like the post said, when did king pins end for the new(1980-1997) I-beam suspension? what years had the strongest beams overall? pin/balljoin size, width of beam ya know)

just one of those random questions revolving in my head

 

I not completely certain but the forged I beams stopped in 79 and had the king pins. I did see a 80's style truck that was built in 10/79 (begining of model change) with the forged I beams and had the small bolt pattern. All other trucks i've seen 80 and up have had the stamped and welded I beams.


Maybe some one else can give you more detail.

 

my 86 350 has king pins, I think 87's changed with the body change. The vans kept king pins a few years after trucks, IIRC

 

wow i thought they would have been phased out sooner! my 81 has king pins and i was reading about how easy it is to turn a 2wd ford truck into a cheap and effective sand runner, since i got LOTS of sand (reno nevada to las vegas wooo) but my 81 id my daily driver so im looking for the "strongest" setup stock.

since there is very limited parts for the equal length i beams, the 64?-79 trucks, the 80's is the next choice.

so i may be looking for 2 sets, one set to sling under my truck for added durability and another to modify for a project truck sitting in my back yard

 

On the earlier trucks, 1980-1983 it was the old F-100/F-150 difference again.

If you had a F-100 with the 5x5.4 wheels and 10" brakes, you had Stamped Twin-I-Beams and Ball Joints.

If you had a F-100 with the 5x5.5 wheels and 11" brakes, or the F-150, you had forged twin-I-Beams with king pins.

This is confirmed in the 1981 Service Specification Manual. FPS-365-322-81

 

I don't know about the stamped vs forged but I can say that my 86 F150 2wd has ball joints and I finally replaced the originals at well over 200K miles. I'm not sure about the exact mileage because I replaced the gauge cluster so the odometer is wrong.

 

Confirmed? ...... well....... my '82 F100 with 5 on 5.5 and 11" brakes came from the factor with the stamped steel beams and ball joints. I am getting ready to swap the stamped beams for forged ones as soon as I can collect all of the parts from the local JY.