Hey guys I am thinking about selling my jeep for an f150 or f250 that has solid axles. Maybe a 91 or something along that year; but not sure which one has solid axles. I was wondering which model provides decent articulation when going through uneven terrain and/or any recommendations to get it to flex pretty decent? would just adding a long arm and sway disconnects be good enough?

Ill probably be using this for light rock crawling to intermediate. Nothing crazy. and bunch of uneven terrain due to back wash of water going down hill through the mountains

 

The F150 hasn't had a solid front axle in a loooooog time. The F250 still has one.

 

The last year for a solid front axle 4x4 F-150 was 1979.

 

Yeah sometime in the early sixties ford switched to the twin I beam front on 2wd and the twin traction beam on 4x4's. The F100/150's ran that setup until the 96 model year. The new for 97 trucks finally got a real independent front suspension on both 2wd and 4x4's

 

so would an older f250 come with solid axles? Just trying to find something I can do some light rock crawling with. Maybe like a 92 or an 85 would be my best bet

 

I believe all 4x4 F-250's have a solid front axle except for the 97-98 F250LD, which was just a beefed up F150.

 

1965 was when the twin I beam came out, but the twin traction beam wasn't out till 1980. Till then, the 4x4s had a solid axle.

150s haven't had a solid axle since 79, 250s abandoned them at the same time. However 250s (the superduty, not the LD 250 with the 10th Gen 150 body) returned to the solid axle for 1999, and have them to this day.

So you're stuck with a 99+ superduty, or a 70s truck (or even older)

F-350s went to twin traction beam as well when it first came out, but they did revert to a solid axle much sooner than the 250, I can't remember for sure but I think it was about 1985. So I don't know if you'd be interested in a 350, but a later 80s or 90s 350 would have one.

A 150 or 250 from the 80s till 96 will have a twin traction beam. If you aren't familiar with that suspension, (plenty of info on the Web if you want to research further) it's a solid axle but it isn't at the same time. It still has a tough steel housing and an axle shaft running the width of the truck, but the housing is split into 2 arms which are attached to the frame of the truck at their inboard ends, and there's an extra universal joint in the middle allowing the axle to pivot, and therefore it's an independent suspension of sorts. The outer axle ends are set up like a solid axle, the f-250s setup is leaf sprung like a solid axle, and the 150s is coil sprung with radius arms, more or less like a coil sprung solid axle.

Some people hate it and claim a solid axle is superior, others love it and the fact that it offers (or perhaps does in their opinion) IFS qualities with more strength and off road capability than a double wishbone suspension.

 

I knew the 2wd trucks had the twin I beam starting in the sixties, I just figured the 4x4's made the switch around the same time.

 

I stand corrected - so the F-250 had TTB from 1980 to 1997? What about the F-350?

In reality, you can get a F-150 of any year and do a solid axle swap.

 

In theory, yes. But I would think the 80-96 would be a lot easier to do. They basically have what you need for a SAS except for the solid axle.

 

Yes, a leaf sprung dana 50 ttb.

As I edited into my post as an afterthought, the f350 came with ttb front suspension from 1980 as well. But they went back to solid in the mid 80s. I forget exactly when, 85 I think.

 

Speaking from personal experience plowing snow with F-250's with the TTB / leaf sprung front ends, they also had some problems. If you didn't re-torque the U-Bolts holding the axle halves to the leaf springs on a regular basis, you cracked the axle housings. We destroyed several front axles in this manner before we found the root cause. If you take a hard look at how things move - especially the relationship between the leaf springs and the axle housings - you'll see why.

 

still a bit confused lol. Alright, so if there is a particular year that I should look for that has good articulation, what year would that be for an f250? or any other cheap trucks you recommend? Maybe add a long arm or lift and add disconnect sways

I currently have an XJ jeep, and I kind of want the same articulation

 

so Im a bit confused - the F250s dont have true solid axles from 1980 - 1997?
what years had solid axles that you believe would be good for some trail / light rock crawling

 

79 was the last year f-150s and f-250s had true solid axles until the f-250 returned to solid axle in 1999, the f-150 has never came with one since.

So unless you're interested in the 1999 and up superduty trucks, 1979 and older.