Mercury you saw was likely purchased used in Canada and shipped down to Arizona where it was restored and lived a happy rust-free life!
I agree. Sadly most trucks today are 4 door cabs with useless 4 foot beds, a bed cover, and no bumper hitch. Picking up a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk is the most work many trucks see these days, sadly. I miss seeing old heavy duty built-like-a-tank trucks being worked hard!
I own an F130, 390 4sp. Ranger. Have a hard time getting people to believe that is what I have. Good to see another one. Yes an emissions build, mine sold new in Oregon. I now own it in Idaho, runs and drives well. Has 3.73 full float rear end.
This is like the weird late '90's F150 "7700". Right about the time they introduced the Super Duty trucks, they also made an F150 with "light duty" F250 running gear. They were a really unusual 7 lug wheel!
They have unique badges. Where it would normally say "XLT" or "Eddie Bauer" it literally says "7700". I remember most of the owners I knew hated the weird 7 lug wheels, because brake parts were harder to come by and the factory steel wheels were the only wheels available!
The company I worked for bought dozens of those trucks at the time. When they came in and we realized they were a 7 lug wheel we had to order 7 lug wheels for extra spare tires as well as due to where we used them each truck needed two spares available.
Nice find! Sitting since '03 ain't a big deal. Me and some friends pulled my dad's '78 f100 out from the woods and got it running in about a week and it had been sitting since 2001
In 1976 Ford offered an upgrade on chassis parts to out flank the EPA rules. This upgrade provided stronger axles, shocks and springs. I ordered one in '76 and got the twin tanks, high output heater, sliding rear window, and an 8 foot step side box. In 1988, I replaced the engine and installed a 390+ motor. I still use it.
What makes no sense to me is anything over 6,000 Lb GVWR was emissions exempt, and a "normal" F150 was over 6k GVWR, so why offer the upgrade when any old F150 was already emissions exempt?
I remembered that Ford had marketed the F150 to get around encroaching smog requirements but didn’t realize they included 3/4 ton components. Great, informative video.
That’s the thing, regular F150s got around smog regulations as regular 5 lug trucks and did NOT include 3/4 ton components. That’s what makes this truck extra oddball, it didn’t need 3/4 ton components but received them anyway. Super odd. If they wanted a heavier duty truck, just buy a F250 you know? It’s odd that they essentially built an F250, but went out of their way to ensure it was sold as a F150.
@@RustBucketRescuebasically a forerunner to the light duty 3/4 tons of the 80's. My guess it was aimed at a niche spot in the gvw range. Heavy enough to be smog exempt, but light enough to fall below something like for cheaper license or insurance. Maybe aimed for businesses as a cheaper truck to run. Part of me wonder if it also could of just been a budget model and priced fairly cheaper than a F250.
@@danfisher7856 that’s my suspicion. The GVWR of 6150 is on the low end of what a F250 would be (6250), so I’m wondering if it was a sneaky way to get an F250 without the F250 price tag, and being taxed and registered at the DMV as a “light truck” instead of a “heavy duty” truck.
I had one. It was my very first truck. It was a Ranger XLT; brown and white and had light tan interior. Factory A/C, power steering, power brakes, intermittent wipers, dual tanks, had shag carpet and the vinyl door panel inserts. Factory 390 4V and had 3.07 rear differential. To the best of my knowledge it had a 6700 LB GVWR. Everything about it were F-250 except for the badges. I had to put a master cylinder on it and one for an F-150 did not fit. Had to be one for an F-250. Universal joints were for an F-250 also. Like I said it was basically an F-250 in disguise.
How sure are you on the GVWR? From what little I can dig up anywhere and everywhere I can find tidbits of information, all F130s had 6150 GVWR. Sounds like a beast of a truck either way!! What ever happened to it?
@@RustBucketRescue Honestly, I'm not sure of the GVWR at all. It could have been 6150. There's a possibility I might have its VIN written down somewhere though; most likely in one of the old manuals I have. I'll look and see what I can find. I traded it in 1995 when I was 18 years old for a 1979 Bronco. That's another one I wish I still had.....lol!
@@FerdinandMagellan08 the ‘78-‘79 Broncos are amazing and the value of them is going through the roof, they’re amazing rigs! What kind of drivetrain did your Bronco have?
Hello From Kentucky. I was scrolling here on RUclips and noticed this video. I am also a “Old Ford Guy” and immediately subscribed to your RUclips channel. I never personally did see any of the F-130s but remember that GM was doing similar things with the “Big 10 & Heavy Half” trucks back in the day. When I worked in the equipment section of the transportation cabinet here in KY, We had a few of the “Heavy Half” trucks in the fleet although the vast majority of the 1/2 ton pickups and the crew cab trucks were either Chevrolets or Dodges which were mostly 3/4 ton with the V8 engines and 4 speed transmissions. The Chevrolet Crew Cabs were an absolute pain to do brake jobs on because for the government vehicles, GM used parts that may range back to 1973 to into the later 1980s when they finally changed the body away from the square body. When I started in the early 1990s, We really didn’t have any Fords until you went into the single axle and tandem axle dump trucks. Hope that I didn’t bore you too badly.
@ The vast majority of the vehicles were used for highway maintenance and some trucks were used by the construction engineers and technicians. The vehicles were issued out when they were new and after a certain period of time and or the mileage of the vehicle, The better vehicles were reassigned for other crews to use white the vehicles that were not so good was usually replaced with either brand new vehicles or sometimes vehicles from other areas for reassignment for use in our highway district. The vehicles which ranged from cars,SUV’s through 3/4 ton trucks were fleet management vehicles while anything from 1 ton trucks through the single and tandem axle dump trucks and other types of equipment were controlled through the Division Of Equipment where I was employed for many years. We had a wide range of vehicles and equipment both large and small which our facility had to maintain and repair if at all possible. Our highway district covered 12 counties here in Central Kentucky in which we were tasked to repair at the job site. I was the welder/fabricator and worked mostly at our facility, But also had to repair broken equipment as well as complete projects sometimes in conjunction with the contractors. Hope I didn’t bore you too badly.
I had one of these trucks , I was the second owner . The truck you are showing has a 1 ton full floating axle rear end , mine had an 8 lug but it wasn't a full floater , I wonder why ? Was that also an option ? I know my truck had the 360/390 option engine and manual trans . The first owner was my boss at a auto repair shop I worked at and we are still friends , he said he wanted a camper hauler for hunting and he was shown 2 models , this one and another with a set back rear axle . One thing I remember about this truck , the factory heater was terrible , I had to up grade it to the high output heater core . Thanks for the video it was cool to see a truck like mine again .
Thank you for watching! I’m going to pull in a F250 next to it and compare the brakes, the frame thickness, the suspension, etc and see how similar they are, hopefully it’ll help solve the mystery so stay tuned!
@@allenprine3751 thank you brother! Keep an eye on the channel, I’ll have a follow up video soon of getting this thing back on good tires and brakes and seeing if she’ll drive around the yard under her own power!
Great video! Stirs up my restoration juices! I have a ‘73 F250 sitting in the woods!…maybe time to drag it out! It came with a 390, but since I trashed it there’s now a 360 in it. I’m 2nd owner, With about 160k miles on it! I’ll be watching, just subscribed!
@@davidsmith3828 thanks for subscribing brother - greatly appreciated! It’s the weekend, go pull that ‘73 F250 out! No excuses! You’ve got this brother, go pull it out and see if the engine will turn over!
My step-uncle Glenn Wiggins of NC in 2001 built a red hot-rodded 1976 F130 with the 8 lug rear end with a 460 in it and that truck was stupid strong and if it could get traction, would really get down. I had forgotten all about that truck until seeing this video. Glenn was a Ford man through and through and always had a project going back then. He even built a 56 Chevy truck and put a 5.0 Windsor from an old mustang in it and still has it most likely though I haven't seen him in years.
@RustBucketRescue I'm not sure if he's still alive, I haven't been back in 3-4 years but I'm pretty sure he's still there. He is/was a tractor and restoration mechanic/farmer. It's my step-mothers side of the family and I've never really been part of them. He sold that old truck to a guy that lived in the same town but the fella was scared to drive it so the last I saw of it, it was just sitting, which is too bad.
Ford and Dodge made some odd set ups for the civil engineers, rail yards and such. They were all typically painted that dark green, had 6cylinders and no cosmetics. Yet had things like one extra leaf in the spring pack, 8 lug, and sometimes a power take-off on the back of the trans. Most of them were heavy duty manual trans. with floor shifter. Typically they deleted any side crome strips, radio and air delete. I bought 2nd hand 72 Dodge that had been used for drilling soil samples. I couldn't drive it on the hi-way over 60mph, it was geared so low. It was a great heavy duty truck that I needed at the time for my masonry business. Now I wish I would have researched that ID badge on that truck.
This sounds exactly how this one was build. Thanks for the feedback, I’m going to have to dig and see if I can find the ownership history of it and see if it was build for a gov’t or rail yard!
I have seen those,and when I tell people about the 76 F-150 8 lug , people think I am crazy,and I remember seeing them brand new at the two Ford Dealerships in Tucson.Thanks for showing,that is a very rare truck.
Thank you for sharing! Must have been wild to see them new at the dealership! Do you remember what the Dealerships marketed or sold them as? Were they doing it for emissions, or selling them as heavy duty 1/2 tons, or marketing them as F250s without the F250 price tag?
@@RustBucketRescue You know I was a go for for Desert International in 76,I was 19 at the time,And the service dept.worked on a fleet of F-650s so I'd was sent to the Ford Dealership (Holmes Tuttle Ford).I remember the first one I saw was in the later part of 75,and I remember asking what a F150 8 lug truck was being marked to,and was told anything from emissions,to an 8 lug half ton,that was cheaper to plate,to a smoother ride.So I remember never getting the one solid answer about what marketing spot it was for.
Fascinating! I remember the time when the quickest showroom stock stoplight dragsters were big block half tons with 6,100 GVWR. But this, with its full floating axle is a 3/4 ton dressed as a half ton. Probably a great work truck.
It’s such an oddball fun truck, I’ve had a good time digging into the mystery! Stay tuned, I have a fun video coming soon where I’ll be comparing it to a same-era F250. I’ll be comparing the brakes, frame thickness, leaf springs, axles etc so we can all collectively find out together how similar to an F250 it is or isn’t. Should be an eyebrow-raiser!
Then in the 80s, Ford brought out the lighty duty F250 with semi float rear axle. The heavy duty F250's were essentially F350's since they ran the F350 frame and full-float axles. Ford was trying really hard to skirt around emissions back then. lol.
@@ronaldburgess2884 yeah I’ve seen (and actually owned) a few camper special and Big 10 trucks, which is what this reminds me of, but can’t find any documentation on this Ford. Ford did have camper specials themselves, but they had a different model ID than this F130. It seems to be a heavy half or camper special style truck, but they went out of their way to give us a model ID (F130) to separate it from those trucks which is what’s so odd.
Yes, I had an 86 "light duty" F-250. Had the big 10.25 rear end but in semi floating form. It also had a TTB Dana 44 HD up front instead of a TTB Dana 50.
@jerrywagner7346 Very few trucks came with the D50. Supposedly the extended cabs, crew cabs, and diesels were the only ones with the D50 unless a regular cab had like a snowfighter package or similar. But nobody really knows for sure as Ford didn't really document it well.
