i have never driven or owned a 4x4 trucks before...never been off roading or anything like that it all...but i want to get into it ...

i recently lost my f150 in my signature and my ranger seems to be on its last leg so i am looking for a decent full size p/u (FORD OFCOURSE)with 4x4...

there is one for sale here in the city...it is an 87 f250 with a 4x4 351w and carbed..auto longbed duel tanks...

i got into a lengthy discussion last night at certain points this guy that was trying to xplain 4x4 to me was getting really aggravated i can tell but i am new to it so...he told me that in his opinion the regular straight axle setup for the front was better than the i think he called it a ttb setup...and he said the 3/4 ton used a ttb but the 1 ton axle was a straight axle...

the owner of this truck that i looked at told me it was a 1 ton axle...which according to the 4x4 guy i talked tolast night would be a straight axle,but i swung bye and looked at the truck briefly today and it has what he described as the ttb front end w/punkin...now is the 4x4 guy correct or if he is can you get i guess 1 ton gears into the ummm punkin for a 3/4 ton???....bear with me i donk know much?

 

look at the front axle. If it goes all the way accross it is a straight axle, but if at two different points it is hinged into a bracket that is mounted to the frame it is a TTB

 

yes bugeye i understand that but i am asking if it is fact that a 1 ton axle is only the straight type and a 3/4 ton is only ttb....

because tha will tell me if the owner of this truck is lying...

this truck has the ttb setup but he said it is a 1 ton axle thats why i ask

 

I'm not sure, but I have never heard of a 1 ton TTB set up. I know you can have a Dana 44 TTB but, I didn't think that was a "1 ton" axle. I know you can have a Dana 44 HD solid axle in an older F-250 but Ive never heard of a TTB F-250. When did Ford start putting Dana 50's in the F-250?

 

The F350s had TTB's (some had Dana 44's) until 86 1/2, when the straight Dana 60 was introduced.

The Dana 50 was primarily used for the super cab and crew cab pickups, 250s and 350s. The earliest I've seen them installed was 85. The easiest way to tell a Dana 44 from a Dana 50 is to look at the axle u joints. The 50 has external snap rings on the joints, the 44's are internal (behind the axle yoke).

The 87 may have a Dana 50, but I wouldn't consider it 1 ton rated. About the only thing they have in common are wheel hubs and locking hubs. I don't think he is lying, just misinformed.

But don't discount the TTB, they aren't all that bad. If you don't have any extreme four wheeling in mind, they work pretty good.

Jason

 

If it is a F-250 with the 8600 GVW package then it has a TTB Dana 50 which uses dana 60 straight axle parts from the u-joints out including rotors, calipers, hubs, and bearings. I am not sure the exact year of this feature but I think it came about in '87.

It should also be noted that the Dana 60 was re-introduced in 86.5, it had already been in F-250 and F-350's in the 70's.

 

The Dana 50 joints are smaller than the 60 joints. Which also makes the stub axles different.

And not all of the HD F250s (8600 GVW) ended up with Dana 50's.

Jason

 

ok after all this...there is a chance that i may not buy that truck...

a good friend is hard up for cash for whatver reason and is selling his and his son's trucks for real good prices and ive worked on his i know its in real good shape...(his is an 88 f150 xlt lariat with all power and a 351w efi and auto 4x4)(sons is an 88 f250 4x4 351w efi standard,w/8ft fisher plow)

but going back to the f250 in question...my friend who has been giving a lil info on this subject ...said that in the case that i say it looks like a ttb setup under the front of the truck he said it should have some arms that i forgot what theyre called to stabilize the wheels and coil springs to hold it all up in the front...

but i am sure it has leaf springs with just 2 i guess i'd call em plys or layers of steel that are u-bolted to the top of this flat thing that runs to the spindle on each wheel that the drive axles for the wheels run through...and he said he never seen anythiny like it on a ttb front end... the mounts look as rusty as factory parts like thay are all original...

 

The dana 50 TTB had leaf springs. It is only on F250's and mybe some F350's. It is a good axle and provides a good ride. The F150's that have ttb are dana 44's. They used coil springs with a radius arm to keep the axle straight under the truck. But the dana 50's don't need the radius arms because the leaf springs are bolted solid.
Hope this helps
Lars

 

hey all im back with an update on the truck that i thought was such good shape...=(

it is off the road and has been sitting for a few months at least ...it has a cracked frame right in front of the bracket for the radius arm or whatever that arm is called on the pass side... there is a sizeable crack in the exaust manifold drivers side that is loud as ****.the engine is seeming to lack pwr...when it was in 4x4 and i went to back up out of the spot where it was parked i had it a lil past half throttle and it wanted to but wouldnt back up (there was maybe 1 inch of snow behind it )and he had a mishap b4 that i knew about he had put a new oil pan in because his was rotted and afterwards had some local kid change the oil pump...during the pump change the kid punctured the front of the oil pan (a small crack about the size and shape of a thumbnail clipping) and the guy jb welded it and tha hot oil got to the jbweld finally and is slowly seeping through ...the truck has also become a parts truck for his sons...for items such as a dipstick,headlightswitch,and window switch ...

in essence i return to my search for a new set of wheels