It is my belief that ford eliminated TTB because there were a large amount of parts involved that had to work just right or else something annoying could occur, but ive had alot of positive experience.

My experience was with a frozen axel shaft telescope on a truck I bought. The shafts pulled on eachother during flex. I didnt notice any immediate damage from this, but im sure it contributed to wheel bearing/outer seal problems and limited travel. Once i tuned everything up correctly it was a fine axel except for the fact it was a dana 28 with 33" tires and 3.73 gears. If a ujoint became slightly worn, you HAD to replace them and I went through a few, including some yokes. (Structurely when the u wears out, it places itself unevenly in the caps and spreads the yoke at its weak point) I never had to replace the center U oddly enough, just the outers, probably because of the insane muck i packed in them.

Tires:
Yes, I noticed some pronounced wear after a good many miles along the inside tread of the 12.5 inch wides that i drove, but with that lift kit and size of tire, its kind of hard for me to make an accurate opinion of its tire habits. Seen plenty of stockers with no wear after many daily miles. The positive camber was set from factory not only on the arms, just like a solid axel, but by the tallness of the springs and arm pivots(which both were probably disproportionately raised on the lift kit i had)

Jumping:
I was impressed with the setup's strength after having hopped the front end in the air, launched over moguls at 40mph and cornered over berms on a local dirtbike track

Handling:
Insanely impressive. I dont recall how fast i went, (it was in the 50ish range probably.) but i got the front end to slide then recover with a bad set of tires, but never did it roll or tip. Im sure it had to be the combo of the huge anti sway bars and stiff suspension, but then again, ive been thinking as one arm compresses its natural for it to want to pull down on the pivot point on the other side hence a step in the right direction in leveling the vehicle.

It may have been more expensive to produce rather than the short arm/long arm. A arm design performs the same functions that the majority of drivers demand. But I think it a fine and useful design. Rest assured ill try and use a twin I beam on a given street sport truck project to attempt hard cornering or that fabtech setup for a jumping truck.

 

being in the stock truck pulling group I have seen many Chevys break front end parts that are $$ and take longer to replace. the solid front axle trucks seem to break u-joints and a few trash the pumpkins but all in they last longer and are more reliable than the chevy front ends. I have a few friends who have older fords with the9 not quite a solid front axle that have had alignment problems and tire wear. one changed to a solid front axle out of rht f350 and the other just had his rebuilt but the problem never went away. is it a bad set up what Ford ran No I don't think so. could it have beeen improved YES.
DM01

 

The Explorer rollovers may have had something to do with the demise of the TIB and TTB.

 

I guess you guys don't remember the Trail blazer recall for the A-ARMS being defective. Also my dad had a few chevy trucks all of them rode like a 2x4 on wheels. We have had 8~10 Fords with the twin i-beam and never had tire wear issues.

 

I thought that the Explorer 4x2's used A-arms, not twin I beams and the 4x4's used IFS, not TTB. The early ones 91-94 I think had TTB and I beams, but wasn't it the later ones '95-'01 that had the problems with rollovers?

 

Yes, Explorers had IFS since 95. I am pretty sure it was both that had rollover problems, but a test done by motor trend showed that it was mainly due to driver error. May or may not be true, but that is what their test showed.

 

i could never flaw my ttb front end other than the pain in the rear to lift so i dropped in a 60 to solve my breakage problems(i drive like a madman). its not a design flaw just driver input that broke my ttb dana 50. it still rides better than any 3/4 ton out there.

 

Hi guys,

I thought I would join in the frey. In my experience, the twin I beam rides great and it IS tough...sort of.
The Chevy's, at least the older ones I've driven (and own) are a little stiffer ride. The Fords ride great.
I haven't seen that much difference in realiabity of eether A-arm or TTB. However, what I have noticed is that the TTB will quickly go south on rough terrain. It doesn't take long for a truck with TTB to start getting the "leans" on the front tires. The F250s seem the worst as they look "oversprung" half the time and the tires lean out at the top. The F150's have the opposite problem and appear to sag (tires lean in at the top). Needless to say...they eat tires.
Secondly, their is that "vague" feeling you get in the steering over shallow dips in the rode. You don't get that with the A-arm setup. This is due primarily to the massive changes in geometry that occurs on the TTB when the suspension compresses.
On the good side, TTB does not give up ground clearance when the suspension compresses...unlike the A-arm setups.
So, there is good and bad with both designs. I prefer the A-arm setup just because the steering feels better on those highway dips. But then again...I'm just a Chevy guy so I'm sure somebody will blast me no matter what! That's OK...I love you Ford guys anyway. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

My father and I have put over 700k miles on I-beam suspended ford 68,75,77,90,95. Yes the aliginment does a little dance with different loads, But as far a strengh goe there is NO competion.
Anyone wondering about this should watch the movie "mr. majestic" with charles bronson. In this movie you will se a 2wd ford f-series truck do amazing things!!
Jim

 

Don't believe anything you see in movies...

 

80broncoman,

You're right the, I-beams were tough, but just like GM's A-arms, they weren't without problems. Besided the whacko alignment problem during suspension travel, they also like to eat the radius arm bushings. I don't know how many I've gotten behind the wheel of and heard that notorious, "clunk", "bunk" under the cab floor.
Of course, an aftermarket set of polyeurathane bushings usually cured it...but aftermarket parts typically cured the GM problems as well!

 

I replaced every last bushing on the front end of my 84 F150 4wd with polyurethane...man what a difference! The truck feels a lot tighter and it handles better.

 

I don't know, maybe it's a guy thing, but when I look at those two honkin' cast iron beams under my truck... well, I just get a macho feeling, like that is what should be under a truck. Arugh arugh arugh!

Dave

 

I once owned a 2wd 94 F150 with the twin I-beam front suspension. Other than it eating front tires I noticed when you put a floor jack under one I-beam, near the wheel and lift, it picks up the whole front end. How is this a good suspension setup? When one tire hits a bump the whole front end hops. That truck was a PIA to drive on roads with expansion joints and potholes.

Ever notice how many twin I-beam Ford pickups and vans are running around with negative camber? (tires tipped toward the engine)

 

Usually those trucks have over 200k on them as well, this summer we had a '84 F-150 4x2 351/C6 Longbed, and it had great alignment, 216,000 miles.