I have had 20 dent sides over the years and you just never know it all. The only rare, and I never researched it, but the only rare thing I ever saw was color keyed interior items. This truck a friend had, the exterior was tan and on the interior, all the black on things like the t/s lever knob, the column shifter knob and the windshield and back glass gaskets were tan in lieu of the usual black. It did not appear that it was done by any owner. The Bakelite type material was actually tan on the knobs! The rubber gaskets were the weirdest! Looking forward to you saving this gem.
I’ve never heard of a color keyed interior - you just gave me a rabbit hole to go down 😂. Thanks for watching, I’ve got an update video on the works, so you’ll see this thing moving around under its own power soon!
The GVWR does not appear to be any higher than an ordinary 5 lug F150, so I’m not so sure this was an emissions thing like a Big 10 is. I thought the same thing at first (Big 10) until I saw the GVWR was no different than any other 5 lug F150.
Not a big surprise that Ford made an F130...this was the same model-year that Chevrolet made the 'Big 10' and GMC had the 'Gentleman Jim'. I once saw a Chevy Big 10 (half-ton basic) with the 3/4 ton running gear, 3/4-ton frame...AND it had a stack of 13-rear springs in the back! (a 1-ton stack with overloads)...only saw one of those, and never even saw the build sheet on how you could order such a beast! (Camper package, tow package, overload package, etc.?)
I miss mine. You literally could sit in the engine well while working on the engine. With modern seal materials most of the chronic problems could be eliminated. The distributor drive shaft had a pin which liked to shear and that was a pain but everything was accessible.
I plan to put a nice aftermarket billet distributor in and reseal the engine with modern gaskets and sealants, which as you mentioned are greatly improved over sealers of the past. Should be a nice little setup when finished!
Actually the Ford F-130 was not the odd duck you think it is. As back in 1965 Ford produced a F-100 that used 3/4 ton springs, and a 240 inline 6 that was a short bed stepside. Along with an F-350 Super Duty around 1995/1996 that used an F-450 braking system, it does not show up on any parts suppliers books, but it does exist. As Ford has always been notorious for using up surplus parts, in their assembly lines during body and face lift changes. The F-130 was an internal designation, for a light duty 3/4 ton or heavy half that was given F-150 badging due to Ford not wishing to create a new trim badging for a special order truck
@@GenderSkins Ford has made special order trucks for YEARS without creating new badges or coming up with new internal designations. Also, all F130s share the same core package, so they’re not exactly one-off special order units. It’s very much its own thing.
I bought one of those, same color even back in the late 80's. It belonged to a bottled water company in Philly. I was told that the truck had originally been a government vehicle, and they bought four of them as new, never driven but 8 years old at the time. It was a 300 I6, four speed with an NP435 four speed, and a Dana 60 rear with non floater rear and small front spindles and 8 - 1/2" lugs, Mine had manual drum brakes all around and manual steering, and no radio, just a block off plate. The interior was painted green but with plain vinyl seat and black floor mat. It had no exterior molding down the side, just painted metal. I bought it with 71k on it, with a bad oil pump, someone had done an oil pan gasket and must have used 20 oz of rtv which ended up in the oil pickup. I did mains and rods, and a pump and pickup with a proper pan gasket, plus a new exhaust and drove it for 8 years before selling it when I found an F250 camper special with ac . The guy who bought mine was moving to WV and needed it for the move back in around 1997.
The too-much-RTV is something I see a lot of sadly. People will use an entire caulking gun tube of the stuff, and right to the oil pickup screen it goes 😢. Sounds like a very unique truck, government units are usually built pretty oddly!
I greatly appreciate that brother, I’m a small channel so that means a lot! I have more interesting finds I’ll be reviving here soon, so if you like old left-for-dead junk being dragged out of the woods and briar patches and given a second chance at life, you’ll enjoy your time here. Thanks again brother!
My brother had a '68 F-100, short and wide, but it also had 8 lug wheels. Ford is famous for creating vehicles for the US Forestry Service that used heavier duty frames (4x4, as oppsed to 4x2), axles and suspension. The general public could order such a truck, but it wasn't advertised, so you had to know what to ask for. I find it interesting that both my brother's former pickup and this one, are both the same shade of green. This practice spilled over into the compact Ford Ranger trucks in 2001, when they built a 2001 only vehicle spec'd the same way, but sold to the public. They had a name for that one, but I forget what it was anymore...however, I do remember the name of the New Process transmission you can't remember. It was the NP435. I rebuilt a bunch of those back when I worked for U-Haul.
I know the NP-435 like the back of my hand, when it came time to talk about it my mind went blank - definitely a “D’oh!” moment! I got a F250 recently so in my next video I’ll be comparing the frame thickness, the brakes, the leaf springs, the axle, etc to see what the similarities are. I’ll have to look into that 2001 Ranger you talked about. I love oddball vehicles so I’ll end up tracking down and researching that heavy duty Ranger - thanks for watching and thanks for sharing!
@@RustBucketRescue "I know the NP-435 like the back of my hand, when it came time to talk about it my mind went blank..." And I had absolutely no way of knowing that. Sorry if my comment on the 435 seemed like I was treating you like an idiot. I wasn't. You just seemed unsure of the name of the transmission. I hope that F250 is a 4x4, because it's my understanding that is the frame they used for the Forestry Service vehicles. A 4x4 frame. The axles and suspension, however, should pair up with your 250 (congrats on your latest purchase, btw). ...and, I just remembered, the Ford Ranger I was trying to remember in my prior post was the TRAILHEAD model...and I guess it was a 2000 model, not 2001. Sorry 'bout that.
@@DeanMk1 no offense taken! The F250 I bought is sadly a 2wd, but should still make for an interesting comparison. I’m going to have to look up this Trailhead Ranger, sounds like a fun little truck!
The 460 is what probably helped that. For Ford, GM, and Dodge the big displacement engines were the very last to require smog. 78ish 79ish was around the cutoff point for most big engine trucks, so your dad bought that thing at the perfect time!
@@RustBucketRescue Thanks. He asked the sales guy what was the difference between the F-100 which they still where selling and the F-150. The guy told him that the frame was thicker/heavier on the F-150.
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 interesting! I’m making a follow up video on this truck. I have a F100, F150, and F250, so I’ll make part of my video measuring and comparing the thickness of all three frames - should be interesting!
Still my most favorite motor of all Ford engines the 300 straight 6 they never let me down and always kept on going regular maintenance they were literally indestructible
Couldn’t agree more. The timing gears instead of a timing chain was genius. All they ever need are spark plugs and oil changes, they’re wonderful motors!
Chevy did similar with a heavy half. They were 2wd but used 6 lug rear axles and had 6 lug front hubs. My brother had a 73 Cheyenne super 10heavy half I’ve never actually seen an f-130, but I knew they existed. Dentside depot did a short a while back on these. SAVE IT!!!
Also note the narrow chrome in the center of the dent side most of these trucks were assembled out west or in Canada. Also look closely at the rear hub it is slightly shorter than the average or standard f250 i had a 77 very light duty and it had 8 lug wheels but no floating rear hubs . It did have a heavy duty bearing. The axle was a dana built but worked well so i only replaced the brakes had to take off to napa so they could match up. This could be a trailer special truck for different parts of the country. I have a 79 trailer special found in SC it has 460 ac ps pb auto big 4 core radiator the narrow crome red on top white on bottom all factory colors. All in very good shape all original drive train and very light rust no dents ot scratches
This one was built in Norfolk, Virgina. I got a same-era F250 recently, so my next video is to park them side by side, pop off the wheels, and compare the brakes, frame thicknesses, rear leaf springs, axles, etc to compare and contrast them and see what the similarities and differences are, stay tuned!
DUDEZILLA!!!! Thanks for the history on this! I DID NOT know of the F130! And how 'kool and the gang' is it that it was for only one year!! I would type more BUT I wanna bingewatch your next video on it before I take my afternoon nap!
I'm a small (but growing!) channel, comments like yours make my WEEK brother! It makes me feel like it's worth making these videos, because there are still people like yourself that are interested in cool old cars and trucks. I really, really, really appreciate you watching! Thanks for the kind words, you made my day!
That's very interesting how rare and hard to find that that truck is. How do you find all of these junk yards? I live in Southern Louisiana and we have no old car junkyards over here.
I bought brand new an 84 F-250 that had an 82 351 V-8, 4 speed, with no emissions and is now on its third owner, one tough truck that I was told was a schitt box when I bought it
These f130 trucks were made for states with more strict emissions laws, CA and OR. In other states they could use the regular f150 and still meet the law. The heavier drive train was a stopgap to pass emissions. My understanding is these trucks were sold new in CA and OR most of the time. Mine has an Oregon dealer badge on the cowl.
Let me gently poke some holes in that theory. All vehicles 6,000 lb GVWR or higher were emissions exempt in ‘76, so any old 5 lug F150 was already exempt, the 5 lug F150 typically had a 6,050 to 6,200 lb GVWR. The entire reason ford even came up with the F150 was to loophole emissions. Further more, the F130 code trucks lost 50 lbs of GVWR rating over a F151 code truck, likely to cover the additional axle weight. F130s all have a 6150 lb GVWR, most 5 lug F150s have a 6,200 lb GVWR. So F130s have a LOWER GVWR, not higher, than many 5 lug trucks, which hurts the emissions theory. Also, mine was built in Virginia. Why would Ford build a truck in Virginia to sell in Oregon or California when there were plants way closer to the west coast? I’ve heard “it’s an emissions loophole truck” theory over and over, but a major flaw in that theory is the F130 package LOST, not gained, GVWR. I’ll cover this in my next video, should make for a good discussion from the community.
Dealers move inventory with each other…so that could explain some of that. Ford is famous for using up excess parts. They may have been long on heavy axles and bearings for the build period. Emissions varied more BY STATE at that time. Bean counters would be part of the mix as well. Ford parts/spec change during the build year. Most old Ford owners know the answer to the question….early or late?? Mine is dark green by the way. Has the white decals midway all around. The main thing to get out there is this was a Factory build truck…not someone swapping bodies/fenders/badges. Ford does some strange things. I still remember the 1963 Ford “wrongbed” trucks. I’m old….
@@normtew6354 I had a wrongbed Ford! Fun, oddball trucks! You hit the nail on the head with my leading theory: I suspect Ford either had a glut of 8 lug axles, or a shortage of 5 lug axles, so they built a run of 8 lug F150s, and then to reduce confusion, gave them their own unique model code of F130 so dealers wouldn’t run into the scenario of someone coming in and saying “Hey my F151 code truck has 5 lugs, but my neighbor’s F151 code truck has 8 lugs. How come he got an 8 lug axle and I didn’t?” By using a unique model code, when someone asked why their neighbors F150 got 8 lugs, the dealer could reply “He bought a F130 model truck, those receive 8 lugs, he bought a different model than you so that’s why”
The views you have had indicate this still a very interesting topic! I followed the same 20 year old thread that you did! So….good job….I am learning your sharing has been helpful. Carry on, look forward to your next vid on this.
Ford was following Chevys foot steps with this. In 1975 Chevy put out the "Heavy Half" which was their smaller C-10 truck with a higher GVW so they could skirt the emission standards going into effect in 1976. Ford did so for just one year with a limited amount of trucks cause they where already well into placement of the catalytic converter on to the trucks. So this is just Fords version of the Heavy Half.
As far as I know, the transmission could be a NP435, or a T18. Also another way to tell between a 76 or 77 with the same grill, is the designations ( f150 and such) would be on the cowl above the fender on a 77.
That was called a “Camper Special”. It would come with a camper in the bed of the truck. The truck would come from the factory, and the dealer would install the camper, larger tow mirrors, and a pigtail in the bed for the camper lighting. Dealers also would install air shocks in the rear. They did not sell well and not all dealers would get one.
