Does anyone have any experience with the Twin Traction Beam style front ends Ford used in the early 90's? It seems like an interesting design, and it looks like it would be about as tough as a SAS as far as adapting it goes...

From what I have read on various 4x4 forums, these are both hated and loved (like everything else) based on hear-say and personal experience...

I was wondering if anyone has dealt with them, and if there are any known rides using it (they seem to be popular with light weight crawlers that want to go fast, and desert runners).

 

The only time I have delt with Twin beam suspension was when I put a 4" lift kit in my friends 83' F-150. It was very easy compared to lifting an IFS truck. It took me less than a day to lift the truck. The front ends seem to be pretty strong. I'm not really a fan of it though, I'd rather have a SFA.

 

There are a few 2wd guys that put beems on there truck which is the same thing without axles. The ttb is a decent set up just a lot of camber swing but they can get big travel for cheap

 

seems like it would be a quite bit cheaper to addapt than a full four-link set up.
it's > the current ifs as far as movement and ease (cost) of lift goes, BUT
it's < SAS as far as strength goes
the dana 35 with 44 parts (TTB style) seems like it could make for a fun set up.

 

nothing beats the simplicity of a a solid front axle though. all those pivot points and moving parts, double u joints in the axle shafts, just more stuff to break in my opinion. but you can probably find one for free, kinda like the 10 bolt axles people get rid of them to upgrade all the time

 

Nismo_2005 mentioned camber swing....The closer you can keep camber to zero degrees, the longer the tires will last. The TTB wears out front tires very rapidly, (ask any Ford truck owner) due to the excessive camber swing. As the front springs sag, camber goes negative, adding to the problem. Follow one down the road and watch the camber change, especially when it has bad shocks. The SLA, (Short, Long Arm) suspension, like the one used on GM trucks, keeps camber within spec during jounce and rebound. A solid, (straight axle) with leaf springs will give excellent tire wear because camber doesn't change while driving, but they ride stiffer than hell. It all depends what you're looking for, there is no "perfect" suspension that is good for all situations. Me personally, I like my tires to last, and a decent ride, good old GM truck suspension. Sure, they eat ball joints, choose your battle, buy good ball joints, they're cheaper than tires

 

Cap'n Hook: I agree with you (and abig84), that a solid axle is the best bet for a full change and inclreased lift.

And can not argue the logic that more moving parts = more to fail. To be fair to the TBB, from what i've read most of the negative reviews came from eatting up larger tires after putting a lift on it. there are very negative reviews on some common lift kits due to disproportionate sizes of mounting arms to steering corrections, and overly stiff coil springs.

I'm interested because this seems to be a cool design that never caught on. It also seems to be finding a kind of small come back in very specific applications.

Thanks for the input all. If anyone else has more to add, I'm all ears.

 

It never "caught on" due to its inferior geometric design. It's cheap to manufacture, quick and easy to install on the assembly line, and expensive to maintain for the consumer.

 

I had a Ford Ranger as a teenager that had a TTB front axle. It held up just fine for what i used it for... Although it flexed way worse then our trucks do with the sway bars disconnected. From what ive seen getting the camber alignment right can be near impossible when lifted. Also as it cycles it is constantly changing the way the tire contacts the ground... causing odd handling and tire wear. The TTB setup shares many of the same problems our IFS has.

 

You can make a ttb flex damn good but you will never get rid of that hooker travel if you're into going fast and jumping then go for it with the ttb but anything else and i would either go sfa or ifs