**Calling All Gen 6 Lovers** '74 on Auction

[Blue Goose]

1974 Ford F250 brush fire truck

47,858 miles on odometer
V8 360 gas engine
Four speed manual transmission
Four wheel drive
Heater
AM radio
Manual windows and locks
Emergency lights
Wisconsin engine and pump
Hose and reel
700 gallon water tank
9.50-16.5LT tires

F26YCU51526

Ends Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10 a.m. CDT

 

[taxreliever]

Love it...bid is up to 4300 already....I think that might be a tad high...guess their factoring in that water tank and pump.

 

[LEB Ben]

^^^I was thinking the same thing. Looks pretty good though, but seeing the 'Wisconsin' on the door jamb scared me a little. And it looks like the door stickers either have A) overspray on them or B) were masked off in a painting. Northern truck for that kind of coin...not thinking so, even though it's a fire truck...something about that says polished turd when compared to southern trucks. Probably a dream come true for someone in the rustbelt though.

 

[Blue Goose]

That Wisconsin tag is on the Wisconsin engine shroud....Repainted? I can see where a self respecting fire department might want to 'freshen up' a 37 year old truck. As far as the rust belt factor, I wouldn't think there would be much call for a brush fire fighting truck when the roads are slushy and the ground is snow covered.....witness the condition of Ken's latest 'northern' acquisition.....just sayin'

 

[taxreliever]

That Wisconsin tag is on the Wisconsin engine shroud....Repainted? I can see where a self respecting fire department might want to 'freshen up' a 37 year old truck. As far as the rust belt factor, I wouldn't think there would be much call for a brush fire fighting truck when the roads are slushy and the ground is snow covered.....witness the condition of Ken's latest 'northern' acquisition.....just sayin'

I thought about this too and have had a great affinity for town fire trucks since my find....they seem like great finds and my bump did spend 38 years in a heated garage, maintained by the town.

 

[Blue Goose]

These trucks have to be ready at a moments notice, firetrucks in the frozen tundra of the north have to be in heated garages.....you can't fight a fire with frozen water or water pumps.... If by chance they do go out in crap weather, they get washed up and dry out in that heated garage. That's what makes a truck like yours or this such a nice find.....

 

[taxreliever]

Ken, in order to be ready at a moments notice, firetrucks in the frozen tundra of the north have to be in heated garages.....you can't fight a fire with frozen water.... That's what makes a truck like yours or this such a nice find.....

Yeah. My bump had a 1000 gallon water tank in its bed. I'm not sure about other towns, but our local towns spend big bucks on their garages because of winter here....water tank or not (just guarantees a heated garage ), all the municipal vehicles are stored in heated garages.

Good point!

 

[O'Rattlecan]

This truck is awesome. What a great project for someone. I'd ditch the massive water tank though.

What's 700 gallons of water weigh? 5,500 lbs? That's not even counting the tank's weight.

Ryan

 

[LEB Ben]

That Wisconsin tag is on the Wisconsin engine shroud....Repainted? I can see where a self respecting fire department might want to 'freshen up' a 37 year old truck. As far as the rust belt factor, I wouldn't think there would be much call for a brush fire fighting truck when the roads are slushy and the ground is snow covered.....witness the condition of Ken's latest 'northern' acquisition.....just sayin'

Paint can hide a lot of sins is all I'm saying...so who knows what this truck looked like a few months/years ago...it was merely a red flag for me, no different than I post for every other 'look at this truck' thread that's posted here...prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. If it's painted, what other kind of work was done, and if there was extensive body work, that makes me wonder the true condition of the remaining original items. If there is some sort of verification of it being kept out of the salt, I'd recant my statements. I'm just saying I'd take southern truck over a northern truck any day of the week.

These trucks have to be ready at a moments notice, firetrucks in the frozen tundra of the north have to be in heated garages.....you can't fight a fire with frozen water or water pumps.... If by chance they do go out in crap weather, they get washed up and dry out in that heated garage. That's what makes a truck like yours or this such a nice find.....

I get that Brad...so maybe 'polished turd' was too harsh, but still the exposure to those kinds of elements can and does take it's toll. My personal preference, if you have the exact same truck, except one is from the north and one is from the south, I'll pick the south every time.

 

[taxreliever]

This truck is awesome. What a great project for someone. I'd ditch the massive water tank though.

What's 700 gallons of water weigh? 5,500 lbs? That's not even counting the tank's weight.

Ryan

Yup and the lights.....in most states, it's not legal to have lights like that...I know it is in mine...I wanted to put a light similar to the original one back on my FD bump, but local cops said "NO GO".

Wish they left the winch on mine though....that would've been awesome....it'll be about $700-1000 to put a 10-12k winch on there now.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

A winch would have been an awesome touch on your truck.

Ryan

 

[taxreliever]

A winch would have been an awesome touch on your truck.

Ryan

I agree and the huge metal knee killer plate is still attached to the front. They actually bolted it to the leaf springs and welded a portion of it to the frame itself.....someday, there will be a 12k+ winch sitting on there...just need time to get the wifey to let me...

 

[DNFXDLI]

This truck is awesome. What a great project for someone. I'd ditch the massive water tank though.

What's 700 gallons of water weigh? 5,500 lbs? That's not even counting the tank's weight.

Ryan

700 US gallons...~8.35#, 1 imperial gallon, 10#
Sooooo.....5800#...that's a lot for a 3/4 ton esp. not counting anything else!

 

[taxreliever]

700 US gallons...~8.35#, 1 imperial gallon, 10#
Sooooo.....5800#...that's a lot for a 3/4 ton esp. not counting anything else!

Dang Duncan, so my rig would have been carrying over 8k pounds, then add the pump and winch? Wow. My motor is a 360 and they frame is a 1 ton and it has the dual springs in the back.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Yep...a tad overloaded!.

 

[taxreliever]

Yep...a tad overloaded!.

What's the limit for a 250 with a 1 ton frame and would that affect the engine life?

 

[SuperCab]

looks like a 203 transfer case... full time...

 

[DNFXDLI]

Tires, brakes and axles as well as the frame stength would be more of a concern than the engine. I don't have the book for your year of truck, but a 1974 F250 4x4 shows the Dana 60 to have a rating of 5300# and a 70 at 7400#
Tires would be damn near maxed out if not over. I'm fairly sure that frames were all the same on the 150-350, although someone might correct me on that.
To put it in perspective, my 350 weighs roughly 8300# with me in it and the GVW for the truck is 11200#..which gives you a box carrying capacity of nearly 3000#..1.5 tons.
Looking at my 1974 book, it shows a maximum GVW of 8100# and a maximum load rating of 3625#.
Edit..I was looking at 2WD...4WD shows a GVW of 7700, with a load rating of 3165

 

[LEB Ben]

I know what the stickers say...and I know what's safe and I know the potential issues of rolling overloaded. So I'll say in a controlled setting, the tires are the weak point...I've witnessed these rigs haul a 5 ton dies in the bed several times before, but that's about all she can handle.

 

[DNFXDLI]

More reading in my book sez:
F250 4x4 133'' WB

Standard:

GVW 6500
GAWR front 3100
GAWR rear 3680
Max load rating 2105
Springs front 1550#
Springs rear 1975#
Tires 8.00 x 16.5 D

Two optional packages:

GVW 7100 or 7700
GAWR front 3100 or 3325
GAWR rear 4290 or 4940
Max load rating 2655 or 3165
Springs front 1550# or 1775#
Springs rear 2700# only
Tires 8.00 x 16.5 E