Early Hi-Boys:

‘61-66 Ford 4x4 Trucks

story & photos by Jim Allen

Other than an obligatory annual grille change, the ’61-66 Fords looked pretty much the same. The rear body was the same as used in the ’57-60 trucks. The reason for this was that the 4x2 trucks initially used an integrated cab/body that wouldn’t hold up under the severe chassis flex of a 4x4. The 4x4s also used a different wheelbase than the 4x2s. Even though the integrated body was gone by ’64, the old Styleside bed was used on most 4x4 models through ’66, unless you ordered the Flareside bed of course. This is a pristine ’65 F-250 4x4. It has the 352ci V8 and 4-speed trans.

The standout in the ’61-66 era was the short wheelbase F-100 of 1966. It featured the same type of front suspension used in the Ford Bronco, and what would later be standard fare for all half-ton Ford 4x4s. It came with a married single speed transfer case and an NP435 4-speed trans. The ’66 F-100s were the Lo-Boys in a world of Hi-Boys.

The 1961 model year marked a huge transition in the Ford truck lines. Some 619 distinct truck variations were developed that year, many of them brand new, and the existing lines were heavily revised. Most of the hoopla was not in the 4x4 realm, however. Remember the Econoline, Falcon Ranchero and the integrated-body Styleside pickup? The four-wheel drive line didn’t get much of the new stiff right then. That market was just starting to appear on the marketing maven’s radar screens.

The ’61-66 Ford 4x4s were a mix of the new and the old- mostly the old at first. They got a new chassis and cab (the F-100s and F-250s used the same chassis to ’66), but retained the beds from the previous generation. They didn’t exactly match as you will note in the photos. Mechanically, there were few changes, however there was evolution in components along the way that made the Hi-Boy trucks better products towards the end. The term “Hi-Boy” deserves an explanation at this point. From ’59 through ’72, Ford used a chassis design that was nearly flat (see nearby transparent view). The result of that flat chassis was a high stance.

The ’61-66 4x4 Fords were divided into two classes, the F-100 half-tons, 5,600 pound GVW, and the F-250 three-quarter tons, either 6,600 or 7,400 pound GVW through ’63, and 7,700 through ’66. The F-350 4x4 didn’t exist in those days. There were some delete options for reduced GVWs on both trucks. Only one wheelbase dimension was offered, 120 inches for both the F-100 and F-250. The exceptions came in 1966, when a 115 inch wheelbase F-100 4x4 was offered and the long wheelbase rigs were stretched to 129 inches. Incidentally, the ’66 F-100s, long and short, are the only “Lo-Boys” in this Hi-Boy era. The bed styles were divided into two, the Styleside and the Flareside (a step-side type).

As for engines, both the F-100 and F-250 came standard with a 223ci six through ’64. This was an “old hand” in the Ford stable, dating back to 1952, when this overhead valve design was introduced as a 215ci unit. It was enlarged to 223ci in ’54 and an even larger 262ci unit debuted in ’61, but wasn’t available in the 4x4s. It was a basically reliable, but uninspiring four-main bearing engine of moderate beef. History has pretty much left it behind.

For ’65, two new seven-main bearing six-cylinder engines debuted, the 240ci six, which took over from the 223 as the base engine, and the now-legendary 300ci six, which became an intermediate choice between the base 240ci and the V8 option. The 300ci soldiered on for another 30 years and has legions of fans.

The V8 option in the ’61-64 Fords was the venerable Y-Block 292ci two barrel. This engine was a close relative to the legendary 312ci T-Bird engine. Again, it was a dated engine by this time, going back to 1954 and the first Ford 239ci OHV V8. For ’65, the 352ci FE engine replaced the 292ci, offering a 48 hp increase to V8 buyers.

