1968 Ford 100 with 8 lug suspension and disc brakes

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:05 pm

I purchased a 1968 Ford 100 some time ago and used your site to decode the door tag on it. It is a Lunar Green / Whimbleton White long bed pickup that had a sunroof in it when the former owner bought it 8 to 9 years ago. He removed the sunroof and had a friend weld a plate over the hole (it le-e-e-eaks) and he did some body work to smooth it all out (it leaks). I decided, after buying it, that I would find a donor truck and do a cab swap AND a bed swap.
I found my donor on CraigsList Jacksonville and went from my place the approx 3 hours to look at it. It is also a Lunar Green and Whimbleton White long bed pickup. To me, the perfect donor, maybe?
It surprised me when I got there because it shows Ford 100 on the hood but the truck has an 8-lug suspension, power disc brakes (that has calipers that resemble the 1965 to 1968 Mustang Kelsey-Hayes 4 piston calipers), power steering, dual tanks (with the rear filler neck sticking out of the side of the front of the bed), an automatic transmission, it has the windshield moulding, it has the body side mouldings, it had a moulding that wrapped around the back of the cab (but it's gone), it has a wrap-around step bumper that bolts through the lower rear quarters with the place the tag goes offset to the left side and it has Custom Cab on the rear roof pillars.
I decoded the door tag on this truck and it shows it to be a F100 with a 3.31 Dana 44-3 rear axle in it. Is that an 8-lug axle? Can I figure this might be original? I thought F250s (and up) were 8 lug vehicles (again not knowing trucks well).
I don't know much more about truck drivetrains but I know how to identify the 8" and 9" rearends in Mustangs and Cougars. I'm at a loss with this newest acquisition / purchase.
I cannot find a "Buck Tag" on the truck BUT it came from San Jose according to the door tag and Mustangs and Cougars from San Jose didn't get Buck Tags back then.
Can someone give me some insight on whether this truck is original as a Ford 100 with an 8 lug suspension? Thanks.

hotrod ford · Post by **hotrod ford** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:34 pm

sounds like they might have used parts off of a different truck to fix it up. such as the hood.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:52 pm

The door data plate says it is an F100 and it also says it has a C1 (3.31 - Dana 44-3) rear axle in it. Is the Dana an 8-Lug rear-end? I've heard people talk about Dana rear and front-ends when they talk about their trucks but I don't know if this is what is in this truck or not. All I know it is a VIN Decoder Plate F100, from the San Jose California assembly plant and it has an 8-lug suspension. I thought about the hood-swap thing too. That is why I decoded the door plate data from Fordification.com's data plate I.D. page. That only added more to my curiosity about this truck.

bluef250 · Post by **bluef250** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:57 pm

From what you described a PO put a 3/4 suspension on the 1/2 ton. The rear end you described sounds like a Dana 60. It is an easy swap and seems to work well if you don't beat the poor beast up.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:26 pm

Okay, so a Dana 44 is a 5-lug rear axle? I wasn't sure. I guess someone must have wanted the 8-lug suspension front and rear bad enough to transfer over the power disc brakes too. I did notice that the passenger I-beam on this truck has a C8TA-B casting where my other F100 (5-lug, drum brake truck) has a C7TA-A I-beam on it. I didn't take the time to check the driver's side I-beams when I was trying to compare the suspensions.

How many years did Ford put the 4-piston disc brakes on their 8-lug pickup trucks, does anyone know?

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:31 pm

someone might have either put a f250 suspensionunder it or swapped the door and hood for a truck that had a good title. the way to check that would be to look at the frame vin to see if it matches the door.
http://www.fordification.com/data-1968.htm

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:59 pm

Ok, I found the frame VIN and with the help of a small wood handled brass brush it cleaned right up and is very easy to read. I was concerned about a numbers swap when I got the truck.

The truck is all matching colors, well used, body panels. I couldn't see evidence of a door swap before I bought it for $550.00 and brought it home.

The frame VIN matches the title and the door.

Comparing the frame of this F100 to my other F100 they look the same, as best I can tell, and it doesn't look like anyone has cut or welded any brackets onto the new truck to do a conversion, if there are differences in the F100 and the F250 frames. All of the shock and leaf spring stand-offs look the same too, trying my best to do a "stare-and-compare".

Thanks for the hint on the frame VIN. I am happpier now that the frame matches the title anyway.

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:01 pm

would there be a chance that you could get some pics of the frame and rear springs and the mounts for the rear springs.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:04 pm

Let me work on that when I get in tomorrow night. It's dark now and I might not be too lucky with a flash under there at night. I tried to find some casting numbers in the differential housing earlier and only found a few numbers, none that looked like a Ford casting number, not yet anyway.

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:20 pm

the reason i was asking was i thought maybe someone had just put hubs only on it. that would be interesting to find out if they did.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:25 pm

The rear differential definitely looks different than a 9" rear differential housing that you would see in a a newer 70s pickup. It is bigger. What does the Dana 44 look like? This housing has a rear cover verses a front-removal type differential like a 9" Ford rear differential. I took a couple of pictures of the differential, and one of the disc brake caliper (from the rear of the rotor with the wheel and tire in place) for a friend at work to look at but I don't know how to post them to this site.

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:28 pm

ok danas have rear covers where the 9 inch is a chunk that comes out the front . so that answers that question they did just swap the whole axles.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:32 pm

The truck's data plate calls for it to have a Dana 44 (C1)

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:39 pm

maybe they did just swap out the hubs then and left the rear in place. i dont know what a d44 looks like i just know what danas look like in general. so i cant tell you how to tell what it is without getting some numbers and looking them up on the internet somewhere.

l1k2gadd · Post by **l1k2gadd** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:53 pm

10-4. I am definitely wanting to research this truck as much as I can before I cannibalize it. Since it is packed with optional equipment I might have to find another Donor Vehicle for my first F100 and fix them both. If it is that much of an oddity I won't cannibalize it.

What about the wrap-around step bumper that bolts through the lower rear quarter panels and that has the driver's side offset license plate location? Have you ever seen one of those?

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1968 Ford 100 with 8 lug suspension and disc brakes

1968 Ford 100 with 8 lug suspension and disc brakes

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