Straight Axle vs Twin I Beam

[simonscr]

This is probably a personal preference thing.

How does a STOCK 2 wheel drive truck with a straight axle handle, corner, and drive compared to a twin I beam truck?

Pros and Cons of each?

[chris401]

I-Beams tend to road walk when driving fast. The wall of air lifts the nose, the wheels caster, camber go positive and toe goes negative. They can take bumps, potholes, off road and a few jumps, they are tuff. I had a body shop align mine and never had tire problems, nice even wear for years. No experience with straights, would like to own one some day.

[skidoorulz]

I have a straight axle 64. I think of it as driving a 4wd pickup with a solid front differential. A rougher ride than an IFS front end.

[bruceandersson]

I think the single biggest benefit of the twin ibeam is that you can upgrade to power disk brakes and steering in an afternoon by using donor parts from 67-79 trucks. As far as driving and cornering, both setups were designed for work not handling. If you want to autocross, you would probably want to upgrade either of them.

[BarnieTrk]

I have a straight axle 64. I think of it as driving a 4wd pickup with a solid front differential. A rougher ride than an IFS front end.

I have a straight axle 64. I think of it as driving a 4wd pickup with a solid front differential. A rougher ride than an IFS front end.

To me, that's an understatement! Now my straight axle '63 did have stiff, bias-ply tires (which don't help in the ride department either) but when I sold the '63 and bought the '65, I told folks that my ride advanced from a hay wagon to a car! But realize that the ride has a LOT to do with what tires you have, the condition of the shocks/springs and simply the condition the roads you travel on..... Back in the day, in rural upstate MI, I traveled many a pot-holed, old& poor pavement as well as rough wash-board gravel roads. I don't care what suspension you've got, those roads would still beat the crap out of you if you traveled over 40mph!

From a weekend cruiser/hobby truck standpoint, the straight axle trucks would be easier to get the 'lowered look'.

BarnieTrk

[R Pope]

Twin I beam setup has a lot more wear points than a single, and have to be kept in good condition or they can be pretty scary! Shocks are the first thing that have to be good, or the truck will "walk" one way on a bump. They are hard to bring back when they walk bad......

[randyr]

One of the advantages of the straight axle truck is that there's a whole lot less to cut out when you decide to upgrade to a more modern IFS......

[douglloyd]

This may not be a fair comparison, but I like the way my '66 1 ton (straight beam) handles on corners. Just cruises around, no funny stuff. My 1/2 ton '66 with the beams dives and rolls like - well, like a car.

Doug in east TN