Bronco Lift? help/advise please.

John Fuller

John Fuller

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Jan 3, 2015
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Boone NC
hey guys (and gals if any present). i have 89 bronco with ttb 44 front, 8.8 rear (what he says?) but anyhow also has 79 bronco with D44 and 9"rear he says for sure on it. he wants to swap the 79 to the 88 so in the lift kit options, they both use radius arms but so far none of the lift kits i find (including 7" and 9" kits for 1500 or so) have radius arms...they are all drop brackets along with blocks/leafs,etc.. is this right for around that price range. any advise/options..he's looking to clear 36-38" tires. thank you in advance for any advise and help and for your time.
 
I've never tried to lift one of those but I can see most kits utilizing the factory radius arms but offering a different degree bushing to correct caster angles.
 
yeah this is what i see also as common and people have descent reviews on them as far as performance for the price anyways..just tryin to get him all options and such and what to order him before he brings the trucks.
 
heres a pictures i found. springs are sideways?? and what kind of price is he looking at for such type of radius arms
71 bronco setup.jpg
 
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The pic you posted above is an early Bronco. The frames are narrow on those. If the radius arm wedges aren't relocated inward when running a full width axle, the coil springs will bow outward like that.

In a full size Bronco, they won't do that, as the frame (upper spring bucket location) is wider.

You won't need to worry about it but the 78-79 housings have cast wedges which can't be removed.

Those arms look like WCB arms. I'd go with Duffs long arms as they work great and are located in TN if you want something fancy.
 
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I remember 9" lift price for the 73-79 F150/78-79 Bronco was on up there for the complete kit. I installed one one time on a 79 F150. I never figured out what they filled with gold though??? Came out nice. Springs were straight up and down but had a tad too much flex. I told him they would probably develop a bow if he flexed them regularly. Haven't heard from him since to know???

I would think you could fit 35's on a stock suspension. 38's with maybe a 4-5" lift. I would not go the 9" lift kit for the money they want.
 
I ran 36" TSL's on my old 85 FS Bronco. It had a 6" Skyjacker lift and I cut the fenders since the edges were rusting out. I could have easily fit larger tires. I would not go over 6" of lift. Driveshafts will most likely become a problem. I was able to run the stock driveshafts with the 6" lift.

Picture right after the lift install and tires:

Bronc after lift-1.jpg
 
drkelly said:
He could use the stock radius arms off the 79 model with the stock radius arm brackets on the 88 model just moved back on the frame rails. I did that on my cab truck. I also used the upper coil spring buckets off the 70's model. Then fab up a track bar mount or buy this one:

http://shop.broncograveyard.com/Track-Bar-with-Mount-Solid-Axle-Conversion-Swap/productinfo/33933/
Click to expand...
hey so ur saying the raius arms on the 79 are longer than the 88 hence move the brackets backwards...just making sure i got that. and also the 88 with using 79front end should be straight coils because of his wider frame..just making sure. i guess it will all start making sense when both trucks are here lol. thank you for all the help guys.
 
he came by today and says wants to do 6-7" kit so anyone have recommendations for that size kit that works well and what to stay away from. thank u. and one more question..his 88 i saw today and if im not mistaken...the 9" rear has removable third member right? this one doesn't so does that make it 8.8 rear diff? i didn't take picture of it but that's what he thinks it is and i wouldn't know either lol.
 
sorry i forgot one last thing...do we order lift kit for 79 or for the 88. the 88 is what its going on with drivetrain from 79. im thinking 79 lift kit but just making sure
 
I can't comprehend what's going here.

Are you putting the solid axle from the 79 under the 88?

If you're doing a drive train swap there is no off the shelf kit that will do that.
 
yeah..putting the front and rear diff off the 79 onto the 88 which looks very similar and i know there's no off the shelf kik. i guess it wouldn't matter really for the lift then since they both are similar and brackets are going to have to be moved back and stuff anyhow...since we're using the 79 radius arms i'm gonna guess we go with that though
 
Buy 88 model rear springs and shocks, buy 79 model front springs and shocks. I would even use the radius arm brackets from the 79 so the bushings are guaranteed to fit right. Plus if I'm not mistaken the 88's brackets are made to bolt together like a crossmember, but the 79 brackets are more "independent", but its been a while and I could be wrong.
 
fordwheelinman said:
Buy 88 model rear springs and shocks, buy 79 model front springs and shocks. I would even use the radius arm brackets from the 79 so the bushings are guaranteed to fit right. Plus if I'm not mistaken the 88's brackets are made to bolt together like a crossmember, but the 79 brackets are more "independent", but its been a while and I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

^^^What this guy said. Except, the 88 model radius arm brackets on the frame can be removed and moved back to work with the longer 79 model radius arms. At least the ones on my 85 model were able to be moved back. I think I may have used a combination (late 70's plus the 85 model) of radius arm bushings at the frame bracket location though. I didn't grab the r/a brkts off the 77 model from the junk yard though, so I didn't have those as an option. I used the upper coil spring buckets from the 77 model too and made my own shock mounts.
 
You'd be better off doing quite a bit more research on this topic. It has been done time and time again and is a good swap. However, learn from what others have done and don't make their mistakes. You could easily start taking them both a part and have nothing to show for it.

go to fullsizebronco.com they have entire forum dedicated to the solid axle swap into the 80-96 bronco.
 
thanks for all the information..and yes i'm doing my research. i had a 85 bronco back years ago so at least it's not completely new to me lol
 
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