[JasonTJ]

Got some basic Q's

A friend of mine just picked up an 82 F-150, that he wants to make a trail rig out of. I was looking at it yesterday(I'm have only worked on Jeeps so I dont know much about it) It has the TTB front axle, is that any good or should he just look at swapping it?
What kind of rear does it have? Its got a crazy built 351W under the hood. Hes got some shimmy in the front end, and he was wondering if you can adapt a steering stablizer to the front end, since there is nothing on there now.

Any tips on how to make it flex?

Any general info on the drive train would help. Hes a competant mechanic but this is his first attempt at building a 4x4, so I'm tryin to help him get started, any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[JimL]

While I can't help with everything, I can help with a few minor things.
The rear axle should be a Ford 8.8" I believe they did away with the 9" when they went to the TTB front ends. The front will be a Dana 44TTB which doesn't really need to be swapped unless he really WANTS to do so. Take a look at this Bronco. Built to run like nobody's business in some pretty nasty terrain and still runs the factory TTB. A steering stabilizer can be used. Some of the major lift manufacturers should be able to supply the bracketry.

 

[RockRanger]

I thought they had a 9" in the back till 86 could be wrong. Are you sure the front shimmy is not from bad ball joints TRE or alignment. I have a ranger with a TTB and can't keep it aligned to save my life. I have given up on it now. If I remembr the 73-79 f150 axles just about bolt right in I know there is a guy on here with one but can't remember his board name think fordpwr or something like that maybe. Good luck in the build up.

Matt

 

[JimL]

You are probably more correct than I am, Matt. I'm not sure of the exact year they switched. I also figured if it had a 9" most people in the off-roading community would know how to recognize one of these rear ends (no diff. cover plate) as it seems everyone and their brother is swapping one into their rigs.

My first thing to check on the shimmy would be ball joints also. My Ranger has had no problems with a shimmy so I can't say for sure what your problem may be. I haven't had any problems getting it aligned though either.

 

[1uglyranger]

After doing a soild axle swap on a ttb ford, I cannot think of any reason why not to. Face it, unless you are blasting through Pismo every weekend, it sucks. And if you can't tell the difference between a 9" and an 8.8" then maybe you should get some help working on it..

 

[FordPowr]

It takes a little fab work to get solid axle under there but it's still pretty easyily done. There's few pics of mine floatin' around here if ya do a search.

When I first did mine I used mostly all stock 79 F150 front end parts...radius arms, track bar and D44. It worked just fine for about a year and half then I got tired of breaking axle shafts, So I put in a RC D60. When I did this I built some new radius arms and pushed the axle forward a couple inches.