Con's and Pro's

[odogf150]

let me hear what you guys have to say about the cons and pros with "twin traction beam" front axles. stock suspension and with lift. lately im disliking it, my front tires have slanted inward tread now and shake at 15mph but thats it. i been thinking about swapping 4 a solid. has anyone else done a solid axle swap in there's? what year would fit in with no or little mod to my front end. ??

 

[crzybil87]

I did Id say swap it ASAP its tough as nails but its crap. it destroyed my tires so i found a dana 60 kingpin high pinion and it fit right into place. But yea id say swap it. Umm im not too sure on the years mine was an F250 and the years were from 87 to 96 is what i was looking for, im not sure if its the same for an f150

 

[conanski]

I don't have any problems with the TTB but I have never had a truck with sacked front springs.. which is what causes this /--\. My tires don't wear unevenly unless I drive like a maniac and once I change all the U joints to greasable versions I never have to change them again. Overall the suspension is much stronger than wishbone IFS but steering response is wacky in comparison of course, these trucks need a rack style setup to fix that.... something like the SuperRunner system from Superlift.

 

[Truckin4life]

How much lift is the key question....

 

[O'Rattlecan]

The only gripe I have is tire wear. I put in some 'leveling' springs which are barely taller than stock (maybe +1/2") and can't get the camber aligned totally right. They used ball joint sleeves or some crap to do that for me, but I don't claim to understand it.

Ryan

 

[Skandocious]

I've got a d44 ttb with a 4 inch suspension lift and my tires seem to wearing perfectly evenly. I've got drop brackets and taller springs in front to accomplish this.

As far as i know-- the only real advantage of the ttb is better ride quality on road. The solid axle will be stronger and have more flex off road. Though a ttb is more desirable for high speed wheeling like sand dunes.

 

[odogf150]

How much lift is the key question....

suspension: 6 inch.

 

[odogf150]

not really looking to race on any dunes any time soon, maybe some of trail riding mostly high speeds but can a solid axle handle that top speeds is what im kinda after also. (d44 ifs e40d 351 4x4)6 inch skyjacker premium lift, dont think a body lift would help any but 3 inches also

 

[Fellro]

The solid would handle road speeds with no issue whatsoever. The ttb does allow for a little more front suspension movement in un-level ground, not so much for flex. It was the only independent type front 4x4 suspension for years. It likely is stronger than the a-arm type, but the tire wear issues are a known problem due to the geometry of the setup. Ride height and loaded conditions are key to whether you deal with tire wear or not. Since you don't tend to load yours Chris, you are less likely to notice it, and since you did a lift, you have fresh springs so the ride height should be correct. Those of us with older trucks and old springs are more likely to have the issues. Mine is rarely run down the road without some kind of load, so the back goes down a bit, which then changes the relationships up front a bit, then the camber will be a bit different... sagging springs up front are the worst cause, which translates to a lower ride height, changing the geometry more. Being loaded also will make a similar problem.

 

[odogf150]

The solid would handle road speeds with no issue whatsoever. The ttb does allow for a little more front suspension movement in un-level ground, not so much for flex. It was the only independent type front 4x4 suspension for years. It likely is stronger than the a-arm type, but the tire wear issues are a known problem due to the geometry of the setup. Ride height and loaded conditions are key to whether you deal with tire wear or not. Since you don't tend to load yours Chris, you are less likely to notice it, and since you did a lift, you have fresh springs so the ride height should be correct. Those of us with older trucks and old springs are more likely to have the issues. Mine is rarely run down the road without some kind of load, so the back goes down a bit, which then changes the relationships up front a bit, then the camber will be a bit different... sagging springs up front are the worst cause, which translates to a lower ride height, changing the geometry more. Being loaded also will make a similar problem.

thanks thats a good read.

 

[Skandocious]

Good call Roger. Yeah with the design of the ttb being on hinges, if you lift up the front end then the tires will do this \---/ and if you put weight on it then they'll very slightly do this /---\. Here's what I mean-- notice the angle of my tires after I lifted the truck by the frame:

 

[LEB Ben]

I'll throw my .02 in even though these guys covered everything very well...For street use and mild trail use, the TTB is more than ok, and I prefer it for the ride. Rule of thumb is you don't wanna go over 37" tires. To me, the limiting factor to the TTB is strength and flex once you start approaching the 'moderate abuse' range. The other down side is once parts start wearing, it's hard to keep that front end 'right'...but you could have the same difficulty with a solid front end as well.

 

[Truckin4life]

Oh and larger tires will eat the Ball joints for breakfast lunch and dinner, will become atleast a once a year thing, even if you do grease.

 

[Fellro]

I had forgotten to mention the bushings too, another main reason for camber issues.

 

[godblessmud]

There is no such thing as a "pro" when it comes to TTB
Turning 36's its a ***** to keep aligned and with the stockish 302 it survived a few years of hard wheeling but as soon as i did my 351 build it went kaboom...which is why my ford is sitting awaiting a dana 60 to walk into my life

 

[Terrell460]

In my opinion the twin I-Beam and/or ttb design has proven itself ten times over in desert racing and is great for anything your doing. if your camber is off slightly and its waring your tires down in an undesirable way you can buy the degree bushings. id only change to the solid for the looks. for some reason it just looks better with a lift.

 

[godblessmud]

Desert racing generally utilizes a twin I beam 2wd setup rather than a TTB functional front axle setup. The issues with TTB come not from the ride quality but from the lack of strength that any independent front axle system has

 

[1970Custom]

There is no such thing as a "pro" when it comes to TTB
Turning 36's its a ***** to keep aligned and with the stockish 302 it survived a few years of hard wheeling but as soon as i did my 351 build it went kaboom...which is why my ford is sitting awaiting a dana 60 to walk into my life

It's well known that a TTB 44 should have no larger than a 33x10.50 tire on it, anything bigger and you've got a time bomb....


There's absolutely nothing wrong with the TTB axles if they're kept within their limits, I wheeled one for many years and never had an issue. Never got crazy with it, never pushed it passed the limits...


WITH THAT, my '84 Bronco has a solid D44 sitting next to it waiting for me to find the older style radius arms...

There's a place for both, just depends on what you want...

 

[LEB Ben]

I'm not even sure the parts individually are weaker, but the fact that there's more of them to wear out and break. Of course things are stronger as a single unit, so there is an inherent weakness when you separate them up.

 

[1970Custom]

Good call Roger. Yeah with the design of the ttb being on hinges, if you lift up the front end then the tires will do this \---/ and if you put weight on it then they'll very slightly do this /---\. Here's what I mean-- notice the angle of my tires after I lifted the truck by the frame:

Here's a better view

And that's is a true First Gen Lightning...