I would have to agree with you for the most part. I had a TTB D50 in the front of my 84 F250, it put up with 3 years of very hard snow plowing use. It is by no means a weak axle, I pulled two fully loaded semis out of a snow bank (both on separate occasions)... never broke anything. What drove me nuts about it was the uneven tire wear and the way it forces the leaf springs to swing side to side as the suspension cycles. Honestly if I wasn't snow plowing with this truck, I would have left the TTB in there. It was impossible to keep an alignment, and with tire prices through the roof; I had no choice but to go through with the SAS. I have to admit I think it drives much better than it did with the TTB, however it does have a stiffer more "bucky" ride. Despite all the pros and cons of going to the D60, it was well worth the $1000 I have into the swap. IMO every plow truck should have a straight axle up front.
The flip side? Both of my 4wd F150s are still running the factory coil sprung TTB front end, and I have no plans of changing it. I keep everything greased up and do regular tire rotations and alignments... and have no drivability or tire wear issues. If you ask me, it really depends on what the truck is being used for and personal preference.

 

I have more death wobble problems with my 50 than I've had with my 60. Death wobble is always simple to cure though, comes down to poor geometry or loose/worn components.

 

I could see death wobble being an issue with straight axle even bump steer. It was a major problem with a Jeep Cherokee my brother used to own. A TTB would have to be pretty effed up to get death wobble, I have never experienced it with TTB.

 

What I'm trying to do is kill the idea that the d60 is the only axle that should be in these trucks, and giving people the idea the d50 is worthless. Its a good axle and id buy another

 

Totally 100% agreed.

Not everyone and their brother/sister/aunt/4th cousin twice removed needs a Dana 60.

If you never venture off road and don't have a heavy *** plow hanging off your front... you don't need a Dana 60.

If you only occasionally go off road, down dirt tracks, puddle jumping, log roads, etc... you don't need a Dana 60.

If you do off road, but you haven't broken anything... yet... you don't need a Dana 60.

When you start breaking your chit left and right, rock crawl, want to spin some large treads, dropped a heavy deeezel in your truck... well hey, you might want to consider a Dana 60.

Let's be honest, there are only so many Dana 60's in existence. How many mall crawler/trailer queen/show trucks are they are under now, that have ZERO need to be there? Why keep pushing the Dana 60 to folks who don't need the strength it offers? If you're not breaking stuff, you don't need a Dana 60. For 95% of this forum, a Dana 60 isn't needed, but it's the only answer some people will give to TTB questions. Pull up the TTB Thread, read the links, and learn how to set-up the TTB. If the only reason someone wants to put a straight axle in is for "tire wear" you are just too damn lazy to learn how to set-up your TTB right. And if that's the case, please use the Dana 44's that are laying around and leave the 60's to those who need 'em.

/rant

 

dohc_chump, great post! lol.

 

Not sure who had that idea? There are plenty of D44s out there that'll do just fine for light duty use with smaller tires.

 

Well said guys... personally I don't need a straight axle under all my trucks either. My 77 Highboy came with one (D44) from the factory, might as well leave it that way. My 79 Bronco also has a D44 straight axle, it's a wheeling rig that runs a big block with 37" tires... probably could use a D60 (I have one) because I beat the crap out of it off road. I swapped a D60 under my 84 F250 because of snow plowing, I really don't want to have to get the truck aligned twice a year. Besides I never have the same amount of weight on the front of the truck at any given time. Along with the snow plow, I also occasionally run a multi mount winch on the front. Even with regular tire rotations it still burned up tires pretty fast, of course I am also running "pizza cutter" 235/85s on it. Both of my F150s are still running the D44 TTB, both are lifted; one running 32s the other 35s. Both trucks see light to moderate off road use, I have no problems with either of them... thanks to regular maintenance. What I am getting at is it depends on how the truck is used, that is what determines the right axle for the application.
John

 

What brand are these last ones? I just got 2 tuff country ones and they are identical and the rear one does not fit as it has not got a cut out or angle on the rear bracket at the top where it meets the cross member!!!! mad