This is why we don't like TTB's

[Golden Helmet]

Because even when it looks aligned straight, drives arrow-straight, and generally rides fine, these pieces of junk just LOVE to eat tires. I have less than 20K miles on these tires, all pavement, I've rotated them every 3K miles, and this is what they look like:

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I'm planning to "fix it" with a dana 60 swap (just waiting for it to be pulled off the truck it's on), I just thought I'd post this for all the people wondering why the TTB's get so much hate. It's because they wreck your tires, and those ain't cheap.

 

[no mufflers]

looks like the tow is way off. have you rechecked the alignment? not saying that is a normal thing to do in 20k miles but just asking.

 

[david85]

I can't speak directly for the F250 TTB (short swing beams), but when it comes to 2wd twin I-beam (long swing beams) it seems like shops simply don't know how to align them so I had to figure it out on my own.

When I do my alignment, I make my adjustment, then roll the truck back by about 4 feet, then forward again, being careful to not use the main brakes. By using the E-brake, no tension is placed on the front end, and the suspension should be in neutral position by the time it comes to a stop. At that point I can measure the true position and make adjustments as needed.

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

Definately an issue somewhere. My I beams don’t touch the tire tread. My fronts wear even with the rears

 

[Golden Helmet]

looks like the tow is way off. have you rechecked the alignment? not saying that is a normal thing to do in 20k miles but just asking.

I haven't checked it personally with a tape measure or anything, but I had a shop do an alignment when I got the tie rods replaced. All he did was adjust the tie rods until the machine said everything was good, he didn't adjust anything else on the truck (which, I've been told, is the wrong way to do it on these trucks). It drives straight as an arrow down the freeway, but it eats up tires while doing so.

Also, for what it's worth, I didn't pull forwards before taking that third picture, so that's how my front end sits after reversing down an alley and in to my back yard. I've seen other pics of peoples D50's looking way funkier than mine after reversing. Mine is definitely toast though, the front leaf springs are sagged to within 3/4 an inch of the bump stops, the pivot bushings are all cracked, and it pops and creaks like all hell when turning the steering wheel back and forth. The tie rods and shocks are all new, but the rest of the front end is all 300k mile original hardware.

I can't complain too much though really, after that many miles the truck doesn't owe me anything. I just need to put some fresh tires on it but that's gotta wait for the D60 swap, I don't want to sacrifice another set of tires on the altar of the D50.

 

[79jasper]

This is more of a suspension/alignment maintenance slouch problem than it is "all TTB are junk."

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Pork_Chop50]

TTB is one of those items like Communism. In theory it sounds great, but when put into practice it just doesn't cut it. I firmly agree with the fix of a D60, not necessarily for strength but the reduction in maintenance is worth it.

 

[typ4]

My alignment guy charges 60 bucks to do a solid axle.
Double that to do a ttb the right way. He owns one and it does not wear tires.

 

[towcat]

turning radius.
solid axle blows away the TTB
(the song "give me 40 acres" was penned by a SC D50 owner)
end of comment.

 

[Macrobb]

When I had my '93 aligned, they did it seemingly right... put the weight on swivel pads before doing the alignment. It ended up being almost perfect(I replaced a ball joint and tie rod end myself), and it's not wearing oddly... no rotation since last year either, so... 7k+ miles?

Last time I had a truck eat a tire, it was because the ball joint was really shot. Had that fixed and no more issues.

A good alignment and good ball joints etc and it'll wear just fine. I hage no problem at all with my TTB front ends, seems like a softer ride than a f-350 I've rode in.

 

[hce]

I do my own alignment, no tire wear or pulling after I took it upon myself. Pickup always pulled to the right for the 1st 25 years, alignment shops did not ever correct it.
Caster almost needs to be set by trial and error to prevent pulling.
toe is very critical not only to tire wear but also pulling. Pulling is a combination of toe and different casters on each wheel. In theory if there is 0 toe at travel speed, the should be no pulling even if caster differs from one side to the other. The more caster the more force is applied to a tire to travel straight. If toe is positive the wheel with more positive caster will be forced the straightest causing the lesser caster tire to point toward the tire with the most caster. If changes are made to caster, toe needs to be checked. A tape measure is no where near accurate enough to set toe on a ttb. toe spec is (inches): 0.03±0.13" that less then a 1/32 of an inch, and .03-.13=-.1 toe out. As closet possible to the .03 seems to work the best. I've been using a trackace laser alignment for toe, saving one tire will pay for it. For caster and camber its a digital harbor freight angle finder, a chunk of flat iron, and a little math for the caster.
The strange thing about ttb is that the side with the least amount of caster pulls, refer to toe affecting pulling and the fact the toe out is acceptable in a ttb. If the wheels are toed out at speed, then the caster pulling effect reverses from a toed in.
specs for caster in on a 84 FRONT CASTER: L=4.0, R=4.5± 0.5 L=4, R=4½±½, note how the right has more caster, this is opposite to compensate for road crown, but follows the toe out theory. Also thats a lot of caster and thus pulling very sensitive to toe.
If you read the above and understand it your miles ahead of most alignment shops.
Nothing wrong with TTB other then most people are not patient enough to understand how they work.

 

[Pork_Chop50]

Nothing wrong with TTB other then most people are not patient enough to understand how they work.

Possibly the best description I have ever seen. Ahead of it's time? A great idea suffered by cost analysis? Who knows. I am impressed by those who make them work properly.

 

[Mulochico]

A buddy and I had to spend quite a bit of time on mine, but it works great, no unusual tire wear. Still would like to do the D60 swap eventually though.

 

[Thewespaul]

I see the OP’s point tho, he is saying that instead of taking his truck apart and spending the time to rebuild his clapped out Dana 50 to fix his wear problems he would rather upgrade to a Dana 60.
Sounds good to me and for everyone that seems to love the Dana 50 it’s just another complete Dana 50 for sale. Everyone wins

 

[hce]

turning radius.
solid axle blows away the TTB
(the song "give me 40 acres" was penned by a SC D50 owner)
end of comment.

Dana 50 pitman arm is shorter then the 60. I did for a bit install the smallest drop 60 arm. There seemed to be no ill effects, and the turning radius was tighter. I did end up removing, but that was before I had a trackace.