Ford Bronco rock crawler

[ScratchStart]

so here is my ongoing weld/machine project I'll have to post more pics later.



bought it cheap... the tires in this pic actually cost more than the bronco...

here is what it looks like now... I've got a bunch of build pics I'll post...



list of mods:
ditched the TTB junk axle for a Dana 44 (that took some welding)

narrowed the back end sheet metal (that took some welding)

built that awesome front bumper (you will never see a close up... that took some poor welding)

droped in a throttle body injected 302... way better than the carbureted six...

installed the sweet bailing wire battery holder on the pass fender...LOL

and swapped out the 33's (first pic) for the 37's (last pic)

next up: beadlocks, triangulated four link... who knows....

[performance]

That's pretty good articulation you have with that setup.

[Krookz]

Nice man. Iv been after an older yota myself instead of bashing up my $30,000 new truck.

[Ram48]

thats some crawler I bet you love the EFI motor when you get it on some of those angles. Id guess a carbed motor would starve itself quite often

[presure2]

Looks like a fun project for sure!!

[deranged]

Looks sweet, I especially like the half doors. I am planning on building similar doors for my truggy when it gets finished.

[ScratchStart]

deranged

I was looking at your truggy, that is gonna b an awesome machine. what type of bender did you use? I'd like to tube out the front of my bronco, save some weight, and narrow the front end. I am also running the long raduis arms in the front, but I do get a little side to side play, maybe it's just the tires..

performance

the front flexes pretty good, in that picture it is even bottoming on the old radius arm mounts, so after I get them cut off it should b even better.

Ram48

injection is nice, Id like a port injected motor tho, the throttle body starves a little when I lay it on it's side (you should see the passenger side now! LOL)

Krookz

definately don't want to wheel a $30,000 truck! heck, I wish I had a $30,000 truck. but I am gonna steal some ideas from your bumper! if that's ok with u.

[ScratchStart]

had time to dig out some more pics

that's a little better pic of the articulation I can get, like I said that is bottoming on the old raduis arm brackets.



this is the front steering I built 1.5 od .25 wall DOM. that way I cant bend it all to heck on rocks.



this last one I like to call "product testing"



and after looking at the crap battery spot I'm gonna mount it in the back this afternoon, may take a few pics there too.

[ScratchStart]

so here is what I came up with for the battery

it will b mounted at the back passenger side corner in a nice mount (as soon as I build one.)


rubber grommets through the body



tied down along the body every 6 to 8 inches with insulated mounts(didn't want it in the way on the frame, cause I plan on some rock sliders/cage tie ins)

oh, and I used 2/o wire cause it was so far from the solenoid, didn't want voltage/heat problems.

anyone that wants to take care of the rust and mud for me is welcome to do so!

[deranged]

deranged

I was looking at your truggy, that is gonna b an awesome machine. what type of bender did you use? I'd like to tube out the front of my bronco, save some weight, and narrow the front end. I am also running the long raduis arms in the front, but I do get a little side to side play, maybe it's just the tires..

performance

the front flexes pretty good, in that picture it is even bottoming on the old radius arm mounts, so after I get them cut off it should b even better.

Ram48

injection is nice, Id like a port injected motor tho, the throttle body starves a little when I lay it on it's side (you should see the passenger side now! LOL)

Thanks, I should have it done this summer. I have the JD2 model 32 bender, it is an updated version of the model 3. I also have BendTech Pro software to accompany the bender, this allows me to draw my "thoughts" out and see what everything will look like tube wise. After it is designed, I print out bend sheets which give the overall cut length, bend locations and degrees of bend. Its sweet software but doesn't exactly come free. http://www.jd2.com/p-67-model-32-bender-manual.aspx

You shouldn't get much side to side from the suspension, have you check the track bar bushings and mounts for wear? A buddy of mine with a Heep was having a similar issue wihth his and ended up the axle mount for the track bar was bending a little. You are probably correct on it being the tire though 37's on a 15" wheel have plenty of sidewall to flex at lower air pressures.

Have you thought about a dual fuel propane kit or running 100% propane? I switched mine to 100% for this build, all the benefits of EFI without any electronics. Only downfall can be availabilty of propane filling stations.

There are more build pics here if you are interested http://s627.photobucket.com/albums/t...Deranged%20V3/

[ScratchStart]

As far as benders go I like the JD2 stuff, but JMR just released the sportsman bender. It is pretty bare bones, but the price tag is lite too.

check it out. I have never had a mandrel style bender, is there anything I should be afraid of with this thing? any considerations? I'm not worried about a stand, this is a welding forum, or a handle for that matter, but I'd appreciate any input/advice.

http://www.jmrmfg.com/store/JMR-Spor...Manual-Bender/
it does not come with the stand, handle or dies.


