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1995 EB build - Everything comes in three's...

60K views 372 replies 29 participants last post by  Festus 
#1 ·
Getting my all my build thread info into one thread - since I hope to God I'm not buying anymore Bronco's anytime soon.


So last Summer - I'd been on the lookout for something to throw together for my son in college. He's got a 2WD '11 Silverado, and while it's been a good truck, he tends to fish out his kayak with what little free time he has (Div I scholarship athlete) and he doesn't want to mess up the Silverado. So an excuse for a project vehicle? He knows his old man pretty well.

I've always been mainly a GM guy - but I always like the Bronco's. And while I wasn't actively looking for a Bronco - I ran across a '96 XL on Facebook marketplace. Owner said it ran fine, her husband drove it everyday to work (he worked at the Ford Dealer Parts counter - that will become relevant later). One day it wouldn't start when he went to leave work. Replaced the battery. Still no start. Had it towed home. Where it sat, for almost TWO years. All the while they kept insurance on it and kept renewing the tags.

They bought it from the original owner in Texas before they moved to VA. No rust truck. The Driver's 1/4 panel has seen better days. The story I got was the previous owner had an incident with a trailer he was towing. Likely true.

Got it for a pretty good price. Half of what she wanted originally. Clean title. Of course it busted a brake line coming off the roll back when I got it back to the house.



Low miles (less than 120K if memory serves).

Zero Rot - just a bit crusty underneath and the surface rust from the 1/4 panel damage that was apparently never touched

The 1996 - Number One





Interior was even pretty clean - but a stripper XL model.



So I was in the midst of moving into a new place with my GF. Moving stuff out of her house (sold) and moving stuff out of my old house, trying to get it ready to sell, all while working on the new place. Almost 5 acres and two detached shops. With a 3rd coming hopefully next Spring. So needless to say, not much got done. However, after cutting grass and working on the land one day - took a break and decided to see what was up with the Bronco "bad starter". Surely the previous owner - who worked for a Ford Parts counter - checked the solenoid...right?

Put a new battery in it. Jumped the solenoid. Nothing. Posts were really corroded. Cleaned 'em off a bit. Tried again.

Let's just say it's a good thing no one was there watching me. I almost jumped three feet in the air. It fired right up and idled like nobody's business, albeit loud since it's got virtually no exhaust past the mid pipe.... No rattles, no squeals, no knocking. I shut it off, checked fluids (all good) and fired it up again. Hell, the AC even blows cold!!!! :ford

So I get a notification on Facebook marketplace about a Bronco - since I'd looked at several before buying this one.

1993 EB - no engine. No rust. Went and checked it out and pulled the trigger. For the price I couldn't NOT buy it.

Again, super clean wheel wells.

Story on this truck was pretty simple. Current owner (had several project Fords at this place) bought it to swap an engine into. Previous owner had it in a barn. Engine went bad, they pulled the engine and were going to replace it. It sat.

Last inspected in '03.

Undercarriage of this one is actually cleaner than the '96. Interior is dirty but surprisingly in GREAT shape. Power buckets aren't even ripped. Does need the armrests fixed though.

When I called him he had several offers, no one had showed up with the cash. Drove there that night, looked it over, handed him the cash and got the title. Showed up two days later with my buddy's F150 and a Uhaul car trailer (my '84 GMC was down with a busted rear brake line). So of course no engine and no winch, my son was wondering how we were going to get it on the trailer. I decided to go old school.

Backed trailer up to the Bronco and lined the ramps up. Unhooked trailer, tied a tow strap to the F150 and the front crossmember of the Bronco and pulled it up on the trailer. Haven't tried this in years, and it worked a lot easier than I remember.

Maybe 3 miles from where the Bronco was, one of the trailer tires decided to blow out. Luckily these were backroads and I was going maybe 30mph when it went. Luckily found a large pull off, called UHaul and waited.

Hour and half and one new tire / wheel later, we were on our way again. @ 60 mile trip to the house was uneventful.

The 1993 (Number Two)

Where it was sitting when we picked it up:



Got it back to the house - of course this one busted a brake line too getting it off the trailer:







So the plan was to use the drive train from the '96 in the '93. Then it would get a 6" lift, 35's, go through everything etc.

Then life got in the way. Getting my old house ready to sell, work, working on new house and other more important things getting in the way of wrenching.

Then I got a notification text from an app I had on my phone for Craigslist. When I was still looking for Bronco's.

