school me on ttb

[stevelknievel]

i believe ive finally found a ttb front end to put back under my bronco. the plan is to reuse my drop brackets that are on there for now until i can get some extended radius arms and cut and turn the beams. ive got a couple questions,
what exactly is done when beams are cut and turned?
right now my rig has 6 inch lift coils but i plan to drop to a 4 inch coil can the beams be cut and turned for a 4 inch lift and not be terrible at 6 inches temporarily or should i try and do it all at once?
other than the terrible ground clearance are there any major issues with running drop brackets for the radius arms right now?
pics or a specific thread would be great (i have read the sticky but havent searched a ton, im working on that now)

[Agui-E7TE]

Do it all at once. If you're riding on 6-Inch coils already, I would look into getting a set of cut and turned beams (AUTOFAB, Southwest Performance, Solo Motorsports, Threat Motorsports and bajascott all make quality cut and turned beams) and remove the drop brackets and go to stock pivots (or Solo's fabricated pivot brackets) and use 4-inch coils. A lot of guys recommend using 4-inch Pro Comp coils.

If you're going to end up going to coilovers in the future, just do everything right off the bat since it will save you money in the long run as well as time, which you'll now have.. to play with a bad ass long travel Bronco.

Tony (tcm glx) has this same kit on his Bronco as does his brother Vic (vred) and The ride quality is second to none on both of these. You can haul the mail through the roughest parts of Baja but you wouldn't even know it since they ride like a dream the whole time.

http://www.gofastbroncos.com/forum/view ... =26&t=3547

[stevelknievel]

Had a feeling I should get coils and new brackets the drop brackets are brutal. As far as the beams this is a budget build for right now I've got a couple people who at the very least weld the beams for me (my damn garage won't hold 220) is it something that can be done without a massive issue?

[Agui-E7TE]

A set of beams will go for about $300-$500 with core exchange with most of those shops. Price varies from company to company. Solo Motorsports has beams for $300 with exchange. Most shops that could handle doing cut and turned beams will tell you that the amount of time you'll invest in getting it right isn't worth it and that it's easier and cheaper to go with a company who cranks them out all day.

Drop brackets and 6-inch coils will work as long as you don't jump the crap out of it. Lots of people say they'll break the frame but you have to remember that you're not in the desert 100 percent of the time. That being said, I have some beefy Skyjacker drop brackets with 6-inch coils and extended radius arms and it works pretty good with Bilstein 5150's. I'm going to go to cut and turned beams with 4-inch pro comp coils and likely go to coilovers some time down the road. I already have Deaver F53s on it and honestly, that has made much more of a difference in performance than anything else. I do realize this has/will create more work for me in the future and will also cost me more in the long run... oh well, so do all my other trucks.


As for garage welding, I have the same problem but all I have is a humble little 85 amp Lincoln flux core welder (no provisions for gas for true MIG welding) and it works fine for small stuff but I'm not that great of a welder anyway. I'd love to get a bigger welder and start trying to learn more but I have to get someone to hook up 220 to my garage. The power coming down to the house is 220 but the garage is only 110. I have buddies who connect the welder to the drier outlet and use that to weld with a 220 volt welder.

[stevelknievel]

ok so going from what youre saying could i run a 4 inch coil and not cut and turn the beams? keep in mind im in MI and the only thing close to desert is the dunes which is still 4 hours away i dont plan on jumping this truck but id like to be able to eat up some rough stuff with somewhat ease. i thought C&T beams were a must?

[Agui-E7TE]

No, the cut and turned beams are used in conjunction with a 4-inch lift coil. I would say that if you have a shop out there that knows how to do this, that would be a viable option. For some stuff out here in the desert, as well as dunes.. a 2-inch lift coil with Bilstein 5100's all around works fairly well. I would venture to say that a set up like that with some Deaver F53's would work incredibly well. You could also get some Camburg shackles to get the rear to cycle a few more inches of wheel travel.

Chris (BajaBronco13) took his Bronco down to Baja for the 1000 and was moving at a good pace through the dirt. All it has is 2-inch lift coils, Bilstein 5100s and 33-inch BFG All Terrains. It's a great combination that will bring you lots of fun.

If you're planning on going a lot faster through choppy sand whoops, I would say either buy a set of beams from a shop that does this, or have a shop work with you to build your current ones. I should also mention that Shane Cassad of Bilstein runs 2-inch Drop Brackets with Southwest Performance's trussed beams but they are unique because they don't feature a cut and turn beam. I would assume that the eccentric used to bring these beams into alignment are probably similar to the ones used for the 2-inch lift. He runs a set of 12-inch-stroke Bilstein 9100 2.65 in. Coilovers for the front.

It's about a 4-inch lift. I would think you could use Rancho 2-inch drop brackets along with 4-inch lift coils and either have a shop build you some extended radius arms and pivot boxes or do them yourself if you can't afford the shipping and price from all the vendors above. This would allow you to keep your current beams while also giving you a lower ride height that will also allow for more suspension travel with less headaches about breaking pivot brackets. I'm not sure if Shane's Rancho 2-inch drop brackets were reinforced but I would say its probably worth doing before hand.


