On to the next one: Bronco build

[YJKrawlin]

Wish I had seen this. I have an 80 Bronco frame behind my shop I'd give you if you come get it.... Looks like a fun project.

Wish I had known a couple months back haha.
Got the front suspension torn out this morning. Way more of a pain in the ass than a solid axle it feels like. Almost to ground zero where it can only go up from here.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Well, got the front crossmember tacked in place. Will be going over with plenty of passes of weld but for now it's in until all the final measurements are taken. Extended the frame about 6 inches using 1/4" angle iron, I'll be gusseting the frame later on and capping the frame addition. Wheeled the front axle in and with no weight at what should be about full drop theres 30 inches to the bottom of the frame. I figure should be close to 24-26 when it's done, plenty of clearance. Next will be locating the shackle hangers and welding them into place before tearing it all down again and flipping the frame over to weld the crossmember from the bottom.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Well I got the shackle hangers in today so this is the first time its standing on it's own on the tons and 40s. Going to work on unbolting everything that can be unbolted, welding everything fully and beginning to get the scale rust knocked off for some por15..

 

[YJKrawlin]

Been cleaning up the frame, removed the crossmember and got the body mount reinforcements welded in. Trying to get back into the swing of welding after not welding for the better part of a year. Still trying to figure out what I'm gonna do to box the front in to not look so odd and reinforce everything.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Worked on squaring up the front of the frame, built an area for the winch to mount to and have a plan in mind for making it all look "proper" planning on a 12k winch up front and eventually building a tube bumper which will have my pull points attached to it. Ordered some parts to clean the engine up a little. The valve covers had rivets in them at some point ripped out so ordered some valve covers, a spacer for the sniper and planning to do a tune up of the front of the engine and eventually a saginaw pump.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

Nice work!!! I look forward to watching your build progress! Good to see another fullsize Ford! I have a 1996 F-350 I hope to eventually start a build on.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Nice work!!! I look forward to watching your build progress! Good to see another fullsize Ford! I have a 1996 F-350 I hope to eventually start a build on.

Awesome! I'd eventually like to get an early 80s crew cab f350 and Cummins swap it as a tow rig, but that's years in the distance. I'm ready to finish this one already but trying to take my time and do it right. No need to rush something and miss something or mess it up. Thankfully your generation truck/frame has alot more options than the pre 93 frames and trucks did.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

That would make for an awesome tow rig!!!!

Mine is a single cab, 4x4, 460/ZF-5.

There are a lot more options but, still not nearly as many as any vehicle I’ve owned prior. Also (unfortunately), everything seems aimed at lifting the trucks sky high! Mine already sits high enough to easily run its 37s with just a 2” body lift and a front add-a-leaf (both courtesy of the PO and both of which I look forward to the day I get rid of!!!!!) so, I don’t want to go much (if any) higher and pretty much everything available is designed for going 4” of lift or higher.

 

[YJKrawlin]

That would make for an awesome tow rig!!!!

Mine is a single cab, 4x4, 460/ZF-5.

There are a lot more options but, still not nearly as many as any vehicle I’ve owned prior. Also (unfortunately), everything seems aimed at lifting the trucks sky high! Mine already sits high enough to easily run its 37s with just a 2” body lift and a front add-a-leaf (both courtesy of the PO and both of which I look forward to the day I get rid of!!!!!) so, I don’t want to go much (if any) higher and pretty much everything available is designed for going 4” of lift or higher.

I'm doing 4 inches of lift on 40s for my bronco. I dont care for lifted tow rigs. Work trucks should be at a useable height in my opinion.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Worked a little on fleshing out the frame addition. Trying to make it look as much like a factory frame as I can. Still need to clean up the outer welds and some will be redone when the frame is on its side and upside down. The first pass went on pretty well but I forgot to clean the welds for the second and third passes so they didnt stick very well, got some new welding rod to clean it up and get another solid pass on all of the joints. Planning on plating the section that has the new angle iron both to reinforce the area and bring it out level with the rest of the frame. I'll also be putting a small square between the front plate and the upper angle iron to box that section of the frame and I'll be adding 2 gussets into the sides of the frame to support the extension and winch plate.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

I'm doing 4 inches of lift on 40s for my bronco. I dont care for lifted tow rigs. Work trucks should be at a useable height in my opinion.

