OP
kday64
Gold Member
tractorboy5500 said:
At the plane factory?
F450 with PTO???
- Thread starter kday64
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At the plane factory?
PoorMansCat
Platinum Member
I think that my Kubota is mostly Kubota... I hope it is anyway.. that and dealership infrastructure was a major part of my decision to buy it over several other brands...
About the planes... I can honestly say I have never flown.... and never will!!!
My 96 F350 diesel has a leaf spring front with a solid Dana 60 axle...pretty good in my book
Never needed an alignment in 190,000 miles....
Dmace
Elite Member
Try putting a 9ft plow on it. The leaf springs on my 94 F-350 diesel were flat when the plow was off and frowning when I lifted it...My 96 F350 diesel has a leaf spring front with a solid Dana 60 axle...pretty good in my book
Never needed an alignment in 190,000 miles....
My 96 F350 diesel has a leaf spring front with a solid Dana 60 axle...pretty good in my book
Never needed an alignment in 190,000 miles....
every setup has its good and bad points. about 20 years ago i remember asking a family friend who was in the logging business about the reliability of the newer trucks. this was not too many years after gm switched to the independent front end and there were all sorts of horror stories about no grease fittings, plastic ball joints, etc. he ran a 3/4 ton as mainly a service/support truck for his logging business. he also plowed 50 or so accounts in the winter. he said he would never want to go back to the older style. according to him. after 30-50k miles of pounding the dirt roads the older trucks were so worn that you had all you could do to keep them in the road. he had about 150k on the newer one and it was still better handling than the old one was when new.
My 96 F350 diesel has a leaf spring front with a solid Dana 60 axle...pretty good in my book
Never needed an alignment in 190,000 miles....
Well....YEAH..hang that much weight off any pickup front end without some adjustable assist and it's gonna sag.....can't imagine any way around that
PoorMansCat
Platinum Member
My 96 F350 diesel has a leaf spring front with a solid Dana 60 axle...pretty good in my book
Never needed an alignment in 190,000 miles....
yeah.. that was a good one.... look under the front end of the same year truck but an F250 4x4... its "sketchy" at best..
I am actually in the process of trying to gather up all the parts to put the 1ton front end under a 96 F250.....
RobertN
Super Member
What front end do you have? The solid axle with leaf spring was about as good as it gets. Strong, simple, sturdy.
My old 89' F250 started with the Ford Twin I-beam "IFS". rode and handled nice. But the springs on those frontends sag like crazy. That was a bad overall design. It worked ok for coil springs, but leaf's just aren't made to hande all the angular stresses that that particular IFS design had.
I swapped mine to a straight axle, had the leafs rebuilt, and it was awesome!
Interestingly, the stock straight axle, turned much tighter than the stock IFS axle did. It was a long bed xtra-cab, so I appreciated that.
My old 89' F250 started with the Ford Twin I-beam "IFS". rode and handled nice. But the springs on those frontends sag like crazy. That was a bad overall design. It worked ok for coil springs, but leaf's just aren't made to hande all the angular stresses that that particular IFS design had.
I swapped mine to a straight axle, had the leafs rebuilt, and it was awesome!
Interestingly, the stock straight axle, turned much tighter than the stock IFS axle did. It was a long bed xtra-cab, so I appreciated that.
PoorMansCat
Platinum Member
yeah.. the 1 tons had the solid front axle... the 3/4 tons had some... p.o.s. wanna-be independent front end and the Ford "auto locking" hubs... ARGH!!!
The hubs never work and the front suspension is constantly needing attention..
From everything I have heard and read, the solid axle is a basic drop-in to replace the IFS.. I've done several GM conversions years ago.. I figure this one shouldn't be that different.
RobertN
Super Member
Yes, mine was a drop in conversion. Once the springs sag, they need to be rearched or replaced though...
Mine was much nicer with the straight axle. Although the ride was not the same, it turned soooooo much tighter. And, out hunting, it 4-wheeled much better.
I geared mine from 3.55 to 4.11 too. The front axle I got had 4.11; had a shop swap the rear ring/pinion.
Mine was much nicer with the straight axle. Although the ride was not the same, it turned soooooo much tighter. And, out hunting, it 4-wheeled much better.
I geared mine from 3.55 to 4.11 too. The front axle I got had 4.11; had a shop swap the rear ring/pinion.