Ford 4x4?

[Casey429]

Hey everyone. Is there anone out there that sells a resin Twin Traction Beam suspension found under '80-96 trucks and Broncos? I've used a Revell '80 Bronco under an AMT '95 F-150 with good results, but I can't find the Bronco around here anymore since my closest LHS went out of business, and I don't wanna have to track a few more down for some other trucks I want to build. I know Bigjeepzz Resin made one some time ago, but I don't think he ever got back into the resin game.

[Chuck Most]

Casey I don't of any in resin,but you can still find the Monogram Broncos for a decent price on ebay,but they are 1/24 scale. If you're not doing a factory stock pickup,just put a solid axle under the front.

Roger's right- the Monogram Bronc is the only scale Traction Beam setup- though you could always go the sraight axle route, or make your own Traction Beam front end. I'd rather have the straight axle- I never did care much for the Traction Beam suspension on my '81 F-250.

[Jordan White]

Actually, don't forget that AMT produced a version of the Bronco, and you can still find it at Model Roundup. IMO, it has a better TTB due to the fact that it is in separate pieces, whereas (correct me if I'm wrong) the Monogram Bronco has the TTB as a single piece.

[Casey429]

Thanks guys. The problem is I don't want to have to bash the front end from another truck, because then I've got a bunch of Bronco shells sitting around. I'm building a couple factory stockers so I need the TTB, or else I'd just throw a solid Dana 44 or 60 up front. Plus, I looked at the box on the AMT Bronco, and if memory serves me right, it had leaf sprung TTB like the F-250 which is not correct for a Bronco or F-150. However, that could come in handy in building my '85 F-250 by bashing the Bronco and F-150.

[Jordan White]

I have the AMT Bronco sitting in front of me, and it has the correct coils with trailing arms. *shrug*

In any case though, it looks like your best bet is just throwing in solid axles, since I can't think of any place that makes resin TTBs.

Edit: No problem in having multiple unused Bronco kits sitting around, I'm sure they would be easy to trade off since other people could use them for building a custom Bronco, or for building a 1980-86 F-150/250/350 or 1987-1996 Bronco.

Edited February 23, 2010 by YJIslander

[Jordan White]

Oh I'm sure it is. That's my plan with the "new" F-250 kit coming back out. Course the Bronco is 1/25 and the F-Series are 1/24, but it shouldn't be that big of a difference.

[Casey429]

Maybe my memory was a little fuzzy with the leaf/coil deal. I could've swore thats how it looked on the box, but who knows. Thanks for all the help guys. Might have to grab at least one of those Broncos and see if I can cast it myself. I've done a little personal resin work with mostly good results, so why not? I'll have to get one and see what the pieces look like. I really didn't want to go through the hassle of this, but I guess I don't have a choice.

[Jordan White]

something i just thought about, but could be wrong on. i think the TTB was used only on 4x4 F-150's and Bronco's. if that's the case then using it under a F250 or larger would be wrong? maybe it's the F350 that got a solid axle?

Dave

I actually have a brochure for the 1989 trucks, and it says that the 2WD F-350 is supposed to have a monobeam front axle, and the 4WD F-350 has a solid front axle (4WD F-250 still has TTB).

So it goes:

Bronco: 2WD-Twin I Beam 4WD-TTB, Front Coil

F-150: 2WD-Twin I Beam 4WD-TTB, Front Coil

F-250: 2WD-Twin I Beam 4WD-TTB, Front Leaf Spring

F-350: 2WD-Monobeam 4WD-Solid Axle, Front Leaf Spring

Edited February 24, 2010 by YJIslander

[Casey429]

I had a though to maybe try scratching my own TTB outf of styrene. The shapes are fairly simple, and I've got my F-150 in the driveway to take measurements and pics off of. This leads me to my next question, does anyone cast resin Dana certersections? I would prefer just a center, but a whole axle would work.

[jeffs396]

Matt Conte casts Dana 60s if that's what you want...

DENCON Scale Resin Specialties

[Longbox55]

The Dana 60 might be a bit big for a TTB conversion. The 1:1s used variations of the 44 and a Ford specific 50. Both are smaller than the 60.

[bigphoto]

Some more clarification and confusion to the mix

Revell's 1/24 Bronco is the old Monogram kit also shared suspension with their F150

Stepside.

Revell's own 1/25 Bronco found with the speedboat and Police version has an incorrect

leaf sprung TTB (which works well under the Mono. dually and F250).

You could also use any of the MPC Bronco TTB for the 90's AMT truck kits to make them 4x4.