The advent of the 352ci V8 in 1965 was good news for Ford truck buyers. This engine was a member of the FE engine family that had debuted in 1959. Some familiar engines in this family were the 390ci and the 428ci, but there were many other displacements, including 332ci, 360ci, 406ci, 410ci, 427ci. This 2-bbl version cranked out 208 advertised horsepower. This is an almost perfectly correct and original ’65 engine compartment.

The chassis layout remained the same throughout most of the ’61-66 era. In fact, the half and three-quarter tons used the same basic chassis. The big differences were in springs and axles. They had the same engine choices, similar transmissions and the identical transfer case. Shown is a ’64 F-250.

The 292 V8 was long in the tooth when it finally left the Ford truck line in 1964. The basic design had a proven reliability record over about 10 years in service. One of the unusual features of this engine was the crossover pipe on front of the engine. It fed the left manifold into the right, which then had to carry the flow of both banks out the pipe. This no doubt limited upper rpm power with lots of exhaust restriction. A HD version was available for larger trucks that cranked out ten more hp than the standard engine.

Trannies ranged from the standard column shift 3-speeds, to optional 4-speed manuals. The exceptions came in ’66, when the F-100s came standard with New Process 435 4-speeds. There were no automatics offered in 4x4s of this era. With one exception, the standard transfer case of the era was a divorced Dana 24 unit. Divorced means the t-case is not physically attached to the tranny, but is installed in it’s own mounting system and connected via a short driveshaft. The exception was the ’66 F-100, which featured a married Dana 21 transfer case, a single speed unit.

Axles stayed consistent through the ’61-66 era, with a Dana 44 up front and a 3,300 pound rated 9-inch in back for the F-100s, or a 5,000 (5,200 after ’63) pound rated Dana 60 full-floater for the F-250s. If you opted for a limited slip in the half-ton line, you got a Dana 44 with a Powr-Lock. The front Dana 44 differed between the F-100 and F-250 in a 3,000 vs 3,500 pound GAW (Gross Axle Weight) rating (.375-inch wall tubes vs .50-inch wall) and 8-lug hubs. With the exception of the ’66 F-100, which used a coil spring suspension similar to the then-new Bronco, all the ’61-66 Fords used leaf springs front and rear. Axle ratios were typically 3.89:1 for the F-100 and 4.56:1 for the F-250 until ‘66, when the ratios were 3.70 and 3.50 for six and V8 powered F-100s respectively, and a 4.10:1 was optional.

The ’61-66 trucks were definitely still in the Spartan era of steel trucks and iron men. No automatics, no power steering, no carpets and no air conditioning. You could get some nifty two-tone paint, a radio and the Custom Cab option, which featured, among other things, five inches of foam on the seat in place of the usual two. Heaters weren’t even standard at first.

Despite all the innovations and excitement at the time, the ’61-66 Fords have not garnered a great deal of collector attention today and what there is seems directed mostly at the 4x2 units. The rare ’61-64 unitized Styleside 4x2 body is one fairly hot collector item of the era. Beyond the slow value appreciation that most old time “survivors” enjoy, the ’61-66 Hi-Boy trucks live mostly in the category of “good-ol trucks.” And that they are!

specs common to both models

Engine:

223ci OHV six (std ’61-64)

240ci OHV six (std ’65-66)

300ci OHV six (opt ’65-66)

292ci OHV V8 (opt ’61-64)

352ci OHV V8 (opt ’65-66)

Power (hp):

135 @ 4000 (114 @ 3600 net)

150 @ 4000 (129 @ 4000 net)

170 @ 3600 (150 @ 3600 net)

160 @ 4000 (135 @ 3800 net)

208 @ 4400 (172 @ 4000 net)

Torque (lbs-ft):

200 @ 1800 (186 @ 1600 net)

234 @ 2200 (218 @ 2000 net)

283 @ 1400 (272 @ 1400 net)

270 @ 1800 (245 @ 1800 net)

315 @ 2400 (295 @ 2000 net)

Comp. Ratio:

8.1:1

9.2:1

8.4:1

8.0:1

8.9:1