F-Series Editorial Staff
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February 12, 2025
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Features
Show us your Ford trucks—and tell us all about them!
To get your Ford-Series truck featured in this section, send us a print-quality, horizontal photo and a short description of what’s pictured. Upload them to us via Instagram (@motortopia) or email them to DEnce@Engaged.Media.
Here are the latest submissions we’ve received from readers just like you!
Cameron Webster
“I found this back in 2017 on Craigslist after searching for months trying to find the right truck to be not only my daily driver that’s got some character, but to also be the first vehicle to call my own! I’ve done quite a bit since I got it almost seven years ago, and I still have a list to do that keeps growing everyday! If you’re interested in seeing more about the truck or some of my other projects that I have, you can follow me on Instagram @c._wayne!”
Nate Wenger
“I had a ’79 Ford F-250 in high school, and as an adult I always wanted to build a Dentside. Twelve years ago, I was drag racing my little brother when his car’s engine blew (Thunderbird Supercoupe). We took the car to a buddy’s house for repairs, and he had this ’78 F-250 sitting outside. The truck was rough and needed cab corners, floors, bed sides, and there was a rust hole above the windshield. But I saw the value in the truck as it had everything I wanted. Dana 60s front and rear, 4 speed, 400 motor (easy swap to 460). So I bought the truck and brought it home.
“I disassembled the truck and realized it could really use a new cab. So I flew out to Vegas and sourced a rust-free cab and had it shipped back. I’ve always liked clean builds that were not overdone (even in the ’90s when overdone was the trend). So I followed that path with the retro-mod theme. I wanted to build a ’70s Ford with a mix of the options from ’73-’79 that I preferred the most (not necessarily correct for the year). I wanted the ’78 (or ’79) for the running gear and steering, however I do prefer the split grille (’73-’77), so I grille-swapped the truck. I also made one off custom grille inserts to continue with the retro-mod theme.
“I did swap in a 460 motor along with a T19 4-speed transmission, which has a synchronized 1st gear and a higher 1st gear ratio than the original NP435. The truck is lifted on a skyjacker 4-inch suspension lift and a 1-inch body lift (5 inches of lift total). The tires are 36×15.50 Mickey Thompson MTZ on 20×14 Fuel Hostage wheels. Stopping power is provided by a Hydratech Hydroboost setup which works amazingly well. You can find additional content on my Instagram page @Silvertruck78.”
Matthew Perry
Queensland, Australia
“A little bit about me. I am a 62-year-old retired police homicide detective and reside at Currumbin on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The area is a renowned surfing destination and has been the home and breeding ground for many World Champion surfers.
Our son Nick married Whitney Manning from Peach Tree City, Georgia. They live there with their two young children, and that’s where this story begins with the F-150 traveling to Australia.
“It was originally purchased new for $17,510 in February 1989 from a dealership at Waters Ford Company, Blackshear, Georgia, by Mr. Governor Manning of Jesup, Georgia (Governor being the grandfather of my daughter-in-law Whitney). Governor owned the vehicle until 1995 when he passed away and subsequently his son Dexter Manning took ownership of the vehicle until 2021. During this time the F-150 was infrequently driven.
“In April 2021 I purchased the vehicle and made arrangements to import the vehicle to Australia. For some strange reason, Australian’s have a fascination with pickups from the USA. The vehicle began a three-month sea voyage to Australia via Atlanta, New Jersey, Suez Canal, Singapore, Melbourne, eventually arriving in Brisbane. It then cleared in customs, and after a slight modification to the rear stop lights and indicators, it became road worthy on our Australian roads.
“Initially it had a few teething problems, consisting of the main seal leaking, radiator, fuel tank pumps, amongst a few other small things. (All to be expected for a vintage vehicle and used only occasionally.) It also had a tendency to suddenly cut out when hot. After discussion with my mechanic, it was decided to drop the engine out and rebuild, at the same time stripping out the EFI to a carburetor setup. We also installed a twin pipe stainless steel exhaust system giving it a more throaty noise.
“The F-150 is driven as a weekend drive. We go to the occasional car show, and it has a growing Instagram and media presence. It has appeared in a music video for a well known Australian country music legend singer. (The family in USA could not believe their grandfather’s truck appearing on YouTube in a music video). 2025 is looking prosperous with movie enquires and photo shoots for an International Country and Western clothing range.
“Whenever this truck is on the road, it attracts a lot of the attention. It turns heads, always people stop, look and acknowledge with a smile, thumbs up and words of admiration are frequent. It is a combination of the model of truck and the color combination that appears to make this truck stand out. (I can not find another in Australia to this date.) It is a privilege to own this pickup. It has now been owned by three grandparents. The truck is named Governor in memory and honor of the original proud owner (#governorf150).”
