Twin-I-Beam suspension has to be one of the most impressive names to ever come out of Madison Avenue and/or Ford’s marketing department. This 1965 Ford F-250 would have been the company’s first use of the Twin-I-Beam front suspension. This black F-250 can be found on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive, in Fort Ransom, North Dakota. The seller is asking $2,200 cash on the barrel head for this rugged pickup.
This truck looks great in black with black wheels but I would personally want to do a cut-and-buff on the paint. I know, it’s just an old truck but it’s just something to do in my spare time, whatever that is. I was recently not that far from this truck, I regret not going to look at it now. The more I see these photos of this truck the more I like it, even though I would have no use for a 3/4-ton pickup.
Ford’s famous Twin-I-Beam front suspension and its many benefits were touted by the company, they include “rugged construction, improved wheel alignment, reduced tire wear and front-end maintenance, smoother ride and better control.” The seller touts this truck as being in great condition for the year. North Dakota doesn’t use a lot of road salt from what I remember about living there back in the early-1990s. I don’t know if there is or was any bodywork done on this truck before it was painted or not, but I sure like this photo of what I’m assuming is the owner and his dog in this F-250.
The seller says “Upholstery done in 2016, otherwise all original.” There are no engine photos but the seller has it listed as a 352 cubic-inch V8 which had 208 horsepower. You can also see the 4-speed shifter in the above photo. So, a black 1965 Ford pickup with the biggest V8 available that year and a 4-speed for $2,200? What’s not to like?
Can’t go wrong for the price. True, the twin I beam suspension was rugged, but I owned a 1988 F150 for almost 12 years and that thing ate up front tires like crazy. My 2001 fared much better.
um. Bargain?
Ford did several TV ads that dramatically illustrated how smooth the Twin I beam rode. Here’s the 1970 version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvyKpJZ4CRU
Bob C. Is right. Twin I Beam allowed so much camber variation that it would allow massive edge wear on those front tires. Not a good design.
Back in the day was when Ford 3/4 ton pickups really bloomed. I would say that for ’65 and ’66 the ratio between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton was even. GM and Dodge and IH always favored the 1/2 ton. This is a nice unit and the buyer will do well with it. The Twin-I Beams had a lot of controversy in our neighborhood. I lot complained of front tire life. I had a ’73 and Dad had a ’71, and there were a lot from ’65 to ’80. The local tire shop sold and installed a lot of heavy duty shocks that really ‘dampened’ out the tire woes.
Seems like a steal to me. Our family car from ’77 to ’93 was a ’77 F250 Super Cab with the Twin-I-Beam. I’ve heard a lot of stories about abnormal tire wire but we never had a bit of a problem with ours.
Great price.
I had 3 twin I-beam Fords over the years, VERY difficult to find anyone who could align the front end correctly.
j.m.h.o: 6cylinder or 289 would be much better than the big block.
still a bargain truck at this price……
And I was thinking it would be a good home for the 428 sitting on my garage floor!
That would be a wild ride when you tried to stop it.
To qualify my comment, I have driven these trucks and on the best day you had better not have any cars in front of you when you want to stop.
I think I’d take the 6 too. I had a 72 F250 with a 360 in it, and I couldn’t afford to drive it.
I had two of the TIB trucks. A ’77 and a ’78 both f100s. The tire wear wasn’t an issue for me. I sold the ’77 in 1986 and just a couple of years ago I saw it was still on the road. I found it in the spectator lot at a local swap meet. It still looked pretty good.
TIB was a good front end design when it came to handling a load but they eat tires and have terrible front end feel. good deal though if rust is not an issue!
I bought a 66 in 1974 to drive to Alaska to my next base assignment at Eilson AFB in Fairbanks…………in December. But mine was a 240 6 cyl and the inside was all bare metal inside no vinyl anywhere other than the seat. This must have been a deluxe model.
That seems like very short money for this truck…if it’s as described and as nice as the pictures. Should be twice the price
I hope it’s not a scam ad
If that was a 66 with black interior, that could be my Dad’s old one. That thing hauled a lot of cattle, hogs and feed over the years. I really didn’t think or worry about it at the time, but nothing like having 20 gallons of gas behind your back. It was a hard working truck and the granny low was needed when hauling a wagon or two of corn to the elevator.
I owned a 65 1/2 ton, long wheel base, 352, 3 on tree with od. Loved that truck, hauled a 300 gallon water tank full of water with no problem. Never had a problem with the twin I beam set up. After I completed a course in Auto mechanics in 74 I worked at Sears auto center in Seattle, we had equipment to bend these axles for both camber and caster, we made a lot of happy customers. Later in the mid 80’s I worked at a shop in Hialeah Gardens, Miami, Fl. We had a contract with a concrete company that had a fleet of Ford pickups, that had kingpins frozen/rusted to the point the drivers could barely steer them. Pressing those kingpins out took a lot of pressure, but I learned the secret to the job, and probably repaired a thousand of them. The idea was great connecting the left axle to the right side and right to left keeping the truck level during cornering or rough roads. Good memories. Hope this truck finds a good home.
Would be proud to use this truck as is.
Just can’t think of a better work truck.
And yes, I’ll take the ’63 Chevy K-10
4X4 too. Shoot, I’m not greedy, I like
’em both!
My brother had a 65 TIB with 6cyl.it would haul plenty ..filled it full of bricks hauled em off.broke a rear leaf spring .come home put a new on in it the next day..and off he went for another load.
He worked 8 hours A-day fixing other people’s stuff and then spent the rest of his day working on his own
My buddy has a F100 from the same year. But he put a Cummins in it. Still has factory manual brakes and steering, but a 12v and 4 speed OD
FYI, road salt is illegal anywhere in North Dakota! We respect mother nature here!
I think this is a bargain. I can only imagine that the reason it hasn’t sold is the location. It’s almost worth dragging it home. Love everything about it!
I had a ’66 Camper Special F250 about ten years ago. It was my first truck. It had a 360 with auto and power brakes but manual steering. Good looking and the cab was more spacious than my Dad’s ’75 Chevy Stepside. The brakes on the F250s are much bigger than those used on the F100s. Many people grossly overload the F100s which were never designed to handle too much weight. I liked my truck, but Boy were these things Spartan inside. This one seems to be a good deal.
I actually live very close to this ad! I am trying to plan on going to look at it tomorrow if I can get my son to drive me there! I am not allowed to drive yet still recovering from a heart attack!
Wrong Way, let me know how it looks in the flesh! I’m really tempted by this black beauty. It almost almost makes sense to pay for transport at this asking price
Okay wuzjeepnowsaab, I will let you know if I do go and if I don’t buy! I never know about me! LOL
Hopefully it will still be available, I will call them up before I go tho and see what’s up for sure
Did you get it?