1995 EB. ZERO Rust. (most are rusted here in VA). 6" Lift. Recent 35" BFGs, Mickey Thompson wheels.

Yeah - I bought another one.

1995 EB - No rust. Guy I bought it from was keeping it at his shop where he works (not the best part of town - especially after dark) and a while back someone decided they needed it more than he did. They broke the passenger window, and butchered the steering column, stole the face to the stereo - but couldn't manage to actually steal it.

6" lift. He just did all new shocks. 35" BFG's, M/T wheels. Interior is actually mint with both seats being power. Paperwork in a folder on the truck show where the previous owner paid over $5K in 2011 for a crate engine, and a rebuilt E4OD. Not to mention locker and gears. From the way it goes - I'm assuming they ditched the 3.55's for 4.56's - but won't know for sure until I get inside the pumpkins for a check and fluid change.

The current owner just installed new Ball Joints, all new tie rods and steering linkage and new exhaust.D

Thing runs really well for having a monster exhaust leak (Cracked manifold I'm betting)

Got it for a good deal. Let's just say I paid less than half what someone paid to put in an engine / trans and other work a few years ago.



 
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#60 ·
Looking ahead and the next steps in this project after the front end is squared away - I realized I'll need to address a few things at the same time to save money and time and easier access.

I've got a small leak of ATF under the truck. It's not coming from the converter area and it doesn't appear to be coming from the trans pan. It appears to be coming from the extension housing between the transfer case and the transmission. So I've already got a extension housing gasket and a transfer case input shaft seal on hand. I figure since I have to drop the tcase, I mine was well replace the input shaft seal.

I've also got an issue with how the previous owner / shop ran the larger trans cooler lines they installed:



They replaced the factory hard lines with AN fittings / lines. That's good. In fact they look larger than the factory 5/16 hard line. After doing a bit of digging it appears that Jasper supposedly recommends / provides some 'upgrade' for trans cooler lines when selling a rebuilt E4OD for this application. That's all well and good, but how they installed / ran the lines themselves - I have an issue with:





yeah, they just hang there. I'll get some pictures of where they mate up with lines going into the radiator / trans cooler.

I want to do all this at the same time I have the current exhaust cut out of the truck, when I'm installing headers. It just gives a lot more access room to RH side of the transmission. Right now I can't decide if I'm going to run braided line and AN clamps or just run rubber trans cooler line. I was going to order some prebent steel lines from Bronco Graveyard ($75) but I'm not ordering those until I know whether or not the current lines are the larger -6 or 3/8 size.

Since I'll be redoing the trans cooler lines anyway, I figure I'll go ahead and plumb in an auxiliary trans cooler. With 20ft of braided line running $80 or more, I'm considering just running rubber trans cooler line along the frame rail and routing it how I want it, using line clamps to keep it out of the way. But since they routed braided lines and used AN fittings - I'll have to crawl under the '93 and see if the transmission cooler lines or at least the fittings in the transmission are still there.

At the same time I'll drop the transfer case and replace the extension housing gasket and the tcase input shaft seal.
 
#61 ·
So I emailed Jasper about any recommendations or requirements (to retain warranty) on their rebuilt E4OD transmission for the Bronco - since that's what's in the '95.
Got this reply back:

"JASPER send out a larger cooler with our E4OD transmissions. The lines are also upgraded to a 3/8 for higher flow. We highly recommend the larger cooler to be installed rather than an auxiliary in addition to the stock cooler."

I replied to see if they convert the fittings in the transmission itself to accept 3/8" line - because that's what it looks like looking at the lines currently installed in the '95.
 
#62 ·
Got the old u joint out of the RH axle. Short work with a hammer and a couple of sockets






New vs old. Spicer lasted for 24 years and 250k miles so good enough for me





Same pair of sockets and a few minutes later



Got the LH axle ready to install. RH axle soaking in parts cleaner.

Got my new slide hammer setup. Fifteen minutes later - spindle bearings out









Bearings should be here tomorrow. Get the races installed in the hubs, clean up the RH axle and get the new u joint installed. Need to grab some new spindle nuts (they are rough) and clean up the studs on the knuckle.
 
#63 ·
FYI for those interested.
The trans cooler kit that Jasper sells (they actually send it with a replacement E4OD for 92-96 Bronco application) are larger fittings that screw into the transmission ports, braided 3/8 trans cooler lines with AN fittings and a 24k Hayden trans cooler. This is REQUIRED to retain the Jasper warranty on the transmission and they actually recommend bypassing the radiator trans cooler all together and use the cooler / lines they send.

