I just bought a 1989 f250 with a leaf spring ttb. How reliable is this set up? What kind of performance can I expect from it. I wheel at the beach mostly or through cattle pastures with horses. So Is this setup going to work fine for me? I have to rebuild my motor so now is the time to think about a sas. If so what would I need?

 

Many will tell you the only choice is to do a SAS. But the honest truth is the old TTB will work just fine for 99% of the people doing light to moderate wheeling (and will work better then a solid axle in some other types but requires a lot of work) biggest killer would be WAY oversized tires.

Basically not everyone needs a D60 SAS.

Only thing is, bushings are prone to wearing out and causing problems. So buy new pivot bushings at a min, and then check all the rest of the components like ball joints and tie rods (which you would do on an SAS anyway)

 

I agree with Rob unless you plan on wheeling the crap out of it with 38's then just check the bushings replace as necessary and save some money.

 

and pay close attention to the driver side axle tube where it meets the spring. they like to crack there.

 

What is ttb and sas? I'm thinking sas is solid axle swap

 

TTB= Twin Traction Beam. that is another name for Independent Front Suspension 4X4 on the F-150 and F-250

SAS = Solid Axle Suspension or Dana 60 front axle swap.

 

Thanks fellas. I figured since the truck is down I might as well address that issue. The biggest tires I run are 33's and that's it now a days

 

Thanks

 

Hey old guy!

TTT= beats the crap out of me

TTB however = Twin Traction Beam

 

I just got done checking out my front end and everything looks great all the ball joints tie rod ends have no cracked rubber and all the knuckles are tight with no slack.

 

stop trying to make me look old and senile ya young whippersnapper!!



















i am quite capable of doing that myself.

 

Lmfao........

 

The leaf sprung TTB is pretty stiff so it doesn't ride particularly well and doesn't articulate much. The beam makes the wheel swing in and out as it goes up and down and the spring leaf makes it swing forward and back as it goes up and down. These two actions fight each other so the spring has to bend and flex in odd ways as the tire moves up and down.

That said, if you're OK with the ride it's not a bad setup.

 

Before the motor went bad I was wheeling at the beach and it did great. I pulled out a 2wd ford buried to the axle then I drove into his ruts sat there a second let out the clutch and out she same. I was able to do what ever I wanted with it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As far as driving around town it rode like any other 3/4 ton or 1 ton I've had.I've never had a 3/4 ton or 1 ton 4x4 and now that I own one there's no way I'll go back to a 1/2 ton daily driver.

 

Exactly right. It's not the best setup but it works ok. If you are going to lift it at all save the headache and swap a solid axle.