I aquired this Bronco for free from a friend of mine. 1989 BII with approx 210K miles and was still running strong. Here what she looked like the day she came home....
Soon after I ordered a Performance Accessories 3" body lift
Next was a set of 33" LTB's on street locks
Here's a couple of pics after the 4" suspension lift
1 day after the lift was done and the 2.9 took a crap on me so I decided to do a 5.0 swap. I found a long block from a 92 Mustang GT with approx 60K and did a complete tear down so that she could be built up a little.
As of now the Bronco is still sitting. The 33's have been sold along with the Duff bumpers. Plans are now a D44 and 9", 37" Bias Iroks, Weld on beadlock kit, and a full propane conversion. I allready have a Dana 20 t-case with a swin stick setup, but if anyone has any advice or anything that I should know in this build it would be greatly appreciated.
Yeah, I have been thinking about removing the body lift and going for all suspension. I wasnt happy about the 210K either but at least it has a new motor now....
I built the cluster myself. I used the stock housing and used a Dremel to remove the center section. I kept the outer ring that way it would still use its original mounting location. I then used a sheet of ABS plastic that was found on Ebay. The ABS is for automotive use and is slightly textured to match factory interior. The black ABS is attached to the outer ring with plastic apoxy. Last just cut the holes for gauges and wired......
What are you planning to run for a tranny? You might need a body lift (1-2" cut down your 3") to clear the tranny/tcase. Other than that you have a great start with the solid front and 9" rear.
C4 with a Dana 20 t-case. Axles will be Dana 44 and the rear is still a toss up. Im looking at 9", Sterling 10.25 or 14 bolt. I bought my tires today and they will be here Thursday, 38" TSL's
you gonna run the EB coils and buckets up front....? the 78-79 HP 44 will require the buckets to be moved out..... a pre-77.5 HP 44 will have the weld on wedges and can be moved in for proper placement.... you can also move the buckets up or down for fine tuning the height...
I'm running 4" BS wheels on my FW 44 to keep the tires in as close as possible... it works great except for the rubbing at full lock.... I plan on investing in the cage or duff arms for clearance...
wtr40rock, here are some more pics of the gauges as requested
You can see that there is only enough of the white piece left so that it will still mount in the stock location.
As for the rear axle.... my main thing is that I would like a 3/4 ton rear that will allow the use of 15" rims. I was told that a Dana44 from a F250 will fit 15 inch wheels with no problem, but Im not sure what can be used for the rear. If I cant make something work then I will just go 1/2 ton, I just figured that since I needed to do a complete swap I might as well go 3/4 ton.
Sureshot40sw.... thank you. Im still learning alot but I have been told to look for a D44 from a pre 77.5 due to the wedges. Im not sure on the coils yet but am looking for any feedback anyone has.
Since we are on the subject, considering this is a straight trail rig, does anyone have any feedback on a wristed arm such as worth it, or not?
Lookin good! For the axles, if you are gonna run a D44 front, you may as well stick w/ the 9" rear... you will have more clearance, and with 37's on something as light as a BII, I am sure it will live longer than the D44. If you decide to step up to a D60, then I would go w/ the 10.25 over the 14bolt for clearance sakes.
Simple enough..... I have found a D44 that needs knuckles and a 9" for $100.00 for the pair.
Thanks for all the help, any recommendations on a good air shock for the front...
1 last question (for now) I was planning on running 63" Chevy springs in the rear. Is it better to mount them on the frame similar to stock, or in-board similar to White Rhino's Ranger?
38s and my 44 isnt too bad ive done about 8 trips on my set up the only thing that happen is a cap fell out of the driver shaft and messed up the u-joint shaft is fine
I know you just swapped from the Fox shocks, how did you like them? I'm going to run a similar setup for the front of mine. I have read through your build-up and have got quite a few ideas from your build, your buddy that has the grey Ranger, does he have a build thread posted here also?
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