I currently own a 99 ranger. and with the advice of a few knowledgeable folks on here and a stack of research under my belt I have decided to find a new rig to buy. I love my ford I am 18 years old and already I have owned four ranging from a 67 mustang to an 83 bronco on 36 in ch tires purchased for 300$. I loved my 74 dodge 3/4 ton flatbed on 42's and I really enjoyed playing in the mud in my current ranger. Of all the offroad vehicles I have owned the ranger and the bronco were really the only ones to see off road use and it was mild and solely amateur. with my new found love of offroading in my ranger heres what I have learned I need- larger than a 31 inch tires after trying to climb over downed trees and out of mud holes i learned that a tire is your greatest ally. I also learned that IFS is much too expensive to work with. on top of that I learned that while i love spinnin doughnuts by droppin the clutch i would really love a auto tranny when I am crawling over obstacles to keep from smoking yet another clutch due to amateur clutch action. i learned that body damage is inherent to the sport and is really a record of the things you have conquered and the places you have been. with all of this knowledge that I have accumulated thus far I am ready to buy a rig that will help me further my wheeling knowledge. I need a good platform to build on, something that comes stock with a tough auto tranny, has lots of aftermarket support, can be found with air conditioning and with a lift and 33inch tires will still retain some road manners and driveability (gas mileage) so I have decided to ask for help from the knowledgeable people that frequent this website who have much much more knowledge than I have accumulated to suggest to me what I shpuld look for to use as a daily driver/wheeling rig that I can modify as my driving skill and offroad prowess grows. thanks for reading this novel I have written.  

i would go with ether a cherokee with the 4.0 ho. but those thing are short and require a lot of lift to get decent tires undr them. a toyota 4runner or last to stick with ford and my favorites a bronco or bronco II. i have owned or used these vehicles numerus times and if you want more info on any just PM me.  

I would stay away from a bronco 2 like the plague (and any other ford with a TTB swing axle front end) if you plan to lift it and play hard. The TTB is arguably one of the worst front ends ever put on a 4x4. It escapes why Ford held on to it for so long. The quietly scrapped it during rollover suit because it was helping it loose control and roll over during tire failure.  

dont listen to SnoMan, he's an idiot. there is nothing wrong with TTB's. my first rig an '80 bronco, my current daily driver a '94 F-150 and my current weekend warrior a '88 Bronco II are all TTB and i have never had any problems with any of them. in my view and many others including some chevy and dodge fans all agree that the TTB are the best independant front axles you can get. plus i've seen some Bronco II's with cherokee coils that flex like crazy.  

There is EVERYTHING wrong with a TTB!!! Everytime you hit a bump or suspension deflect the camber and axle track width changes. The more the deflection, the more it changes. This causes tire to wear funny and be erased going down the road and instability and funky handling on wash board road as chamber and track width is constantly changing. With a straight axle you do not have track width problems and with a real IFS, you have unequal control arms so that as tire articulates in suspension the track width is fairly constant and camber changes are minimal. With a TTB all you have is a axle with a hinge in middle and with a Bronco 2 the axle is even shorter so the track and camber change is even more aggressive due to shorter radius on hinge. Then their is the pig and chassis mount for it that hangs down (even more with a lift kit) and it comes a lot closer to ground on deflection while a solid axle the clearance is constant and with IFS it is better than TTB because the CV on front half shafts allow it to be placed above axle center line and still have proper suspension geometry. When I think TTB, I think swing axle on a old VW beetle which had them in rear when it came out in 1939 until around 1970. TTB is stone age stuff and should have been retired long ago. Yes I am outspoken on it but it is a bad suspension and if you do not have one, do not buy it and if you have it and play to play hard either sell truck or do a SAS on it.  

really, and the reason why i have never had any problems with any of my TTB's is? or how about how how comw my tires dont erase or wear unevenly? and besides if you only lift the rig a few inches say like 4" and you get a camber alignment bushing you actually gain even more ground clearance. things dont always look good on paper but i dont care about paper i care about what works. and i have no funky handling on wash board. i can blast down wash board roads and handle straight and true. SO THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TTB. you ask me and its the new IFS that has problems. so ether shut up or go buy or even rent a TTB and experience it yourself. if you can stay open minded you might enjoy it.  

so I have a 99 ranger right now it doesnt have ttb it has the IFS so should i save the money and buy the rcd lift kit/ coilover conversion? it is a kit that costs almost 3k and I dont make a ton of cash. I have looked into cherokees and I really like the fact that there are alot of good cheap parts on it. I saw that one of the editors of the mag did a sas on a ranger like mine is this something that has some impossible fab work?  

sorry about getting off your topic. to me it looks like you have one of three options. the lift for your truck is around 3k. an sas kit to buy which will be the easyest way, from bronco graveyard is about 2k with out the axle. if i were in your shoes i would keep the ranger as is. and save some cash and buy a second rig. maybe try the cheap truck challenge. the cherokees can make great rigs but like all others they have some down sides. like unibody, slip yoke, and some with the auto locking hubs, (the locking fork can break while in 4 and leave you stranded) but they also have solid front end, have after market support, and the 4.0 HO which is a pretty good motor  

def. thanks alot for your help all of the jeeps I have looked at so far have the rubicon express SYE kit on them. I will look into the sas kit for the ranger too. thanks a ton for your help!  

yeah no problem. its www.broncograveyard.com and good luck with whatever you choose  

leavy20:
really, and the reason why i have never had any problems with any of my TTB's is? or how about how how comw my tires dont erase or wear unevenly? and besides if you only lift the rig a few inches say like 4" and you get a camber alignment bushing you actually gain even more ground clearance. things dont always look good on paper but i dont care about paper i care about what works. and i have no funky handling on wash board. i can blast down wash board roads and handle straight and true. SO THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TTB. you ask me and its the new IFS that has problems. so ether shut up or go buy or even rent a TTB and experience it yourself. if you can stay open minded you might enjoy it.

Him open minded??? HA! He'll be under his anti-TTB rock until the day he melts lol.
Funny how those Fords involved in that tire & rollover fiasco were nearly all SLA IFS Explorers, never did see a single TTB one in any of the news reports during that time.

And for whatever it's worth, I have more clearance under my TTB axle than on a straight axle and even some conventional IFS setups. But guaranteed he'd never know why that is.


I would agree though, if you want something that has all the goodies available that can be bolted on in a day (or weekend, whatever it may be), A Jeep of some sort is generally the ticket. A little ways down that list might be a Toyota if you need a pickup (myself, I'd take the Toy before a Joop anyway). They've got a lot of aftermarket stuff available as well, but their 4 cylinder engines are barely a step up from hamster power. Forget about it if you need to tow something even light with it.  

I do love toys but you have to buy such an old toy to get the straight axle Im not sure I want to deal with such and old rig as a daily plus I would have to gear it really low and it would be tougher to get up to freeway speed. I am lookin for a xj to work off of now and the first step is getting my current (99 ford ranger) sold so I have cash to work with when the good deal comes around. I will post up here once I get my truck sold and then again once I buy a new cherokee and give all you nice folks (snoman, levy, sfr4x4) an update on the new rig and what I plan on doing to it. thanks again for all your help guys!!