From what Shane's told me, he wanted to go this way to keep the front axleshafts from binding or maxing out through it's full suspension cycle (it keeps the joints in line or at least closer to it than C&T Beams.. at least that's the theory) I rode in his truck as well and it just flat out works in the rough stuff.. A friend who happened to have a Raptor out with us got Shane a little excited and eventually after a few passes back and forth they started racing through the Mojave and wouldn't you know it, the Bronco stayed out front the whole time. Of course the obvious drawback of a suspension like this is having less ground clearance compared to C&T Beams which use the factory pivot pivot brackets.

[stevelknievel]

with the setup you have on your truck now how well does it handle when your out playing around? and any rough idea what kind of travel its producing? i ask because i didnt want to go any smaller than 35's right now. and eventually ill pick up some good beams and radius arms with a coilover setup but right now i just want something simple that will allow for a somewhat decent amount of wheel travel, like i said i dont plan on jumping this truck too often (but it may see a little from time to time). and ill assume your beams are stock correct? have you had any issues with camber with that lift?

also thank you very very much for the insight this is beyond helpful!

[Agui-E7TE]

My beams are stock and I do have alignment issues but that's mostly because I haven't had it aligned since I put the kit on. I adjusted the toe and since the tires were fairly straight, I didn't bother aligning. I recently noticed that it's starting to wear my passenger side tire on the outside just a bit.

This suspension was on a friend's Bronco for a while and he had Deaver J40s in the rear and it easily ran 65 mph in the sand and never felt like it was out of control. We got it up to 70 and it still felt cool and he also hucked it pretty good more than a few times. I will say that I wore out a beam pivot (might have just been old) and it stated to wobble really bad down the road. It was the scariest thing for everyone around me and it was random too. I popped in a new beam pivot and it has been fine and drives really nice now.

The Skyjacker 6-Inch lift kit with extended radius arms and Bilstein 5150s (get the 5100.. they have better internals) probably deliver 10-12 inches of travel out of the front. The rear has made more of a difference for me since it just absorbs most of what I can throw at it. I am running 35's as well. I had 10-inch wide offset wheels (they're for my CJ7) and they rubbed the fenders on one outing but that was only on hard landings after catching at least a foot and a half of air. With the factory Alcoas, it doesn't rub at all. I jump the crap out of my Bronco (that's why I'm going C&T in the future) and I've always felt like it works pretty well off road. I bet with a better set of shocks for the front it would perform even better.

This is the suspension that is now on my Bronco. He went to a 4.5-inch wider Camburg coilover front but he said he loved the way the Skyjacker kit handled the dunes and he was running 37-inch Red Label Grabbers. It stated to rub the fenders and quarters (eventually bending them) but it never bottomed out. It sounded wicked cool when it rubbed the fenders at high speed

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0905or_ ... index.html

[stevelknievel]

thats awesome news i think for now im going to model my front end after yours as it sounds like exactly what i want

[Agui-E7TE]

What front suspension do you have right now... you mentioned you have a 6-Inch lift on it, right?

[stevelknievel]

Yeah. it was solid axle swapped with a Dana 44.

[Agui-E7TE]

Oh, so you'd be looking at swapping back to a TTB set up, right? If so, I'd almost just say you should keep the solid axle. Build it like the Moss Bros Bronco and it should be plenty of fun. That's how I'd like to build my '79 Bronco some day.

I bet some 12-inch stroke Bilstein 7100 shocks would perform really good. I have some 6.5-inch dual rate coil springs on my '79 Bronco. It has a Cage Off Road long arm kit and it seems to handle pretty good in the dirt. Jim Cole is the guy who designed the radius arms (he used to work for James Duff Suspension) and from what I hear, he has a new business called Bloody Knuckle Garage.. Cage Off Road went out of business a few years ago so Jim opened up his own.

West Coast Broncos have a set of Radius arms that are even stronger than the ones I have and I believe that's what the Moss Bros run on their Bronco. On your Bronco I would consider a set of Deaver 5.5 inch dual rate springs since they will give you a smoother ride and just cycle the suspension for shock length (extended and compressed) and order up a set of shocks from Bilstein for your Bronco.

[stevelknievel]

I had thought about it but I'd be pulling the front axle to put new c bushings and radius arms/mounts and the panhard bar was halfassed and personally if in gonna pull it all out anyways I want ttb

[Agui-E7TE]

Well, that's just a good reason as any to go to TTB. The cool thing is you can sell the D44 solid axle to offset some of the cost of swapping back to TTB.

[stevelknievel]

That's my plan it's not a bad setup but the po built it as a mud truck and cut more corners than I could have imagined.

[Agui-E7TE]

I hear you, my GMC had been repaired by it's previous owner and they used old newspaper, cardboard, beer cans and some other unidentifiable stuff to repair the rocker panels on the cab.

[stevelknievel]

Haha awesome my trucks panhard bar is what I've found out to be a tsc special meant for a tractor top link

[stevelknievel]

finally got a front end and going to start tearing my truck apart as soon as i can get the other 3 cars outta my driveway, anyone have a picture of their rigs with the drop brackets mounted to their beams?

[stevelknievel]

another question, my plan was to pick up some extended radius arms for the truck but my budget has taken a turn for the worst, for now can i use the radius arm drop brackets my truck has right now? it will obviously kill my ground clearance but is there any major adverse effect other than that?

[Agui-E7TE]

It'll limit your suspension travel but will work to get you by for now until you can save up for some extended radius arms.