grumpin Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Strange, my F350 rides pretty nicely unless you start hunting potholes with it. Must be the coil springs. Cruising down a smooth highway is nice with the long wheelbase. Like you said the potholes and bumps will get you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 13, 2019 Author Share Posted May 13, 2019 Cruising down a smooth highway is nice with the long wheelbase. Like you said the potholes and bumps will get you. Bill - Do you read lips? Grumpin - The 4wd HD 250's are the worst of all worlds. I think I have the same spring pack in the rear that Bill does with his football field long DRW. And up front I have maybe 1 1/2" of wheel travel before hitting the bump stop. So the springs are STIFF! I've wondered if adapting an F150's coil front suspension to the 4wd 250HD's TTB's wouldn't work, and use the same springs Bill has on Darth. I mean, the axles and all look the same between Dad's truck and Big Blue, so why couldn't it have coil springs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 .... I've wondered if adapting an F150's coil front suspension to the 4wd 250HD's TTB's wouldn't work, and use the same springs Bill has on Darth. I mean, the axles and all look the same between Dad's truck and Big Blue, so why couldn't it have coil springs? It certainly could. But keep in mind that in addition to supporting the weight, the leaf springs also locate the outer end of the axle beam. With coils you need to add radius arms. Not undoable, but it does get a little more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Bill - Do you read lips? Grumpin - The 4wd HD 250's are the worst of all worlds. I think I have the same spring pack in the rear that Bill does with his football field long DRW. And up front I have maybe 1 1/2" of wheel travel before hitting the bump stop. So the springs are STIFF! I've wondered if adapting an F150's coil front suspension to the 4wd 250HD's TTB's wouldn't work, and use the same springs Bill has on Darth. I mean, the axles and all look the same between Dad's truck and Big Blue, so why couldn't it have coil springs? Doesn't the 460 weigh 720 pounds?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Doesn't the 460 weigh 720 pounds?! More like 865 lbs dressed and filled. I will have to measure my axle to stop distance on Darth for the records. Every time I think about, maybe converting Darth to 4WD two things stop me (a) turning circle, the crew cabs have different front ends and the inside front wheel goes nearly 90° to the frame and (b) the additional height and weight needed for the 4WD components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 13, 2019 Author Share Posted May 13, 2019 .... I've wondered if adapting an F150's coil front suspension to the 4wd 250HD's TTB's wouldn't work, and use the same springs Bill has on Darth. I mean, the axles and all look the same between Dad's truck and Big Blue, so why couldn't it have coil springs? It certainly could. But keep in mind that in addition to supporting the weight, the leaf springs also locate the outer end of the axle beam. With coils you need to add radius arms. Not undoable, but it does get a little more complicated. Yep, I could add the radius arms pretty easily. Make it like a 4wd F150 but use F350 springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Yep, I could add the radius arms pretty easily. Make it like a 4wd F150 but use F350 springs. Or even 2WD F-250 springs? I don't know what options there are, but just because a leaf sprung F-350 rides better than a leaf spring F-250 that doesn't mean that ALL F-350 springs are better riding than their F-250 counterparts. And I've posted a link to this thread before, but it shows how far you can go and how good an '82 F-250 with TTB (and coil springs) can really handle the bumps Which brings up another thought. GoFastBroncos.com is another resource that might be helpful in converting a TTB F-250 to coils. Yeah, it's not a Bronco, but that's where that F-250 link above comes from. He went hog wild on his project, but others there might have tamer builds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 I've wondered if adapting an F150's coil front suspension to the 4wd 250HD's TTB's wouldn't work, and use the same springs Bill has on Darth. I mean, the axles and all look the same between Dad's truck and Big Blue, so why couldn't it have coil springs? I know a guy with radius arm mounts from an F250 if you want to experiment.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 13, 2019 Author Share Posted May 13, 2019 Yep, I could add the radius arms pretty easily. Make it like a 4wd F150 but use F350 springs. Or even 2WD F-250 springs? I don't know what options there are, but just because a leaf sprung F-350 rides better than a leaf spring F-250 that doesn't mean that ALL F-350 springs are better riding than their F-250 counterparts. And I've posted a link to this thread before, but it shows how far you can go and how good an '82 F-250 with TTB (and coil springs) can really handle the bumps Which brings up another thought. GoFastBroncos.com is another resource that might be helpful in converting a TTB F-250 to coils. Yeah, it's not a Bronco, but that's where that F-250 link above comes from. He went hog wild on his project, but others there might have tamer builds. Bob - That's an interesting read. Looks like the F150's TTB's and coil springs worked exceedingly well. Shaun - The radius arm mounts from an F250 would, I assume, bolt onto any F250 frame. Right? If so, the question becomes whether the radius arms will bolt to the F250 TTB's. Then the next question would be if the 2WD LD F250's coil spring mounts could be bolted on. Hmmmm..... So that brings up the question of the cross member. Front what I see the 460's and diesels were only available in 250HD's and 350's with leaf springs, and a cross member for a leaf spring truck is quite different than one with coil springs as the TTB's pivot off the cross member. Right? But, Bill's F350 has coil spring and presumably swing arms. Could that cross member be used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Shaun - The radius arm mounts from an F250 would, I assume, bolt onto any F250 frame. Right? If so, the question becomes whether the radius arms will bolt to the F250 TTB's. Then the next question would be if the 2WD LD F250's coil spring mounts could be bolted on. Hmmmm..... The quick answer is no. The holes are all different and basically nothing bolts on. You would have to drill most of the holes yourself, which is the predicament I will be in once I pull the trigger on the Sky kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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