Ford’s Highboy Started At Around $5,000 In 1977, Here’s What A Factory Lifted Truck Costs Today
Long before lift kits filled catalogs and dealer lots, Ford sold a four-wheel-drive pickup that already stood taller than every other truck in its showroom. Enthusiasts called it the Highboy, and its height came straight from the factory rather than a weekend in the garage. It was cheap by modern standards, too, even after you account for nearly five decades of inflation. Here’s how Ford’s tall F-250 came to be, what it’s worth now, and what buyers pay in 2026 for a pickup that leaves the factory sitting high.
What Made The Ford Highboy A Factory Lifted Truck
The Highboy is an enthusiast nickname rather than an official Ford name, given to the four-wheel-drive F-250s built from 1967 until partway through the 1977 model year. Ford offered them in regular cab and crew cab form, and genuine examples carry F26 or F28 in their VINs.
The height was a byproduct of how Ford built its 4x4s. Rather than bolting the transfer case directly to the transmission, Ford mounted it separately in the middle of the truck, a setup known as a divorced transfer case. That arrangement needed a long front driveshaft with plenty of clearance, so the truck had to sit higher. Ford finally switched to a transfer case mounted to the transmission midway through 1977, and the lower trucks that followed earned the nickname Lowboy.
The Hardware That Gave The Highboy Its Height
Highboys used a Dana 24 transfer case until 1973, then a standard NP205 part-time unit or an optional NP203 full-time case. Up front sat an eight-lug Dana 44, a heavier-duty Dana 44HD, or a Dana 60, depending on the year. To level the truck, Ford fitted 4-inch blocks between the rear axle and leaf springs. The result sat roughly 3 inches taller than a 4×4 F-100 and around 6 inches taller than a two-wheel-drive F-250.
What The Ford Highboy Cost When New
A base 1977 F-250 Custom regular cab listed at $4,667 before options, and four-wheel drive was an extra-cost option on top of that, putting a base Highboy at around $5,000. Crew cabs, bigger V8s, and trim upgrades pushed the price higher, but even a well-equipped Highboy sat a long way from today’s truck prices.
Adjusted for inflation, a $5,000 Highboy works out to roughly $27,000 in today’s money. That’s still far below what entry-level factory-lifted pickups cost in 2026, which shows how much the market for tall, off-road-ready trucks has changed.
What A Ford Highboy Is Worth Today
Clean Highboys now cost several times their original sticker. The sixth-generation F-250, which covers the later Highboys, currently carries a market benchmark of about $33,650, and that same data includes a 1973 F-250 Ranger Highboy that sold for $66,500 in October 2026.
Finding a good one is getting harder. Most Highboys spent decades hauling, plowing, and towing, and many were later lifted, engine-swapped, or left to rust. Lowboys and converted trucks also turn up advertised as Highboys, so buyers should check the VIN and look for the divorced transfer case before paying a Highboy premium.
What A Factory Lifted Truck Costs In 2026
Factory-lifted pickups are no longer rare oddities. Ford, Chevrolet, and other brands now sell off-road trims with raised suspension, bigger tires, and extra protection straight from the factory, and buyers pay a clear premium for them.
That premium starts with a modest lift and climbs to full desert-racing hardware at the top of the market. The gap between entry-level options and the most expensive trucks is now larger than the Highboy’s entire inflation-adjusted price.
The Most Affordable Factory Lifted Trucks On Sale
The 2026 Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss is one of the cheapest ways in, starting at $40,500 with a 2-inch factory-installed lift, 32-inch all-terrain tires, and a two-speed transfer case. Its full-size sibling, the Silverado 1500 Custom Trail Boss, starts at $52,900 with its own 2-inch lift.
Those trucks skip the trick dampers and extra lift of pricier models to stay affordable. Even so, these entry-level options already cost well over the Highboy’s inflation-adjusted base price.
Where Factory Lifted Truck Prices Top Out
Move up to serious off-road hardware, and prices climb fast. The Colorado ZR2 starts at $50,700 with a 3-inch lift and Multimatic DSSV dampers, while the 2026 Ford F-150 Raptor starts at $79,005 with a 450-hp V6 and Fox Live Valve shocks.
At the very top, the F-150 Raptor R starts at more than $110,000 with a 720-hp supercharged V8. That’s more than four times the Highboy’s inflation-adjusted price and more than 20 times its original sticker. Ford’s old F-250 sat tall because of how it was built, while today’s buyers pay a steep price for height by design.
Sources: Classic.com, Ford, Mecum, Chevrolet.
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