What sizes of dies do you have, I know I want a 1 3/4" tubing die, just wondering what else you have found handy?

How hard is it to use the bendtech software? I always wondered how accurate it was/ how easy it was to find the beginning of your bend for each bender? I have checked out the trial version, and it does look sweet.

my pan hard bar does have a little movement, I'm gonna build a new one maybe use some ballistic joints or something, the stock bushings are shot, and I tried rod ends 1 time(they wore out faster than the bushings).

I don't know much about the dual fuel propane stuff? does it kill your power? how hard is it to set up? I guess your talkin about using it with a carb? (no electronics) I have 2 or 3 EFI motors laying around, and ford EFI motors are about the easiest to troubleshoot (sorry GM guys, but it is true that ford had the most basic, easiest to understand EFI system in the 90's)

[deranged]

As far as benders go I like the JD2 stuff, but JMR just released the sportsman bender. It is pretty bare bones, but the price tag is lite too.

check it out. I have never had a mandrel style bender, is there anything I should be afraid of with this thing? any considerations? I'm not worried about a stand, this is a welding forum, or a handle for that matter, but I'd appreciate any input/advice.
http://www.jmrmfg.com/store/JMR-Spor...Manual-Bender/
it does not come with the stand, handle or dies.


What sizes of dies do you have, I know I want a 1 3/4" tubing die, just wondering what else you have found handy?

Not a bad looking bender, basically a copy of the JD2 model 3. I haven't had any issues with mine, but make sure to use PLENTY of lube on the die and follower when making a bend. I use white lithium grease in an aerosol can on mine. I checked out the JMR site and noticed one thing that you maybe haven't checked yet, the cost of dies.
Comparison for you -
JMR gets $250 for the bender and $375 for an 1-3/4 die with a 120* of bend.
JD2 gets $300 for the model 3 bender and $260 for the 1-3/4 die with 180* of bend.

JMR - $625 + S&H to make first bend
JD2 - $560 + S&H to make first bend & extra die sets are also cheaper.

The bender from JMR is cheaper but all of their dies sets are a quite a bit more money than JD2 stuff. I would go with the JD2 if it were me, based on cost along. Buy one die set and the JMR becomes more expensive (kinda hard to use without at least 1 die set LOL) buy more sets and JMR becomes a much larger investment.

How hard is it to use the bendtech software? I always wondered how accurate it was/ how easy it was to find the beginning of your bend for each bender? I have checked out the trial version, and it does look sweet.

Bendtech is a little tricky at first, it isn't like your standard CAD system. Once you get used to it it is pretty easy to use. Once you get things drawn out the best part of the software is the process sheets. They give you all the info you need to make the correct bends the first time. The biggest thing with the software is making sure the bender set-up is correct, I would definitely make a few test bends to make sure the finished part matches the sheet before moving on to actual project parts.

my pan hard bar does have a little movement, I'm gonna build a new one maybe use some ballistic joints or something, the stock bushings are shot, and I tried rod ends 1 time(they wore out faster than the bushings).

I don't know much about the dual fuel propane stuff? does it kill your power? how hard is it to set up? I guess your talkin about using it with a carb? (no electronics) I have 2 or 3 EFI motors laying around, and ford EFI motors are about the easiest to troubleshoot (sorry GM guys, but it is true that ford had the most basic, easiest to understand EFI system in the 90's)

Here is a site to check out - http://www.gotpropane.com/ They have a good amount of info on the propane set-up. You would have to switch to a carb set-up, which probably isn't something you would be interested in, but check the site anyway.

[yotarover]

might wanna look into running pane from gotpropane.com he's got some really good deals

[deranged]

Anything new with your rig? Been using it lately, any pics of recent excursions? I was working on mine last night and with all the luck in the world, it should be drivable by the end of may.

[ScratchStart]

dealing with a hip/knee sprain right now... mostly just layin around doing nothing. I need to get this thing going tho, scored a 5.0 injection set up from a ford truck, has 8 fuel injectors instead of the throttle body set up. now I've just got to figure out the wiring and emissions stuff. also got a couple of axles, a 9" rear and a dana 60 semi-floater. trying to decide weather to change the 60 over to full float and gear/lock it up or just stick with the 9". I have not had any problems with the stock 8.8.... yet. I also noticed some shift issues with the transmission. so the C-6 may have to come out. That's ok cause I'd like a full manual valve body and deep pan anyway. But it isn't looking like it will get much use this year.