I’ve had a few people suggest this, but it’s not a camper special, those had a different model code as well as a higher GVWR rating. The F130 was its own unique thing specifically set apart from the camper specials and other oddball trucks. I actually have a camper special, and there’s almost zero similarities between it and this F130.
My uncle bought a new Ford truck in the late 70s. A few months after he had purchased the truck he realized that it said 250 on one side of it and 150 on the other side.
In 1976 my Dad traded his 1966 F-100 "Industrial" for a 1976 F-150 as a replacement for the F-100 on the family farm. And he came to HATE that F-150 because it was simply not up to the task. The F-150s with the eight lug wheels were basically the "Heavy Duty" 150s of their day. Dad was never happy with the "standard" F-150 and traded it for a new Dodge Ram 150 in 1985. That truck is still running to this day and serves as my younger brother's beater truck. Oddly enough I purchased a 1977 Ford F-150 (used of course) in 1992 which, like that old 1966, was marked as "Industrial". That son of a gun, like it's older brother, would pull the crack of dawn open AND closed with no sign of strain whatsoever. I wish I still had that truck, but life got in the way, and I had to trade it for a far less capable vehicle in 1999.
Thank you for this awesome story brother! Do you remember what engines and transmissions your dad’s beefy ‘66 and your beefy ‘77 had? What colors were they?
@@RustBucketRescue The '66 was powered by a 352cid V-8 while the '77 sported a 360cid V-8. Maybe it was just nostalgia that drew me to it, but my '77 was the same color as the '66, a kind of tan. The '66 was a "three on the tree manual, no AC, and power nothing" while the tranny in my '77 was a C-6 if memory serves. If the shifters were placed in neutral on those trucks, they rocked like they had a serous cam. By the way, both trucks had two-barrel carbs that a man could stick his thumbs into and have room to spare though oddly enough they BOTH got better fuel mileage that that piece of crap "standard/light duty" F-150 with its weak (for what was needed of a truck on the farm) 302cid/5.0L.
@@furmanmackey5479 the Ford-Edsel (FE/FT) series engines (352, 360, 390) they stuck in trucks were simply glorious. They were “old enough” that they were from the era where still made excellent power (for the day), as they came before the malaise/smogger era where even monstrous big blocks were pitifully wheezing out less than 200 hp at the crank. The FE engines are awesome, I see why you were so pleased with the older trucks!
Interesting video. Thanks for posting. I have one correction the turn signal color. I have seen 76 with the amber lens. May have been end of year IDK. The only way i can tell is the gas filler. 76 has the caps outside and 77 started putting the fuel door on
Are you the original owner? A lot of people put amber turns signals into ‘76s after the fact. Multiple state didn’t allow clear lenses during state inspections, which is why Ford only ran clear lenses for one year before dealers complained and ambers became the standard. Many ‘76 owners converted their clears to amber to be able to pass inspections over the past 40+ years.
These F130 trucks (marketed as F150 HD in the spec books) are documented in the book “Ford Trucks Since 1905”, by James K. Wagner. They were the result of a supply chain shortage of F150 running gear. Whether that was due to a strike, a plant fire, or ??? I don’t recall, but Ford could not afford to stop production with the demand they had for F150s at that time.
Well if you don’t think it was built to beat emissions then it was probably to scam consumers. Yet most people realize gm did exactly the same thing to get around emissions by advertising a higher gvwr on half ton trucks. I owned a 77 2wd k5 blazer that was a cheater. Original CA vehicle no cats only a smog pump for emissions. That’s really all the heavy gvw eliminated was catalytic converters, it didn’t make them exempt. So I wouldn’t go too crazy about it.
Still trying to figure out what the “point” was in building these. I’m wonder if they just ran out of 1/2 ton axles for a bit and used 3/4 ton axles on 1/2 ton trucks just to keep the assembly line going till the next load came in. They appear to be an extremely low volume truck, only a handful of F13s have popped up over the years. I plan to make a roll up video soon comparing it to a dentside F250 to see what the similarities are.
@@RustBucketRescueTwo things. My parents bought one with a trailer towing package and it had a Camper Special for carrying heavy campers in the truck bed. Seems like it had the 8 lug wheels. A friend also bought an F-150 but he put 250 badges on it justbfor the sake of doing it. Wonder if this could be the reverse of that. I know Ford went from 1/2 ton to calling them 5/8 ton trucks (to bypass emissions regulations) and switched from 100 badging to 150 badging. I'm wondering if the badging just got mixed up somewhere along the line? Thanks for the video.
@@Colorado_Native the way it sits is the way it left the factory, the F130 model code designates a F150 with 8 lug wheels. I’ve got a dentside F250 I’m picking up soon, I’m going to park it next to the F130 and do a comparison video comparing the frame thickness, brakes, leaf springs, etc to see exactly how similar the trucks are. It’s a super odd one, that’s for sure!
Had one that had AC and had the oil bath type air filter assembly. Geared out the butt. No top end but it would pull a house if you could hook it up. It was my grandfathers. A man t boned me and my two young sons and totalled it out back in 93
I have to look it up again in a book on Ford trucks I have but there may have been a 60 series (F160). Ford trucks in the '70s until around 1978 had all these different models and noted them as such. I had always assumed it was 150/250/350 but man I was wrong
Ford was all over the map and often defied logic. For example, this truck is a blend of F150 parts and F250 parts, so logically you would think F200 would be the perfect name, but they went backwards and named it a F130 😆
This reminds me of early production 1965 Mustang (so called 1964 1/2) made in 1964, then Ford made a lot of mechanical and electrical modification for 1965 models. The F130 might be an early production F-150, but using costly and heavy F250 axels as stop gap measure until an appropriate replacement based on modified F-100 axels. There is a discussion comparing F-100 and F-150 axels, they are nearly identical externally, except the F-150 have more robust shafts.
It's certainly possible, it'll be one of my discussion points in my upcoming video where I'll be comparing the F130 to a recently acquired F250 I have.
Interesting, I love the old 300s. I own two 1999 Econoline, one E250 rust bucket. And a conversion high top E150, I'm going to put the high top on the 250 frame. I prefer the ride height.
Very interesting. I was thinking maybe someone ordered it as a f150, and had the axles put in part way into the video...But my knowledge in these trucks just started to really take shape after finally aquiring my late mother's 76 f-100 flairside 2wd this year. She's had the truck in storage since 1986 with a locked up motor. She finally let me get it out of storage in March of this year to get it fixed up for her, then she passed away unexpectedly in May. After all those years in storage, i'm very close to getting it driving again already. One thing though, i've heard a few times before, in mid 76 is when they switched to amber front markers. The truck i was talking about was built in SanJose in early 76, had clear markers. Ran into a later model 76 had amber front markers. It could be that the owner changed them too, not sure.
Sorry about your loss brother. Sounds like an excellent truck however! What’s left till it’s ready to rock and roll? And yes 76 model trucks with ambers are likely owner swapped lenses, they should be clear.
Interesting find~ Dodge also made Ram 1500s from 2003 to 2006(?) with 8-lug hubs from the 2500 and they were called Heavy (Duty) Half(-ton)s. I've seen a couple as a former Chrysler lube tech.
I’ve seen other Fords with 3/4 running gear. A buddy had 77 150 with 3/4 running gear Ranger short box with 400 3 on tree. Fun truck if you had nerves power shifting it got loose
Power shifting a 3 on the tree is always a bold move. If the shifter is fresh and “tight” it works out well, but on one that’s seen some miles and getting some slop in the linkages I always end up getting stuck in a gear when the linkages bind up trying to keep up with “enthusiastic” shifting 😂
I have a 1971 E 350 econoline that is 5 lug with the small bolt pattern 5 on 4.5” so it is an oddball., I do know the story on this. It was converted to the 1/2 ton gear long ago, it was 8 lug that someone wanted to use the 8 lug running ear for another van.
Was it sold out west or Canada they actually did have something that they wanted wheels to be more interchangeable. A friend had a 77 f150 xlt super nice truck had the small ford wheels trucks is still tagged and uses it from time to time has 10 inch wheels and 275 60 15 paint faded but still nice truck. Tried to buy several times
@@gregallen4272 I’ve noticed Canadian vehicles got several interesting options. Definitely a niche market back in the day that Ford did some fun stuff for!
In the mid 90s Chevrolet did the same thing they classified their trucks is 1500s but you could get the eight lug version which was a light duty three-quarter ton hence heavy duty running from the three-quarter ton but half ton suspension I’ve only seen a couple of those trucks toomy stepfather ordered one really much more weight than a regular 1500
My brother in law had a 76 Ford F-150 4x4 that was built the same way it had F-250 suspension and rearends and I've seen 2 others so I know it wasn't something someone did on their own and funny thing is that all 3 of them were the same color red and white having heard that Ford had done this so I didn't think about it being rare but now my curiosity is in overdrive so I'm going to have to check this out we never checked the VIN tag to see what it said I'm going to be looking around and hopefully one of these that were here where I live is still around I'll definitely be checking the tag to see what it says awesome video thank you for sharing it with us
That’s an odd duck! Never seen a 5 lug F250, especially a 4x4! But after seeing this 8 lug F150, I can totally believe Ford would do all sorts of wacky stuff!
I see you’ve seen the will it start video, next up I need to do a will it DRIVE video. New tires arrive today, stay tuned, with any luck I’ll be doing figure 8s in my back field in my next video!
That loophole allowed Dodge to sneak the Lil' Red Express through in 78' without emissions, but by 79' the EPA pricks had shut it down, closing the loophole and forcing cats, reducing power and efficiency on all pickups. Fun while it lasted.
They can’t be killed! You won’t win any drag races, but boy oh boy all you have to do is fuel them up and do an occasional oil change and 300,000 miles of trouble free use is as easy as putting it in drive and hitting the road!!
Grenadas had either the 200 or 250 6 cylinder, while the trucks were 240or 300 6s. The 200/250 was more compact to fit in smaller engine bays. Parts don’t interchange between the 2 engine families.
I have a 76 F150 labeled F13 has 250 drivetrain and 390 with 4 speed manual runs drives been in car shows and getting restored at same time a great truck has the clear front marker lights in it to
All F13's will be 1976 model trucks with the clear front marker lights. From my research, it's a one year only (1976) model. The GVWR should be 6150 Lbs. as well. What color is it? Should be a regular cab longbed as well, and 2 wheel drive, is it?
In 76 I didn’t think they even had the f100 anymore other than what they branded as the ranger. Here a kick I have a 77 F150 (5 bolt wheels) with a 460 cid , ford didn’t offer that engine in half tons at least not in CA don’t know about the rest of the nation, but you could get it in a fleet sale . It’s for sale if anyone is interested. Runs but been sitting .
They ran the F100 all the way to 1983 believe it or not! I’m not sure about California, but in the other 49 at least the F150 could be purchased with a 460. Believe it or not you could buy a F100 with a 460 too! Where is your truck located, and how much are you asking for it?
It has orange can of death oil filter so definitely sludged up needs wix or Motorcraft filter and Delo 30 wt oil We have this same truck with a 460 4x4
@@RustBucketRescue mix a good dose of marvel mystery oil in fuel helps lubricant everything especially on a engine sitting for years Plus marvel is a good cylinders pre soak .. great video thanks for posting 👍
@@quagmiredavis4117 ah yes, I’m well versed with marvel mystery oil! If you check out my channel I actually have a follow up video on this truck, and am working on a third video now as I work on getting it back on the road, stay tuned!
