1971 Ford F250 Ranger XLT 4x4

[Chuck Most]

Dave Miller was about halfway through the restoration of his '71 F100, when a minor mishap occurred. That minor mishap was the fact that the powdercoat place burned down, while his chassis was there. Undeterred, Dave kept going with the project. He bought a 1971 F250 4x4 with a 7.3 Powestroke swap, but the body was in pretty horrible condition.

Dave pried the body off the F250 chassis and rebuilt it with a lift and some new wheels and tires. The refreshed Highboy chassis was then slid under the restored sheet metal. 

So obviously the project didn't quite turn out how Dave originally envisioned, he's understandably pretty happy with where it ended up.

This is the body and interior from the Moebius 1971 F100 XLT Ranger that I bought from a fellow modeler. It was already painted in Medium Lime Poly and Fiesta Tan from MCW, all I had to do was find a close match for the interior, and do the trim and decal work.

The chassis is from the 1971 Custom 4x4 kit, with wheels modified to fit MPC Desert Dog tires, and an Iceman Collections 7.3 Powestroke diesel.

[GeorgeA]

The result is very good, it has a rough and original look, with neat details, it seems ready to cross the field, beautiful work.

[Keef]

I honestly don’t know which I like more, your gorgeous builds or the backstories that come with them.

[BKF]

Nice build. Looks like a few trucks I've seen growing up.

[OldSkool81]

Love it! It looks so right! Quick question, since I have the lifted F250 kit and was considering these tires... Are all Desert Dog tires the save size from one kit to the other? Like between the Sod Buster, Jeep Golden Hawk and the 1982 Bronco?

[Chuck Most]

2 hours ago, OldSkool81 said:

Love it! It looks so right! Quick question, since I have the lifted F250 kit and was considering these tires... Are all Desert Dog tires the save size from one kit to the other? Like between the Sod Buster, Jeep Golden Hawk and the 1982 Bronco?

Those are all 15" id. You want the set from either the MPC Deserter GMC or the Jeepster Mountain Goat. They're actually 1:20 scale but MPC stuck then in the few 1:25 kits because reasons. I also used the Deserter inner wheel halves with the inside filed flat and glued to the Moebius wheels to make up the difference in width.

[charger74]

Looks very good, nice color combo 

[ncbuckeye67]

Excellent work! I love the modifications you added.

[bondo bill]

nicely done

[slusher]

Fantastic looking Ford!    Great story also..

[leafsprings2]

Very nice clean job, like the paint scheme, Ford was big into tu tones, even the different shades of similar color tu tones, in this era. 

[OldSkool81]

On 6/9/2025 at 9:17 PM, Chuck Most said:

Those are all 15" id. You want the set from either the MPC Deserter GMC or the Jeepster Mountain Goat. They're actually 1:20 scale but MPC stuck then in the few 1:25 kits because reasons. I also used the Deserter inner wheel halves with the inside filed flat and glued to the Moebius wheels to make up the difference in width.

Huh, that's kinda funny... Those big 1/20 Desert Dogs from the Deserter kit that you're talking about, I bet they're from such kits as the HighJacker Ford Van, which I also have, and am at the same point with it as Moebius' lifted F-250 kit: too much lift, not enough tire!!!😅 Not a lot of tire options for the 1/20 HighJacker though, especially for people with no 3D printers😔

[PappyD340]

Super nice build!