hey all. I just have a question for you. I recently had to pull my uncle's 02 F150 on to my trailer and give it a tow back to his house and when I hooked up the truck using a come along to pull it onto my trailer I noticed it didn't have the twin I beam front end. So my question is when did they stop using this type of front suspension on the F-150?

 

I am guessing that no one will give me answer on this one.

 

grindman: You deserve an answer!

I found this on the Ford Truck forum:
It was developed because Ford wanted a independent heavy duty front suspension without losing the indestructable features of the I beam axle (forged beams and king pins). Ford was pretty much the last company to still use the staight I beam at the time ('64). The Chevy trucks pretty much had a heavy duty car suspension which isn't great for heavy weights but rode nice. The Twin-I-beam was used from 65-96 on the trucks and I think it might still be used on the Econoline vans.

But our Mazda B2300 has the twin I beams.....

And further down that same thread a guy writes:
Ford still uses the twin "I" beam setup on the super duty trucks. It first appeared in 65, and the original version with forged steel beams, and cast trailing arms was very strong with almost no problems.

 

that's what I thought. it's also the reason why a person can't put a heavy load on the F-150's any more. it seems to me that as time goes on the weaker the trucks are getting and people are thinking that quality ain't as important as it used to be. 1979 was the last year they used the kingpins for twin I beams. they went to putting in ball joints instead. my uncles truck is three times weaker than my 94 and his is an 02. it makes me wish that I still had my many old trucks but I was stupid and either traded them off or sold them

 

With your skills you should revive one of them. In our area they show up routinely: 78 ford f100 need gone asap

 

really 78 F-100 need gone asap. well if I had the money to go get it I'd do it in a heartbeat. Is you or someone else?

 

It's not me.

My late father in law had a '71 he called the Black Knight. He took his vegetables to the farmers market with it. That truck was used the way it was intended. I could have kept it running and it would have been the perfect rat rod without any work at all! The bench seat was springs only, ouch! Taking it form NC to Iowa would have been too risky.
Keep checking Craigslist in your area and you are bound to find one.

 

my income is below the poverty level meaning that I live on what the gov. gives me every month. it ain't easy to manage money and get enough to eat without any help

 

I know the feeling. I see a lot of vehicle bargains on the FB bidit sites, but they are only a bargain if you have any money.

 

Grindman, I don't know what put you into this situation. But I have never met anyone who liked to be in this situation. Whatever curve ball life has thrown you, keep rocking as much as you can.
You are giving a lot of people a lift with your advise. That shows a lot of character!

Hats off to you!