leaf sprung ttb?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,504
Likes: 8
From: Indian Falls, New York
Well my dad has put mine through almost 30 years of abuse from hard wheeling it to hauling oversized unsafe loads to daily driving to heavy duty snow plowing to bull dozing dirt with a plow and its never let us down. Granted we would rebuild it ever fall before snow though but yeah always been a great setup for us. Ride quality was a lot better than a solid axle in my opinion. We've run a bump over stock tires and 33s and at one point a small lift. Only complaint is alignment is tough to keep in spec and it likes to eat ball joints. Other than that it's nice and tough if you perform your basic periodic maintenance on it. I actually prefer it over a solid axle in some circumstances.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,452
Likes: 2
From: Santa Fe Tx
Most of my wheeling is at the beach in soft sand and the periodic drive through a muddy cow, horse or hay pasture. I love the way mine rides its smoother than and 3/4 or 1 ton 2wd truck I've ever owned
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,504
Likes: 8
From: Indian Falls, New York
Oh you will have no issue with it then.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5,338
Likes: 3
From: Grants Pass, Oregon
A good friend of mine replaced his 74 Highboy with an 86 F250 4x4 that he bought brand new, and drove for 200,000 miles........while the 74 was better on the really boulder strewn trails, day to day on off camber, rutted out roads, the 86 maintained traction when the highboy didnt. the TTB/leaf spring combo kept all four tires on the ground. At that same time period, i had an 86 Ranger, then an 88 Ranger, both 4x4......I wheeled the hell outta the 86, even though it was stock with P205/75/15 tires. i had a Ramsey Rep6000 on it, and it spent a LOT of time up in the Sierra, including on the approach trails of the Fordyce.......It wheeled GREAT......they are tough on front tires, and the guys who run huge tires on them often break stuff. Keep in mind that many of the guys who run really big tires and spend a lot of time hardcore wheeling break a lot of parts, including solid axle Dana 44 fronts
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,271
Likes: 9
From: Franklin, IN
Nothing Special hit the nail on the head. While the coil sprung TTBs offer the ride of a modern IFS design with the strength of a solid axle, the leaf sprung variants ride terrible on and off road.
I don't know what the engineers at Ford were thinking when they designed it. Anyone with a general idea of how leaf springs work can figure out that the arc the axle beams travel in will force the leaf spring and associated hardware to twist. The spring rates are increased exponentially during suspension travel due to the springs and spring mounts twisting throughout the arc the beams travel in. This severely limits suspension travel.
On road the leaf sprung TTB works ok at best, off-road it works less then adequate.
I've thought about installing spherical bushings in the leaf springs and shackles to eliminate the stress the axle beam arcs subject the suspension to, but they are very pricey.
I don't know what the engineers at Ford were thinking when they designed it. Anyone with a general idea of how leaf springs work can figure out that the arc the axle beams travel in will force the leaf spring and associated hardware to twist. The spring rates are increased exponentially during suspension travel due to the springs and spring mounts twisting throughout the arc the beams travel in. This severely limits suspension travel.
On road the leaf sprung TTB works ok at best, off-road it works less then adequate.
I've thought about installing spherical bushings in the leaf springs and shackles to eliminate the stress the axle beam arcs subject the suspension to, but they are very pricey.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,006
Likes: 72
From: Roseville, MN
I'll stand by what I said earlier, the TTB/leaf combo is stout enough for most uses, but it's stiff by (poor) design. If you don't mind the ride, stick with it, it's fine. I have the setup again now in my '97 F-250 crew cab. I have no plans to replace it. For on-road use (all I plan to do with this truck) and with a 460 sitting on top of the front end the ride's not bad enough to be worth the effort and expense of a swap to me.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,504
Likes: 8
From: Indian Falls, New York
As I said before, I don't know why everyone has such issue with it. It's always been good to me and provided a very smooth ride.
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Posting Guru
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,271
Likes: 9
From: Franklin, IN
There was something seriously wrong with the 2wd F250s you drove then. Can't comment on the 2wd 1 tons.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,504
Likes: 8
From: Indian Falls, New York
I haven't been in a 2WD 3/4 ton so I can't comment.
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