Andrew Molcar
“I bought this 1971 Ford F-250 Highboy ‘Jack’ from my friend Preston Hawkins who saved and built this classic. Me and my boys are loving cruising around the country and hitting different car and truck shows and making memories.”
Nate Parker, owner of Mid-State Diesel
Payson, AZ
“This is my 1977 F-250 Ranger XLT crew cab, originally 2WD, converted to 4WD with ’05+ super duty axles under the factory frame, no chassis swap here. Fox coilovers in front with a custom 4-link, rear is factory leaf springs w/ Fox shocks. Engine is a 2008 6.7 Cummins, with a Borg Warner S467 turbo, stainless diesel exhaust manifold. 5-inch exhaust, EFI live tuning w/ five-position switch, G56 6-speed manual transmission, ValAir dual disk clutch. 37-inch Toyo MT tires on polished 17-inch Innov8 racing wheels. This truck rides, tows and stops like a modern truck, but looks way better! I’ve owned this truck since late 2017, and have collected several others since building this one. You can never have to many Dentside trucks!”
Joey Ingargiola
Florida
“This is a factory 4×4 and equipped with a Holley Sniper EFI on the 460 Big Block. The 16.5×14 Weld Racing wheels with the 35×14.50 boggers really tie the truck together. Truck has spent most of its life in Nevada/California, and is now in Florida.”
Francisco Escamilla
Texas
“I’m a big fan of classic Fords. This is the second F-100 that I’ve owned. I’ve had it for three years now and it’s a blast to drive around town. A little about the truck: It’s a 1977 Ford F-100, pretty much all original except for the color and some added aftermarket parts. It’s powered by a 400 cu engine backed by a C6 transmission. The engine is pretty much stock with the exception of some Flowtech headers. The exhaust is made up by an H pipe accompanied by two Flowmaster S10s. It’s riding on some Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R, 29×15 on the rear and 26×12 in the front. The rear wheel housing has been widened to accommodate the rear tires. This truck is enjoyed by the whole family and gets driven a lot around town and to shows.”
Tyler Morrison
“I’m 25 years old, and have been working on this 1995 F-350 XLT since the end of 2018. This was my dad’s truck, it’s certainly sentimental to me, as I grew up looking out of the windows in the back seat and even learned to drive in it. I’m completely self-taught, and I have no professional automotive experience, but I wanted to show people that you don’t need to be an expert or have $100,000 to build a cool truck. I’ve gotten to learn so much throughout this process, like engine building, body work and paint, and how to clean, detail, and generally maintain a vehicle so that it will last for generations to come. It’s been a labor of love, restoring it and shaping it into the truck it is today, but the hard work has been extremely rewarding, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s a truly amazing feeling, getting to drive a testament to your own hard work every single day, and it’s extremely fulfilling to see others appreciate it and be reminded of their experiences with trucks like it.
“Since I began working on it, my vision has been to modernize the truck, and bring it into the current century, without compromising the classic styling and design features that have made these trucks such iconic pieces of American culture, and have garnered them the cult-like following that they have today. I’ve carried out that vision in several areas of the truck, and still continue to work on improving its functionality and capability to this day.
“I’ve converted every light in the truck to LED as well as converted to crystal clear, non-diffused headlight housings and clear taillight housings, which has resulted in a drastically improved, more modern appearance. I’ve installed black, textured-plastic bed rail caps to emulate those used on the beds of modern pickups, and paired them with a soft vinyl roll-up tonnuea cover to tie the appearance of the bed together, and to differentiate this truck from all the others on the road. I’ve polished out all the chrome and revived the original bumper plastics to return them to their former glory, and I kept the original J&J Enterprises running boards that the first owner installed on the truck back in the ’90s (though they are certainly starting to show their age). I’ve also kept the 16-inch Mickey-Thompson wheels that the original owner installed around the same time, polishing them back out to a shine from the heavily pitted, oxidized state they were in from years of neglect, and I wrapped them in a set of 315/75R16 Hercules Terra Trac AT-II tires, to maintain that classic, meaty, big-tire/small-wheel setup. A set of tall, chrome, 7-spline lug nuts and new, polished stainless hub covers finish off the classic styling of the wheels and tires, and serve as a reminder that (when properly executed) chrome never goes out of style!
