Which one?

[dannyboy3141]

Okay everyone... coil springs vs torsion bars... Go!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Leafs.....

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[ATX]

Lol ^ springs brotha


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[pjtoledo]

torsion bars hands down, er, I'm mean hands up.
they are easier to grab and slide around while working under the truck!

 

[adsm08]

Well, I guess it kinda depends.

Coils will give a nicer ride, generally, but T-bars are easier to get more height out of, as long as you only want 2-3 inches.

Coils are easier to replace if needed, but I have only ever once seen a t-bar break, and that truck was probably parked in the ocean at some point.

Coils are all loopy, but on the other hand F' t-bars.


Really, if you are set on IFS, the only time I shy away from T-bars is on the F-150s, because the idiots that designed that system thought it was a good idea to run them through the trans cross member without designing in a removable center section like the Ranger/Explorers had, which makes trans removal somewhat tons more difficult than it should have been.

 

[dannyboy3141]

Well, I guess it kinda depends.

Coils will give a nicer ride, generally..... but I have only ever once seen a t-bar break

So would you say that the coil spring would be a softer ride and the T bar would be tougher suspension essentially?

Also, I am looking to increase the suspension travel. Which way should I go? Which type of suspension would be cheaper to modify if I did all the work myself? And which would be lighter weight?

 

[stmitch]

Torsion bars will allow ride height adjustments for very little cash as long as it's not more than a couple of inches either direction. Once you hit that point though, it becomes more expensive and difficult than coils to go further.

The torsion bar trucks had different (larger) crossmembers and were generally heavier duty than the coil spring design. For that reason, I'd guess that a coil spring truck would be lighter than a similar T-bar truck. But I wouldn't expect the difference to be very significant.

 

[dannyboy3141]

I am only looking for a few inches of lift. But otherwise, how about suspension travel? I am looking to increase my suspension travel, not just lifted and still have the same travel distance.

The real question is can I get enough travel out of torsion bars? I have an old XLT right now that I am planning on replacing with something a little newer, and I was thinking of an Edge. But I wasn't so sure about the bars. I am really mostly looking to have longer suspension travel than stock.

 

[pjtoledo]

what year?

for 98+ the frames are different coil vs t-bar

you can optimize the suspension travel by checking shock compression at normal/desired ride height. if the shock is near full compression or full extension you won't get much travel.

 

[dannyboy3141]

The year I was looking at was 2001. And I would be replacing the stock shocks anyway.

 

[don4331]

If you want "few" inches of lift - do a body lift.

Neither torsion twist nor Superlift will get you any more travel (or ground clearance in case of Superlift) <Much to my pocket book's dismay>.

The A-arms are just too short and you wind up with angularity issues. (Applies equally to coil or torsion suspensions).

That leaves 2 choices: Dixon Brothers (break out your check book, it will cost $4k after new A-arms, springs, shocks, fender flares, etc for 2wd, add a grand for 4x4) or get a pre-98. While Ford's IFS might have some known issues, ability to lift and get more travel isn't one of them...

 

[dannyboy3141]

If you want "few" inches of lift - do a body lift.

The problem with that is that I am planning to move back to PA, and body lifts are illegal in PA. I'm not saying people don't have them, I'm saying that they're not legal. And I was actually looking at some kits from Camburg to add a little travel.

 

[dannyboy3141]

While Ford's IFS might have some known issues, ability to lift and get more travel isn't one of them...

So, did they have T bars on any of the old I beam setups? Or would I strictly be looking at coils? Which of the pre 98 models would have what suspension?

 

[don4331]

Everything '83-'97 is coil spring. T-bars are '98-'11.

For sh!ts&giggles, I read the Pub 45 Section 175 sub chapter E and it doesn't say boo about body lifts that I could see...

You'll still be close to $4k after Camburg kit, fenders, etc.