They DO sell the 'kit' separately $210 shipped ($30 of that is shipping) #K450-EL

At this point I need to see exactly what I've got to work with after I get the front end back together. For that price I can spend $60 on a Long Trans cooler and plumb it in and run braided lines.
 
#64 ·
Well - got nothing done to the Bronco last night. Was hoping to get everything ready for install tomorrow morning. Someone decided to rear end my Mustang on the way home from work. Just LOVE it when a brand new car (Bought it 10/17) with ZERO damage gets popped by someone who simply can't drive. I was actually going to take off early today and work on the Bronco, but now I have to go get an estimate for the damage on the Mustang. Lovely. It's not bad - rear bumper cover mainly. Just aggravating.
 
#65 ·
Well got SOME stuff done.

Got both hubs and spindles cleaned up.

Got the new spindle bearings greased, pressed in and the new seals in.

Took the Timken 37 inner wheel bearing and tried to fit in on one of the spindles. Nope. Took some 400 grit and made some passes on the spindle where the bearing seats. Took a few minutes and it seats perfectly.



Got both inner and outer bearing races seated with no issue.
Inner bearing greased.
Grabbed this bearing packer - found it when I moved. Apparently I bought it and never actually used it. Man - this makes it easy.



Inner bearing installed. Seal installed.

New wheel studs installed. Some washers and a lug nut - good to go.





So I've got one side ready to go. Start on the second hub.

And seating the outer race flush - simply ain't happening.

I posted a thread in the tech forum:

https://www.fullsizebronco.com/foru...ing-race-will-not-seat-fully.html#post7203622

I went back through pictures and there was a race that wasn't seated all the way. I'm assuming the hub is tweaked. Looking to order one now.

New Raybestos hub on rock auto? $33 + shipping. NAPA? $138
You gotta be kidding me.

So I'll be ordering one shortly.
 
#66 ·
So the hub should be here Tuesday. Also had to fork out $7 via Amazon to order a new race for the Timken 45 bearing set (outer wheel bearing). So while I'm waiting on that - I was talking to a friend of mine and we started wondering just what effect the race being crooked in the hub would have on the truck.

Like I mentioned before - the race wasn't seated all the way when I took this thing apart. I had pictures when I was driving the races out and I distinctly remember thinking it was odd - that when I was driving this one race out, the 'lip' (looking down from the back side of the hub towards the backside of the outer wheel bearing race) wasn't the same size all the way around. Well - I know why now. The question is - the race wasn't straight. Maybe 2/3 of the race was FLUSH but roughly a 1/3 of the race was not flush. So in essence the outer wheel bearing was cocked outward towards the tire because of this.

It also explains why the outer wheel bearing on the LH side basically popped out as soon as I got the spindle nuts /washer off.

I wonder what effect this had on how the truck drove? Guess we'll see when I get all back together this week.

Hope to finish the front bearings / brakes / hubs / calipers / lines by Thursday and Friday morning go ahead and install the new AC Delco steering box and the Skyjacker drop pitman arm.
 
#67 ·
Got the new hub in. Raybestos PT#4440R. $33+shipping via Rock Auto or $139 from NAPA. Your choice :histerica
It comes with new bearing races installed and new wheel studs. Didn't know that. If I had known that, for the money - I'd have likely replaced both hubs and just bought the Timken bearings themselves with no races. You could do new rotors, new hubs, new bearings and new wheel studs for under $200 for both sides.



So remember I mentioned the race wouldn't seat flush (only on PART of the race)? Guess I didn't notice the BEND in this hub when I was cleaning / working. That explains a lot.



Installing the rotor onto the hub. It's a press fit, held in place by the wheel studs. Get an open end lug nut, some washers and an impact. You could use a breaker bar - but even a inexpensive battery powered or corded impact should do it and impacts make life SO MUCH easier when working on vehicles - especially ones with bolts / nuts that haven't moved in 20 years or more. The washers cover the gap of threads where the shoulder of the wheel stud is - so you can use the wheel stud threads to pull the shoulder all the way into the hub. Whole operation (5 wheel studs) takes maybe 15-20 minutes.



Here's the shoulder of the wheel stud I mentioned.



Me personally, I like putting fresh grease inside the depressed cavity (inside the hub) between the inner and outer wheel bearings. Not enough that will interfere or get dislodged when sliding the hub assembly onto the spindle - but a good bit spread around in there.