My F-350 is more of a play truck than a work truck. It’s a do all since I only have one truck. So, I plan on keeping it reasonable at about 2” lift and 37s. (it already has 2” lift and 37s but, right now, the 2” lift is a body lift the PO put on, I can’t wait to get rid of it!!!!) Right now the suspension is stock out back (with the factory 4” blocks) and has overly stiff add-a-leafs up front that the stock springs are sagging around so, likely no gain in Height up front, just a stiff ride!

I’d like to do 2” lift up front (likely Carrier Suspension Gold series 2” springs) and then I’d like to do some combination of shackle flip and longer flexier springs to keep the rear about stock height (so about level with just a hint of forward rake to compensate for if I use it to tow or haul heavy stuff)

 

[YJKrawlin]

My F-350 is more of a play truck than a work truck. It’s a do all since I only have one truck. So, I plan on keeping it reasonable at about 2” lift and 37s. (it already has 2” lift and 37s but, right now, the 2” lift is a body lift the PO put on, I can’t wait to get rid of it!!!!) Right now the suspension is stock out back (with the factory 4” blocks) and has overly stiff add-a-leafs up front that the stock springs are sagging around so, likely no gain in Height up front, just a stiff ride!

I’d like to do 2” lift up front (likely Carrier Suspension Gold series 2” springs) and then I’d like to do some combination of shackle flip and longer flexier springs to keep the rear about stock height (so about level with just a hint of forward rake to compensate for if I use it to tow or haul heavy stuff)

I know sky offroad does a 2" shackle flip that may be worth looking into.

 

[87GMCJimmy]

I know sky offroad does a 2" shackle flip that may be worth looking into.

For the front, I’ve seen the Sky 2” shackle reversal but, I have to replace my front springs anyway since they are bending around the add-a-leafs the PO added. (so, rather than having to have a one-off set of softer spring rate multiple leaf zero lift front springs made for $$$$, I figure I’ll use Carrier’s 2” gold series since that’s their off the shelf spring that’ll be less $$$) I wish the front springs mounted to the frame just a little differently so that a zero lift reverse shackle kit could work!

For the rear, Sky makes a plethora of options for shackle flips and even a flip and dropped perch option. But, I am thinking I may go with something like a Chevy 63” spring swap with custom perch and shackle flip to get a longer spring with less arch and get more articulation. May end up going with the Sky 2” shackle flip and softer rate aftermarket 2” lift springs with offset pins and some degree wedges to bring the wheelbase and pinion angle back correct. Even though they’d be more arched than stock, it’d still be a BIG improvement compared to the stock 4” blocks!

 

[YJKrawlin]

Finished up the welding on the bronco and starting to por-15 the frame and paint it. My fiancee wanted some teal in the bronco so the inside of the frame and crossmembers will be painted teal, I figure it will help leaks be visible and make it easier to track lines inside of the frame. A buddy lent me his HF omni pro 220 to finish up the welding on the front and this thing kills! I dont know how I've gone so long without a 220 mig. It made short work of the welding. Hoping to have the painting all done by the end of the week. Going to pull my c6 Thursday so I can get it rebuilt sooner rather than later.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Finished painting the frame today, going to start reassembly tomorrow. Dropped the c6 off with the trans shop to be rebuilt. Glad to see stuff coming together finally.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got the bronco back on all 4. Cleaned the shop up a bit. Still have to por and paint the fuel skid and trans crossmember but glad to finally start reassembling things. Ordering the parts to refresh the engine soon. It ran before I took everything apart so just going to do some basic gaskets, water pump, oil pan possibly and get it cleaned up.

 

[YJKrawlin]

Got some more work done. Got the fuel tank painted and in, ran the fuel lines to the pump and started to tear down the engine and paint some more stuff. The engine ran fine before and I havent seen any major sludge buildup in it as I tore it apart. Theres some sludge in the bottom of the oil pan and what looks like gasket material, but that's about it. Not too much glitter in the sludge and the oil came out without any glitter in it as well. Plan is to simply regasket it, everything except the rear main, timing cover and head gaskets basically, and put a new water pump on. Debating swapping the Ford power steering pump for a Saginaw if I can find the brackets cheap enough. But budget is the name of the game at this point so I may hold off. Glad to be reassembling it finally.

