Just curious. I've considered a swap, but then asked myself what I really need it for? I don't do any serious hardcore wheeling or towing. Mostly street driving with the occasional off-road adventure. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

 

Being a supporter of the TTB, I would say the pros outweigh the cons. Better ride is the most obvious pro especially for someone who uses it for primarily street driving. The soild D44 has its advantages in durability if you get into hard core stuff but I do some pretty crazy things and haven't found the TTB-killing trail yet. Most will tell you that if you are going to do a solid axle swap for serious off-road use, a D60 is more advantageous but a LOT more expensive. But, if your Bronco truly sees the kind of use you are describing, I'd keep it (TTB) in favor of independant front suspension and a nicer ride. Some will argue the ride is no worse. Au contraire....no matter WHAT you do, a solid axle is affected when EITHER front wheel hits something because its...you guessed it...solid, one piece connected straight across can't seperate 'em. TTB on the other hand...the driver's side hits a pothole the pass. side just sits their leaving only half the axle and half the unsprung weight to deal with the pothole.

Now, alignment can be a royal pain with the TTB but then, any front end will give you grief if you let it go and the steering and suspension components deteriorate. There is no factory provision for setting caster. Camber adjustments require loosening the lower ball joint studs and rotating (or replacing) these silly little shims that wrap around the stud. So, in that regard, yes TTB can be a pain. But how often during normal city/street driving do you do something that will damage your alignment? By the way toe adjustment is still done via tierod ends.

I have heard the TTB called everything from "highly capable" to a "Ford engineer's stupid concept". I have never had a problem with mine and would sooner spend the exorbadent sums that people like Auotfab get for their lifts and suspension systems to KEEP the TTB than just do away with it because it doesn't SEEM to be as strong.

 

like what was said ttb is for those who don't hardcore 4wheel so ttb is for you
on the other hand if wheelin is your thing then the SA is the best it beats a TTB anyday when wheelin

 

I don't know why exactly people bash TTB. What most people don't think about is the fact that Ford used this style front end in the Bronco longer than all other solid bronco front ends combined. What this means is that the salvage yards are full of them. And usually the prices are low. And you could set up a differential on the bench (without removing complete front end as you would have to in a solid to put it on a bench.)
Mike
66 Bronco
00 F150 Supercab

 

That's true. There's tons of them in yards in where they belong, and prices are low because no one wants them.

 

I wanted one. I searched for ~3 years to get what I'm driving on now. Of course, I'm GLAD no one else wanted it because it kept my cost down.

BTW The factory camber adjustment is on the UPPER ball-joints and it ALSO adjusts the caster. Caster can also be adjusted by bending the radius arms. There was a dealer-installed adjustment for the lower BJs...

 

I don’t like them but in your case stick with the TTB if your not going over a 33" tire its great for street driving and some milled wheeling.

 

Regardless of whether the the alignment adjustment is on the upper or lower ball joints, the point I was making is that there is little adjustment capability on the factory TTB setup. And yes, the caster adjustment can be affected by rolling the shims around but by nature of the design, you will end up compromising one or both adjustments if the changes needed to either caster or camber exceed the range of the shims in any one direction.

Don't get me wrong I love my TTB and with the lift I have, I no longer worry about ANY alignment issues unless I break something. But until I got that in place, I dreaded alignments as much as anyone with the TTB.

Oh, and custom bent radius arms are great if you are willing to go through that kind of effort just to do routine alignment maneuvers. I don't know about anyone else but your's truly doesn't enjoy the idea of heating and pounding on his raduis arms every time I need caster adjustments. If you want to affect caster changes via the raduis arms, check with your local parts house. Moog makes an afterkmarket radius arm bushing much like the shims for the ***** joints. They are polyurethane and have a locking mechanism that will allow about 2.25 degrees +/-of caster adjustment. They are direct replacements for the stock raduis arm bushings and far easier to get set correctly than pounding and heating steel. They even have a nut-like mold to them so you can get BF wrench on them to turn them to make adjustments.

 

Hi-
Well I can see some alignment complications with suspension lifts on the TTB but will someone please explain to me what these are if you have no suspension lift. I don't have alignment issues (funny tire wear, pulling left or right, shimmy, etc.) nor have I EVER had alignment problems with my '86.

Also: I guess I'm siding with Greystreak92 for the most part on this. Those conversion kits are a joke. Bend over REAL FAR!
I don't rock but I definitely would not be considered a "light" duty wheeler.

 

The people that are into the axel swaps either like modifing their rigs for the posser value or are really into bashing their rigs on the rocks. IMO if your into rock crawling The Bronco is the wrong rig to build on. Save the money from the swap and buy a Jeep TJ and modify it or buy a Unimog and just run it. The TTB works well just about anywhere but extreme rock crawling or compition mud.

 

Better yet, if you want to get into hard core rock challenges AND use a Bronco to do it, go find a 66-77 they are smaller, lighter, still capable of running a small block V8. (actually I have seen a 460 in one...almost too scary for me.) I know several people with early Broncos and for that kind of extreme rock pounding they are really quite capable.

 

graystreak92,
Right on, Brother! The Excursion dude saying to go buy a Jeep to rock crawl with? What is the name of this site? Some of the best crawlers I have seen are 78-79 Broncos with fenders cut way out and running 38's and 40's. They will chew up a dime a dozen Jeep, CJ, YJ or TJ.

Mike
66 Bronco
00 F150 Supercab

 

ROTFLMAO. I'm guessing you:

1) haven't been exposed to much 'crawling up and personal

2) believe everything the mags tell you

 

Broncoman66,
Broncos always on top of the heap! the slogan for BC Broncos and the cartoon on their website is pretty good too.

 

Your right I don't own a crawler but I belong to a 4wd club and I have some friends that do. We go on runs in the Sierras that you read about. No one in the club has wasted money on a FSBronco. The FSBronco is the wrong rig. I will agree that the EBronco is top of the heep, their is no better trail rig but that doesn't apply to the FSBronco. The rigs that are built for rock in the club are EB, FJ40, TJ, and YJ plus some odd ***** that work. The FSBronco is a good rig, I own one and am happy with it's not the rig you want to build for the rocks.