IFS is junk. It will be a bad mistake.

 

I was told the 7L Boss was going to be a crate engine only. Too bad if that's true. As for the coil spring front axle on late model SD 4X4's, many say it's better than the leaf springs. Better axle articulation, more travel. My jury is still out, but one things for sure, I don't like the 'shackle forward' design of the SD 4X4 leaf spring. Didn't like the Dana 50 axle either.

 

Coils on a solid front axle don't do anything but give you tighter turning radius. Notice the leaf sprung SDs didn't have "Death Wobble" issues either. Look at the articulation the serious offroaders are getting out leafs on every corner. Coils springs do NOTHING to keep the axle under the truck, they depend on all kinds of bars to keep the axle in place. I'll gladly give up some turning radius for a more solid setup of leafs and a solid axle.

The problem is too many people want trucks, who don't have any need for. Trucks and want them to be smooth, quiet, turn tight, have fancy interiors with every option available. Look at the SD line-up, they currently have 4 high end SD trims. (HD, King Ranch, Cabela's and Lariet)

 

Well put I can't belive the amount of people that drive these around as cars. IMO all it does is keep the price sky high to that if I wanted to replace my work truck I can't

 

The 'Shackle forward" design was a 1980 -1997 deal so they could use the same set-up for the TTB dana 44/50 and the mono beam 60 (with a track bar added). I am not a fan of the Dana 50 either.
the 1999 and up SD was shackle rear like the 79 and back (much better) .




FWIW IMHO the 05 and up coil SD is the best so far. 35 spline axles out to the hubs,big bearings, big brakes ect..

 

You are right, I confused the '97 and earlier with the Super Duty. As for IFS 4X4, I am hearing it will be on the F-250's and maybe the SRW 350's. The DRW 350's, 450's and 550's with still have a SFA on 4X4 models.

 

That's why they make the XL ........

 

The word I got was the F250 was going IFS and All F350 models single and dual wheels will be Straight axle. also F450 and Up will use the Straight axle.
This should give something for everyone. The "IFS is great" crowd (mostly G.M people), Should/will now take a look at the F250 FORD and the real truck guys will stay with the F350.

 

I wonder if they're going to have a "under 10K GVWR" or whatever package for those of us who's state's DMV will basically penalize us for buying a commercial truck?

F350's are a different insurance and registration bracket, in some (most?) states. Having to buy an F350 would probably put me in trouble with my incorporated Village of Lindenhurst, I think they have a "1-ton or greater" restriction on trucks.

 

Producing special IFS parts for the F-250 and then having the almost identical F-350 be a solid front axle is a dumb idea. Your basically just flushing money down the toilet by tooling up to make all sorts of special parts.

Ford could have easily kept the leaf springs and upgraded the axles, brakes, spline count and etc. All those upgrades have nothing to do with spring type. More than likely too many people were whining that "My big truck doesn't have the turning radius of a car".

Whats wrong with the D50? Some here don't like it, why?

 

As the story goes, too many people were breaking axle stubs and other things in it when the Superduty first came out the first couple of years.

Me, however, I have yanked stumps, trees, climbed rocks, all sorts of things with my Dana 50, and have yet to break anything. Stock tires though.

I suspect that some were just throwing anything they could at the Dana 50, including lifts, bigger tires, etc, and it wasn't holding up. Ford woke up and smelled the coffee and put the Dana 60 in there.

Me, I switched to Warn hubs from the stocker ESOF auto-locking hubs. I think that's the one place that could have seriously given me problems was the hubs. The locking ring in the stockers is about 1/8" to 3/16" thick. Not enough for what I've done.

Also, keep in mind that the later SD's were even heavier, and with a diesel in the front end, my Dana 50 might not have lived as long as it has

 

A family friend has a 99' with 7.3l that he bought in 98' and still uses and abuses as his work truck. He beats the hell out of that truck plowing snow, pulling trailers way too heavy for the truck and he never had axle problems. The truck has been through 3 trannys in 100k miles, brakes, balljoints and all kinds of stuff but the axle takes it.

When exactly was the point when the D60 was put in the SD?

 

2002 it became standard I believe, otherwise it was only installed when you went to the snow plow package, or some other combination of options was ordered.

 

[QUOTE=dkf;7092531]Producing special IFS parts for the F-250 and then having the almost identical F-350 be a solid front axle is a dumb idea. Your basically just flushing money down the toilet by tooling up to make all sorts of special parts.
Ford could have easily kept the leaf springs and upgraded the axles, brakes, spline count and etc. All those upgrades have nothing to do with spring type. More than likely too many people were whining that "My big truck doesn't have the turning radius of a car". QUOTE"



Sure they could have but they did not, The new axle is better in so many ways , not just turning radius. Coils are the future. strong and better ride.

Coils have been used on Heavy Duty trucks 4x2/4x4 since dirt. No Problems

The F250 was IFS (ttb) and F350 was a straight axle from 85.5 to 97 and they sold lots of both. But many more F250's.

The Dana 50 is a dana 44 with bigger axle joints (basicly).
A better question would be What is good about a Dana 50 ?
A stong beefy looking axle, Also Very Heavy axle with Small weak parts on the inside (LAME)

The off-road crowd and FORD know all about the 50 and its weak 30 spline axles, small ring gear ect..Limited parts and lockers selection.
Which is why FORD stopped using it in Truck aplications in 2001. (The excursion had a 50 to the end).

If FORD could same money by using the 50 again they would , But it burned them twice
(1980-1985.5) (1999-2001) .

THE KING: 2005-up "Dana 60"

 

I'm not saying the new D60 axle isn't better, I'm saying I don't want or like coils on a solid axle. Coils work better with an IFS/A-arm setup because the a-arms help capture the springs. (Only A-arm IFS on an F-250 was the F-250LD) Coils on a solid axle provides no support whatsoever thats part of the reason people have been experiencing "Death Wobble" with that setup. Coils are not strong and do nothing to hold the axle in place. They are there for compression/rebound only. Your going to have a hard time getting stronger than leafs. Coils will sag over time also. The front coils on my 74' are shot and the rear leafs are fine.

I'm just amazed sometimes how people out there buy a stiff sprung 3/4 ton up truck and expect it to ride nice. Thats probably the only reason Fords thing of going to IFS on the 250.

I thought that was a stupid idea back then also. I never actually saw the point to it. Back then the IFS was a monobeam setup not a-arms. The monobeam setup actually had some meat to it compared to the wimpy a-arms used on trucks now. I would just stick with IFS for the 150 and ranger, thats it.