@@garyr7027 gotta disagree with you there, I’ve had well tuned 300s get in the low 20s mpg. For a carbureted, heavy, un-aerodynamic brick, low 20s mpg is quite the feat.
@@RustBucketRescue I was talking about 200 fuel mileage, not the 300. I don't know about the 300, but the 200 perfectly tuned I had was 17 to 18 mpg tops. It guzzled gas. Better off with a good V8 for mileage imo.
I have a 240 that ford rebuild several decades ago and it sit just outside of highlands nc has a ford rebuild tag from memory .20 piston 10 10 on crank sadly it was never ever cranked for several decades was in 66 long bed and got serious rust in bore but some good parts the head will need full rebuild but small chamber heads little bit better compression. Don't need now . Rust bucket rescue text if you're interested free to you and as the other players on market book say don't low ball me I don't have a clue what I got . 😊
I don’t know if you saw the video on my channel, but I made one reviving a ‘79 F100 with three in the tree! Awesome, simple setup. It’s a great combination! What color was your truck? Longbed? Shortbed?
Nothing like a old truck and I would love to own one again been looking for one to work on and drive just no luck but one that been setting for 7y torn apart but has all the parts but they won't part with it they just keep covering it with tarps every few months
Not a Ford truck guy at all...In fact, don't even know why this video popped up on my feed...but, it did, so I checked it out and I have to say...That's a pretty damn cool truck!
With F250/350 running gear makes you wonder what frame it had as that 8 lug setup was heavy. I had a '76 F250 w/460, a California truck but a real dog until the two grocery bags of smog garbage went to the dump and an early 460 distributor and 780 cfm Holley 3310-1 replaced the tiny Autolite. As of about 3 years ago that truck was still running but as an unlicensed farm field truck.
I bought a ‘79 F250 with a 460 recently, I’ll be parking it next to this F130 and making a followup video soon comparing the frame thickness, brakes, leaf springs, axles etc to see what F150 parts it uses and what F250 parts it uses. Stay tuned!
@@RustBucketRescue I had one of them too - and the second best truck I've owned though It was an F350 LBSC with, again a 460/C6 and it too ended up as a field truck since I'm in the rust belt of way upstate NY and that dreaded rot worked its wonders
@@jdwht2455 they’re bombproof trucks, the engines and transmissions were so good back then, but unfortunately rust doesn’t care how reliable the drivetrain is! I’m blessed to live in the south where the environment is much kinder to old still, plenty of these babies back into sheds and sitting out in the woods, ready to pull home and revive!
@@Bob-gy6ud I thought the same exact thing! Ford had a F200 for the Mexican market, that seems like the perfect name for an F150 with F250 running gear, but I think as you’ve suggested they were trying to pull some emissions shenanigans by getting funky with the model number.
Thing is ford chucked in whatever they had at the time and two identical units can be completely different jut what they did back when they had plenty of all things.
Did someone replace the original F130 badge, or were they badged as F150? I've seen some trucks built and sold in Mexico from that time period that were badged as F130. The story this truck could tell is definitely worth looking into.
Originally badged at F150. In Mexico, ford has a similar truck that was in between an F150 and F250, aptly called the F200. Haven’t heard of there being F130 badges, I’ll have to research that. If so, I’d love to track down a set! I wish this thing could talk, I have so many questions! I’ve got a F250, my next video is going to be comparing the frame thickness, brakes, axles, suspension, etc and see what the similarities and differences are as I try to get to the bottom of what a F130 exactly is -stay tuned!
You’re asking the good questions! Stick around and stay tuned - I’m working on a comparison video comparing it to a same-era F250, comparing the brakes, the frame thickness, the leaf springs, the axles, etc to finally put some of the mystery to rest on what makes a F130 a F130, what parts are F150 parts, what parts are F250 parts, etc. Hang around, I’ll think it’ll be an eyebrow-raiser for everyone!
It's like an 84 f250 I had, 300-6 with an 8 lug 8.8 rear-end, non full floater. Very odd ball. I was told it was a factory experimental truck. I regret I traded it for a 7.3 diesel...
I’ve always wanted to go back in time and be a fly on the wall when the dealership salesman was trying to sell that oddball truck on the showroom floor, or be a fly on the wall when the customer came in with a super oddball special order.
So i have a '74 F350 with 350 running gear in it but the gvm is rated as a F250 i wonder if it was a Ford Australia parts bin special for those wondering its build date is 4/74 short wheel base powered by the 300cid inline 6 4 spd manual trans dual rear wheels 8 stud all round ( Lug ) suspension is all F250
Had 1977 F100 with the 300cid 3 on the three. Poor thing got 16mpg at best. I still have my bill of sale but failed to find the truck by serial number.
Imagine what modern technology could do for the inline 300? Seems like 300 hp would be easy to attain and great mileage would be possible while towing a house up a hill.
@@cheftomsd the Ford Barra engines make up to 425 hp 425 torque, they’re just a ford inline 6 with an overhead cam and a turbo. Turbo 300 six guys are pulling 500 and 600 hp without beating the engine to death. 350 hp could be done with the mildest of builds with today’s technology and be rock solid reliable! They’re a fantastic engine platform that has really stood the test of time!
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Ok I can do that
NP435, New Process, had a 6.69:1 first gear. GM and dodge used it also
@@darryladams519 yeah, as soon as I went to talk about the transmission my mind went blank for a second 😂. They’re great transmissions!!
@@CraigBrinker-jx9qc what does you wanting a truck have to do at all with rarity? Bottom line, this truck is extremely rare. I’m not saying it’s valuable, I’m just saying it’s rare - and probably so. Quit being so negative, all you’ve done is come in here and made yourself look silly to a lot of folks. And there are a TON of 8 lug wheels around, have you not seen all the PowerStrokes and Cummins trucks running around with every type of wheel imaginable on them???
Bi-Centennial Special
Best combo ever, 300 6 cylinder, manual 4 speed trans. Will not win any speed races, but it will pass them on the reliability race.
300 was ok if you were ok with 7 mpg and rampant oil leaks.
@Travis-rj4dq I drove a ca 1982 F150 extended cab with the Six and the 4 spd OD tranny; it was pleasant to drive
I had an '83 heavy half ton 150. It could carry a lot of weight in the bed but did not have 250 axles.
Great engine, the 300 but in '83 Ford crippled it with a 3.08 axle and horrible 4 speed manual with OD which had the gears spaced too wide and was terrible on hills with a load.
@cheftomsd 3:08 gears with an OD?! I agree; that's nuts, truck should've had ca 3:55 gears
@@cheftomsd Ford didn't offer a 3.08 axle ratio. That's a Chevy thing. The Ford rear axle could be had with 3.00 gears.
Doesn't sound like much of a difference (because it isn't), but you're tripping that fine line that separates the Chevy camp from the Ford Camp, and that's a battle you don't want to get mixed up with, if you can help it.
Still, you have a point. The Ford "Town & Country" top loader 4 speed was really setup as a 3-speed with a built-in overdrive, so the gear spacing tends to be quite wide, compared to your typical 4 speed.
The smart move would've been to replace the 3.00 gears in the rear end with 4.11's, or just get a replacement axle with the 4.11's already installed.
Low gear total reduction would've been around 13.52-13.35:1, while OD would've been an effective 3.33-3.28:1. A nice spread, even if only separated by a couple of gears.
You were right on the park light lens color. I could stand in the showroom and see where my old inventory was parked. There was a shortage in the factory that year of the heavy springs or rear axles used on the F-150, I can’t remember now which cause obviously I’m old. I sold fords from 1974-1985. Then I became a Chevy man. Being a car guy from birth , I’m in the yard right now with 7 recent auction purchases working on different reconditioning issues with each one. I’m 70 yrs old and still flipping cars . Your so right when you told folks to recognize the rare ones. Time is valuable, don’t waist it on average projects . I’ve bought cars at auctions since I was 9 , got my First dealer license at 14, cruised lots of wrecking yards . I never considered it work, I still have fun bringing back another great car for the road.
Thanks for sharing, sounds like we’re two peas in a pod. I’ve been flipping vehicles my entire life for fun. The money that comes with it is just a happy bonus, I just genuinely enjoy fixing up old vehicles that others have deemed too far gone, or can’t figure out what’s wrong. And like you said, I’ve spent a lot of time educating myself and sharpening my eye for rare or desirable options that other people have overlooked. I can’t tell you how many vehicles I’ve pulled out of the woods that 30 other guys had a chance to get but decided the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze, but I with my knowledge have spied a highly desirable close ratio transmission, or two year only high performance engine, or rare piece of trim that sells for more than I can buy the entire vehicle for. I love it - there’s all sorts of treasures out there right under people’s noses if you educate yourself!
You want to talk rare trucks. While traveling on Rt 10 Arizona from Tucson to Phoenix back in the nineties, I came upon what appeared to be a fully restored, mid fifties, Ford F-150 with fresh red paint. I got next to it and in front of the door on the fender it read M-150. I thought Mercury never made a pickup truck, or did they ? As i slowly past it by, sure enough, it said Mercury on the front grill. I have never seen one before and have never seen another one since. I wonder if i saw the only one in the whole country ? Has anyone seen or heard of a Mercury PU truck before ?
Mercury trucks were sold and popular in Canada. I have a 1967 F100 with Mercury emblems and badging I was sent by a viewer in Canada, the Mercury trucks were popular and plentiful up there! They were not sold new in the US, so the Mercury you saw was likely purchased used in Canada and shipped down to Arizona where it was restored and lived a happy rust-free life!
Built in Canada...
Yes
They were in Canada
Never been a Ford guy but that is one cool truck. Back when they were still built for work.
I agree. Sadly most trucks today are 4 door cabs with useless 4 foot beds, a bed cover, and no bumper hitch. Picking up a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk is the most work many trucks see these days, sadly. I miss seeing old heavy duty built-like-a-tank trucks being worked hard!
I am and besides everything breaks down
I own an F130, 390 4sp. Ranger. Have a hard time getting people to believe that is what I have. Good to see another one. Yes an emissions build, mine sold new in Oregon. I now own it in Idaho, runs and drives well. Has 3.73 full float rear end.
This is like the weird late '90's F150 "7700". Right about the time they introduced the Super Duty trucks, they also made an F150 with "light duty" F250 running gear. They were a really unusual 7 lug wheel!
Very interesting, I’ll have to research those!
A friend of mine drove one for a while, it was weird
They have unique badges. Where it would normally say "XLT" or "Eddie Bauer" it literally says "7700". I remember most of the owners I knew hated the weird 7 lug wheels, because brake parts were harder to come by and the factory steel wheels were the only wheels available!
@matthewf5891 1997-99 were F250's and the 2000-04 7 lug models were renamed F150 HD or something similar. The 7 lug wheels were stupid IMHO
The company I worked for bought dozens of those trucks at the time. When they came in and we realized they were a 7 lug wheel we had to order 7 lug wheels for extra spare tires as well as due to where we used them each truck needed two spares available.
Nice find! Sitting since '03 ain't a big deal. Me and some friends pulled my dad's '78 f100 out from the woods and got it running in about a week and it had been sitting since 2001
Did you video any of it?
In 1976 Ford offered an upgrade on chassis parts to out flank the EPA rules. This upgrade provided stronger axles, shocks and springs. I ordered one in '76 and got the twin tanks, high output heater, sliding rear window, and an 8 foot step side box. In 1988, I replaced the engine and installed a 390+ motor. I still use it.
What makes no sense to me is anything over 6,000 Lb GVWR was emissions exempt, and a "normal" F150 was over 6k GVWR, so why offer the upgrade when any old F150 was already emissions exempt?
