buildin a BIG mud truck, need some advice
 

ok guy so i just bought a 4x4 89 f150 and plan to jack it up with 12 inches of lift and use it solely for the purpose of muddin. i was thinkin of either converting the front end to leafs and runnin dana 60s or making mounts and just using air bags and ladder bars. for the back id prolly block it. i was thinkin of puttin airbags all around so i could lower it to get it in my garage. i would like to find a 460 to put in it, and relocate the air box into the cab so it doesnt get wet. what do you guys think? if u can think of anything else i should do just let me know.

DONT BLOCK ANY AXLES!!!!! thats pretty much all i have to say.

No blocks. No airbags. TTB must go.

hey bleedblue...did you grow up in st. louis. cause blues fans have a sayin that they bleed blue

haha nope i just bleed ford blue...

i was talkin to my dad and he thinks it would be better to fab up a lift with the independant front end, whats the most i could get out of that?

The TTB axle requires quite a few brackets and what not to lift. No easy task to just make them all and have everything line up in the end. Plus, tires sizes over 35" and stuff will start breaking on a regular basis. SAS is the way to go in a mud truck.

alright, i got a solid dana 44 front end right now but i know thats not gunna put up with much abuse, im havin a hard time findin a dana 60 front end....

You could always go with the d44 and down the road upgrade to chromoly axle shafts etc etc etc...

the gears are the weak points on the 44s tho, thats what id be breakin the most

what size tires do plan on? ive seen solid 44s stand pretty strong to pretty big tires..

i agree if you go over 35s you gotta SAS it plus a solid axle is way easier to lift and still maintain proper geometry and what not, your tires wont be angled out at the top when you lift it and theres 1 less u-joint to snap.

ibleedblue has an idea you have a 44 slap that in there get it done it will hold up for a while at least then i believe if you dont want to chromoly the 44 i think a d60 will be a straight bolt on from the solid 44 (if the 44 is a leaf, or once you set the 60 up for coils)

i plan on runnin 38s-40 on it. i also have a 460 with 700 horse i might throw in it too.....

if you are running 700 horse i would go a d60 because you will break youre d44 but it will hold up temporarily until you find a 60 right, at least that damned TTB would be gone with 40" tires youd be lucky to make it out you driveway with a TTB

Why put a 700 horse engine in a mud truck? Seems like a waste of a great engine unless you're going to build the truck properly, and from the sounds of it you don't know much about building a mud truck.

Stock 460 will do you just fine. And you won't be out so much money if you seriously damage that truck wheelin' it.

I suppose you could throw that 700HP engine in if your going to put big tires on it, run proper gears, get some good axles to run it. I just think you'll break too much with a 700 horse engine, and its a bit overkill unless your going to do some serious wheeling.

Oh and just so you know, these are just my opinions, you don't need to get upset about them. ;)

If you're planning on building a 1 ton 460 powered truck, why didn't you start with one? Due to the not so stellar fuel mileage they get, a mid to late 80's one can be had reasonably cheap.
A 700 horse engine is not going to be practial for anything but a race truck, and 12" of lift and other such things do not beget a race truck.

Not knowing what to do with suspension, and then all of a sudden having a 700 hp 460 smells of something, and it aint' pretty... Pitchfork anyone?