Hello everyone, just joined this site a few minutes ago. I'm graduating from college this year and looking to get a truck after I graduate. I've always been a Ford guy, and I like the '87-96 F-250's and F-350s. My brother just picked up a '91 F-350 and it's really nice. Now, one thing I've noticed is that it's a lot easier to find F-250's than F-350s. Only thing is that I'm not particularly fond of the "twin traction beam" front suspension on the F-250's. So, I was curious about this: Given that the F-250's already have leaf springs, how hard is it to convert them to a solid front axle? Seems to me that it wouldn't be that hard since you've already got the leaves, you should just need the axle.

Also, could someone give me the horsepower & torque figures for the 302, 351, 460 and powerstrokes as they came in these trucks?

Thanks!

 

One year is an easy convert - move up to an 'o5 - already has solid front axle!!

 

I did the dana 60 conversion on my truck. It's very easy. Everything is bolt on. You even keep your 250 brakes. Tie rod, steering linkage and sway bar must be switched at the same time.

The whole process took me about 3 hours by myself.

 

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Careful now...

There's two TTB's under the F-250s...

A D44 version and a D50 version. The D50 version has the same hubs, and possibly brakes/knuckles etc as a D60 solid from the F-350...

The D44 version is definitely not the same stuff as a D60. So be aware of that.

The 302 F-250s are going to be all light duties, not the heavy duty F-250s. The light duty has a d44 axle and semi-floating rear axle vs the full floater.

The TTB really isn't a bad axle but you can swap in the D60 pretty easily.

 

Oh yeah, by the way. I started with the dana 50 front end...

How many 44 front ends are there on f250's? I always thought they were an f150 item.

 

My F-250 has the d44 front end, full floater rear end, and around 8600 GVWR.

It is my understanding that if I had a supercab instead of regular cab, it'd of been the D50 instead of D44. It's easy to spot, the hubs on a d44 version are noticeably smaller than a D50's. Also, the differential housing has 44 stamped in it. The 50s didn't have a stamping I don't believe.

 

Sweet, that's what I was hoping to hear.


How does the TTB react to being lifted? I figured it probably wasn't all that great in that aspect...I kinda prefer solid front axles anyway.

So, trucks with engines bigger than the 302, and supercabs, had the D50 front axle? Seems kinda weird...

 

It's very hard to pin down a "so X trucks had Y"...with these trucks. There were so many different things going on that it's almost impossible. I couldn't tell ya what truck exactly had a d50. The only way you'd know for sure if the truck had one is to look at the hubs or other means, basically to physically check to see if it's under there instead of a d44.

The TTB's are alright with lifts, my F-150 still has a TTB under it (coil sprung). They have great suspension travel and work very well as pre-runner style rigs. Articulation is also pretty good (still better than the newer IFS) but not as good as the forced articulation of a solid axle. I've found that my TTB is very similar to a solid D44 in the articulation department. The solid usually gets the nod because the TTB is basically a solid axle but hindged in the middle. So when you articulate it, it doesn't stay straight like a solid would. However, after looking at mine, it stays pretty straight. Depends on how the suspension is setup I guess...

The TTB isn't really all that bad...there are pros and cons to each that I feel are pretty equal.

Theres a TTB/solid debate going on in the suspension or 4x4 forum, it's on the first or second page...