Special order truck?
I remembered that Ford had marketed the F150 to get around encroaching smog requirements but didn’t realize they included 3/4 ton components. Great, informative video.
That’s the thing, regular F150s got around smog regulations as regular 5 lug trucks and did NOT include 3/4 ton components. That’s what makes this truck extra oddball, it didn’t need 3/4 ton components but received them anyway. Super odd. If they wanted a heavier duty truck, just buy a F250 you know? It’s odd that they essentially built an F250, but went out of their way to ensure it was sold as a F150.
@@RustBucketRescuebasically a forerunner to the light duty 3/4 tons of the 80's. My guess it was aimed at a niche spot in the gvw range. Heavy enough to be smog exempt, but light enough to fall below something like for cheaper license or insurance. Maybe aimed for businesses as a cheaper truck to run. Part of me wonder if it also could of just been a budget model and priced fairly cheaper than a F250.
@@danfisher7856 that’s my suspicion. The GVWR of 6150 is on the low end of what a F250 would be (6250), so I’m wondering if it was a sneaky way to get an F250 without the F250 price tag, and being taxed and registered at the DMV as a “light truck” instead of a “heavy duty” truck.
I had one. It was my very first truck. It was a Ranger XLT; brown and white and had light tan interior. Factory A/C, power steering, power brakes, intermittent wipers, dual tanks, had shag carpet and the vinyl door panel inserts. Factory 390 4V and had 3.07 rear differential. To the best of my knowledge it had a 6700 LB GVWR. Everything about it were F-250 except for the badges. I had to put a master cylinder on it and one for an F-150 did not fit. Had to be one for an F-250. Universal joints were for an F-250 also. Like I said it was basically an F-250 in disguise.
How sure are you on the GVWR? From what little I can dig up anywhere and everywhere I can find tidbits of information, all F130s had 6150 GVWR. Sounds like a beast of a truck either way!! What ever happened to it?
@@RustBucketRescue Honestly, I'm not sure of the GVWR at all. It could have been 6150. There's a possibility I might have its VIN written down somewhere though; most likely in one of the old manuals I have. I'll look and see what I can find. I traded it in 1995 when I was 18 years old for a 1979 Bronco. That's another one I wish I still had.....lol!
@@FerdinandMagellan08 the ‘78-‘79 Broncos are amazing and the value of them is going through the roof, they’re amazing rigs! What kind of drivetrain did your Bronco have?
@FerdinandMagellan08 oh man, the 78/79 Broncos are rare birds these days, I wish you still had that thing too!!
A factory 390 4V had to be pretty rare in a pickup. Or it was a transplant.
Hello From Kentucky. I was scrolling here on RUclips and noticed this video. I am also a “Old Ford Guy” and immediately subscribed to your RUclips channel. I never personally did see any of the F-130s but remember that GM was doing similar things with the “Big 10 & Heavy Half” trucks back in the day. When I worked in the equipment section of the transportation cabinet here in KY, We had a few of the “Heavy Half” trucks in the fleet although the vast majority of the 1/2 ton pickups and the crew cab trucks were either Chevrolets or Dodges which were mostly 3/4 ton with the V8 engines and 4 speed transmissions. The Chevrolet Crew Cabs were an absolute pain to do brake jobs on because for the government vehicles, GM used parts that may range back to 1973 to into the later 1980s when they finally changed the body away from the square body. When I started in the early 1990s, We really didn’t have any Fords until you went into the single axle and tandem axle dump trucks. Hope that I didn’t bore you too badly.
You did far from boring me brother, I love stories like this! What were those vehicles you maintained primarily used for?
@ The vast majority of the vehicles were used for highway maintenance and some trucks were used by the construction engineers and technicians. The vehicles were issued out when they were new and after a certain period of time and or the mileage of the vehicle, The better vehicles were reassigned for other crews to use white the vehicles that were not so good was usually replaced with either brand new vehicles or sometimes vehicles from other areas for reassignment for use in our highway district.
The vehicles which ranged from cars,SUV’s through 3/4 ton trucks were fleet management vehicles while anything from 1 ton trucks through the single and tandem axle dump trucks and other types of equipment were controlled through the Division Of Equipment where I was employed for many years.
We had a wide range of vehicles and equipment both large and small which our facility had to maintain and repair if at all possible. Our highway district covered 12 counties here in Central Kentucky in which we were tasked to repair at the job site. I was the welder/fabricator and worked mostly at our facility, But also had to repair broken equipment as well as complete projects sometimes in conjunction with the contractors. Hope I didn’t bore you too badly.
I had one of these trucks , I was the second owner . The truck you are showing has a 1 ton full floating axle rear end , mine had an 8 lug but it wasn't a full floater , I wonder why ? Was that also an option ? I know my truck had the 360/390 option engine and manual trans . The first owner was my boss at a auto repair shop I worked at and we are still friends , he said he wanted a camper hauler for hunting and he was shown 2 models , this one and another with a set back rear axle . One thing I remember about this truck , the factory heater was terrible , I had to up grade it to the high output heater core . Thanks for the video it was cool to see a truck like mine again .
Thank you for watching! I’m going to pull in a F250 next to it and compare the brakes, the frame thickness, the suspension, etc and see how similar they are, hopefully it’ll help solve the mystery so stay tuned!
Excellent video
@@allenprine3751 thank you brother! Keep an eye on the channel, I’ll have a follow up video soon of getting this thing back on good tires and brakes and seeing if she’ll drive around the yard under her own power!
Great video! Stirs up my restoration juices! I have a ‘73 F250 sitting in the woods!…maybe time to drag it out! It came with a 390, but since I trashed it there’s now a 360 in it. I’m 2nd owner, With about 160k miles on it! I’ll be watching, just subscribed!
@@davidsmith3828 thanks for subscribing brother - greatly appreciated! It’s the weekend, go pull that ‘73 F250 out! No excuses! You’ve got this brother, go pull it out and see if the engine will turn over!
My step-uncle Glenn Wiggins of NC in 2001 built a red hot-rodded 1976 F130 with the 8 lug rear end with a 460 in it and that truck was stupid strong and if it could get traction, would really get down. I had forgotten all about that truck until seeing this video. Glenn was a Ford man through and through and always had a project going back then. He even built a 56 Chevy truck and put a 5.0 Windsor from an old mustang in it and still has it most likely though I haven't seen him in years.
That’s awesome!! Is he still around?
@RustBucketRescue I'm not sure if he's still alive, I haven't been back in 3-4 years but I'm pretty sure he's still there. He is/was a tractor and restoration mechanic/farmer. It's my step-mothers side of the family and I've never really been part of them. He sold that old truck to a guy that lived in the same town but the fella was scared to drive it so the last I saw of it, it was just sitting, which is too bad.
The illusive "One Year Wonder" F130!
Great find.
The Mystery Mobile! 😂
Ford and Dodge made some odd set ups for the civil engineers, rail yards and such. They were all typically painted that dark green, had 6cylinders and no cosmetics. Yet had things like one extra leaf in the spring pack, 8 lug, and sometimes a power take-off on the back of the trans. Most of them were heavy duty manual trans. with floor shifter. Typically they deleted any side crome strips, radio and air delete. I bought 2nd hand 72 Dodge that had been used for drilling soil samples. I couldn't drive it on the hi-way over 60mph, it was geared so low. It was a great heavy duty truck that I needed at the time for my masonry business. Now I wish I would have researched that ID badge on that truck.
This sounds exactly how this one was build. Thanks for the feedback, I’m going to have to dig and see if I can find the ownership history of it and see if it was build for a gov’t or rail yard!
I was thinking I had an odd truck...thank you for showing everyone this truck! I have a 1976 f150 explorer package, 2wd, 390, auto, 8 lug !!
Check the door tag, does it say F130?
I have seen those,and when I tell people about the 76 F-150 8 lug , people think I am crazy,and I remember seeing them brand new at the two Ford Dealerships in Tucson.Thanks for showing,that is a very rare truck.
Thank you for sharing! Must have been wild to see them new at the dealership! Do you remember what the Dealerships marketed or sold them as? Were they doing it for emissions, or selling them as heavy duty 1/2 tons, or marketing them as F250s without the F250 price tag?
@@RustBucketRescue You know I was a go for for Desert International in 76,I was 19 at the time,And the service dept.worked on a fleet of F-650s so I'd was sent to the Ford Dealership (Holmes Tuttle Ford).I remember the first one I saw was in the later part of 75,and I remember asking what a F150 8 lug truck was being marked to,and was told anything from emissions,to an 8 lug half ton,that was cheaper to plate,to a smoother ride.So I remember never getting the one solid answer about what marketing spot it was for.
Fascinating! I remember the time when the quickest showroom stock stoplight dragsters were big block half tons with 6,100 GVWR. But this, with its full floating axle is a 3/4 ton dressed as a half ton. Probably a great work truck.
It’s such an oddball fun truck, I’ve had a good time digging into the mystery! Stay tuned, I have a fun video coming soon where I’ll be comparing it to a same-era F250. I’ll be comparing the brakes, frame thickness, leaf springs, axles etc so we can all collectively find out together how similar to an F250 it is or isn’t. Should be an eyebrow-raiser!
Then in the 80s, Ford brought out the lighty duty F250 with semi float rear axle. The heavy duty F250's were essentially F350's since they ran the F350 frame and full-float axles. Ford was trying really hard to skirt around emissions back then. lol.
Yep that’s the leading theory on what I suspect this thing was configured for, emissions skirting
GM did the same thing, but they were camper specials. My Chevy C-20 had the 1 ton brakes, rear axle and suspension.
@@ronaldburgess2884 yeah I’ve seen (and actually owned) a few camper special and Big 10 trucks, which is what this reminds me of, but can’t find any documentation on this Ford. Ford did have camper specials themselves, but they had a different model ID than this F130. It seems to be a heavy half or camper special style truck, but they went out of their way to give us a model ID (F130) to separate it from those trucks which is what’s so odd.
Yes, I had an 86 "light duty" F-250. Had the big 10.25 rear end but in semi floating form. It also had a TTB Dana 44 HD up front instead of a TTB Dana 50.
@jerrywagner7346 Very few trucks came with the D50. Supposedly the extended cabs, crew cabs, and diesels were the only ones with the D50 unless a regular cab had like a snowfighter package or similar. But nobody really knows for sure as Ford didn't really document it well.
Cool find love that 300 six. Definitely worth grabbing out and restoring it. 😊
Working on it now, check out the follow up video!
@@RustBucketRescue
Cool
I have had 20 dent sides over the years and you just never know it all. The only rare, and I never researched it, but the only rare thing I ever saw was color keyed interior items. This truck a friend had, the exterior was tan and on the interior, all the black on things like the t/s lever knob, the column shifter knob and the windshield and back glass gaskets were tan in lieu of the usual black. It did not appear that it was done by any owner. The Bakelite type material was actually tan on the knobs! The rubber gaskets were the weirdest! Looking forward to you saving this gem.
I’ve never heard of a color keyed interior - you just gave me a rabbit hole to go down 😂. Thanks for watching, I’ve got an update video on the works, so you’ll see this thing moving around under its own power soon!
This would be my heaven. With a unlimited shop to rebuild each one of these 1 at a time
I like your heaven!!
GM did the same thing with the Heavy Half and Big 10. The feds finally caught on about 1980 and upped the GVWR threshold.
The GVWR does not appear to be any higher than an ordinary 5 lug F150, so I’m not so sure this was an emissions thing like a Big 10 is. I thought the same thing at first (Big 10) until I saw the GVWR was no different than any other 5 lug F150.
