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Hagan's '89 Cummins powered Bronco

22K views 80 replies 17 participants last post by  Bud bronc 
#1 ·
Hagan's '89 Cummins Bronco 05+ Superduty axles build

Picked up this '89 Bronco on Craigslist for $400 on Feb 19th. It doesn't run and the interior has partially been stripped. Carpet has been removed but that's ok. It looks like it has a 351w and a c6.

I plan on installing my a '92 Cummins engine and I'll be using my zf5 transmission that I already have for this project. It will also be getting a d60 front and Sterling 10.25 rear.

I've been trying to decide on a perfect daily driver and adventure rig and I keep coming back to a Bronco. I have plans for an adventure trip next year.

 
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#4 ·
Sounds awesome
, out of curiosity is there any reason you're sacrificing your DD's engine?
Mainly because it's a piece of junk.

Been working on it a little bit. I replaced the door lock actuators in both doors and now they both work. Need to figure out the ignition switch. I can't get the new cylinder in the column. Maybe I will just swap my manual column in now.

Decided to go a different route with the axles and suspension. I bought a 2006 F250 frame with axles and suspension. I decided if I'm going to drive it every day I want it to ride nice. I knew leafs would never provide that. These axles provide bigger brakes, stronger knuckles, stronger stub shafts, sharper turning radius, and they are much cheaper to buy.

I'm thinking I will swap to a different Sterling axle but out of Superduty.

I paid $1300 for it but drove 900 miles last night. Left at 1pm yesterday and didn't get home until 8am this morning. Fell asleep at a rest stop for about 30 minutes.:histerica

Here is my door lock actuator. I broke the mount in the door and didn't have a rivet that big. A 1/4" bolt half inch long fit perfectly. Doesn't look the best but definitely functional. Ended up scratching the door a little when the drill bit slid off the slid off.





Here are the axles and frame
 
#5 ·
Got a little bit of work done today. I removed the front clip in order to make it easier to install the engine and for the solid axle swap. Also my dash and interior wiring is hacked up. Dash is cracked and ignition wiring has been cut/spliced/hacked so I pulled a complete dash and wiring from a junkyard for $40.

New dash


 
#6 ·
Well I made a mistake. I got a wiring harness and dash out of a '90 F250 and at the time my only concern was finding a decent dash. Then once I got it home I realized the f250 won't have the rear window switch or rear defrost in the harness. Looks like I'll either be modifying my harness because I'm missing the ignition plug (it's on the column) or look for a new harness.
 
#7 ·
Got the new dash in and wired my stereo plug. My stereo is not in yet but will be when I tear the Dodge apart. Only one plug was different on the dash wiring harness on the new one. I ended up just cutting the 2 wires and leaving them hanging there. I can't for the life of me figure out what they do.

 
#9 ·
Yeah it's pretty torn down. Seems like all of my vehicles have been torn down like this.

Only progress so far is I've removed the radius arm brackets off the super duty frame. Took probably 3 hours for both and 14 rivets.

 
#14 ·
Unfortunately, I might have to scrap the Bronco and frame/axles this weekend. I got a notice of violation for having a "junk" vehicle and parts on my property and not in an enclosed building. It's not like it's been there for years. I've lived here (small town) my whole life and have never had an issue. I've always had vehicles that I've worked on outside. I'm pretty upset and I only have until the 17th. No idea what to do at this point
 
#15 ·
Man, that blows. Did a neighbor complain? I don't have anywhere off-street you could put it, but if it's got valid tags, my neighbors are pretty chill about that sort of thing and you could park it over here for a bit perhaps. If only I had my Bronco up and running for towing purposes...
 
#16 ·
I had a code enforcement officer drive by my house and issue me a warning BEFORE anyone complained. My car was on jack stands with a car cover over it. I pulled the jack stands out and they took the warning away. Call the city and ask them what you can do since it's not junk, just a work in progress.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
No idea if a neighbor complained or if it was the city. Although some new neighbors just moved in a month ago across the street from me. Guess it's ok people steal shit, siphon gas, and hit two of my vehicles. I can only imagine they didn't like looking at it.

I decided to keep my Bronco and I moved it to my brothers house. I'm planning on moving it back when I finish building my shed. I'm building a shed to clear out my garage so I can put the Bronco in it. I scrapped the Super Duty frame and kept the axles.
 
#18 ·
No idea if a neighbor complained. Although some "picky" neighbors just moved in a month ago across the street from me. Guess it's ok people steal shit, siphon gas, and hit two of my vehicles. I can only imagine they didn't like looking at it.

