Looking for someone with a jig for modding TTB beams

[Derbytown]

Is this anything that would help you:
ALIGNMENT BRACKETS
o Trouble aligning your lifted truck? These brackets are the perfect solution!
o Restore your 1.5" to 2.5" lifted truck to the proper geometry by dropping the passenger's and driver's side axles
o Camber-adjustment bolts to ensure precise alignment included

Wish I could post you a picture, but if you'll send me an e-mail I'll send the picture back to you.
Derbytown

 

[gavin]

if that's for TTB, then most likely it's the axle pivot drop brackets

 

[Derbytown]

True, and the are available at J.C. Whitney.
Hope this helps.
Derbytown

 

[Rustydog]

i am sure that i want to go with cut arms, and i would love to see pics of what others have , and havedone..it would be very helpful to see a jig also...but anything is better than nothing.

 

[Nor Cal Wheelin]

 

[Rustydog]

ok, so i am all about cutting up some beams, er arms...well can i see a pic of your front setup oregonprerunner? it would help me a lot with just getting a little bit of real perspective in the arms i want to make....thanks

 

[Racerx70]

I just picked up a D44 TTB to swap under my X. I intend to C&T the beams and use my 5.5 Ex coils for around 5 inches of lift.

Have any of you seen a fullwidth TTB under a ranger or Ex?

 

[gavin]

I just picked up a D44 TTB to swap under my X. I intend to C&T the beams and use my 5.5 Ex coils for around 5 inches of lift.

Have any of you seen a fullwidth TTB under a ranger or Ex?

good luck getting it to fit....

 

[Racerx70]

good luck getting it to fit....

Have plasma, have lincoln It'll fit.

 

[gavin]

Have plasma, have lincoln It'll fit.

haha.. good luck getting the pivot brackets where ya need 'em, and stretching the rad arm brackets several inches outside of the frame.
Or, use existing pivot brackets and custom (most likely) axle shafts, and still have to extending rad arm brackets several inches outside of the frame.
not gonna be that easy, and IMHO, not worth it.
if you're gonna take that much time, go solid.

 

[410Fortune]

The D44 TTB under the D35 equipped truck has been done many times
You get 8" of increased track width right off the bat
You will need custom axle pivots to stretch your frame and engine cradle out enough to keep the stockish D44 geometry.

radius arms should be custom anyways, using stock is like working backwards, you can make up for the frame width issues at the radius arms when you build the x member and rearward mounts. Coil buckets and shock mounts will also need to be spaced out from the frame.

Autofab is rumored to be developing a kit to do just this right now.

Gavin, I am going D44 TTB under my BII, solid axles are not for everyone who goes off road.....

the Rough Country or tough Country axle pivot brackets described above, using the elliptical bolt to adjust the beam axle pivot location, are 2" of drop over stock and IMO look pretty sketchy (weak)!!! If you need those suckers to align your truck, you are already doing something wrong.

 

[gavin]

yeah, you got a good point Fortune.. I just like to take the easy(ier) route.. haha
but of course some people want somethin dif

 

[Rustydog]

i live too close to the orv park to not have the best truck that i can make. i have a good stock of the rbv and just want to kick out a set of get a set made for me to both use and render where and hot to make more. i think it is the best way to use what ford made. to me the track of the x is fine for 33 or so and mild lift with trimmed fenders...for me. if you can go fast, i mean like such that you can jump things fast, well then you might could need to extend the track and make a widder foot print to not flip if you get turned while still going fast...i can dig that. i can not get to such speed on the trails around here.... but with what i have seen of the cut and realigned beams there is a fountin of options and some are great and some are more trouble then they worth to most. i just would like to have the best truck i can. 4tune have you sold your current set up? also did you ever take pics of the jig and or have pics while yous guys were maken them? hell a pic of you flippen me the bird, what ever! thanks for the help and info to the posters.

 

[Captain AirTime]

Moving one balljoint is kind of half assed. you need to move BOTH ideally, and pivot them on the steering U-joint center. I've done mine that way, 4.5" c&t, coilovers, 16" clean travel, and 33's with NO fender trimming. Minor rub on inners at full compression. I moved the wheels forward as far as reasonably possible to clear the firewall. D44 knuckles and brakes, been running those for years on various RBV's. I don't think I can post pics here, but I have a few...

 

[410Fortune]

yes I took lots of pictures of my beams and the jigs, however they are not something I will just post to show the world, if you are building beams you better know why you are cutting where you are and how you are going to put it back together and why. Copying my pictures will just get you in trouble, it is basic geometry really. You have a pivot point, and two ball joints to worry about, in effect a triangle.

