1989 EB B2

89bluB2

New Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2018
Location
Monroe Nc
so basically, we’ve had this thing for the past almost 30 years. it’s an 89 Bronco II Eddie Bauer, my grandma bought it new in 89. i’m currently 17 turning 18 next year and have had it for 2 years at this point. it’s already got:
4” RC lift
31x10.50 Iroks
15x8 American Racing wheels
it’s straight piped, has a Cherry Bomb glasspack (neighbor hater:flipoff2:)
K&N intake
pioneer headunit
2 20 year old kove audio 10” subs in a box in the trunk hooked up to a sony amp
newish Carolina Driveshaft rear
redid front brakes 2 years ago

a few months ago my father and i bought a 1991 explorer xlt for the axles and engine. it’s a 4.0,A4LD,D35,8.8 but it’s got 3.73 gears. now, my Bronco has 4.10s but it’s a dog, thanks to the clapped out 2.9 and “rebuilt” A4LD. i’m wanting to find an M5OD so i can manual swap it, and i’m also looking into turbos for the 4.0

it’s also got a few other things my dad has done to it but not 100% sure what everything is, so it’s not listed
 
Or better a Dana 44 and 9 inch combo. Ditch the font Dana 28 ifs immediately. I've built a couple B2's and Rangers.

Hope,the explorer had low miles....other wise I'd look toward a basic v8 swap.
 
sorry for the no pictures lol forgot about that. top image is the first picture i have of it, august of 2016. bottom is the most recent, september 20, 2018

i’d like to keep ttb/ifs front setup for now. gonna save the straight axle for the future.
 

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Loganwayne said:
Damn kids 18, and on 31s a 30 would be fine for a while and they are cheap


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That's about where I got to in high school....as soon as I went to 32x 11.50 swampers I couldn't keep the front end from exploding parts....the lockright was the only thing that didn't blow up.

For the O.P. ......the explorer twin I beam is a doable swap and will get you a Dana 35 I believe....if you want to get wild run a full size Bronco ifs with some fab. You"'ll get a Dana 44 and long travel.......do that with modified Twin Ibeams and you got desert pre runner travel that will handle air time with the right shocks and springs.
 
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This is a bronco we built for one of my buddies with the 4.0 explorer swap then he swapped in a manual. Dana 30 front with iron rock off-road long arms. 8.8 rear.
I would not swap in a manual unless you gear the axles first or don’t go bigger than 31s you’ll smoke the clutch trying to get it to take off when off camber or on a hill.


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WARRIORWELDING said:
That's about where I got to in high school....as soon as I went to 32x 11.50 swampers I couldn't keep the front end from exploding parts....the lockright was the only thing that didn't blow up.

For the O.P. ......the explorer twin I beam is a doable swap and will get you a Dana 35 I believe....if you want to get wild run a full size Bronco ifs with some fab. You"'ll get a Dana 44 and long travel.......do that with modified Twin Ibeams and you got desert pre runner travel that will handle air time with the right shocks and springs.
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i actually thought about a full-size TTB setup. but at that point it will just get a straight 44.
 
Loganwayne said:
cc69a02a3a844f9988a90485fbf32b70.jpg


This is a bronco we built for one of my buddies with the 4.0 explorer swap then he swapped in a manual. Dana 30 front with iron rock off-road long arms. 8.8 rear.
I would not swap in a manual unless you gear the axles first or don’t go bigger than 31s you’ll smoke the clutch trying to get it to take off when off camber or on a hill.


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we will be putting 4.88s in the new axles
 
update..

drove from my home in monroe to badin lake yesterday night. 56 miles. the longest this thing has been driving in probably 8+ years. she did great! cruising at 60 (my speedo said 50:D) at 3000 in that cool weather, i believe it was around 63ish degrees outside, it did everything i want it to do.

today, we’re heading to URE for a scavenger hunt trail ride type thing. should be fairly easy*. i’ll try to get plenty of pictures and videos


* = lame :flipoff2:
 
I'd sell it and get a Cherokee. You'd be way ahead. You get 2 more doors, not much longer wheelbase, bullet proof engine and transmission, solid front axle, infinite spare parts in junkyards, lots of other builds being parted out and can get cheap lifts and other mods.

