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trying to decide

805 views 24 replies 6 participants last post by  94stepsideford 
#1 ·
i have a STOCK 88 bronco with a good strong 4.9L inline six (sh** loads of torque at 1500 to 2500 RPM). it has the 4-speed with the manual, 2wd, 4hi, and 4low. planing on making it a pure trail rig/winterdriver when the weather turns north here in kansas.

my questions are:

  1. what lift (thinking 4 or six inch)
  2. what tires
  3. leave the engine stock or swap a larger (351)

it is a rust bucket (1/4 panels behind the tires and doors, and the stock flares are almost gone too)

plan on cutting the flares off and putting diamond plate flares in.

thats the deal. any q's can be answered about the plans if you ask.

give me your two sense on the lift/tire combo and the engine.
 
#4 ·
i 2nd that. been there. done that. :D
 
#5 ·
what kind of wheelin

i plan on putting custom front and rear bumpers with warn winch on both.

pretty much everything for the wheeling part, when i travel to college i plan on towing it on a trailer with my jeep.

as for wheeling it will be more for mud and trails. i want to keep it flexable enough to go rock crawlin though.

it will be a recovery truck for when my friends get their trucks stuck. i know that this is a good platform bc i have only been stuck twice (once when i high centered it in two trenches in a dranage ditch and two when my hubs finally stripped out)

i have buried it up to the doors and did not get stuck and i had 50% or less tread. then my friend got stuck in the same spot in his f150 with brand new mud tires. we had to go get a back hoe to get him out.

it will be fun after i get it built...

i just need help deciding.

for tires i was thinking 33,34, or 36's. they still need to be driveable on the highway at speeds.
 
#8 ·
There really isn't much fab work to it, other than fabbing up a new track bar mount. I'd start looking for a '77-'79 F150 or a '78-'79 Bronco with a 44 front and 9" rear, then I'd steal all the suspension out from under it, coil buckets, radius arms, radius arm mounts, and just grab the rear axle so you have matching gear ratios.

Then remove your TTB front, you can either use the stock coil buckets or go to the donor buckets, if you use 4" lift springs with the donors buckets it will yield 6" of lift. The 4" springs will ride better an flex a lil better than the 6" versions.

Or you could find a 3/4 ton or 1 ton vehicle and do a leaf sprung front and 8 lug wheels.
 
#9 ·
Is this "mud" going to be deep mudbogs? Or just the occasional muddy spots you'd find on a trail after a rain?

If the latter, there's really not much reason to swap it all out (especially with another D44, what you have under there is already a HP D44).
The big thing is just be sure to get a decent kit for it if you're going to lift it.
The Skyjacker Class II kits are pretty decent (although like all, their coils are still kindof stiff). Some pics I've seen of Dick Cepek kits looked pretty good too.
Pretty much everything else I've seen though (you name it), the brackets are too flimsy to hold up to anything beyond wheeling over the parking stops down at the mall (and even that might be pushing it) :shaking: Bending and cracking (of both the bracket and/or frame) is all too common.


BTW, you may not even need to lift it much (if at all) for 35s if you're already trimming the fenders. Just throw some coilspacers (the 'donut' type) under the front springs along with some longer shocks for a bit more travel and throw some long-AALs in the rear, and you'd probably be good to go.
 
#10 ·
i was really considering a shackle flip n the rear, i was told it is about 4-6 inch lift, while doing that i would measure the lift and go buy the kit for the front. i would like to keep the IFS. ground clearance is better than a solid axle.

i will try to get some pictures up if i can find the gay ass usb attachment for my camera.
 
#11 ·
ground clearance is much worse with IFS... i have both, trust me.:D
 
#12 · (Edited)
Ground clearance depends on how the suspension's ride height is set up, it can be better OR worse.

Adding coilspacers and using offset camber bushings will give you better clearance.

The TTB axle has a larger frontal area than most straightaxles though, so if you get into real thick mud that's deep enough, it could still plow into it more.
 
#13 ·
these dont help

i was wanting to know what you all have done with you broncos and what worked the best.

it needs to be street legal:
  1. head lights under 5 feet (i think)
  2. nothing welded to the frame that protrudes from the body

i will call the authorities to find out the rest of them.

this willl be driven on the streets from time to time

but mainly off road.

here are the questions that i am asking:

  • how much lift should i run
  • what tires/tire combinations should i run
  • and i will leave the stock inline six (what mods will make it a stronger engine)
 
#14 ·
well, for one, the six doesnt really have a "magic part" thats going to make it scream with 400 horses. it takes lots of small parts to make them healthy...

id start with a flowmaster, and a high flow intake (K&N filter or FIPK kit)

next if you want to lift it, go 4 or 6". i have a 4" on my truck, and it cleared 35s with no trimming. i cut until 40s fit. the rear axle sucks, throw a 9" in it...

the front depends. if you want IFS, buy a lift kit. if you want to get some twist out of it, throw a 44 out of a late 70s truck or bronco under it. its not going to be as tall as you think.

my truck (with the 40s and 4") is about as tall as the same year F350, MAYBE a little taller. and as for ground clearance... the front IFS does have a larger area, so there is more to get hung up on. otherwise, they are basically the same front end, the IFS just has a center piviot. good luck...
 
#15 ·
By the way, mine is my DD, so it sees street and mud, and rocks. ive got the 300 I6 and a 5spd...
 
#16 ·
I would stick with 4" of lift, the steering is easier to deal with at 4" than 6 (a simple drop pitman arm should be satisfactory at 4", although there are steering upgrades that can be done as well).
You don't need any more than 4" for 35s anyway.

For tires, I would stick with radials of some sort if it's going to be on the street at all. The BFG MT and Interco Trxus MT are both decent on the street, but still have some ability in mud/rocks/etc. A bit less $$$ but still a good tire is the Dunlop Mud Rover (Kumho just came out with a MT tire that looks pretty good too, a bit more aggressive tread than most in its class. I haven't seen them in action at all yet though).
 
#18 ·
when my AT's run out on my JEEP i was planning on gettin a set of the new kumhos for it. look agressive and doesn't cost a whole lot.
ew. keep that language out of here...:flipoff2:
 
#20 ·
After modding the bronco you wont. :flipoff2:

Ill tell you my plans for my 88 f-150.

Cut the living shit out of the fenders
Put some 35" cut boggers on it
Weld the axles together


Beat the shit out of it.

Unfortunantly mine needs alot of body shit done first.
 
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