TRC-79 bronco build thread

t.r.c · Sep 21, 2015

Ford rules said:
What radiator is that?

Its a 4 row Champion Radiator, metropartsmarket.com has them for $300

The War Wagon said:
That takes me back a ways. I lost a hogshead like that in my '79 Bronco, ca. 1988! :emb4: Ring gear was down to 13 teeth by the time I DROVE it into the shop... but it was still motorvating!

Wish I'd built it up like yours - ended up selling it when I was back in college in '91 - hope you enjoy this one for a good long time.

OUCH! Amazing what axles will take! Thanks, I plan on keeping this truck around for a long time!

Well, I changed the front end up a bit... McQueen came out with a new f150/bronco front end and I had to have it! ended up with the 6th one made, and got a chance to mock it up today!

let me know what you think! :smokin:

chrischabre · Sep 22, 2015

wont lie. Im kinda on the fence about them. the tops look droopy to me, but maybe thats because of the slope where the stock hood rolled, and the amount of bulge in them as well. Dont hate it but Im not in love..Whatcha doing with the other ones? haha

t.r.c · Sep 22, 2015

chrischabre said:
wont lie. Im kinda on the fence about them. the tops look droopy to me, but maybe thats because of the slope where the stock hood rolled, and the amount of bulge in them as well. Dont hate it but Im not in love..Whatcha doing with the other ones? haha

I appreciate the honest feedback. I see what you're saying, I think its just because theyre mokced up with tape in the pictures, they are sagging a bit. They are bulged quite a bit more, but I think it will look better when I lower the Bronco, I plan on lowering it 3-4". haha i'm gonna hold onto them until I know I wont need'm.

Juicysluice · Sep 23, 2015

Why the change of heart with fiberglass?

I do agree the fenders look droopy but it may be from the mock up as stated about both already.

I do feel the fronts have too much pocket, not my cup of tea but I'll stay tuned to see how you execute your vision.

chrischabre · Sep 23, 2015

I literally just noticed the bumper cuts!!! now thats cool haha

I may run a set of "baja" fenders here n there, time will tell

cajunrebel · Sep 25, 2015

What unit are you crewing for up there? I'm finishing up here at Eglin in March and may go guard in Louisiana, which means a switch to the dark side... F-15C/D models.
The bronco is looking good. I like the new motor and the glass. Building an EFI system for that motor would be a pain. The only thing even close was the late model 460's and their stuff wasn't built to work with normal big block heads.

t.r.c · Sep 26, 2015

Juicysluice said:
Why the change of heart with fiberglass?

I do agree the fenders look droopy but it may be from the mock up as stated about both already.

I do feel the fronts have too much pocket, not my cup of tea but I'll stay tuned to see how you execute your vision.

What really made me change is how the new glass brings the bulge into the hood as well, it looks a lot cleaner in my opinion. I agree they look a bit wide for it right now, but I plan on going back to nearly stock ride height or as close as I can get. With it sitting low it should fill out the fenders better, and I need the extra clearance with the suspension travel I want to make. Its definitely going a different direction than I originally planned, but I do plan on building a trail basher f100 "for my Wife" eventually haha.

chrischabre said:
I literally just noticed the bumper cuts!!! now thats cool haha

I may run a set of "baja" fenders here n there, time will tell

You'd be surprised how many complements I get on the bumper, for such a simple modification lol. Its amazing how much room the fenders open up, they almost make my 40's look small sometimes.

cajunrebel said:
What unit are you crewing for up there? I'm finishing up here at Eglin in March and may go guard in Louisiana, which means a switch to the dark side... F-15C/D models.
The bronco is looking good. I like the new motor and the glass. Building an EFI system for that motor would be a pain. The only thing even close was the late model 460's and their stuff wasn't built to work with normal big block heads.

I'm here with the 391st Bold Tigers now, working E Models. We had the Louisiana Guard unit TDY in Japan for awhile, pretty weird seeing Master Sergeants crewing flyers lol. From what I hear Guard is a good gig though, really relaxed pace.

Thanks! Yeah i've been looking at some of the Quick-Fuel style EFI systems and most of them wouldn't support my motor. I'm probably going to stick with a carb setup, most likely a Dominator built for my motor.

chrischabre · Sep 29, 2015

I deleted my park light under the headlight and cut the fender to that height similar to what JordanBenntt did. With my winch cradle I built and the grille/fender mods I wont be running a factory bumper at all. My small tires are 44 inch boggers, and Im planning a low center of gravity so the baja fenders will be kinda filled up. If youre on Instagram or Facebook, look up my name, and youll see some photos. My truck has a long way to go but itll get there eventually

t.r.c · Feb 23, 2016

Well, my deployment is finally coming down to the last couple months. So its about time to start putting a list together of s#!t to order.