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Loganwayne said:
cc69a02a3a844f9988a90485fbf32b70.jpg


This is a bronco we built for one of my buddies with the 4.0 explorer swap then he swapped in a manual. Dana 30 front with iron rock off-road long arms. 8.8 rear.
I would not swap in a manual unless you gear the axles first or don’t go bigger than 31s you’ll smoke the clutch trying to get it to take off when off camber or on a hill.


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I did uwharrie in my 4 door EX with M5OD on a couple trips, once with 31's on 3.23 gears, and then on 33x12.50 at/ko's and 3.73 gears. Never smoked the clutch.

OP: If you want to get some performance out of the 4.0, but a set of 95-97 cylinder heads, and get a new cam. The 91-94 4.0 has open chamber heads and flat top pistons, meaning low compression. The 95-97 4.0's had closed chamber heads and dished pistons for low compression. Mix the "quench" head and flat top piston, and your get high compression which equals more boom. That mixed with a new cam (readily available from multiple sources) is a dang good performing 4.0 that people across the country are using.

Putting a turbo on a 4.0 is doable, check out explorerforum.com or therangerstation.com for threads about it and other useful technical info pertaining to these under utilized, under respected vehicles. The only down side is your limited to a fairly low 5-7 psi, which isn't much considering the work involved. You need fuel system mods, custom computer tuning, the cost of the turbo, getting pipes/headers made. It's your ride, your choice, but my .02 on the matter is for a daily driver/trail rig, the cam and head swaps are more bang for the buck so to speak.

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benXJ said:
I'd sell it and get a Cherokee. You'd be way ahead. You get 2 more doors, not much longer wheelbase, bullet proof engine and transmission, solid front axle, infinite spare parts in junkyards, lots of other builds being parted out and can get cheap lifts and other mods.

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Don’t listen to this guy. My $.02, stay original. Jeeps are a dime a dozen.
 
They sure are....means you can get a nice one for pretty cheap no bashed up body, has bumpers good paint, and will save all the work trying to get more HP and better axles. Sometimes being different isn't better.
BigSouth said:
Don’t listen to this guy. My $.02, stay original. Jeeps are a dime a dozen.
Click to expand...

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fordwheelinman said:
I did uwharrie in my 4 door EX with M5OD on a couple trips, once with 31's on 3.23 gears, and then on 33x12.50 at/ko's and 3.73 gears. Never smoked the clutch.

OP: If you want to get some performance out of the 4.0, but a set of 95-97 cylinder heads, and get a new cam. The 91-94 4.0 has open chamber heads and flat top pistons, meaning low compression. The 95-97 4.0's had closed chamber heads and dished pistons for low compression. Mix the "quench" head and flat top piston, and your get high compression which equals more boom. That mixed with a new cam (readily available from multiple sources) is a dang good performing 4.0 that people across the country are using.

Putting a turbo on a 4.0 is doable, check out explorerforum.com or therangerstation.com for threads about it and other useful technical info pertaining to these under utilized, under respected vehicles. The only down side is your limited to a fairly low 5-7 psi, which isn't much considering the work involved. You need fuel system mods, custom computer tuning, the cost of the turbo, getting pipes/headers made. It's your ride, your choice, but my .02 on the matter is for a daily driver/trail rig, the cam and head swaps are more bang for the buck so to speak.

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Click to expand...

i did not know that about the heads, thanks! turbo will come much later, i’m just trying to get it in there right now.
 
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soooo it did great at URE. the trails were more than i thought they’d be, a modified XJ got stuck twice in some ruts, he high centered both times on both axles. an JK got stuck too, but looked to be pretty stock. i almost got stuck once but i got out of it. here’s some pictures, no videos unfortunately.
 
Creekin said:
Looks good!
Whats the story on the skull?
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lol it’s just a halloween decoration. you can’t see it because of how dark the back glass is (factory tint btw) but i have a skeleton hanging from a trim screw in the back looking out the window. i’m considering keeping it on there opposed to my Warn tag. :)

oh and thanks for the compliment. the other 6 guys we were with (and a pair of girls:smokin:) were in jeeps except the guide who was in a land cruiser. everybody talked about my dads blazer, only one guy called it a “cool little Bronco”. g thanks:shaking:

oh, and my girlfriend likes the skull, so it stays;)
 
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I love those little rigs. Build it out as your skillz grow and later on down the line when it's a trail raisin, you can re-skin it like an early bronco :D
 
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