Ford: Crew Cab short beds started when?

snowaddict91

Adventurer
I think they made some in the 70s. I have seen a few running around. Nothing in the 80s-mid 90s AFAIK. OBS were only offered in 96-97 F250. Centurion also did conversions on OBS 150s. They started with a regular cab I believe.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
I remember seeing them in the late 70's (the 73-80 body style.) They were rare birds though (actually crew cabs in general were rare back then.)
 

onemanarmy

Explorer
I had a 1996 F250 crew cab short bed 7.3.

was a sweet truck

I asked on Pirate if there was ever a GAS engine crew cab short bed OBS F250 or F350 (1995-1997). Never got proof.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
Actually, as early as 1967, Perhaps earlier. Not available every year after, but they were around fairly early.
I think only available as F250's most of the time. Great looking trucks, and I'm a GMC guy... Wish there was an equivalent GMC in the 67-72 era... :(

Here's a 1968...
68f250cc05.jpg
 

njtacoma

Explorer
In the "modern era" I think the first year was 1995, but maybe 1996. Only in the f250 until the Super Duty trucks came out in 1998.

The OBS F250's were available with gas or diesel. I have never seen one with the 351, but a few with 460's.

I looked at at a 1999 F250 locally with the 5.4 so it seems all engines were available with the crew cab short box super duty trucks.

There is a Gas 460 1997 F250 CC Short Bed on Ebay right now.
 
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onemanarmy

Explorer
In the "modern era" I think the first year was 1995, but maybe 1996. Only in the f250 until the Super Duty trucks came out in 1998.

The OBS F250's were available with gas or diesel. I have never seen one with the 351, but a few with 460's.

I looked at at a 1999 F250 locally with the 5.4 so it seems all engines were available with the crew cab short box super duty trucks.

There is a Gas 460 1997 F250 CC Short Bed on Ebay right now.
Two of them. How about that.
 

tgreening

Expedition Leader
I'm partial to a short bed in a CC configuration. A little more compact and to me it looks more balanced. Right now I'm a bit on the truck "rich" side and looking to really thin the herd so I'm trying to come up with the end game. I like having a full size truck around but since I'm dumping my big camper I don't need the grunt I had before. I unloaded my 6.4 F450 but still have a '12 F350 CC long bed (6.7), an '05 F350 CC FLATBED (6.0), a '10 CC SB Tacoma (barely a truck), and a 1980!Jeep J20 project with a 4BT in it.

The Taco and Jeep aside my intent is to unload the '12 for sure.

The '05 is where I'm torn. The 6.0 has been pretty much trouble free and has a preemptive round of all the usual bulletproof stuff done. The power is nice but, and it's a big one, sooner or later something will go south in spite of the "bulletproof" and when it does it's likely to be as stupid expensive to fix as ever. I'm trying to decide on keeping it, or unloading it as well and then looking for something in the 7.3 era, in the CCSB model.

The only trouble with that is it seems everyone that has a 7.3 truck that hasn't been beat to death (and some that have) thinks it's made out of gold plated gold. Seriously. Ive looked at trucks where it would be cheaper to buy a gas version and junk the motor, buy a new 7.3 from Ford and install it, cheaper than the premium the seller wants for his used 7.3.

Anyway, that's the deal....
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Any real reason you are stuck on CC?

Unless you are hauling people pretty much all the time, a good compromise is an extended cab.

And hard to see the benefit of a CC and a short bed if you are hauling people, with regards to a slide in camper.

Pretty tight squeeze in a shortbed camper for 4-people.



You can still haul people with the extended cab, just a bit uncomfortable (rough for long trips)

But the IMO thats the extent of the downsides.



Positives, is the shorter wheel base (or same WB in a long bed compared to CC SB), the higher payload, the ability to haul people and have some good cargo space (our extended cab is the dog bed).

Extended cab is also MUCH more comfortable than a standard cab, especially for us tall guys. I could never get far enough from the dash/steering wheel in a standard cab.

I've had a "OBS" Ford in every cab configuration, and find the extended cab long bed to be the hot ticket.
 

tgreening

Expedition Leader
Any real reason you are stuck on CC?

Unless you are hauling people pretty much all the time, a good compromise is an extended cab.

And hard to see the benefit of a CC and a short bed if you are hauling people, with regards to a slide in camper.

Pretty tight squeeze in a shortbed camper for 4-people.



You can still haul people with the extended cab, just a bit uncomfortable (rough for long trips)

But the IMO thats the extent of the downsides.



Positives, is the shorter wheel base (or same WB in a long bed compared to CC SB), the higher payload, the ability to haul people and have some good cargo space (our extended cab is the dog bed).

Extended cab is also MUCH more comfortable than a standard cab, especially for us tall guys. I could never get far enough from the dash/steering wheel in a standard cab.

I've had a "OBS" Ford in every cab configuration, and find the extended cab long bed to be the hot ticket.


Over the years I've had them all as well, and have settled on the CC as the best all around truck, for me. To me OBS isnt. It's just the intermediate step between what I started out driving and what rolls off the assembly line today. :)

It has little chance of pulling any kind of slide camper duty. Strictly a wife/kids/dogs mover when/if I choose with occasional truck-ish type duties. I've got a car trailer and a gooseneck I'll hang onto because those are just immensely useful when you need one, and the short bed will do it with no trouble.

For me it is the best all around compromise given a desire to be able to haul 4 full size people comfortably and maintain a fairly compact package. I can still haul a 4x8 sheet if I drop the gate, pull any load I'm likely to need to pull, and park in a standard spot without nosing into a second or having my ******** hanging out in cart bashing land.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Gotcha, if most of your camping setup is bumper pull, makes sense.


Still, I think Id go nuts with a 6' bed after having an 8' bed my entire life. :coffeedrink:

But the wheel base of a CC long bed is a bit much for anything beyond dedicated tow duties.

Makes me cringe when I see such a rig pull into a gas station or store parking lot.

Talk about a lousy turning radius :Wow1:
 

tgreening

Expedition Leader
Gotcha, if most of your camping setup is bumper pull, makes sense.


Still, I think Id go nuts with a 6' bed after having an 8' bed my entire life. :coffeedrink:

But the wheel base of a CC long bed is a bit much for anything beyond dedicated tow duties.

Makes me cringe when I see such a rig pull into a gas station or store parking lot.

Talk about a lousy turning radius :Wow1:



Yeah, the 2012 I have is a CC long bed. It's a really nice truck with all the gee-gaw bells and whistles, but I just don't like that configuration. For some reason they look a bit better to me with a cap, but I'd still rather have the short bed.

I'll probably end up dumping both the current trucks and find a CCSB somewhere in the 2000-2003 range, hopefully in the higher end trim level. I've gotten a bit spoiled in that respect. I like having the leather and fancy shmancy stuff on the inside.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
If you are not hauling stuff all the time, you barely need a pickup, let alone a long bed :sombrero:

I'm always hauling something, and a short bed would cause some serious problems...
 

tgreening

Expedition Leader
If you are not hauling stuff all the time, you barely need a pickup, let alone a long bed :sombrero:

I'm always hauling something, and a short bed would cause some serious problems...


How so? Seriously. I'm curious how you see that as a serious issue. I only really saw it as an issue if I needed to haul something 8 ft AND keep it covered. Like with a cap or cover and where I could close the tail gate. In that case I can see a problem conveniently solved with a long bed, otherwise I just drop the gate, slide my crap in, and strap it down.

I had full size long beds up till 2000 when I bought my first CCSB, and found out I thought that was just the cats ********, but I understand different strokes and all. I'm just curious what makes it an issue to "you".
 

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