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big green bronco build....my 93

61K views 261 replies 65 participants last post by  pb1302 
#1 ·
ok so my SAS thread is starting to turn into a build thread so before it goes any further i'll start one here.....

heres what the big green beast looked like when i first got it....



and heres what it looks like now....



and here's the journey....

i bought my bronco about a year and a half ago. dont ask the history...not sure. i'm not sure how many owners it had before me. i know there was 150,000+ on the odometer and the rear axle had been replaced due to an accident (same one that wrinkled the sheet metal behind the passenger side rear tire.

first thing i did was replace all the fluilds....along with a complete tune up...ala sixlitre...
ford racing 9mm wires, motorcraft copper core spark plugs, msd cap and coil, timing set to 13*.





soon i had enough money from tax returns and an enlistment bonus that the bronc could get bigger....and bigger it got....a 6" dick cepek stage 2 lift, james duff 70/30 shocks and bfg km2's. i installed the lift over a week at the auto shop on post while recovering from knee surgery.




the bolts that hold the rear leaves to the shackle can be a PITA to get out. i had to sawzall mine. i'd recommend if you're going over 4" to just do a shackle inversion. whether you flip the stock brackets or purchase a kit for heavier offroad use (i ended up getting hefty's) it's a better option and can be cheaper.





the rear is complete, time for the front....


getting to this point was pretty easy...just start unbolting things...i will say the front is deceptive.....ford had the glorious idea of using 1/2" rivets to hold the brackets to the frame. DO NOT TRY AND DRILL THESE OUT! you'll break your drill bits, frustrate yourself and take a month to finish it. two prover methods of popping them out...the first and harder of the two....grinder the heads off flush with the frame and use a hammer and punch to pop them out. the second and easiest way is it grind an "x" in the middle of them, use an air hammer and chisel bit to cut the head out and use the air hammer to pop it through. takes about a minute per rivet.





and the radius arm brackets get moved back 15".




once i finished bolting and drilling heres what it looked like...



this is my impression of a bronco thinking its a space shuttle.....haha. but no seriously, do yourself a favor and do a toe alignment before driving anywhere then go get a professional alignment.

and finally completed..


if you look really closely you'll see the rear front shock has about 3" of travel. i ended up pulling the front-front front shocks completely in favor of the front-rear's....much more downtravel for daily driving. that's it for today.....time to update my other threads.....i'll have more over the next few days....including things that broke, my sas, sterling swap and my current project.....a zf 5 speed swap.
 
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#7 ·
who says you can't go up daniel at the uwharrie in 2wd? at least the backside anyways...haha. this was after blowing the front end out...still wanted to play....just had to pick and choose lines better....


on my way to kodak rock at uwharrie....shortly after i blew the power steering pump....i used my intermittent 4wd to get through here...

she wasn't a fan of this pose....

this is about the spot where the power steering pump went...and before any of you harp on the ford power steering pumps, it was the "100% bolt on saginaw pump" (my second one by the way) the blew fluid from behind the pulley....thank god i was with my 4x4 club and autozone was still open.....as you can see i was stuck between a rock and a hard place (tree)....haha.
thats all i'm posting for tonight...i'm tired....the zf swap isnt' the easiest thing in the world....i have to admit...my SAS was actually easier....i wish i hadn't lost my previous phone..it had pics of the day i blew my rear axle.....i'll see if maybe my photobucket still has them.....look for more soon....
 
#11 ·
radius arms, new ball joints, deaver 6" coils, all painted, cleaned up and put together..




put new brakes and bearings on....




now some of you keener eyed readers will notice the 5x5.5 bolt pattern and will remember the sterling that got swapped in. when i started parts gathering the rear end was fine. when i got to this point is when the rear got replaced. so shortly after i swapped to an 8 lug front....
so i checked and dont have any pics of the 8 lug conversion. so here it is in a nutshell. find a late 70's f-250 axle (i parts from a 79). take EVERYTHING from the spindle out. dont use a 76-77 1/2 iirc, it has a different spindle and really weird hub. it will all bolt right up at the housings are basically the same.
 
#12 ·
the tear down begins....







bye bye TTB.



rivet removal 101-grinder or cut off wheel down the center or in an x pattern. air hammer cuts the top off and pops it out.










clearancing the cross member for the radius arm brackets. yea i know.....but that crossmember isn't there anymore anyways...haha.






making room for the shockes....








trac bar mount




 
#13 ·
SAS complete..










now you'll notice the rear end sits lower than the front...i gained about 9" of lift total.
the rear end tire clearance with 4.5" lift springs already installed...


front end tire clearance post SAS....


the old TTB 6" lift....already been sold and installed on another bronco...


installed 4" blocks in the rear...


and first run post SAS...






 
#19 ·
zf 5 speed swap....this is the abbreviated version. for full details check out my zf 5 speed swap

get the correct year group pedals and clutch masters....




remove transmission...


replace rear main if leaky....or just because its right there...


put on new flywheel and clutch...


new slave cylinder in tranny..


install new tranny....




there are a few electrical issues that i address in my swap thread as well. for more info on this swap i highly recommend reading my thread. its pretty in depth and you get to see all the troubles i had and how i got the answers.
 
#34 ·
yep it did. the only thing is you cant pull the pitman arm off without taking the entire steering box out but for most that shouldn't be an issue as when you're doing an SAS you're redoing your steering setup anyways. as for the radius arm brackets, you can re-use the stock ones but since i previously had a dick cepek stage 2 6" lift i re-used those as they were a little stouter.

great build bro!

i'm jealous that you are in colorado springs...i'm currently trying to get hired on the csfd. you are at ft carson, rt? where abouts in the springs do you live? i lived there for about a year in early 2000 (security for a bit, then up near the academy) and am dying to get back there!
yep. i'm at carson. i live up north off austin bluffs and rangewood. yea, long drive to work...and yes the bronco is my daily driver. :rockon

what year did the new one come out of? i just did a bronco t case swap along with my zf swap on my truck so i could run the double cardan joint...i was under the impression that the broncs all had a flange output instead of the u bolt style pictured above for the rear output..?
the guy i got the t case from said it came from an 89 bronco but the numbers on it indicate an 87-91 f-250. however the bolts holding the tailhousing on all look like they are in the same location. i'll take some measurements this weekend to be sure.

nice functioning rig, winch setup is so clean
thank you, you can thank the wife for kicking me out of the house for a weekend after an argument....haha.

bad ass build very detailed work, wish i had the money to do mine like yours.
tax returns and enlistment bonuses my friend. oh yea, and save money with junkyard parts, doing the work yourself or making good friends with guys that own 4x4 shops.
 
#27 ·
great build bro!

i'm jealous that you are in colorado springs...i'm currently trying to get hired on the csfd. you are at ft carson, rt? where abouts in the springs do you live? i lived there for about a year in early 2000 (security for a bit, then up near the academy) and am dying to get back there!
 
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