Re-locating the ball joint has been proven time and time again, basically a entry level long travel TTB kit, Autofab kits work amazing for what they are, 18" of usable travel from a stock-ish TTB.

However it is no where near ideal, or the ultimate. A combintaion of the cut and turn, extend the beam, and ball joint re-location is the ultimate, but there is alot to consider here as well. Camburg builds the ultimate TTB beams, there is about $500 worth of materials in each set with hours and hours of fab time. They dont half ass anything....

the steering will get you in trouble, if you have ever watched the TTB work, you can see the camber change as the beam travels, at full droop the tires are on the edge, this is the main downfall of the IFS, on any beamed truck = rollover.
the inverted Y is a horrible setup when the beamed truck is lifted. Bump steer will first have you fighting to keep the truck going straight, with even the smallest bumps. The best driveability upgrade I ever made was the superrunner steering, it is a HUGE improvement over stock, but still leaves ALOT to be desired. The tie rods are more in phase with the TTB, but still "out of whack". A true swingset steering setup is the only way to go with a long travel beamed truck.

Increasing the track width will get you two things: stability and more travel.
Both are exactly what you are after when building a long travel beamed truck. Not increasing the width is cheaper, but in no way better. Wider is better.

 

[Rustydog]

ok to any persons with pics that they feel are not for the whole family, send them to me at propilot001@yohoo.com i hope this will allow any and all pics of my intrest to be viewable...lol, if you dont want me to see where you went and how you got there, i'll understand. but it would help!
4tune, i dont want to make beams just like yours, as i want to run factory shafts. i feel it would be very helpful to see the job done step by step. not that i want to half ass this job....its my rig and i want it to be both tuff as nails and made by me. "inspired by you"

side note...I dont know who thought i wanted to move one side, but great for that idea...??? I dont get it but OK. i want to lift all 4...and 2 of them are on the front of a ttb ford , dana 35 to be more exact. 2 are leaf sprung, and it is a ford 8.8 31 spline, good for me.

i am looking for the ball park such that i can make the best of what i have. i am grateful for any and all help, but showing me where and how you did something is a better way for me to learn a new skill then telling me that you did it and that I need to find more information on the topic. this is not said to be a ##### but i have not learned any new information on this post, and yes i am the one to start it...lmao. hell i dont even think this is the best place for this but i will take anything i can get. and i am not bickering too much, as this idea in general is frowned upon at TRS.

 

[Rustydog]

#####=pri-ck

 

[410Fortune]

The only shaft in my setup that is not stock is the outer slip yoke shaft on the passenger side.

When you cut the beams at the pivots, any increase in track width can be made up for here, up to 3" or so, I wouldnt go any more then that.


If you go 4.5" over per side, and extend the beams after the radius arms you can use stock D44 outer shafts and gain 9" of track width for cheap.

Screw TRS then, what is the problem over there? Cut and turned TTB's ride far superior to a bolt on lift kit....

Trial and error will teach you more about it then research.
I basically was armed with my friend Brett's knowledge and my own, along with the detailed Zimmerman article, all the reading I had done over the years, looking at Autofab and Camburg beams. Other then that you just gotta use common sense and start chopping First set of beams took us a long time to fabricate, lots of thinking, and then when we bolted them up, ooops they were scrap metal.....

Email me and I will see what pics I can send you, we didnt take many but I do have a couple that will help you get an idea of how simple the jigs can be to make.

410@wispertel.net

Did you learn anything yet? hahaha

 

[jovi]

410 fortune i have emailed you but didn't get a reply so i don't know if you got it.I would like to send you a set of beams and have them cut atbout 3 inches please email me and give me a price,i really need to get this done and i think you are the best person for the job.Thanks

 

[Brett]

#####=pri-ck

Hey now - No need for name calling!

410 and my beams are actually 1" wider than stock. 1/2" on each side. The first set we did was trail and error. Then we got them right with mine and 410's - however we needed to have a custom shaft made to take up the extra 1". I've put over 30K miles on my setup and never once have had an issue. Then the jig was modified for stock width so stock shafts can be used and I have built a couple of sets with this configuration.

This is a lot of work and does require good fabrication skills. Quite honestly, it is more work than people are willing to pay and the risk factor of modifying the front axle is far greater than the few dollars I'd make off of each set. This is also the reason I don't post an article or detailed pictures (even though I have them). I don't want to be held reliable in some way for someone else's shabby work.

The zimmerman article will point you in the right direction, but isn't completely accurate in terms of their angles. Thus the cause and affect of why they kept blowing out their center shaft.

Brett