4x4 swap????
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,441
Likes: 5
From: Muskegon, MI (home)
I am going to reply to help everyone who has a ttb(that is 100% of the stock trucks older than 85.5) have peace of mind. Your truck is not going to fall apart as soon as you put it in 4x4. The ttb axle is fine for everything these trucks were designed to do, except snowplowing on a commercial basis and possibly a few other extreme uses. Otherwise they do fine. I have a dana 44 ttb in my diesel pickup, with 35 inch tires, and with a snowplow also. I had to replace the balljoints this past summer, but that was the first time they had been replaced and it's now approaching 20 yrs old.
A solid frontend is nice, and if you are going to do something extreme with your truck, by all means put one in. But for stock use, the ttb will get the job done.
A solid frontend is nice, and if you are going to do something extreme with your truck, by all means put one in. But for stock use, the ttb will get the job done.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 134
Likes: 2
From: Kansas
I couldn't agree with you more Dave, I have had 3 Ford trucks now with the TTB front axle. Besides snapping a radius arm (can happen to a straight axle too) on my 84 F150 I haven't had any failures of any of the drive components on either of my F150s, both are lifted with 32" or bigger tires. The Dana 50 TTB in the front of my 84 F250 is fricken beefy, it is the strongest IFS ever put under a pickup truck... PERIOD. I replaced all 4 ball joints and all the steering linkage components (all were original) 2 years ago. It has 2 plowing seasons on it everything is still tight, the only issue I have is some uneven tire wear which really is barely noticable. The biggest mistake it people don't do the proper maintenance on their front ends. If I pull any of my trucks into the shop for any reason I grab a creeper and the grease gun and hit all the zerk fittings underneath. I do plan to straight axle this truck in the future but ONLY because of the tire wear issues. If you want to talk about a junk IFS, look at the cast aluminum, CV axle, torsion bar piece of $#!t GM puts under their trucks! I had a 95 GMC Jimmy 4wd, almost to the date every year I had to replace ball joints, idler arm, and pitman arm on that thing. It didn't hardly ever see off road.
Another vote from me for the TTB being the strongest IFS out there. The GM model mentioned earlier is alot lighter duty from what I have seen and I have had both completely apart.
I also did the 4x4 swap in a 84. Bolt in simple. I have 33 inch tires and 4.10 gears. I am in 4x4 more often than not as this truck hardly leaves the farm. I have been pretty ruff on it from time to time pulling trailers in the mud and pulling trucks, logs what ever and never broke anything. Ganted I am not hill climbing and rock crawling on a professional level (however it has seen some amature hill climbing
) but i have been completely satisfied with it.As others said, consider how you plan on using it and don't let all the talk discourage you from trying the ttb. The way you plan on using it, it will be fine.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 0
heh that's ironic that you mentioned GM, I started a thread in the offroad forum not too long ago about that exact topic. And yes I agree with what is being said here completely, I was merely pointing out the advantages of a solid axle but yes a TTB should be a much easier swap.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 134
Likes: 2
From: Kansas
heh that's ironic that you mentioned GM, I started a thread in the offroad forum not too long ago about that exact topic. And yes I agree with what is being said here completely, I was merely pointing out the advantages of a solid axle but yes a TTB should be a much easier swap.
Ya, I think we all agree and are just pointing out different options. The solid axle definitely has its advantages and its place in the wonderful world of FORD 4x4's
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Freshman User
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: fremont
yea im gonna leave the front open diff. this truck wont see anything that will need a front locker. like i said just trails and with a rear locker i have been able to get thru anything in the past with my other trucks, most of the time in 2 wheel drive. and 33's being the biggest tire it will see i have no worries there. i would like a solid axle just for flex but i dont have the tools or expierence needed to do this. im sure i could get it done with some paticence but its not worth the extra trouble to me im goin to the junk yard this weekend and pulling the zf tranny and the transfer case, im gonna rebuild them before they go in. then i think im going to get the tranny and transfer mounted and running first so i can get the rear driveshaft cut down and balanced and itll run like that for a few weeks while i get all the parts off the bronco and get the front axle rebuilt. i want to keep the truck running as much as possible so i still have a truck if i need it. as stated before thanks for all the advice it was most helpful, now i just gotta get it done
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