my 1981 f150 has taken a beating and is ready for more, but being 2wd, it will be destined for dirt as a prerunner, but i cant kill this truck! i love it

I am looking for a truck or bronco that can do the thousands of miles of trails in northern nevada. What are the pros/cons of the 80's fords on long, long excursions in the back 40? i was watching the speed channel where a bunch of jeeps were in moab, utah just cruising around the trails and it looks like a fun alternative to rock crawling or going 70+ mph in the sand.

so what im asking is; are the 1970's trucks with a solid axle or the 80's trucks with TTB better for trail traveling? I have the basic idea in mind; inline six, either a zf swap on either or like an np435 with a low low granny first, id say 3.73 if its the np435 or 4.11/4.10 with the zf5.

and another thing i need an opinion on, for trailing do you want a truck or a bronco? im new to this stuff so give me some pointers also

 

For that very specific purpose i'd much rather prefer an early 66-77 Bronco over a dentside (or any fullsize truck for that matter).

 

TTB actually works pretty well if you have the money and know-how to do it right. But, it will never have the articulation of a properly setup straight axle. However, it is better than than a control arm style IFS......depending on the configuration. As long as you don't install a flimsy lift kit, the TTB is just as tough and reliable as the straight axle. But, overall, I feel the TTB is better suited to the Ranger/Exploder trucks. I like a straight axle in my full size trucks.

If you like your current truck, you can practically bolt on a TTB axle. You can also swap in a 76-79 coil sprung Dana 44 without much fuss.

 

Most people tend toward the shorter wheel base of the bronco for true trail rig type stuff, but a standard cab, short bed truck will still do fine.

Now for a true desert truck, the short bed, standard cab is a tiny bit short but will still work well.

Either can be built to do what you want. TTB's can be built to have plenty of "flex" - especially if you go to a coil over and free up a little bit of up travel.

Or you could throw a solid axle in an 80's bronco pretty easily.