Okay, i've seen lots of questions on here about doing the swaps to a straight axle? now what i wana know is WHY? whats the pro's and con's for this? wouldn't it ride a lot rougher? have a wider turning radious? what the atvantage? am i seeing it wrong? Thnx DW

 

Your going to get as many answers as this as there are china-men in china.

A straight axle is much stronger. Realistically it is cheaper to put HD parts into a straight axle, As far as shafts and that type of stuff go. The turning radius isnt gonna change drastically. Majority of the time the SAS will ride more like a truck, But not "rougher" And the alignment issues on a solid are nothing compared to the nightmares of a ttb.

TTB...It does have its advantages. It is very nice in the sand and dunes. It can be made to flex crazily, But its very costly. It doesnt do a very good job of staying aligned, No matter what you do. It does absorb the bumps in the road alot better then a solid will, But is much weaker at the same time.


This is by no means the only reasons and difference between the 2, Only the first few things that come to mind at 1am.

 

"Okay, i've seen lots of questions on here about doing the swaps to a straight axle?"

It's probably so all you guys from Missouri can use 2x4s and threaded rod for lifting blocks. Stack em deep enough and you got a monster truck for about 20 bucks

Actually I'm curious to hear the answer to this one. The first thing we do to our 50s trucks is pull the straight axle out and install IFS. I suspect it is often done to get a tougher front differential for serious monster tire offroading. But that's just a wild guess. I drive a new Super Duty at work with a straight axle. It's pretty exciting when you hit a bump and end up in the other lane.

 

arent you up past your bed time? i think you been snortin to many deisle fumes up there around them tractors! DW

 

I receive an asortment of 4x4 mags. The rock crawlers and mudders like solid axles, slow speed and articulation, while the sand buggies and pre-runners all have IFS to soak up big bumps. I don't think too many people would question the superior on-road handling of IFS, and most new AWD/4x4s are front and rear IS. Most vechicles with solid axle high ramp index numbers would be scary to drive at highway speeds. As fatfender described, when a front solid axle tire goes in a pothole, or over a bump, it throws the other side up/down, tending to want to turn you into the other lane.... I think the Bronco IFS is quite unique with a scissor axle rather than A-arms. Imagine a Bronco front axle setup in the rear...

 

Hmm that would be interesting.
It's funny you bring that up. A couple days ago me and my bro were talking about building a rally truck and it would be interesting to use a reversed ttb on the rear. I wouldnt mind trying it just to see what happens.

 

Even better, you could go with 4 wheel steering! Now that would be something for the 4 wheeling mags. You could probably spin in a circle.

 

fatfenders,

In Missouri we SHOW people how its done! This St. Louis Missourian is proud of 4" of lift that has no blocks whatsoever and retains the stock IFS. As a proponent of the IFS system, I wouldn't even consider ruining my truck with a solid axle conversion. So lets keep this civil, we have as many "idgets" here as Iowa has.

On to the perpetual arguement which, by the way IS on JBronco's list of FAQ's if you search the forum for the thread. This is a neverending arguement because old-school, hard-core off-roaders will giggle themselves silly over the IFS lambasting it as weak and ill equipped to handle the punishments of off road use. I personally always found this arguement to be not only incredibly amusing but entirely ludicrous. Perhaps the hard-core off roading community should try learning a bit more about more types of off roading than the rip-the-fenders-off-your-ride-lets-see-what-we-can-break-this-weekend style. The twin I-beam setup is/was the most sought after suspension type for desert racing trucks and sand trucks...Baja racers love it. The TTB is merely the 4x version of this setup. Complicated...not really. difficult to keep aligned..not in my experience and I DO get off road quite a bit. The truth of the matter is that the twin I-beam and TTB setup is capable of greater than 16" of articulation with the proper modifcations (very nice numbers even in the hardcore off-road and rock-crawling sects). Baja race rules restrict wheel travel to 16" so trucks with that setup must have limit straps or face disqualification. I have heard the arguement that "well, thats desert racers not off road type stuff".....they hit and hit hard considering the number of times the entire truck leaves the earth during a desert race. They go faster, much faster.....now granted we ARE talking the twin I-beam here not the twin traction beam. But who goes that fast or hits that hard when they are running a mountain trail littered with rocks and boulders? The twin traction beam setup has one great advantage over its solid counterpart...FLEX. No contest. Not to mention the fact that stepping over things doesn't drag the axle across any other obstacles in the path because the axle halves are independent of each other. I've ridden in my brother's 76 Bronco. Ford 9" (big bearing) rear and a solid D44 front. If you don't mind undulating for half an hour after you roll over something the solid axle is fine. If you don't mind feeling every bump, pothole and gulley no matter which front wheel hits the obstacle, then a solid axle is fine. Personally, I woudn't deliberately rob my ride OF its ride just because I felt the need to go out and see if I could break something. If you want to pound the snot out of your truck, do serious rock crawling, hit downed trees at 45 MPH well then yeah you need a solid axle to keep up with your driving style (or lack thereof). I'd much rather pick my way through and come out unscathed and in one piece at the other end of the trail...after all its about skill and dexterity behind the wheel...not brute force.

