Question on F-250 4X4 frame design

[ziggy]

Wonder why Ford redesigned the F-250 4x4 frame in mid-1977, when they knew it would only be around until 1980 when the new trucks came out. Seems like a huge expense, for only a little over two model year's worth.

Any thoughts on this?

[fordman]

i don't know they knew for sure that they were going to redesign it 2 years later but who am i to know such stuff. its kind of like the 67 door handles those were only 1 year

[460 crew]

Might have also been to get the fuel tank under the truck. Also the only real big change up front was the frame horns with the different spring hangers and the cocked front crossmember to accomidate the PS box. I don't really think they could of been a bad design for the 67-77.5 frames as thats a pretty long run and they only made minimal changes.

[ziggy]

I thought it was a pretty significant change... wider frame same as the 4x2's, different front suspension, the crossbar under the bumper gone, etc.

[460 crew]

the front of the frames are the same dimensions only the rears were widened. I was actually thinking of putting a crossbar beind the bumper on my 77 like my 70 for some strenth if I was to plow into something they might bend either way. I think they changed that so you bumper would be mounted right to the frame and not on some cheesey brackets. The suspension is the same except for the D60 availability and the HP 44 was almost standard.