Post by BEN on Feb 10, 2013 0:10:52 GMT -6
I guess I'll take some time to share some TTB knowledge I've learned over the past couple years. Setting up a TTB properly addresses all common issues that cause people to hate TTB. Will it ever flex as much as a solid axle? No. Is it as simple as a solid axle? No. Did that stop me from building it? No. I kinda just wanna see what happens with it. I'm not building an all out crawler anyway...more of a expo/camping/hunting/daily driver rig.
When building TTB you have to remember a few things.
Steering first and foremost.
TTB is notorious for bumpsteer and alignment issues. 2 different options to address the steering.
1. Superlift Superrunner Kit. www.superlift.com/accessories/superunner.asp
this kit is a k-link steering kit that is a bolt on kit. for this kit to achieve "perfection" it does have to be modified slightly. More to come on this...when I modify mine.
2. Custom Swingover steering... this one is a lot more complicated to setup properly, but once set up... it cures all TTB steering issues. The major point of this one is the fact the tierods are the same length and the same angle as the axle beams...
(another option is the Stonecrusher steering system, but more and more people I speak with are not happy with it so I'll leave that one alone. I have no personal experience with the Stonecrusher).
the next MAJOR point on setting up TTB would be the Coil Spring choice... this is crucial because if you just use the TTB lift springs, they are usually around 445ppi (stupid stiff). Most people building TTB look for a 275-320 ppi coil (depending on weight of rig, these usually come with early bronco coils or cherokee coils). With TTB the leverage ratio is 1.5:1 so coil springs react different under TTB than they do on a solid axle rig. Pretty much a coil will be "softer" on a TTB axle. The coils I chose were an Early Bronco 3.5" lift coil, PPI is estimated at 300ppi.
Good Brackets for the axle mounts... Most "budget minded" TTB lift kits come with a drop plate for one side and reuses the stock bracket. This creates an issue when you open up flex and will actually punch through the aluminum housing of the d35 ttb third member. The bracket I chose is made by a TTB master, known as CopyCat (not sure why... he's the creative one). VMS brackets are pure beef and made for 4" or 6" lifts. This replaces the drop plate and stock bracket from my Rough Country lift.
The rest of these are just common upgrades us TTB guys do to achieve that desired outcome.
F250 Shock Towers, a lot of people use these...not just TTB. They allow for a taller shock, opening up more flex.
Extended Radius arms, this one is easy to understand... TTB works on a Radius arm set up. I extended mine to 32" with flex joints, to a custom mount that doubles as a crossmember
a lot of Explorers come with Auto hubs... so Switching to manual hubs is a given. The conversion for this is really easy.
Aussie locker. You know why.
With the Aussie Locker on the d35 ttb axle, you will have to do a c-clip eliminator mod. This is easily done with a Chainsaw Spring lol. Here is a write up on it. I don't have pics of my own so, read this. www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/c-clip_eliminator_external.html
Awesome Shocks. Simply because I got an awesome deal on Bilstein 5150s. Notice my c-clip elim spring in the pic.
Quick Disco's. You know why on that one to... I'm running a set of Jeep JKS discos.
Guess overall what I'm trying to say is TTB can be built for a capable rig. For a daily driver rig for my reasons, it'll work just fine.
When building TTB you have to remember a few things.
Steering first and foremost.
TTB is notorious for bumpsteer and alignment issues. 2 different options to address the steering.
1. Superlift Superrunner Kit. www.superlift.com/accessories/superunner.asp
this kit is a k-link steering kit that is a bolt on kit. for this kit to achieve "perfection" it does have to be modified slightly. More to come on this...when I modify mine.
2. Custom Swingover steering... this one is a lot more complicated to setup properly, but once set up... it cures all TTB steering issues. The major point of this one is the fact the tierods are the same length and the same angle as the axle beams...
(another option is the Stonecrusher steering system, but more and more people I speak with are not happy with it so I'll leave that one alone. I have no personal experience with the Stonecrusher).
the next MAJOR point on setting up TTB would be the Coil Spring choice... this is crucial because if you just use the TTB lift springs, they are usually around 445ppi (stupid stiff). Most people building TTB look for a 275-320 ppi coil (depending on weight of rig, these usually come with early bronco coils or cherokee coils). With TTB the leverage ratio is 1.5:1 so coil springs react different under TTB than they do on a solid axle rig. Pretty much a coil will be "softer" on a TTB axle. The coils I chose were an Early Bronco 3.5" lift coil, PPI is estimated at 300ppi.
Good Brackets for the axle mounts... Most "budget minded" TTB lift kits come with a drop plate for one side and reuses the stock bracket. This creates an issue when you open up flex and will actually punch through the aluminum housing of the d35 ttb third member. The bracket I chose is made by a TTB master, known as CopyCat (not sure why... he's the creative one). VMS brackets are pure beef and made for 4" or 6" lifts. This replaces the drop plate and stock bracket from my Rough Country lift.
The rest of these are just common upgrades us TTB guys do to achieve that desired outcome.
F250 Shock Towers, a lot of people use these...not just TTB. They allow for a taller shock, opening up more flex.
Extended Radius arms, this one is easy to understand... TTB works on a Radius arm set up. I extended mine to 32" with flex joints, to a custom mount that doubles as a crossmember
a lot of Explorers come with Auto hubs... so Switching to manual hubs is a given. The conversion for this is really easy.
Aussie locker. You know why.
With the Aussie Locker on the d35 ttb axle, you will have to do a c-clip eliminator mod. This is easily done with a Chainsaw Spring lol. Here is a write up on it. I don't have pics of my own so, read this. www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/c-clip_eliminator_external.html
Awesome Shocks. Simply because I got an awesome deal on Bilstein 5150s. Notice my c-clip elim spring in the pic.
Quick Disco's. You know why on that one to... I'm running a set of Jeep JKS discos.
Guess overall what I'm trying to say is TTB can be built for a capable rig. For a daily driver rig for my reasons, it'll work just fine.