Ok, I did the search, and was looking for pro's and con's of solids with springs or leafs. Besides the obvious of price.

I guess that it all depends on what you wanna use it for?? Coils give the obvious, approach angle, etc. Leafs are proven to perform well all over, as long as they are set up right. If you want to lift it a lot, then coils is probably not the way to go.... long coils tend to have problems. Coils are more open to drastic flex, if set up correct, they seem to flex more then standard leafs. Even though we have all seen standard leafs flex like crazy. So I am pretty sure that I did not answer your question, but there are some pointers:D . BTW, I am running coils on my SAS, and I love them....

Brian--

Well I have 4" of lift right now with the twin I beam suspension, and when I do the SAS I want another 2 or so inches of lift. I was thinking that keeping it with coils might be a bit easier since the mounts on the chassis are already there, but the springs would be easier when it comes to mounting everything on the axle housing. And the mounts for the shackles wouldn't be that hard to do. Well there is my thinking on this any and all input is appreciated.

I'm not exactly sure of the vehicle that you are building, But coils seems to be your best bet. When you go from a TTB, to a solid axle, you can expect about 1.5" of lift. (If you are going with a factory radius arm setup). If you buy an axle that is set up for Ford radius arms, and is the correct width of your truck, then swapping in a solid is simple. Tell me what you got, and I will try to help..

Brian--

I've got a 1994 F-150. I had thought that one problem about keeping with the coils would having to keep the rad. arms. Those seem to me like they would restrict flex, and they would keep me from being able to have larger tires. I;ve got 33's right now and they rub when turned hard over. I don't have the materials, or the know-how to fab up some of my own. And the rad. arm brackets look like they would be a problem with getting caught up on the rocks, or anything else. So what do you think would be possible to overcome these problems?

Wristed arms will give you more flex on the front. Colby makes some sweet ones. As for your rubbing change your back spacing on your rims would be the easiest thing to do.

What exactly are the wristed arms? I haven't seen those, or at least I don't think so.

I had the same problem with my F150, if you want to stop the rubbing change the back spacing and screw the steering stops in on your knuckles. This may cause you to lose some of your turning radius but there is nothing more anoying than your tires rubbing at full lock. You shouldn't go larger than 35's on the half ton TTB setup anyways. Coils and radius arms are a great setup...wristing the radius arm consists of creating a pivot point in the radius arm right before where it bolts to the axle, it is a very complax setup though. Get rid of the sway bar in the back if vehicle is equipped...do you have the extended radius arms installed with your lift or did the rad brackets get dropped from the frame...the longer the rad arms are the more wheel travel...the only thing limiting the rad arm travel is the shock length, coils will provide more droop and compression than a leaf spring and give a nice ride on the street. This is why TJ's have coils on all four corners and they are extremely flexy with the sway bars disconnected! If you want a solid axle than you could swap in the D44 out of a 78-79 Bronco.

Desteurm: I had the rad. arm brackets dropped, and my only problem with going coils, that I see, will be the cost factor. From what I have found, the prices for them seem to be much more than springs, no matter where I look. Will the spring perches line up under the frame of a 1994 F 150? When I was talking with my uncle he said I would have to worry about them not lining up right under the frame, and the axle wouldn't be centered under the truck. Due to the fact that one may be mounted on the side of the diff housing. (You knida get what I am talking about?)

If you use the 78-79 Bronco front differential, radius arms, it will bolt right into your truck...make sure you get the track bar too, you can extend the 78-79 radius arms by adding a hiem joint to the end from a tractor trailer cause they need to be DOT approved this will prevent the arm from binding with the ford radius arm bushings. You can also lower the spring perches on the F150 frame to attain more lift using the current springs you have...Fords frame spacing hasn't changed until 97 F150 (IFS) so spring perches should line up, you might need to change the mounts on top of the radius arms depending on the diameter of the springs you currently have now...there is a lot more fabrication involve if you want to convert over to leaf springs which would only be wirth while if upgrading to a Dana60 front axle. So it really depends on what you want to go with for a front axle...I am sure there is an article on doing this SAS on the net!

I just did a search on wristed arms. And WOW!!! Those have great flex. I think I will look more into the wristed arms. Could I also use the same arms that come out of the Bronco, instead of the ones I have on my truck now?

Use everything that is attached to the D44 solid axle that comes out of the donor bronco...the arms you have now will not accept C-bushings with out fab & machining, remember you will need the track bar, coil buckets, shock mounts, brakes, the list goes on...I can fax you the suspension assembly diagram out of the hanes manual if you need or I can email to you, just let me know...wristing the arms does make a huge improvement in articulation but it has to be done right so do your research!

I was writing that during 1st period, and then went out to the truck and was looking at the rad arms on it now, and yeah, those just wouldn't work very well with that huge hole in them. If you could send me that diagram though e mail that would be great. My e mail adress is joshua_allan@yahoo.com, or you can send it to my pirate4x4 acount, same name @pirate4x4.com. If it is easier to send it via fax, i can P.M. you my mom's fax number if you need.

josh

i have a whole 79 bronco frame sitting outside the shop, now getting it to ca from south dakota is unresonable but if you want any mesurements or anything else, post the question or e-mail me at deadduck@sd.cybernex.net


:roxy: :roxy:

Thanks for the offer Deadduck. If I run into problems when I do the swap (when I get the cash), and I am sure I will run into plenty of them. I will send you an e mail or P.M. thanks.