 

[Shreddinlettuce]

The teal and black looks good! It always bugs me whem people put a lot of work into something and don't rustproof

 

[YJKrawlin]

The teal and black looks good! It always bugs me whem people put a lot of work into something and don't rustproof

Thanks! My fiancee wanted to add some color but I wasnt sure about doing the outside. I figured it killed two birds with one stone. We will probably build tube bumper and paint them to match eventually. The only thing I'm not certain about, is how well it will hold up against engine heat and exhaust heat. It was just normal metal paint to begin with, then it got coated with some engine paint in a similar real. Hoping it holds up to the heat. I didnt want to deal with the chance of the rust building up and screaming me over eventually. I'm not happy about the coverage I got on the front boxes sections, but I did the best I could without taping it off, pouring por in and shaking it up. Time will tell.

 

[Qwk87Coupe]

Well, got the front crossmember tacked in place. Will be going over with plenty of passes of weld but for now it's in until all the final measurements are taken. Extended the frame about 6 inches using 1/4" angle iron, I'll be gusseting the frame later on and capping the frame addition. Wheeled the front axle in and with no weight at what should be about full drop theres 30 inches to the bottom of the frame. I figure should be close to 24-26 when it's done, plenty of clearance. Next will be locating the shackle hangers and welding them into place before tearing it all down again and flipping the frame over to weld the crossmember from the bottom.

Does that super duty spring RSK require you to extend the front frame rails?

 

[YJKrawlin]

Does that super duty spring RSK require you to extend the front frame rails?

From what I understand. The superduty springs are longer and the 1980-1991 frames are shorter on the front. So in the specific configuration the frame needs to be extended. If I had used obs springs with a 1980-1991 frame it would have worked out fine, and if I had used a 1992 and up frame I would have been fine running the super duty springs. That's just from what I understand. I dont have a 1992 and up frame to confirm.

 

[Qwk87Coupe]

From what I understand. The superduty springs are longer and the 1980-1991 frames are shorter on the front. So in the specific configuration the frame needs to be extended. If I had used obs springs with a 1980-1991 frame it would have worked out fine, and if I had used a 1992 and up frame I would have been fine running the super duty springs. That's just from what I understand. I dont have a 1992 and up frame to confirm.

I thought the SD springs were +/- 4 inches longer, I just didn't realize on the 80-91 the additional length required you to extend the frame. I had been browsing the PMF rsk kits and trying to decide between running super duty (Excursion) or OBS F350 springs. I'm surprised it doesn't mention the modification on their site or I overlooked it (more likely). I picked up an 87 earlier this week.

 

[YJKrawlin]

I thought the SD springs were +/- 4 inches longer, I just didn't realize on the 80-91 the additional length required you to extend the frame. I had been browsing the PMF rsk kits and trying to decide between running super duty (Excursion) or OBS F350 springs. I'm surprised it doesn't mention the modification on their site or I overlooked it (more likely). I picked up an 87 earlier this week.

It doesn't mention the modification. And in there photos you can see they built it on a 92 and up frame using obs springs. I am using the excursion springs because another guys build used them over the f350 spring for a softer spring. At this point I think the difference would be negligible, but you never know. If you dont want to extend the frame, definitely go with the obs springs.

 

[fordwheelinman]

I thought the SD springs were +/- 4 inches longer, I just didn't realize on the 80-91 the additional length required you to extend the frame. I had been browsing the PMF rsk kits and trying to decide between running super duty (Excursion) or OBS F350 springs. I'm surprised it doesn't mention the modification on their site or I overlooked it (more likely). I picked up an 87 earlier this week.

Do not run excursion springs unless you want a cushy ride. There is a reason all the forums have threads about people doing super duty swaps and websites have been made and sections on websites made specifically for information on the SD spring swap on the excursions.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[87GMCJimmy]

Looking great!!! The teal and black look really sharp! Curious to see how you end up liking the Excursion springs (if you go with them) cushy ride sounds nice!!!