Well the Nissan my wife and I purchased is back at the dealership. It had a problem in the front diff that was gonna be a costly fix. Luckily in Arkansas you have 30 days to cancel a purchase of a new or used vehicle. We are now the proud owners of a '91 Ford Explorer 4dr, w/ 4.0 V6, AT, 4x4. I don't know much about the tranny and transfer case but it does have TTB. The 4.0 is alot stronger motor than I realized. We will probably leave it mostly stock except maybe increasing tire diameter and width a little. No mud tires just some good all-terrains. It also has the factory towing package, complete with oil and tranny coolers. There are a few minor things that need attention like painting the rear pillars, a jumpy water temp gauge (wich I believe is a loose or worn wire), the gas gauge doesn't work, and I believe it has a warped brake rotor. If anyone knows of something I should check into or info on the tranny and t-case that would be a great help. Thanks.  

Good solid trucks. The tranny is an A4LD, the T-case is a 1354 Borg Warner. The TTB is nearly indestructible, as is the 31-spline rear 8.8. Keep in mind the A4LD is better with a tranny cooler, heat will kill them quickly, glad yours has one. Replace the auto hubs (if equipped) with Warn manuals and go enjoy it.

--Sean  

The manual hubs is a great idea but, my wife is the primary driver and I would rather keep it as simple to operate as possible. She will not be doing any off-roading just alot of highway driving. The 4wd is for my piece of mind. I would hate for her to be out on a snowy night without it. We have done some mild trail riding just to give her a feel for driving in 4wd. I did make an amazing discovery yesterday though, someone has put an e-locker in the rear (sweet). I explained to her how that can be very beneficial if she happens to find herself in a sticky situation.  

seanpholman:
Good solid trucks. The tranny is an A4LD, the T-case is a 1354 Borg Warner. The TTB is nearly indestructible, as is the 31-spline rear 8.8. Keep in mind the A4LD is better with a tranny cooler, heat will kill them quickly, glad yours has one. Replace the auto hubs (if equipped) with Warn manuals and go enjoy it.

--Sean

I do not share your warm fuzzy feelings about the TTB. I think it is one of the worst front ends ever put on a 4x4. While is might be hard to break the axle they are know to eat tires and handle squirrley on bumpy road because of large camber changes in front "swing" axle as it travels in suspension and as axles swing they also very track width which all adds up to rapid tire wear and funny handling at times. THrough is some wear for himiles or abuse and they can really get sloppy too. The TTB was not one of Fords better ideas and it escapes me why they procrastinated so long before they finally let it RIP. (like right after the lawsuit over them rolling over with a blown rear tire durring which the TTB helped it to go turtle)  

I disagree with you Snoman. For wheeling it is one of the best front ends they ever made. I would take a well-built TTB front end over SLA any day of the week. So what if a drawback is a big camber change? Rotate your tires often, make sure your radius arm bushings are in good shape and pack your wheel bearings when required and you will get years of trouble free service from TTB. Sure they can have quirky handling in some situations, but so can a solid axle. If you drive according to your skill level and vehicle's capability these are non-issues. That being said, if I had to choose a vehicle for the street only or little wheeling, TTB would not be my first choice. I like TTB and I stand by what I said in my earlier post. Built right they are close to bulletproof on the trail.

--Sean  

My full-size ,of course has TTB. When I got it I replaced all the bushings and bearings because it was abit squirrely. I also replaced the factory steering stabilizer with a new heavy duty from NAPA. This completely cured the problem, sure driving 60 mph down a gravel road can be iffy at times but that has alot to do with the short wheelbase. I drove an '86 Bronco II several years ago it had a real bad issue of squirrely stearing at high speed in loose terrain. Those had a real short wheelbase. The F-150's did not have this problem when the front end was kept in good shape. The longer wheelbase made a huge difference, in comparison with the track and wheelbase on the explorer it is much better than the 2 dr model's, the Bronco II's, and even my full-size. I have drove the Explorer over much rougher terrain than it will ever see with my wife behind the wheel and she is real good about knowing when problems are arising with a vehicle. I feel much safer with her behind the wheel of this truck than most other comparable vehicles (except Jeep, I tried but she wouldn't have it). TTB beats out the CV IFS anyday!!! Hate voting against you on this one Snoman, but I like TTB for the ride comfort of IFS and the durability of a solid axle. I know the ridgity of a solid axle is great (bout got the 44 ready for the cherokee). But after all, this will be an asphalt driven vehicle 99.5% of the time. She's still threatening to drive the Jeep when she wants some mudflinging done, and my son ia staring to ask when he can learn to drive. He's 13????? Maybe just let him build his own that way he can fix it when he breaks it so I won't have to. Well cancel a few other projects in the thought process. Anyway, sorry for disagreeing with you, Snoman, and thank both you and Sean for your nput.  

seanpholman:
I disagree with you Snoman. For wheeling it is one of the best front ends they ever made. I would take a well-built TTB front end over SLA any day of the week. So what if a drawback is a big camber change? Rotate your tires often, make sure your radius arm bushings are in good shape and pack your wheel bearings when required and you will get years of trouble free service from TTB. Sure they can have quirky handling in some situations, but so can a solid axle. If you drive according to your skill level and vehicle's capability these are non-issues. That being said, if I had to choose a vehicle for the street only or little wheeling, TTB would not be my first choice. I like TTB and I stand by what I said in my earlier post. Built right they are close to bulletproof on the trail.

--Sean

So do I stand by it. Worst front drive axle ever made. I do not buy having to rotate tires often so that they all wear out quick because a TTB will eat them. It is a poor mans front drive axle and the only thing good about it is that it has a fairly smooth ride. It also has poor ground clearance when you land hard and again it can handle squirrley at times. The sad part is that Ford does not basically build a bad truck but the TTB is a joke. Never seen one that did not wear the tires funny. I have a 28 year old jeep truck that has never worn tires funny and it has had a very hard liffe including many years of plowing snow. My old 89 4x4 burb that I bought new has never worn tires funny either even after 180K miles. A TTB is one 4x4 I would never own  as being around them and using a few of them and helping fix some too is all the time I want to ever spend with them. Maybe my words sound a little cruel but it is a bad design that should have never seen the light of day in my book.  

To each his own.

--Sean