New guy

Post by **Big Rick** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:02 pm

hey everybody. I just got my first 4wd vehicle and I'm hoping to join up and try to find some trails. I'm an alumnus of VT and CCVT. I know some people on here like James...and I think Manning is on here sometimes. I'm going to try to make it to the meeting this Sunday but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it because I have to swap out some ball joints and I don't know if that'll run into the meeting time or not.

About a month ago, I bought a 95 Bronco (with a 302).

This is what it looked like when I got it:

I found a Tuff Country 4" lift kit on craigslist and picked it up along with some 35x12.50 BFG Mud Terrains. I got the lift and tires on a couple weeks ago...

1/2 lifted:

all the way lifted:

A couple of my favorite pics of it to date:

You'll notice there are no trail pics. That is because I found out when I went to get it aligned that the ball joints are shot and need to be replaced. I didn't get it aligned and thus haven't driven it at all. Like I said earlier...ball joints this weekend, alignment next week, then I'll be ready...ish. I still need to drill out some sheared bolts from the spare tire carrier from when I took it off to do some work on it and paint it. Then I'll get that back on and I should be all set.

Post by **BadAssEddie** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:21 am

Welcome, cool Bronco. I have one too.

Look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Post by **shmoken875** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:15 am

got a good start there

Post by **Big Rick** » Thu May 05, 2011 10:38 pm

Little update...

I was finally able to drill/tap those old bolt holes for the spare tire carrier. So I have the 5th 35 on it. That tailgate sure doesn't like that thing getting closed on it lol.

Unfortunately, I think the ground on my CB antenna is kinda weak now that I moved it outside the tire carrier bracket. I'm going to have to figure that out at some point...

I also took some time last weekend to cut out most of the floor in the back because the mat underneath wasn't drying at all and I'm going to bedliner on the floor eventually anyway.

Next things I need to do...in order...

-Fix the leaking brake like I just found (luckily I found it/it started in my driveway).
-Replace the doorpins/bushings. The driver's door is sagging so much that it completely destroyed the bushing on the striker. I put a new one on and this is what it looked like after closing the door once...I have another one to put on after the new door pins are in...

-Bolt down the center console properly and bolt in the tool box.
-Figure out ground for CB antenna.
-Fix the rear window....i'm tired of climbing back there and hooking up the jump box to those leads lol
-replace the bent latch control assembly in the tailgate.
-I might take out the rest of the interior in the back...its all in pretty poor shape and its not really necessary...

Those are the next few little things I need to do. The next few bigger projects are probably going to be the bedliner on the floor, new rear bumper with tire carrier and a couple other little goodies, a soft top, and/or new lights for the front. Once the new rear bumper is on, the next step will be a new tailgate.

Post by **Big Rick** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:27 pm

Big Rick wrote:-Bolt down the center console properly and bolt in the tool box. DONE(ish)
-Figure out ground for CB antenna.
-Fix the rear window....i'm tired of climbing back there and hooking up the jump box to those leads lol (Took off the top and removed the window. Problem solved...kinda)
-replace the bent latch control assembly in the tailgate.
-I might take out the rest of the interior in the back...its all in pretty poor shape and its not really necessary... DONE

Time for a little update. By little I mean I didnâ€™t do a whole lot, but this post is long and has lots of pics lol Copied over from the CCVT forum...most of this was a while ago...

Before the main meat of the postâ€¦heres just a quick pic of my super sweet soft top lol

Iâ€™ve been working on my cargo control system. I decided I wanted a large locking tool box that I wonâ€™t have to worry about being stolen with the top off and will be pretty secure while the Bronco is bouncing around on trails. I bought a 50 Gal Stanley mobile job chest from Home Depot.

Its sturdy and lockable. Perfect. It has a sweet removable tool tray that sits in the handle when its extendedâ€¦sweet.

I got it home and my craftsman toolbox fits in with the tool tray on top. Way sweet.

I decided that the best method for securing it into the Bronco would be with etrack and some semi-modified tie downs. Some have called etrack way overkill to put in the back of a Bronco. But I donâ€™t careâ€¦I think its gonna work perfectly for me.

These are the tie downs that I used. I just cut the ring off so they could fit through a hole in the bottom of the tool box and use a pin to secure it.

Modified tie down inserted into etrack. The big pin in the middle goes inside the toolbox and the cotter pin through the smaller hole should help prevent someone from being able to get in there and push the little tab up to release the tie down. Iâ€™m not sure how well thatâ€™ll workâ€¦but its worth a shot.

This is a 2â€™ piece of etrack laying in the toolbox to mark for the holes.

The silver sharpie marks you see there are my first attempt. I got one of them cut only to discover that the contours of the bottom of the toolbox wouldnâ€™t allow for them to be that close to the back of the box. I ended up having to cut the holes closer to the middleâ€¦

One hole cut (you canâ€™t see the mistake hole in this photo but you can see it in a few later). Using a large socket and twine for a plumb bob to line up the second holeâ€¦

I used a dremel to get these holes madeâ€¦it makes a huge mess. I wouldnâ€™t recommend doing it in your kitchen like I did lol

I decided I wanted to reinforce the holes a little bit with some 1/8â€

Post by **willhf1011** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:59 am

Looks real good. Whats the status on the gears and such at the moment? Get it back yet?

I like that etrak setup a lot, seems like it will leave you with a lot of options for adjustment

Post by **BadAssEddie** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:13 am

Build thread time

Post by **willhf1011** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:45 am

BadAssEddie wrote:Build thread time

Good call, was about to do that myself.

Post by **Big Rick** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:43 pm

Def. good call. Thanks for moving it.

Will- I am supposed to get it back sometime today. Thanks for the props on the etrack. I'm looking forward to having it done...not so much to installing it lol lots of little holes.

Post by **McCoyboy11** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:53 am

Man that bronco looks familiar....Ive seen it around town I think LOL

Post by **Big Rick** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:56 am

Probably currently in the corner of your eye.

Update on the thread...

Transmission overheated bad yesterday at potts and fluid caught fire on the exhaust. Looks like the little cooler I put on is not sufficient. Gonna get a massive cooler and probably an electric fan as well just to be sure.

Hoping to get the etrack installed this week before the car show.

Post by **KOTABAD** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:13 pm

Yeh that sucked about the Bronco yesterday. Nice glad you could join up neil!

Post by **McCoyboy11** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:16 pm

KOTABAD wrote:Yeh that sucked about the Bronco yesterday. Nice glad you could join up neil!

Josh - thanks man I had fun, I need to come out to some meetings.

YouTube · Post by **TerryD** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:47 pm

The b&m cooler I have works great even without a fan. The stacked plate design trumps the 3-4 pass tube and fin ones any day! On a side note, the tube type is what I used for my power steering cooler and it performed awesome on Potts last weekend. No steering fade/loss like before.

Post by **Big Rick** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:55 pm

yeah...I was originally going to get a B&M stacked plate unit like that...then this one was given to me for free. This is what I get for cheaping out.