Not a big surprise that Ford made an F130...this was the same model-year that Chevrolet made the 'Big 10' and GMC had the 'Gentleman Jim'. I once saw a Chevy Big 10 (half-ton basic) with the 3/4 ton running gear, 3/4-ton frame...AND it had a stack of 13-rear springs in the back! (a 1-ton stack with overloads)...only saw one of those, and never even saw the build sheet on how you could order such a beast! (Camper package, tow package, overload package, etc.?)
That sounds like an awesome truck! 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton all blended together!
I miss mine. You literally could sit in the engine well while working on the engine.
With modern seal materials most of the chronic problems could be eliminated.
The distributor drive shaft had a pin which liked to shear and that was a pain but everything was accessible.
I plan to put a nice aftermarket billet distributor in and reseal the engine with modern gaskets and sealants, which as you mentioned are greatly improved over sealers of the past. Should be a nice little setup when finished!
Actually the Ford F-130 was not the odd duck you think it is. As back in 1965 Ford produced a F-100 that used 3/4 ton springs, and a 240 inline 6 that was a short bed stepside. Along with an F-350 Super Duty around 1995/1996 that used an F-450 braking system, it does not show up on any parts suppliers books, but it does exist. As Ford has always been notorious for using up surplus parts, in their assembly lines during body and face lift changes. The F-130 was an internal designation, for a light duty 3/4 ton or heavy half that was given F-150 badging due to Ford not wishing to create a new trim badging for a special order truck
Lnfao wow you tell some funny stories
@@GenderSkins Ford has made special order trucks for YEARS without creating new badges or coming up with new internal designations. Also, all F130s share the same core package, so they’re not exactly one-off special order units. It’s very much its own thing.
Kinda like a '97 F250. The one with the 7 lug wheels, but the body of a '97 F150.
Never seen one of those before, I’ll have to do some research!
O yea, I remember them! Chevys had the 1500HD.
@@billhatcher604 and don’t forget the Chevy Big 10!
I had one those
Neat find! So this is basically the heavy halfton of the Ford world.
I bought one of those, same color even back in the late 80's. It belonged to a bottled water company in Philly. I was told that the truck had originally been a government vehicle, and they bought four of them as new, never driven but 8 years old at the time. It was a 300 I6, four speed with an NP435 four speed, and a Dana 60 rear with non floater rear and small front spindles and 8 - 1/2" lugs, Mine had manual drum brakes all around and manual steering, and no radio, just a block off plate. The interior was painted green but with plain vinyl seat and black floor mat. It had no exterior molding down the side, just painted metal. I bought it with 71k on it, with a bad oil pump, someone had done an oil pan gasket and must have used 20 oz of rtv which ended up in the oil pickup. I did mains and rods, and a pump and pickup with a proper pan gasket, plus a new exhaust and drove it for 8 years before selling it when I found an F250 camper special with ac .
The guy who bought mine was moving to WV and needed it for the move back in around 1997.
The too-much-RTV is something I see a lot of sadly. People will use an entire caulking gun tube of the stuff, and right to the oil pickup screen it goes 😢. Sounds like a very unique truck, government units are usually built pretty oddly!
Nice find dude, I don’t usually subscribe, but I like your style, subscribed
I greatly appreciate that brother, I’m a small channel so that means a lot! I have more interesting finds I’ll be reviving here soon, so if you like old left-for-dead junk being dragged out of the woods and briar patches and given a second chance at life, you’ll enjoy your time here. Thanks again brother!
My brother had a '68 F-100, short and wide, but it also had 8 lug wheels.
Ford is famous for creating vehicles for the US Forestry Service that used heavier duty frames (4x4, as oppsed to 4x2), axles and suspension.
The general public could order such a truck, but it wasn't advertised, so you had to know what to ask for.
I find it interesting that both my brother's former pickup and this one, are both the same shade of green.
This practice spilled over into the compact Ford Ranger trucks in 2001, when they built a 2001 only vehicle spec'd the same way, but sold to the public.
They had a name for that one, but I forget what it was anymore...however, I do remember the name of the New Process transmission you can't remember. It was the NP435. I rebuilt a bunch of those back when I worked for U-Haul.
I know the NP-435 like the back of my hand, when it came time to talk about it my mind went blank - definitely a “D’oh!” moment! I got a F250 recently so in my next video I’ll be comparing the frame thickness, the brakes, the leaf springs, the axle, etc to see what the similarities are. I’ll have to look into that 2001 Ranger you talked about. I love oddball vehicles so I’ll end up tracking down and researching that heavy duty Ranger - thanks for watching and thanks for sharing!
@@RustBucketRescue "I know the NP-435 like the back of my hand, when it came time to talk about it my mind went blank..."
And I had absolutely no way of knowing that. Sorry if my comment on the 435 seemed like I was treating you like an idiot. I wasn't. You just seemed unsure of the name of the transmission.
I hope that F250 is a 4x4, because it's my understanding that is the frame they used for the Forestry Service vehicles. A 4x4 frame. The axles and suspension, however, should pair up with your 250 (congrats on your latest purchase, btw).
...and, I just remembered, the Ford Ranger I was trying to remember in my prior post was the TRAILHEAD model...and I guess it was a 2000 model, not 2001. Sorry 'bout that.
@@DeanMk1 no offense taken! The F250 I bought is sadly a 2wd, but should still make for an interesting comparison. I’m going to have to look up this Trailhead Ranger, sounds like a fun little truck!
My Late Dad bought a brand new 1978 Ford F-150 in California and it did not have any smog stuff on it at all. It was a 460/automatic.
The 460 is what probably helped that. For Ford, GM, and Dodge the big displacement engines were the very last to require smog. 78ish 79ish was around the cutoff point for most big engine trucks, so your dad bought that thing at the perfect time!
@@RustBucketRescue Thanks. He asked the sales guy what was the difference between the F-100 which they still where selling and the F-150. The guy told him that the frame was thicker/heavier on the F-150.
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 interesting! I’m making a follow up video on this truck. I have a F100, F150, and F250, so I’ll make part of my video measuring and comparing the thickness of all three frames - should be interesting!
Good stuff brotha! Very informative!!!
Thank you for the kind words! I’ve got an update video in the works, we should be getting to the bottom of the F130 mystery soon!
Only produced for two years I believe, it had the one ton 8 lug axles under the f100 body/trim package
One year, 1976 only from what little I can find on them. Super strange, interesting truck!
Still my most favorite motor of all Ford engines the 300 straight 6 they never let me down and always kept on going regular maintenance they were literally indestructible
Couldn’t agree more. The timing gears instead of a timing chain was genius. All they ever need are spark plugs and oil changes, they’re wonderful motors!
Haven't seen one in many years. My dad had one like it in the late 60's early 70's. The three of us boys hauled ungodly loads on it.
What engine/transmission was in that beast!?
Chevy did similar with a heavy half. They were 2wd but used 6 lug rear axles and had 6 lug front hubs. My brother had a 73 Cheyenne super 10heavy half
I’ve never actually seen an f-130, but I knew they existed. Dentside depot did a short a while back on these.
SAVE IT!!!
Check out the follow up video on my channel! Also, Part 3 is coming soon 😉
Also note the narrow chrome in the center of the dent side most of these trucks were assembled out west or in Canada. Also look closely at the rear hub it is slightly shorter than the average or standard f250 i had a 77 very light duty and it had 8 lug wheels but no floating rear hubs . It did have a heavy duty bearing. The axle was a dana built but worked well so i only replaced the brakes had to take off to napa so they could match up. This could be a trailer special truck for different parts of the country. I have a 79 trailer special found in SC it has 460 ac ps pb auto big 4 core radiator the narrow crome red on top white on bottom all factory colors. All in very good shape all original drive train and very light rust no dents ot scratches
This one was built in Norfolk, Virgina. I got a same-era F250 recently, so my next video is to park them side by side, pop off the wheels, and compare the brakes, frame thicknesses, rear leaf springs, axles, etc to compare and contrast them and see what the similarities and differences are, stay tuned!
DUDEZILLA!!!! Thanks for the history on this! I DID NOT know of the F130! And how 'kool and the gang' is it that it was for only one year!! I would type more BUT I wanna bingewatch your next video on it before I take my afternoon nap!
I'm a small (but growing!) channel, comments like yours make my WEEK brother! It makes me feel like it's worth making these videos, because there are still people like yourself that are interested in cool old cars and trucks. I really, really, really appreciate you watching! Thanks for the kind words, you made my day!
@@RustBucketRescue it's how I ROOOOOLL YOUNG Jedi!
That's very interesting how rare and hard to find that that truck is. How do you find all of these junk yards? I live in Southern Louisiana and we have no old car junkyards over here.
I live in Southwestern Virginia in the mountains, and there’s still a ton of of cool old stuff down in valleys and the woods and cow fields luckily!
I bought brand new an 84 F-250 that had an 82 351 V-8, 4 speed, with no emissions and is now on its third owner, one tough truck that I was told was a schitt box when I bought it
351, no emissions, and a 4 speed is a hell of a combo! Whoever told you must have been jealous, those old Bullnose fords are rock solid trucks!
That is a bad ass truck I hope someone puts it back on the road 😊
I’m ordering tires for it now, I’ll be making a follow up video soon!
These f130 trucks were made for states with more strict emissions laws, CA and OR. In other states they could use the regular f150 and still meet the law.
The heavier drive train was a stopgap to pass emissions. My understanding is these trucks were sold new in CA and OR most of the time. Mine has an Oregon dealer badge on the cowl.
Let me gently poke some holes in that theory. All vehicles 6,000 lb GVWR or higher were emissions exempt in ‘76, so any old 5 lug F150 was already exempt, the 5 lug F150 typically had a 6,050 to 6,200 lb GVWR. The entire reason ford even came up with the F150 was to loophole emissions. Further more, the F130 code trucks lost 50 lbs of GVWR rating over a F151 code truck, likely to cover the additional axle weight. F130s all have a 6150 lb GVWR, most 5 lug F150s have a 6,200 lb GVWR. So F130s have a LOWER GVWR, not higher, than many 5 lug trucks, which hurts the emissions theory. Also, mine was built in Virginia. Why would Ford build a truck in Virginia to sell in Oregon or California when there were plants way closer to the west coast? I’ve heard “it’s an emissions loophole truck” theory over and over, but a major flaw in that theory is the F130 package LOST, not gained, GVWR. I’ll cover this in my next video, should make for a good discussion from the community.
Dealers move inventory with each other…so that could explain some of that. Ford is famous for using up excess parts. They may have been long on heavy axles and bearings for the build period.
Emissions varied more BY STATE at that time. Bean counters would be part of the mix as well. Ford parts/spec change during the build year. Most old Ford owners know the answer to the question….early or late??
Mine is dark green by the way. Has the white decals midway all around.
The main thing to get out there is this was a Factory build truck…not someone swapping bodies/fenders/badges.
Ford does some strange things. I still remember the 1963 Ford “wrongbed” trucks. I’m old….
@@normtew6354 I had a wrongbed Ford! Fun, oddball trucks! You hit the nail on the head with my leading theory: I suspect Ford either had a glut of 8 lug axles, or a shortage of 5 lug axles, so they built a run of 8 lug F150s, and then to reduce confusion, gave them their own unique model code of F130 so dealers wouldn’t run into the scenario of someone coming in and saying “Hey my F151 code truck has 5 lugs, but my neighbor’s F151 code truck has 8 lugs. How come he got an 8 lug axle and I didn’t?” By using a unique model code, when someone asked why their neighbors F150 got 8 lugs, the dealer could reply “He bought a F130 model truck, those receive 8 lugs, he bought a different model than you so that’s why”
The views you have had indicate this still a very interesting topic! I followed the same 20 year old thread that you did!
