i know im probably gonna get flamed for this, but why does everyone hate the TTB exactly? the only thing i didnt like about it is the mounting points on the frame, but i found this and it kinda made me rethink the whole TTB thing. it looks pretty beefy here. granted its not stock, but the beefed up beams and beefed up mounts look pretty good.

 

"Everyone" doesn't hate the TTB. I *love* TTB. Best IFS for 4x4 ever, IMO.

 

ok, not everyone. but alot of people. i like it too... but theres alot of people who "swear they will never own a ttb" blah blah blah... i just wanna know why.

 

I'm a big fan.

 

I hate them because I can't keep alignment.

Reason I use for plow and haul heavy load.

Let say 500 pound in bed it will screw alignment. Image 3,000 pound in bed it doesn't look good. CHEW outer's tread quicker. It look like this.

Heavy load front tires go up \ / and steering go / \

no load | | and steering | |

Heavy load on front end with plow it down / \ and steering go \ /

That why I stick with solid axle no deal with chewed tires everyday.

 

That pic shows some rather heavily modified items. Most of the heavily modified TTB suspensions are great for lots of travel for dessert racer types.

But why can't it be simpler for basic truck duty? I am a new TTB owner and am still scratching my head over the leaf spring addition to the TTB. It's like Ford bailed on a good idea half ways through the design process and scabbed in some leaf springs to solve some sort of problem.

I've read that the rear leaf spring bracket and the 2 wheel drive radius arm bracket share the same frame holes. Put on some coil spring buckets from a 2 wheel drive truck and figure out a simple way to attach the radius arms to the TTB assemblies and the leaf springs can simply disappear.

Has anyone tried this?

 

look at a 1/2 ton with TTB ... its the exact setup you described ...

 

For the guys who vary between no load and very heavy loads, it's impossible to align the tires to not cause excessive wear on either the inside or outsides of the tires.

For guys who want to offroad, it comes down to the relative difficulty in lifting a TTB compared to a solid axle truck; also, the TTB has a more limited selection of lockers available compared to the Dana 60.

I think a lot of it comes down to the "horror stories" about trying to get the TTB setup correctly aligned. I've never had any issues with my alignment but I've read plenty of people complain about shops continually not being able to align the truck correctly (usually because they aren't getting the necessary camber bushings).

 

I don't care for ( but have and use) TTB for the broken housings. Plow enough of them and you will know what im talking about. Snappo ... The housings were once 500 from ford but now you cant get them -=new=-. I have two on hand for when the current one under my truck breaks. I don't believe in welding them back up but its common practice for many of the plow guys here. After my extras are used I plan for a new plow rig F-350 + Or a new chubby... Cost will dictate that move when it happens.

 

i could not keep the front tires on my 89 F-250 diesel TTB truck. when the front axle housing snapped the third year i had it i put a D-60 in it.
every other truck i bought was a 350 or superduty.

 

I've had both the coil-sprung TTB and leaf setups. I never had a problem with the coil (F150), they moved like they should have. The leaf sprung TTBs are a different beast. Its my opinion that Ford dropped the ball on that one. there is such limited flex in the leaf setup that the bushings get trashed and the shackles/hangers get stressed. I had a F250 with a 6" and a 7.3 and with that setup it was a nightmare. I have pictures of my hangers somwhere. Both were severely cracked and i ended up having to have my drop bracket welded up twice because of cracks as well.

 

The main reason most people dislike them is getting them aligned, especially if they are lifted. It took Les Schwab 4 tries to get my truck aligned. The main issue is that they were being lazy and didn't want to break free/use any of the alignment cams on the lift bracket and extended radius arms. Close enough was not good enough for me. If you can find a good alignment technician with lots of experience with these trucks than you have no problem. The other issue is that ford should have stuck with the D60 solid axle in the 250 and not tried to modify the TTB for it, especially the diesel trucks.

 

Turnkyle, do you mean use a Dana 60 TTB?

 

Well now I gotta agree the leaf spring TTB looks stupid. I was only talking about the coil sprung TTB. Why Ford elected to go with leafs on the F250 TTB I will never know. If I had one I would convert it to coils using F150 parts so it can articulate like it is supposed to.

Now, with regards to plows, any IFS is going to give you problems with tire wear and component wear. I wouldn't want IFS on my tow truck, either. However, for the other 99% of truck users, IFS is better.

I don't wanna hear of alignment problems in "normal" use. That problem lies with your alignment shop. I have put some 750K miles on TTB/TIB Fords and I have *never* had an alignment problem. This is most likely because I do my own - most alignment guys these days are glorified tire changers.

I don't believe there is such a thing.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought too, was just trying to clarify what he was saying. TTB Dana 50 with coils would make a hell of a off road truck...Dammit, now I'm gonna want to try that!