(turns around, steps down, picks up soapbaox, discards in trash can)

 

"fatfenders,

In Missouri we SHOW people how its done! This St. Louis Missourian is proud of 4" of lift that has no blocks whatsoever and retains the stock IFS. As a proponent of the IFS system, I wouldn't even consider ruining my truck with a solid axle conversion. So lets keep this civil, we have as many "idgets" here as Iowa has."

Greystreak

Just funnin around with DW. And he know's it. No offense intended. I have a lot of fun when I post. I'm sure I'll torque you off again soon enough but it won't be intentional. Watch out for the smileys.

Regards

 

Fatfenders,

No offense taken...was just kind of a right-back-at-ya. The inability to use vocal tones when typing limits the full expressive capabilities of the language. I do feel strongly about the fact that there are people like you mentioned but I understood the joke. Post away! .....and keep the IFS.

 

"Even better, you could go with 4 wheel steering! Now that would be something for the 4 wheeling mags. You could probably spin in a circle."

Most unlimited competition rockcrawlers have 4-wheel steering now,some are also experimenting with and have built fully independent A-Arm rockkcrawlers, which may be the wave of the future,these are of course purpose built machines where money is not an object,meaning you cant expect to go out in your brand new ford explorer and out wheel a SA jeep-

This topic is very similar to the A=Arms VS. I-Beams debate common in the desert community,which brings me to my second point:I would like to add and maybe clear up a few things mentioned about I-beams/Twin traction beams mentioned pertaining to the baja racing trucks

There are several classes in off road racing with all different restrictions so the limit in travel varies...not exactly 16" some stock classes are around 12"..All the way up to Trophy Trucks for instance can pull travel in the 30"s and have no restriction. Trophy Trucks also use center mount A-Arms and not TIB's because money is no object here and A-Arms are really the best for clean (slight if any camber change) travel...where as TIB and TTB's have severe camber chages throughout travel.
The main reason I-beams are so popular is value,for the same amount of money for the average consumer who wantes to add long travel without having to narrow his frame or anything major you can pull almost twice the amount with an I-Beam setup.
-Also twin traction beams are used in desert racing and prerunners still and a very reasonable setup if you want long travel 4X4,almost as much as TIB's (2wd) .....Check out this site www.mcneiloff-road.com for an example of what I mean.

 

we run ind. front in the mud. the bigger trucks laugh alot when we come out but usually quiet down when we go by them. 85 bronco 4" body and 35 " tires locked 3.55 read end headers out the hood. the trick is we can tip one wheel down for traction and the solids can't. labor day weekend 3 days 12 gal. fuel one radiator hose lots of mud great fun.

 

hey missouri guy:

well in my experience TTB is *****ed to keep aligned. especially with 35s. ive spent a chunk of change on several occasions on alignment most recently when i got new tires mounted and balanced and they started to feather a little before the first rotation.

 

The IFS in my 90 Bronco rides like a tank. I have been in older Jeeps with solid front axels with lift kits that ride better. As for the Superduty jumping around, there must be something wrong. I have driven several and my old man owns a 99 SD F250 V-10, I have never ran across that problem. Believe me, roads in Alaska ain't pretty.

 

Have cake with the ice cream,

Here in the south we bought both.

This war will never end.

Kinda like:
"ford, chevy, dodge"
"coke, pepsi, rc"
"dem, rep, ind" (he, he)




DW,
Now you go back to your room and stick your head in the corner................. for You have been bad for bringing this up. (Ha)

greystreak92,
after a few beers alittle "undulating" is recomended

Lane hop anyone