Glad to see so many people interested in older Fords.
One of the tings I like most are how mechanically tough and resilient they are. Some of these engines will keep on running on only half cylinders if you let them, not an inconsequential feature when on a trail or camping. You'll be limping home, but you'll get home!
Then there's how easy they are to work on. Only one computer module that's easy to swap out if need be, but everything else is mechanical.
Then there's the super smooth ride. I know a lot of people rag on the TTB of older fords as being weak and unreliable, but truth be told, I've never even heard of a stock TTB breaking. Yes, a lot of my fellow bronco buddies do SAS (Single Axle Swaps), but that's in line with rock crawling or to get more lift than what is available for TTB suspensions. It has absolutely nothing to do with the reliability or strength of the TTB. In fact, about the only downside to the TTB is how difficult it is to life. You can get a 2 inch lift easily with new coil springs or spacers on the springs, but after that, you need to modify the mounting brackets and that's where the trouble starts., because you're messing with the geometry of an otherwise simple design. Also, what a lot of people don't realize is that the TTB is safer to have when cornering as well. Because of the longer arms, compared to independent suspensions, the tire tread stays more parallel to the ground, even when the truck rocks as far as it can. This provides greater traction. On some independent suspensions, the tread stays parallel to the frame of the vehicle, meaning that if it rocks, you'll be rolling up more on the outside edge of the tire when cornering, loosing traction. And your vehicle will rock if it makes a turn at speed. Next time you look at your independent suspension, so how it reacts to rocking and if the tread stays flat on the ground. Now, I have heard of old, tired TTB setups causing uneven wear on tires, ie the inside half will wear out faster than the outside. That's because the coil springs are either old and worn, or that fancy new heavy duty steel bumper is weight it down. Just replace the springs and you'd be just fine.
Sorry for the rant. lol. I just heard a guy sell a perfectly good truck for the uneven tire wear and complaining about how stupid the TTB is and how he'd rather have done an SAS (For $350) to make it more reliable. Newer springs, or even junkyard springs out of an F250 would have fixed the problem in a couple hours. And he called himself a mechanic. Hmph.
People are living in a "throw away" society these days.