“The truck is currently sitting on an old-school ‘add-a-leaf’ leveling kit, raising the frontend about 2 inches (just enough for the front tires to turn lock-to-lock without rubbing, thanks to the higher negative offset of the Mickey-Thompson wheels and some clever shimming of the front bumper) and the rear suspension is exactly how it left the factory, though I’ve installed a set of 2-inch billet aluminum 8×6.5 to 8×6.5 lug adapters (spacers) on the rear hubs, to push the rear wheels further apart, and bring them into line with the front wheels, again harkening back to the classic ‘tall and wide’ 4×4 stance.
“Appearance isn’t everything, though. This truck is far from ‘all show and no go’, as it’s got the power to back up its looks! The entire powertrain has been refreshed. It’s got the original 7.5L/460 c.i. V-8 under the hood, currently mated to a Stage 1 towing-built E4OD automatic transmission, but the block has been bored over 0.020 inch to get the cylinders true, the rotating assembly was balanced and blue-printed, so the motor doesn’t have to fight itself to build RPM any longer. The heads have also been lightly ported to help get a little more air through them! On the intake side, there’s a ported single-plane EFI intake manifold, and a low-profile throttle body, both from 460EFIGuys, which are less restrictive and allow more air to get into the motor than the factory intake setup, and the exhaust side has a set of mid-length headers with 1 3/4-inch primaries going back to a straight 3-inch exhaust into a chambered muffler just before the rear axle, where it splits into dual 2 1/2-inch pipes, and then exits behind the rear tires with a 5-inch polished, angle cut tip.
“An intake and exhaust won’t make much of a difference if you don’t put a bigger camshaft in, though, which is why there’s a big, choppy, hydraulic flat-tappet cam between the cylinders, as well as a set of chromoly pushrods and upgraded valve springs to keep the combustion chambers sealed up reliably. Top it all off with a Standalone Holley Terminator X EFI system and a US Shift Quick-4 Standalone transmission controller (with a remote display) and you’ve got a killer package that provides the driver with accurate, real-time engine and transmission information like coolant temperature, oil pressure, and air/fuel ratio, as well as tire-size corrected speed, transmission temperature, and torque converter lock-up status. Having all of this information available to the driver at a glance at any given time makes even new truck owners get a little bit jealous.
“The transfer case was just preemptively rebuilt a year or two ago, and the front and rear axles are nearly flawless, with all new seals and bearings throughout! It’s also been retrofitted with a BlueTop 2011-16 Super Duty Steering Gearbox, with an HD Dana 60 Steering Linkage from Carrick Customs, which means the steering system is now much better equipped to handle the stress involved in turning bigger tires than it was from the factory.
“The factory royal blue interior isn’t all that fancy; it’s mostly original and intact, but it has a set of new, leather armrests on the door panels, and a set of professionally 3D printed and textured center console hinge covers from OBS Interiors/Carr Designs, as well as a set of laser-measured Huskyliner floormats to protect the carpet.”
Justin Lavoie
The truck started out as a ’67 1/2 ton 2WD longbed. My dad, who’s built many ’67-’72 Bumpsides, wanted to do something a little more custom. He took a 3/4 ton longbed frame and shortened it to fit a shortbed. Then he converted everything to 3/4 ton 4×4 shortbed, which Ford never made factory.
“I have the passion for these old Fords solely because of my dad. When I was a kid he was always in the garage working on Ford trucks any year from ’67-’72. We had a strong connection through all his builds. He passed away from cancer six years ago, but I continue to live on his legacy through his trucks. Over the years I’ve tracked down and acquired five of my dad’s trucks that he built. These trucks mean more to me than anyone can imagine. It’s a part of my dad that I love to have and brings back all the great memories we had.”
Phil Anderson
Reno, NV
The truck was my grandpa’s truck and then my uncle’s before I got it the year my first son was born in 2007. My dad delivered the truck out to Reno in 2007, Father’s Day week, when he and my mom came to see my son for the first time. It has been a long rebuild since, mostly done since 2022. The truck won Hot August Nights Event Series People’s Choice in 2023, a show of with over 6,000 cars over the week-long show. (Photo credit to Marcello Rostagni for the pic under the bridge after the win.)”
Truck Specs
Paint and Exterior: Custom mix red, Copper State Components tilt forward hood kit.
Engine and Trans: Gen1 Coyote and 6r80, Power by the Hour harness, 1970 Mustang 22-gallon tank with Aeromotive fuel pump.
Suspension and Steering: Crown Vic IFS with s550 electric rack-and-pinion, S550 Independent Rear, Vi-King double adjustable coilovers all four corners.
Wheels and Tires: 19-inch s550 Mustang wheels powdercoated prismatic Cherokee bronze, General G-Max 255/40r19.
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