So….good job….I am learning your sharing has been helpful. Carry on, look forward to your next vid on this.
GM had a version as well. They called it the heavy half. Some had 8 bolt wheels up to like 1990. It was a special order truck.
They had the Big 10 as well.
Ford was following Chevys foot steps with this. In 1975 Chevy put out the "Heavy Half" which was their smaller C-10 truck with a higher GVW so they could skirt the emission standards going into effect in 1976. Ford did so for just one year with a limited amount of trucks cause they where already well into placement of the catalytic converter on to the trucks. So this is just Fords version of the Heavy Half.
The GVWR is actually LESS than that of a “normal” 5 lug F150, so that kinda pokes a hole in that theory.
As far as I know, the transmission could be a NP435, or a T18. Also another way to tell between a 76 or 77 with the same grill, is the designations ( f150 and such) would be on the cowl above the fender on a 77.
Good info on the cowl model designation location, thanks for sharing! And it’s a NP-435. Great transmissions.
That was called a “Camper Special”. It would come with a camper in the bed of the truck. The truck would come from the factory, and the dealer would install the camper, larger tow mirrors, and a pigtail in the bed for the camper lighting. Dealers also would install air shocks in the rear. They did not sell well and not all dealers would get one.
I’ve had a few people suggest this, but it’s not a camper special, those had a different model code as well as a higher GVWR rating. The F130 was its own unique thing specifically set apart from the camper specials and other oddball trucks. I actually have a camper special, and there’s almost zero similarities between it and this F130.
My uncle bought a new Ford truck in the late 70s. A few months after he had purchased the truck he realized that it said 250 on one side of it and 150 on the other side.
And he was the original owner? Very interesting story brother! Was it being sold as an F150 or an F250?
@RustBucketRescue yes it a new truck and it was a 3/4 ton long bed truck
@@Clawson_customs interesting. I wonder how the dealer explained away the F150 emblem that didn’t belong!
@@RustBucketRescue never trust badges on a junkyard truck, lesson #1
@@maddhatter3564 except the badges are right.
Never heard of the F130 - interesting - thanks.
Thanks for watching brother!
In 1976 my Dad traded his 1966 F-100 "Industrial" for a 1976 F-150 as a replacement for the F-100 on the family farm. And he came to HATE that F-150 because it was simply not up to the task. The F-150s with the eight lug wheels were basically the "Heavy Duty" 150s of their day. Dad was never happy with the "standard" F-150 and traded it for a new Dodge Ram 150 in 1985. That truck is still running to this day and serves as my younger brother's beater truck. Oddly enough I purchased a 1977 Ford F-150 (used of course) in 1992 which, like that old 1966, was marked as "Industrial". That son of a gun, like it's older brother, would pull the crack of dawn open AND closed with no sign of strain whatsoever. I wish I still had that truck, but life got in the way, and I had to trade it for a far less capable vehicle in 1999.
Thank you for this awesome story brother! Do you remember what engines and transmissions your dad’s beefy ‘66 and your beefy ‘77 had? What colors were they?
@@RustBucketRescue The '66 was powered by a 352cid V-8 while the '77 sported a 360cid V-8. Maybe it was just nostalgia that drew me to it, but my '77 was the same color as the '66, a kind of tan. The '66 was a "three on the tree manual, no AC, and power nothing" while the tranny in my '77 was a C-6 if memory serves. If the shifters were placed in neutral on those trucks, they rocked like they had a serous cam. By the way, both trucks had two-barrel carbs that a man could stick his thumbs into and have room to spare though oddly enough they BOTH got better fuel mileage that that piece of crap "standard/light duty" F-150 with its weak (for what was needed of a truck on the farm) 302cid/5.0L.
@@furmanmackey5479 the Ford-Edsel (FE/FT) series engines (352, 360, 390) they stuck in trucks were simply glorious. They were “old enough” that they were from the era where still made excellent power (for the day), as they came before the malaise/smogger era where even monstrous big blocks were pitifully wheezing out less than 200 hp at the crank. The FE engines are awesome, I see why you were so pleased with the older trucks!
Interesting video. Thanks for posting. I have one correction the turn signal color. I have seen 76 with the amber lens. May have been end of year IDK. The only way i can tell is the gas filler. 76 has the caps outside and 77 started putting the fuel door on
Are you the original owner? A lot of people put amber turns signals into ‘76s after the fact. Multiple state didn’t allow clear lenses during state inspections, which is why Ford only ran clear lenses for one year before dealers complained and ambers became the standard. Many ‘76 owners converted their clears to amber to be able to pass inspections over the past 40+ years.
These F130 trucks (marketed as F150 HD in the spec books) are documented in the book “Ford Trucks Since 1905”, by James K. Wagner. They were the result of a supply chain shortage of F150 running gear. Whether that was due to a strike, a plant fire, or ??? I don’t recall, but Ford could not afford to stop production with the demand they had for F150s at that time.
I’m buying a copy of this book right now, thank you for telling me this!!
Well if you don’t think it was built to beat emissions then it was probably to scam consumers. Yet most people realize gm did exactly the same thing to get around emissions by advertising a higher gvwr on half ton trucks. I owned a 77 2wd k5 blazer that was a cheater. Original CA vehicle no cats only a smog pump for emissions. That’s really all the heavy gvw eliminated was catalytic converters, it didn’t make them exempt. So I wouldn’t go too crazy about it.
Still trying to figure out what the “point” was in building these. I’m wonder if they just ran out of 1/2 ton axles for a bit and used 3/4 ton axles on 1/2 ton trucks just to keep the assembly line going till the next load came in. They appear to be an extremely low volume truck, only a handful of F13s have popped up over the years. I plan to make a roll up video soon comparing it to a dentside F250 to see what the similarities are.
Ford could advertise a larger towing and hauling rating for the f150, then put "with optolional equipment " in the fine print@@RustBucketRescue
@@henrydillard6217 Looks like this one got the "optional equipment"!
@@RustBucketRescueTwo things. My parents bought one with a trailer towing package and it had a Camper Special for carrying heavy campers in the truck bed. Seems like it had the 8 lug wheels. A friend also bought an F-150 but he put 250 badges on it justbfor the sake of doing it. Wonder if this could be the reverse of that. I know Ford went from 1/2 ton to calling them 5/8 ton trucks (to bypass emissions regulations) and switched from 100 badging to 150 badging. I'm wondering if the badging just got mixed up somewhere along the line? Thanks for the video.
@@Colorado_Native the way it sits is the way it left the factory, the F130 model code designates a F150 with 8 lug wheels. I’ve got a dentside F250 I’m picking up soon, I’m going to park it next to the F130 and do a comparison video comparing the frame thickness, brakes, leaf springs, etc to see exactly how similar the trucks are. It’s a super odd one, that’s for sure!
Had one that had AC and had the oil bath type air filter assembly. Geared out the butt. No top end but it would pull a house if you could hook it up. It was my grandfathers. A man t boned me and my two young sons and totalled it out back in 93
What a shame! I’ve been hunting for an oil bath air filter assembly to convert this one over for the “old school cool” factor. Thanks for sharing!
I have to look it up again in a book on Ford trucks I have but there may have been a 60 series (F160). Ford trucks in the '70s until around 1978 had all these different models and noted them as such. I had always assumed it was 150/250/350 but man I was wrong
Ford was all over the map and often defied logic. For example, this truck is a blend of F150 parts and F250 parts, so logically you would think F200 would be the perfect name, but they went backwards and named it a F130 😆
This reminds me of early production 1965 Mustang (so called 1964 1/2) made in 1964, then Ford made a lot of mechanical and electrical modification for 1965 models. The F130 might be an early production F-150, but using costly and heavy F250 axels as stop gap measure until an appropriate replacement based on modified F-100 axels. There is a discussion comparing F-100 and F-150 axels, they are nearly identical externally, except the F-150 have more robust shafts.
It's certainly possible, it'll be one of my discussion points in my upcoming video where I'll be comparing the F130 to a recently acquired F250 I have.
GM did the same thing in 76 also getting around Catalitic converters & unleaded fuel
Interesting, I love the old 300s. I own two 1999 Econoline, one E250 rust bucket. And a conversion high top E150, I'm going to put the high top on the 250 frame. I prefer the ride height.
I just got a 1990 E150 high top yesterday! I’m absolutely in love. It’s such a nice van!
Very interesting. I was thinking maybe someone ordered it as a f150, and had the axles put in part way into the video...But my knowledge in these trucks just started to really take shape after finally aquiring my late mother's 76 f-100 flairside 2wd this year. She's had the truck in storage since 1986 with a locked up motor. She finally let me get it out of storage in March of this year to get it fixed up for her, then she passed away unexpectedly in May. After all those years in storage, i'm very close to getting it driving again already.
One thing though, i've heard a few times before, in mid 76 is when they switched to amber front markers. The truck i was talking about was built in SanJose in early 76, had clear markers. Ran into a later model 76 had amber front markers. It could be that the owner changed them too, not sure.
Sorry about your loss brother. Sounds like an excellent truck however! What’s left till it’s ready to rock and roll? And yes 76 model trucks with ambers are likely owner swapped lenses, they should be clear.
Interesting find~ Dodge also made Ram 1500s from 2003 to 2006(?) with 8-lug hubs from the 2500 and they were called Heavy (Duty) Half(-ton)s. I've seen a couple as a former Chrysler lube tech.
Interesting I’ll have to look those up, thanks for sharing!
Fender badge denotes "F150"....also 1975 F150 also had clear turn signal lenses.
An F150 with 8 lug wheels and a full floater Dana 61 axle though!
I’ve seen other Fords with 3/4 running gear. A buddy had 77 150 with 3/4 running gear Ranger short box with 400 3 on tree. Fun truck if you had nerves power shifting it got loose
Power shifting a 3 on the tree is always a bold move. If the shifter is fresh and “tight” it works out well, but on one that’s seen some miles and getting some slop in the linkages I always end up getting stuck in a gear when the linkages bind up trying to keep up with “enthusiastic” shifting 😂
A great find! Onward!!
Thanks brother, can't wait to post another update!
I have a 1971 E 350 econoline that is 5 lug with the small bolt pattern 5 on 4.5” so it is an oddball., I do know the story on this. It was converted to the 1/2 ton gear long ago, it was 8 lug that someone wanted to use the 8 lug running ear for another van.
Definitely gives you way more wheels to choose from!
Was it sold out west or Canada they actually did have something that they wanted wheels to be more interchangeable. A friend had a 77 f150 xlt super nice truck had the small ford wheels trucks is still tagged and uses it from time to time has 10 inch wheels and 275 60 15 paint faded but still nice truck. Tried to buy several times
@@gregallen4272 I’ve noticed Canadian vehicles got several interesting options. Definitely a niche market back in the day that Ford did some fun stuff for!
In the mid 90s Chevrolet did the same thing they classified their trucks is 1500s but you could get the eight lug version which was a light duty three-quarter ton hence heavy duty running from the three-quarter ton but half ton suspension I’ve only seen a couple of those trucks toomy stepfather ordered one really much more weight than a regular 1500
Chevy had the Big 10 as well, same thing but in the 80s
MY FAVORITE STYLE of truck ever would love to have it had one before miss it
I love anything old car or truck,to bad wife dosn't share that view. One man's junk is another mans treasure.