For the shop:
- Pro Tools mb-105HD tube bender w/ 2" & 1" die's
- Baileigh tn-250 tube notcher
- Millermatic 211 Mig welder
- 1/2"-2" dimple die's
- bend tech pro
- press
- band saw
*possibly* Mittler bros. 24" power bead roller

For the Bronco:
Front suspension
- 2.5" king c/o's
- 2.5'' king double bp's
- 2.5"x4" king bumps
- Limit straps

Rear suspension
- 3.0x16 triple bp kings
- 2.5x4'' bumps
- camburg +1.5" shackles
- Deaver H57 leafs
- Autofab 2-link
- limit straps

With all the new Fab equipment I should finally be able to start working on the cage/bumpers/sliders/axle truss's. Ill start with the engine cage so I can get the coilovers/bypass's/glass all mounted, then start tearing into the cage/ rear suspension. Its hard to figure out what shock and coilover length ill need up front without being home to pull the coils/shocks out and cycle it. From the similar builds i've seen, it looks like most are running a 14-16" travel shock/coilover up front so I'm leaning towards a 16" setup (mounted at a 1:1 ratio at full bump). Is there any big drawback to going slightly too long on shocks? I would think you'd loose some of the progressive compression towards full bump from not using the upper section of the bp fully, but with a 4" bump it seams like it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Juicysluice · Feb 24, 2016

16". The higher the shock mounts, the greater stability. It messes with your roll center height. Flex your axle as far as it will go. Measure from the point it mounts on the axle and don't stop until you're against the underside of the hood.

It's better to have more shock and not use it than vice versa.

chrischabre · Feb 25, 2016

hurry up and get home safe man...You got fab work to do!!!!

t.r.c · Mar 15, 2016

Juicysluice said:
16". The higher the shock mounts, the greater stability. It messes with your roll center height. Flex your axle as far as it will go. Measure from the point it mounts on the axle and don't stop until you're against the underside of the hood.

It's better to have more shock and not use it than vice versa.

Thanks, Makes perfect sense. But if I'm understanding you correctly it seams like this may apply more to articulation needs rather than up-travel. I would think to get the best Quality of suspension travel from full droop to full bump I would need to utilize the bypass shocks full valving potential by mounting the shock perpendicular at full bump with minimal amount of shock up travel unused. I may loose some articulation this way, but it will handle landings better when jumped.

I'll wait until I can get home and cycle the suspension before I invest $$$ in bypasses/coilovers

chrischabre said:
hurry up and get home safe man...You got fab work to do!!!!

Thanks man! I'm pretty motivated to get back to work on this. :smokin:

t.r.c · May 22, 2016

I Tore the front end apart today and took some measurements for coilovers/bypasses. Looks like I need to Fab a new track bar bracket to push it forward. I moved the front end forward 2" when we did the axle swap, now the track bar makes contact with the diff cover and takes roughly 3" of available up travel. Should be able to cycle a Clean 14-15" with a new track bar bracket. The McQueen glass has clearance lock to lock at full bump with the 40's, if I ran the AutoFab glass it looks like I'll be having to trim the lower forward corner quite a bit.

RANGERROD · May 22, 2016

What's your plans links or staying radius arms up front? Are you worried that heavy pig will bend those radius arms? I agree ttb won't hold up to that motor.

chrischabre · May 22, 2016

welcome home man!!!! Bronco looks good

t.r.c · May 23, 2016

RANGERROD said:
What's your plans links or staying radius arms up front? Are you worried that heavy pig will bend those radius arms? I agree ttb won't hold up to that motor.

Staying with radius arms for now. I had been thinking about running a second tube from the rear end of the arm to the plated section and gusseting it in to add some strength. Yeah if I ran TTB it would make 4wd an "emergency only" use kinda deal.

chrischabre said:
welcome home man!!!! Bronco looks good

Thanks man! its good to be back!

RANGERROD · May 23, 2016

It got me thinking a few months ago when I stumbled across this thread about beefing mine up when they're out next time. I think radius arms work better than a lot of people think. Stable easy to package and cheap. Thanks again for your service.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/1580610-crash-berserk-buggy-crawl.html

t.r.c · Aug 13, 2016

Yeah I agree that a lot of people under estimate radius arms, there's a lot of very capable rigs out there running them. And thank you sir.

Today I got around to swapping back to stock style shackle hangers, since I was running a shackle flip. I also installed Camburg +1.5" shackles while I was it it. As it sits now it should be roughly 1'' lower than factory. I'm really happy with this ride height, however, When I install the H57 Deavers it will raise it around 4" supposedly... So now i'm looking into possibly running a different leaf pack, or going spring under. I'm worried if I stay spring-over with such a low stance ill be running into negative arch before using up all my available up-travel. For now i'll re-pin the H57 Deavers to be spring under, then see how it sits. It should drop the rear end another 2.25", so i'll have to notch the frame to keep my 8" up travel. in the front I should be able to lower it 2" or so and keep the same stance it has now.

On a happy note, C&J Engineering shipped my new Carb out this week

Anyways, heres some shots of the new stance with stock leafs/hangers and Camburg shackles

t.r.c · Aug 15, 2016

well since I'm going spring under I wanted some stouter spring plates and perches. But, from what I could find all of the aftermarket ones are made for 2.5" wide springs not 3". So this weekend I started making some myself instead. They're made from .250 steel and hug the side of the leafs tightly so if I ever shear a centering pin the leafs are somewhat contained. The design also allows me to run a shorter U-Bolt while also protecting them and retaining as much ground clearance as possible.

hasteranger · Aug 15, 2016

Lol are you sure they are beef enough? Look like they could be bulldozer wheel chocks. Haha.

I love the glass fenders, look sexy. In the front anyway. Not sure about the rears yet. Do they only make them for Broncos or other f trucks too?

TRC-79 bronco build thread

t.r.c

chrischabre

t.r.c

Juicysluice

chrischabre

cajunrebel

t.r.c

chrischabre

t.r.c

Juicysluice

chrischabre

t.r.c

t.r.c

RANGERROD

chrischabre

t.r.c

RANGERROD

t.r.c

t.r.c

hasteranger

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities