Bronco Build

Post by **Brett** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:31 pm

Hey guys:

I'm think of building a late 80's/early 90's Ford Bronco. I want something to run more difficult trails than my stock f-150 and take the family on camping/hiking outings. Oh yeah and something my wife will drive. Here's what I was thinking:

fuel injected V-8 (302 or 351)
auto tranny (C-6 or E40D?)
possible transfer case mod depending on rig purchased
keeping the 8.8 and putting in some type of locker and lower gears
SAS the front with a D44 from early model Ford
approx 4" leaf springs all the way around
possible sawzalling to fit around about 37's

I'm looking to spend around 6-7K and unfortunately, fabricating and metal work is not my forte! I will probably need lots of good free (I hope) help and advise.

Anybody have any input (besides a smart *ss comment telling me I should get a toyota)?

Brett

Post by **Steinberg** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:25 am

you'll probably find it easier to do coil springs with the SAS on that particular truck. you can get a 44 out of a 73-79 F100, 150, or 78-79 (fullsize) Bronco. 78-79 would be guarranteed to have disk brakes already. These will be already set up for radius arms, coils, and panhard bar. If you get everything from the donor truck back to the radius arm brackets, all you have to fabricate is a panhard bar bracket on the frame and possibly transmission support crossmember. you can make it work with the existing coil buckets and shock mounts on the frame.

Post by **VerticalTRX** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:48 am

Full-size fords are my bread and butter so here are my thoughts on the matter:

As far as a rig to purchase, any year model from'87-up should be good. There were many setup with just the drivetrain you want, I'd look for one with a 351w, either C6 (which is my choice for brute strength and siplicity) or one of the later electronic controled trannys. These rigs came with pretty good T-cases, most of them have a fixed yoke BW1356, lightweight, strong, 2.69:1 gearing. The rear 8.8 *should* be sufficient but there might be better options, more on that later.

For the front axle, as piney stated, you'll want a Ford D44. The one you want is out of any '78-79 F-150 or bronco. It will be the proper width, high-pinion, larger 30sp shafts, disc brakes, and many are already set up from the factory for 'high-steer' (well, not in the true sense, but it puts the tie-rod above the axle centerline.) If you can find one with factory 3.92 or deeper gearing as there is a carrier change between the high and low gear sets. It will save you some time and money that way.

Once you find the donor truck for that front axle, you might as well snag the 9" out from under the rear of it. It will be a big bearing 9" that will be able to accept a lot of mods down the road. In stock trim its stronger than the 8.8", and gears, lockers, axles, etc are MUCH more pleantiful and cheaper than the 8.8.

I personally think 37's are pushing it for a moderately heavy full-size rig on 1/2ton axles. Something tall and narrow like Q78-15 TSL's are going to be my choice for tires when its time for new ones. They are 35x11's basically and have very deep lugs, and are relatively easy on axles because of thier narrow width.

As for lockers, I would start out with just a rear locker and see how it does...with flexy suspension it will probably surprise you. That'll eliminate a lot of broken front axle parts and a lot of headaches. If you do want to lock the front, if you can swing the price of a slecetable locker I'd go that way. If not I'd just lock-rite it and spend the extra $$ on some chromo shafts and good u-joints. For 35's or so 4.56 gears should treat you well.

Also as piney stated, the radius arm/coil spring front setup will probably be your best bet. Its *almost* a bolt in swap and can provide massive flex if done right. One word of advice, spend money on good coils. I cheaped out and bought a pair of $130 skyjacker 'softride' springs and they don't flex worth crap. Now I'm going to have to spend the extra $$$ and get some good coils like James Duff or the like. You'll want to do either extended of wristed radius arms, the debate is still out as far as which is better. I personally chose extended arms because they are a somewhat more durrable setup, no pins to pull, and the seem to flex very well (well, if my dang springs weren't limiting me they would).

Thats about all I can think of right now, one other word of advice is spend $2000-3000 to get a GOOD rig. It will save you money in the long run. I bought a $500 basket case to build up, but probably $1500+ went into just fixing things that were wrong with it (rust, worn out drivetrain, building a new motor, etc). If you spend $3000 on a good rig, and have another $3000 left over you should be able to build a very capable trail rig. I only have $3000 in my whole truck right now, should be under $4500 when completed. If you got any other questions or need any help just let me know.

Post by **alk1174** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:04 pm

Thats about all I can think of right now, one other word of advice is spend $2000-3000 to get a GOOD rig. It will save you money in the long run. I bought a $500 basket case to build up, but probably $1500+ went into just fixing things that were wrong with it (rust, worn out drivetrain, building a new motor, etc). If you spend $3000 on a good rig, and have another $3000 left over you should be able to build a very capable trail rig. I only have $3000 in my whole truck right now, should be under $4500 when completed. If you got any other questions or need any help just let me know.[/quote]

I will second that statement. Unless of course you dont mind fixin

Post by **Brett** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:00 pm

I've found 1994 (I think) bronco from a buddy of mine. It has a 351 (not sure of type and how do I tell) w/ automatic (still have to go look and see what type), but it has the electronic transfer case shifter. How do those e. transfer cases hold up? What are the short comings? How hard is it to change over from automatic to manual hubs on a TTB?

Brett

Post by **Steinberg** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:06 pm

hub swap is easy- about $100 and 30 minutes. electric tcase isn't a deal-breaker. the shift motors die sometimes but the internals are as stout as a manual case.

Post by **VerticalTRX** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:17 pm

Its a BW1356 t-case, electric shift...otherwise identical to the manual shift one. Pleanty stout, I've beat on the 1356 behind the built 460 in my F-250 for years with not a bit of trouble. If its a 351 it will be a 351w, fuel injected.

Post by **Brett** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:25 pm

I'm getting stoked then, because he just wants to get rid of it for $700!

Brett

Post by **VerticalTRX** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:03 pm

How much rust does it have? Regardless, the drivetrain alone is worth over $700. Sounds like you might have found a real steal.

Post by **Leach** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:29 am

Ut oh, time for a big ass buildup. Yeahhha.

Post by **Brett** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:29 pm

Hey guys:

I've been researching my bronco build, and I've changed gears a bit so to speak.

It looks like I'm going to have to work with the 44TTB and 8.8. A donor truck seems to be hard to find and I think I would f*** it up anyway.

I'm going to have to replace the rear tailgate. It was rusted so bad the glass fell down inside the tailgate and shattered. I've located a new shell for a reasonable price. Should be able to re-use most of the other parts.

The rear driver's side spring hanger has rusted clean off. The back of the spring is resting on the body

. So, I need to replace the hangers and shackles on both sides. Instead of using stock hangers I've looked at a kit from Sky Manufacuring that flips the shackle for 3" leaf springs. Teh flip should lift the rear 4.5". Maybe I could save some coin and use the stock leaf pack. Are there any problems associated with the shackle flip?

I'm looking at the bronco, and it seems to sit pretty low to the ground. So, I'm thinking about a superlift 6" standard kit with extended radius arms from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. I'm thinking I might get good flex in the front w/ extended radius arms. Any thoughts?

The stock steering seems to wonder a small bit. Will the drop pitman arm be enough to correct steering problems or should I think about a steering correection kit like the SuperLift super runner steering system?

I've been researching driveshafts on the internet and I'm going to need to lengthen the front and rear. What options are there to do this locally? Could I use square tube shafts? What kind of money are we talking?

I'm looking at a 4.56 yukon ring and pinion. Who's the guy y'all would recommend to install my ring and pinion? What's a phone number?

It looks like I'm going to reuse my lock-right from the pickup in the rear of the bronco's 8.8.

Any comments or help is greatly appreciated.

Brett

Post by **Steinberg** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:56 pm

The shackle flip will change your pinion angle several degrees. Depending on what type of driveshaft is in there, that may or may not cause some vibrations. The easiest solution is to get angled shims to go between the leafs and the axle. Before you invest into a shackle flip kit, have a look under there. On my ranger the factory rear shackle hanger can be flipped over because the bolt pattern on it is completely symetrical. Ranger shackles point downward from the factory though. There are a couple other ranger tricks for cheapo shackle hanger lift, but I don't know what the fullsize stuff looks like off the top of my head.

If you're gonna buy a kit for the front, skyjacker stuff has the most stout parts out there (for rangers at least). the extended radius arms will allow for a lot of travel, so long as you don't run super-stiff coils, lose the swaybar, have long enough shocks, etc. what some crazy guys do is put super-soft coils in TTB and then it flexes more than you need, but then it gets interesting on the road.

definetely get a drop pitman to match your lift, but don't expect to ever be completely rid of TTB bumpsteer. the superrunner steering kits aren't really worth the money in my opinion. even with that kit, your steering geometry is not ideal. it's only a slight improvement.

I've heard that you can get a good deal on ring and pinion install at Pride and Joy auto repair in McCoy, especially if you remove your TTB 3rd member and just take that in to him. Adam Wilfong has done a number of gear setups as well.

Post by **alk1174** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:38 pm

What ever you decide dont let a little cutting and welding affect your decisions. There are people around that will help out with that stuff.

Post by **Brett** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:44 pm

thanks adam. I'm just having a hard time finding donor stuff locally. My problem is that if I do find a D44 housing, Its only the housing and I need brakes, bearing, carriers, bearing, etc. I'm not sure either, if I would know what to do with it! Its sad I know. Still trying.

Brett

Post by **Steinberg** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:50 pm

If I were you I'd stuff some decent tires onto it and wheel it as is until you come across the parts you need. Hack the fenders, lose the tailgate, etc. It is gonna be a toy truck after all, right?