My wife is an absolute saint for letting me keep all of my junk!
My brother in law had a 76 Ford F-150 4x4 that was built the same way it had F-250 suspension and rearends and I've seen 2 others so I know it wasn't something someone did on their own and funny thing is that all 3 of them were the same color red and white having heard that Ford had done this so I didn't think about it being rare but now my curiosity is in overdrive so I'm going to have to check this out we never checked the VIN tag to see what it said I'm going to be looking around and hopefully one of these that were here where I live is still around I'll definitely be checking the tag to see what it says awesome video thank you for sharing it with us
I knew a guy that had a 75 F250 4x4 that had 5 lug -16 inch factory stock tires and wheels.
That’s an odd duck! Never seen a 5 lug F250, especially a 4x4! But after seeing this 8 lug F150, I can totally believe Ford would do all sorts of wacky stuff!
This would make a great 'Will it Start' video!
I see you’ve seen the will it start video, next up I need to do a will it DRIVE video. New tires arrive today, stay tuned, with any luck I’ll be doing figure 8s in my back field in my next video!
@@RustBucketRescue Great!
That loophole allowed Dodge to sneak the Lil' Red Express through in 78' without emissions, but by 79' the EPA pricks had shut it down, closing the loophole and forcing cats, reducing power and efficiency on all pickups. Fun while it lasted.
That truck has 255 AC, thats two windows down at 55 mph. HaHa
I like ‘ol 255 A/C, it never has a compressor give out or bearings to start squeeling, it just always works 😁👍🏻
Those vent windows provided a surprisingly cool breeze at speeds as low a 5-10 mph.
@@richardtibbetts574 I’m a big fan of vent windows. They work so well!
The F150 was first built in 1975 and called the heavy half.
I had that engine in my 76 Granada best engine I ever owned
They can’t be killed! You won’t win any drag races, but boy oh boy all you have to do is fuel them up and do an occasional oil change and 300,000 miles of trouble free use is as easy as putting it in drive and hitting the road!!
Grenadas had either the 200 or 250 6 cylinder, while the trucks were 240or 300 6s. The 200/250 was more compact to fit in smaller engine bays. Parts don’t interchange between the 2 engine families.
@@deanmeyer1815 I have a Grenada 250 in my 1967 F100! It's a great little engine.
I have a 76 F150 labeled F13 has 250 drivetrain and 390 with 4 speed manual runs drives been in car shows and getting restored at same time a great truck has the clear front marker lights in it to
All F13's will be 1976 model trucks with the clear front marker lights. From my research, it's a one year only (1976) model. The GVWR should be 6150 Lbs. as well. What color is it? Should be a regular cab longbed as well, and 2 wheel drive, is it?
@RustBucketRescue red truck 1976 and its a beautiful original truck
@@RustBucketRescue has all the things you mentioned
In 76 I didn’t think they even had the f100 anymore other than what they branded as the ranger. Here a kick I have a 77 F150 (5 bolt wheels) with a 460 cid , ford didn’t offer that engine in half tons at least not in CA don’t know about the rest of the nation, but you could get it in a fleet sale . It’s for sale if anyone is interested. Runs but been sitting .
They ran the F100 all the way to 1983 believe it or not! I’m not sure about California, but in the other 49 at least the F150 could be purchased with a 460. Believe it or not you could buy a F100 with a 460 too! Where is your truck located, and how much are you asking for it?
It has orange can of death oil filter so definitely sludged up needs wix or Motorcraft filter and Delo 30 wt oil
We have this same truck with a 460 4x4
Yes I cringed when I saw the orange can of death!
@@RustBucketRescue mix a good dose of marvel mystery oil in fuel helps lubricant everything especially on a engine sitting for years
Plus marvel is a good cylinders pre soak .. great video thanks for posting 👍
@@quagmiredavis4117 ah yes, I’m well versed with marvel mystery oil! If you check out my channel I actually have a follow up video on this truck, and am working on a third video now as I work on getting it back on the road, stay tuned!
300 best engine Ford ever made
Couldn’t agree more! They can’t be killed!
The 200 was also a great engine just got crappy fuel mileage.
@@garyr7027 gotta disagree with you there, I’ve had well tuned 300s get in the low 20s mpg. For a carbureted, heavy, un-aerodynamic brick, low 20s mpg is quite the feat.
@@RustBucketRescue I was talking about 200 fuel mileage, not the 300. I don't know about the 300, but the 200 perfectly tuned I had was 17 to 18 mpg tops. It guzzled gas. Better off with a good V8 for mileage imo.
I have a 240 that ford rebuild several decades ago and it sit just outside of highlands nc has a ford rebuild tag from memory .20 piston 10 10 on crank sadly it was never ever cranked for several decades was in 66 long bed and got serious rust in bore but some good parts the head will need full rebuild but small chamber heads little bit better compression. Don't need now . Rust bucket rescue text if you're interested free to you and as the other players on market book say don't low ball me I don't have a clue what I got . 😊
That is definitely different, wish I had my old 71 f 100 with the 300 six three on the tree
I don’t know if you saw the video on my channel, but I made one reviving a ‘79 F100 with three in the tree! Awesome, simple setup. It’s a great combination! What color was your truck? Longbed? Shortbed?
We just called these heavy half's back in the day. People would get them for pulling a camper or plowing snow up here in Minnesota.
They’re built like a brick outhouse! It’s basically an F250, without the F250 price tag.
What sorcery is this?
Just subscribed!
Thanks brother, greatly appreciated! I’ve got some more update videos on this strange truck in the works - stay tuned!
👍 good job😊
Thanks brother - more to come!
F100 ❤
If you’re a fan of F100s, check out my 1979 F100 Will it Run video! You’ll love it!
Nothing like a old truck and I would love to own one again been looking for one to work on and drive just no luck but one that been setting for 7y torn apart but has all the parts but they won't part with it they just keep covering it with tarps every few months
Check Facebook Marketplace, there’s usually quite a few trucks on there for a decent price!
Great info. Never heard of this
I’m glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!
Not a Ford truck guy at all...In fact, don't even know why this video popped up on my feed...but, it did, so I checked it out and I have to say...That's a pretty damn cool truck!
Thanks brother! Sometimes it’s the little unexpected things in life 👍🏻
With F250/350 running gear makes you wonder what frame it had as that 8 lug setup was heavy. I had a '76 F250 w/460, a California truck but a real dog until the two grocery bags of smog garbage went to the dump and an early 460 distributor and 780 cfm Holley 3310-1 replaced the tiny Autolite. As of about 3 years ago that truck was still running but as an unlicensed farm field truck.
I bought a ‘79 F250 with a 460 recently, I’ll be parking it next to this F130 and making a followup video soon comparing the frame thickness, brakes, leaf springs, axles etc to see what F150 parts it uses and what F250 parts it uses. Stay tuned!
@@RustBucketRescue I had one of them too - and the second best truck I've owned though It was an F350 LBSC with, again a 460/C6 and it too ended up as a field truck since I'm in the rust belt of way upstate NY and that dreaded rot worked its wonders
@@jdwht2455 they’re bombproof trucks, the engines and transmissions were so good back then, but unfortunately rust doesn’t care how reliable the drivetrain is! I’m blessed to live in the south where the environment is much kinder to old still, plenty of these babies back into sheds and sitting out in the woods, ready to pull home and revive!
I have an F250 camper special with a 460. As far as I know I'm the 3rd owner & it never had any emission stuff on it. I'm in kansas
@@rickhammar1636 what year is it? What color? Sounds like an awesome truck!
You'd think being a cross between a F150 and F250, Ford would call it a F200 or F150 plus... Lol.
Exactly, F130 is an odd choice to name a heavy F150!
F130 seems wrong direction more like f175 but perhaps the f130 was skulduggery making the tail pipe sniffers think was a “Pinto” Truck
@@Bob-gy6ud I thought the same exact thing! Ford had a F200 for the Mexican market, that seems like the perfect name for an F150 with F250 running gear, but I think as you’ve suggested they were trying to pull some emissions shenanigans by getting funky with the model number.
Seen f250 with the straight six dual axle 1993
Those are great trucks!
My best buddy had a 4 wheel drive one that got totalled about 3 yrs ago.
Always thought the wheels were wierd. 😎
4 wheel drive F130?
Now I know a unicorn vehicle to f with dealers who say they’ll find your specific vehicle you’re looking for.
Oh my gosh they’d be so lost 😂
Thing is ford chucked in whatever they had at the time and two identical units can be completely different jut what they did back when they had plenty of all things.
Yeah I’ve wondered if they just ran out of normal axles for a bit and used F250 axles since they had them
Did someone replace the original F130 badge, or were they badged as F150? I've seen some trucks built and sold in Mexico from that time period that were badged as F130. The story this truck could tell is definitely worth looking into.
Originally badged at F150. In Mexico, ford has a similar truck that was in between an F150 and F250, aptly called the F200. Haven’t heard of there being F130 badges, I’ll have to research that. If so, I’d love to track down a set! I wish this thing could talk, I have so many questions! I’ve got a F250, my next video is going to be comparing the frame thickness, brakes, axles, suspension, etc and see what the similarities and differences are as I try to get to the bottom of what a F130 exactly is -stay tuned!
I've not seen F200s. That would be worth looking into as well.
@@nicklewis7291 I love the lore behind these oddball units, Ford did all sorts of funky fun truck builds back in the day!
Build a new frame for it plus new engie
The frame is super clean! Watch the follow up video on my channel, I go through the process of getting it running again! 🙂
So I'm curious what springs it was equipped with? F150 or F250?
You’re asking the good questions! Stick around and stay tuned - I’m working on a comparison video comparing it to a same-era F250, comparing the brakes, the frame thickness, the leaf springs, the axles, etc to finally put some of the mystery to rest on what makes a F130 a F130, what parts are F150 parts, what parts are F250 parts, etc. Hang around, I’ll think it’ll be an eyebrow-raiser for everyone!
It's like an 84 f250 I had, 300-6 with an 8 lug 8.8 rear-end, non full floater. Very odd ball. I was told it was a factory experimental truck. I regret I traded it for a 7.3 diesel...
I’ve always wanted to go back in time and be a fly on the wall when the dealership salesman was trying to sell that oddball truck on the showroom floor, or be a fly on the wall when the customer came in with a super oddball special order.
So i have a '74 F350 with 350 running gear in it but the gvm is rated as a F250 i wonder if it was a Ford Australia parts bin special for those wondering its build date is 4/74 short wheel base powered by the 300cid inline 6 4 spd manual trans dual rear wheels 8 stud all round ( Lug ) suspension is all F250
What is the GVWR?
@RustBucketRescue can't remember exactly but I'll find out
Real stump puller!
She should be a stout old girl! Tires and brakes are on the way, should have an update video in a few weeks!
Had 1977 F100 with the 300cid 3 on the three. Poor thing got 16mpg at best. I still have my bill of sale but failed to find the truck by serial number.
What they lack in MPG they gain in reliability though! Bulletproof combo, simple transmission with a simple engine!
Imagine what modern technology could do for the inline 300? Seems like 300 hp would be easy to attain and great mileage would be possible while towing a house up a hill.
@@cheftomsd the Ford Barra engines make up to 425 hp 425 torque, they’re just a ford inline 6 with an overhead cam and a turbo. Turbo 300 six guys are pulling 500 and 600 hp without beating the engine to death. 350 hp could be done with the mildest of builds with today’s technology and be rock solid reliable! They’re a fantastic engine platform that has really stood the test of time!