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tucker truck ramp

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Lyndon and I checked this out yesterday. it is still for sale .no or very little rust on this well cared for 74 truck.
DSC01554.jpg
 

undy

New member
4WD? Buy it. At least if you own a Tucker, and probably even if you don't.

It won't have all that computer crap to go wrong, nor safety equipment to annoy you when they buzz because you're ignoring them.

Yeah, it won't get much for gas mileage, but who cares unless you are planning to use it as a daily driver. Besides, who doesn't love the smell of unburned hydrocarbons in the morning? (Especially when it occurs in the course of a generally recreational pursuit?)

How can you not buy it?
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
How can you not buy it?

Not a 1974 truck...

In 1973 Ford came out with a completely new truck "body style". Today those are referred to as "dentside" trucks because the body cove on the side was indented. The 1967-1972 trucks are referred to as "bumpside" trucks because that section of the body side protruded.

A 1974 truck would be a dentside cab and this is a 1967-1972 style cab. Perhaps it wasn't titled until 1974 and that's why it's listed as a 1974?

I'm not positive, but I don't think you could get 4WD on a medium duty truck from the Ford factory back then. Typically the conversion was done by Marmon Herrington to an already completed 2WD Ford Truck (another company was NAPCO). After conversion the truck was shipped on. So if you need parts for the transfer case and/or front axle it may be somewhat more challenging to find them.

Without dimensions I'm just speculating, but Tuckers come with different track and carrier lengths. A mid length track machine has carriers that are 76" long and they're symmetric. Move up to a 1600 and the carriers are 16" longer. The additional length is not symmetric. IIRC that extra 16 inches is spread out three inches on one side and 13 on the other. Tucker positioned the long side of the carriers to the front on the front axle and the rear on the rear axle.

Bottom line; not sure a long track machine will fit. Additionally, if you have the optional front blade, that protrudes quite a bit in front of the tracks. That makes fitment highly doubtful.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
my experience with ford medium duty trucks is they are made up of left over pu parts case in point.I have a 97 f800 use's cab parts common to the 86 too 89 years let me go back to my 90 model and it looks like an 81 model I believe the titled year is correct
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I believe the titled year is correct

Au contraire my friend...

In addition to my Tucker "sickness" I own three "dentside" Fords; a 1973 F-250 4WD, a 1977 F-250 2WD and a 1978 F-250 4WD Sno Fighter". I no longer have it, but I also owned a 1977 F-150 4WD back in the eighties.

This is probably the best simple photo comparison of a bumpside vs a dentside: http://www.fordification.com/tech/images/bumpside-vs-dentside.jpg

Or for a more complete descriptive history with lots of photos of both the different body styles check this out: http://www.blueovaltrucks.com/resources/f-series_history.htm
 

undy

New member
But the "Tucker" truck isn't a F-250, is it? Isn't it more like a F-600? Like shown here: http://storm.oldcarmanualproject.com/fordf600.htm

I read that Ford made 4x4 pickups in-house before 1960, but bigger ones???

Perhaps the larger ones did occasionally get cabs from previous years? I believe the change in the pickup cab was partially due to FMVSS side lighting requirements, which may not have applied to the larger trucks at that time.
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
You're absolutely right the Tucker truck isn't an F-250, it's an F-600. However when Ford changed the light duty pickup bodies for the 1973 model year the cab on the medium duty trucks changed as well for the 1973 model year. (I mentioned my F-250 fleet only to make the point I am more-than-familiar with the dentside trucks.)

1959 was the first year of factory four wheel drive in Ford pickups.

The F-600 info in your link is in Spanish (and shows a bumpside truck). In foreign markets all bets are off. For example Chrysler sold Dodge trucks under the "Fargo" brand in Canada and other countries into the 1970's and beyond but stopped selling Fargo branded trucks in the US in 1930.

[It has nothing to do with Ford, but I'm also an FJ40 enthusiast. Toyota stopped importing FJ40's into the US in 1982 (I think, might have been '83). However they were sold well beyond that in other countries and up until maybe ten years ago in Brazil where they were called "Bandeirantes".]

Here's a photo from a 1972 Medium duty Ford truck US sales brochure:
http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B38139.jpg (note the bump on the sheetmetal and the grille's styling). Compare that photo to the "Tucker" truck.

Now a photo from the restyled 1973 line:
http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B34300.jpg

You'll note the different body shape, grille and the fender mounted turn signals are no longer round.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
having been a fleet mechanic for some time, I have seen some crazy stuff come from ford on fleet sales I have seen vv7400 carbs on crown vics up into the early 90's long after ford dumped that pos. for efi. seems to make a rock bottom sale ford is known for cleaning off their shelves to produce a cheep product in order to make a fleet sale. I haven't worked much on the older medium duty trucks as I was still in grade school then, but like I said we have a few 90 models in our fleet that share cabs and interior components with pick ups from the mid 80's. your sales brochure does show a dent side cab being thrifty as ford has been in the past I wouldn't put it past them to use up as much bump side components as they could before using dent side parts. this kind of stuff isn't as easy now days as there are all these safety and emission regulations to meet now.
 

mattfidaho

New member
being its built for a tucker it probably has low miles. :)
now if it was set up for a krusty It would have probably been rebuilt 6-7 times,
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Lyndon is in the picture and I took lots of pictures and some photos of id plates .
it could be sold or scrapped by now. it is an older post.
jim
 

ChHaynes

New member
Jim, could you please give me any leads you have for the Ford (4x4) truck with the Tucker bed. I have the Tucker which belongs on the truck and would like to complete a museum piece.
 

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I looked at this truck about six months ago and it was at an Albany, OR dealer's lot on the east side of I-5 on the Hwy 20 to Lebanon. Not very far east. Don't remember the name of the dealer but Jim or Lynden may know. Gas engine so I was not interested.
 
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