I decided to keep my Bronco and I moved it to my brothers house. I'm planning on moving it back when I finish building my shed. I'm building a shed to clear out my garage so I can put the Bronco in it. I scrapped the Super Duty frame and kept the axles.

I think I'm going to make some "art" so my neighbors can enjoy the new view.

Heck yes! Glad its still alive.

I suggest making something like this: :goodfinge
 
#19 ·
Haven't done much recently. Found a new job so I've been a little busy with that. Haven't finished my shed so I've been working on it at my brothers house. Pulled the engine/transmission/tcase this weekend. Hopefully going to start my front axle swap this week.

 
#23 ·
Started my day off with rolling the new axle next to the Bronco


Then I started with the radius arm brackets. I put them up against the front body mounts and started drilling 9/16" holes. 6 bolts on each radius arm bracket with washers on each side and a nylon lock nut.





Next I worked on the coil buckets. I had to drill the rivet holes out to 1/2". I c-clamped them to the frame where they fit the best. They surprisingly fit the frame extremely well except the rivet on the bottom of the frame where the bucket hits. I used 1/2" bolts for the buckets.




After I got the buckets in I put the coils in and set it back down on its own weight.


 
#25 ·
Too cool!

I considered going with Super Duty axles for my Bronco, but ended up with a Sterling 10.25 and kingpin Dana 60. (IMO, keep the factory front clip. We gotta keep the bricknose alive.)

Keep up the good work! :thumbup
 
#26 ·
Little more progress. I got most of the track bar bracket done. Should get my adapter plate this week and also my shackle reversal brackets.

Track bar bracket was a huge pain in the butt. I decided to try to use the factory bracket. I had to notch it below the steering box. I'm using the Super Duty steering box and ordered longer metric bolts (old ones were too short and wasn't worth the risk) had to drill the holes to 9/16".


Cut out of the crossmemeber


I built the cross member back using 1/4" plate. Could have made it radiused looking but this was easier and I'm not a great fabricator.



Here is the track bar bracket bolted on

 
#27 ·
I decided to go with the Super Duty steering box since it has a much bigger pitmam arm and it already fits the tie rod end. I pulled it from the frame before scrap. I drilled out the holes to 9/16" and the old bolts were too short. I got new bolts from bolt depot. 14x2.0-140mm long.


 
#28 ·
Did some painting last weekend. I used Chassis Saver and to be honest I'm not happy with the final result but I need to move forward with this project.





Got my shackle reversal brackets from Broncoair and they look beautiful;)



Got my adapter plate for my Cummins to ZF5.



Also got my flywheel and clutch. I used this same setup on my F350 so I know it works. Flywheel is for a '97 12v and clutch is for a '90 F350 with a 460





Here it is with the shackle reversal installed on the Super Duty axle






Also ordered some motor mount parts. I didn't build them last swap I did but I feel like they are over priced for what they are. Should build them for less than half the price. Got some gaskets for my motor too. Going to fix the killer dowel pin
 
#29 ·
I really want to run super duty axles. does it appear the front axle will be centered in the wheel well? a tad forward would be optimal i would assume.

are you running the stock Super duty front coils springs or are you running lifted springs?
 
#30 ·
Yes I'm running stock springs. I think I will run a 2" coil spacer after I put the engine/trans in but I'm going to wait and see what it looks like after it's in. The wheel base is now 104" instead of 104.9 according to Wiki. Not sure if the back moved forward or the front moved back. Not really concerned about it as this is how I've seen everyone else install their axle. I guess I'll find out once I put the fenders on. The tires on it are a little bigger than 31's and I plan on hopefully running 35's.


Fixed the killer dowel pin


Oil pan, rear main seal, front crank, and timing cover gaskets done.


My flywheel is now machined with 6303-2rs bearing!



Next step is motor mounts. I've decided to build my own this time around.
 
#31 ·
i bet the rear axle moved forward. if i recall many have had to run a zero rate block out back to compensate.
 
#32 ·
Yeah I agree. I think it looks like the rear axle moved forward. I'll have to do some measuring to be certain.

This is how I built my motor mounts. The plates are 3/8 thick bolted to the engine. I'm using 2x2 .25" wall square tuning for the stand offs. The motor mounts came from Ruffstuff and they are very strong. The tabs are welded to the cross member and frame and have a gusset in the middle.

Passenger side



Driver side


 
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