[deranged]

dealing with a hip/knee sprain right now... mostly just layin around doing nothing. I need to get this thing going tho, scored a 5.0 injection set up from a ford truck, has 8 fuel injectors instead of the throttle body set up. now I've just got to figure out the wiring and emissions stuff. also got a couple of axles, a 9" rear and a dana 60 semi-floater. trying to decide weather to change the 60 over to full float and gear/lock it up or just stick with the 9". I have not had any problems with the stock 8.8.... yet. I also noticed some shift issues with the transmission. so the C-6 may have to come out. That's ok cause I'd like a full manual valve body and deep pan anyway. But it isn't looking like it will get much use this year.

Sorry to hear about your injury, hope you heal quickly.

The 9" is a decent choice as long as you have one with at least 31 spline shafts and don't ever plan to go over 35" tires on it. You could get by with a bigger tire, but you'd only be playing with fire with the type of terrain you drive on. If you lived in MI where it's mostly mud and sand you'd be decent to a 38 with good throttle control(restraint). The Dana 60 would be a better way to go except, you would either need to A) Run 2 different wheel bolt patterns B) Have custom shafts made for the 5 on 5.5 pattern or C) convert the front to 8 lug. Either choice has benefits and drawbacks to it. I wouldn't even mess the converting the semi-floater to a full float since you could probably find a FF 60 for cheaper that the parts to swap the other. (unless the SF is already 5 on 5.5")

Personally I like the FF rear axle design a lot more that the SF for 3 reasons. The first reason being in a FF setup the axle shaft it self only has 1 duty - transfer power to the wheels - in a SF the shafts transfer power as well as support the weight of the vehicle. Second reason is breakage, a FF is not inherently stronger but if you do break a shaft the wheel isn't going to fall off with the broken shaft, you just wont have any power to that tire anymore(assuming a traction device is installed) but you can still safely drive off the trail. Once you remove the broken pieces of shaft a FF would still be ok to drive home with a broken axle shaft. The third reason is a much better bearing design on the FF, instead of a single bearing like a SF axle the full float has 2 tapered bearings in each hub. This helps more evenly distribute the load across both bearings and greatly increases bearing life.

You C6 may need to have the intermediate band adjusted, the procedure will be in any good service manual. I have seen firsthand a C6 that seemed destined for a rebuild as it was slipping badly from 1st to 2nd gear. We adjusted the band and the issue was gone, that Bronco had a 460 in it and to the best of my knowledge (buddy sold it a little later) is still being driven almost daily with no issues. FYI - most of the 4x4 C6's already have a "deep" pan on them, so unless you go cast aluminum for better cooling (bad idea around rocks) you won't gain anything. A FMVB is a good modification and will extend the life of a good transmission quite a bit, just be sure to get a reverse pattern version otherwise you will have to shift from 1st to 2nd to neutral to get to reverse and vice versa the other way. I had a forward pattern in my AOD in my last 4x4 only because it was all that is available and it SUCKED to have to go from 1st to R. Not sure if you already have a shifter or not but my advice is to by a "gated" type shifter instead of the ratchet style shifter. I has 2 B&M Megashifters and they worked pretty well for me, but to work with the FMVB in the AOD I had to run a gated shifter to be able to get past 3rd gear on my way to first without stalling the engine. Since then i have sold both B&M ratchets and will only run gated shifters, the shifter I have is from Art Carr, cost the same as a B&M but is much higher quality with very few moving parts. It ALWAYS hits every gear every time, not something I could say of the ratchet shifter it constantly found the space between 1st and 2nd if I really shifted it hard.

[ScratchStart]

hey, thanks for the info.

I have adjusted the band on the tranny a couple times already, I am hoping I can adjust it again, but there is only so much friction material on the band.

I was looking at the B&M light truck mega shifter, but I have never had a ratchet style shifter, so I'll take your advice and find a gated one, sounds like i will be happier. is that art car a solid linkeage type or cable shifter, the cable would be nice for install.

also the D60 is a 5 on 5.5 already. and the FF kit retains the 5 on 5.5 as well as adds a locking hub(which would make it a "selectable" locker, as I welded the spiders)

I have been running those 37's on a factory 8.8 axle with no problem(I do have to restrain myself from laying on the throttle) but thought the 9 would hold nicely and allow a little more "fun"