Packed the inner wheel bearing with grease, inner wheel seal installed:



And I got around to checking the transfer case. There is a ATF leak that SEEMS to be coming from where the extension housing on the E4OD bolts to the transfer case. But there shouldn't be any fluid in there.

I removed the FILL plug from the Transfer case and NASTY fluid immediately started coming out. Truck was close to level - likely a bit lower in FRONT (wheels off / jack stands) so more would have likely come out if it was completely level. Good thing I went ahead and got the transfer case input seal and transfer case to extension housing gasket.



Going out with the GF tonight, off tomorrow and all of next week for vehicle and house projects. Hope to have the front end back together Friday afternoon - test drive - and then install the new steering gear and lower pitman arm and start tearing down the engine.
 
#68 ·
So got some time to work on getting the front end back together.
LH side was going together just fine. New rotor, new bearings, new spindle nuts / washer, everything went together fine and the new Milemarker hub went in no problem. Installed the new pads, and unboxed the new caliper....

And it's the wrong part. My fault for not checking it before. Wrong part in the right box. Contacted Amazon and they are sending out the correct part - it will be here Sunday.

Well since I have everything else, I figure I'll use the caliper that's on the LH side for now. Get it installed, install the new Rough Country braided brake line. Go to open the brake bleeder to bleed the air out after installing the new brake hose - and it snaps off.

So much for that.

So I start on the RH side. Everything is going fine - keep in mind this is the side with the new hub - so I go to bolt on the new Milemarker hub cover - and it won't fit flush. The axle clip and locking ring fit no problem. The hub cover simply wouldn't fit flush.

Ended up taking it all apart again, made sure the bearings were seated, torqued the inner spindle nut to 70 ft/lbs, backed up 90 degrees then torqued to 20 ft/lbs. Installed the washer, Installed the outer spindle nut, torqued to 150 ft/lbs. It appears the outer locking ring wasn't seating far enough in the hub to let the Milemarker hub cover to mount flush.

Worked with a small screwdriver on the locking ring and was finally able to get it seated enough to get the hub cover mounted correctly.

Tomorrow I'll get the RH new caliper and brake line installed and bled. Sunday once the other caliper comes in I'll try to wrap it up.
 
#69 ·
So today, I figure I'd just get the RH side buttoned up since the LH caliper will be here tomorrow.
Got the new pads and caliper mounted.
Went to install the new braided brake line. And of course the hard line fitting wouldn't give up the ghost. Tried heat, penetrating oil etc. Nothing. I ended up having to cut the line. I figure no big deal - since I've got a complete direct fit brake line kit from Inline Tube. So I open up the box and I can't find anything close that matches. Turns out the kit I bought was for 93-94 Bronco. Apparently 95-96 is different.

Figures.

So I remove the passenger hard line I cut at the ABS pump. Looks like a bubble flare where it screws into the ABS pump and a normal double flare on the other end. Plan is to hit up the Auto parts store tomorrow and hopefully find a pre flared (I HATE flaring brakes lines with a passion) line with a bubble flare on one end and a normal fitting on the other and use a union to connect that to a normal straight line and bend it all to fit.
 
#70 ·
I hate bending brake lines. That being said, it's a hard line to bend and I'm not good at - and I hate it. Not to mention the line coming from the ABS unit has a bubble flare and at the other end, where it connects to the RH front caliper line - it's double flare.

Old line was twisted up removing it. No way to use it for a template. So call me a wuss - I'm just going to order the 95-96 replacement line set from Inline Tube.
 
#71 ·
I don't like getting beat. So after thinking about it last night, I figured that the difference between the Inline Tube pre bent brake line set for 93-94 (What I have - I bought it when I was planning on reviving the '93 EB) and the 95-96 kit couldn't be all that much - in regards to the lines I need - which are the lines that go from the ABS pump to each caliper.

WARNING: If you plan on buying pre bent lines - go for it. But I will tell you not to rip your old lines out without trying to keep them intact. It's almost impossible not to tweak or even cut the old lines to get them out, and to make it even more fun - the new brake lines aren't labeled.

If you aren't good at puzzles - find somebody who is.

The new line set comes with two unions. Unions that join normal double flared lines. From going through them all - one of the unions is for the front most line that goes into the ABS pump. This line (far left in my picture) goes from the ABS pump on top of the LH frame rail, bends down inside the frame rail and connects (union) to the brake line headed towards the rear.

So here's the lines I'm talking about. From the LH fender well.



The line on the right leads to the RH caliper. The middle line goes to the LH caliper.
The line on the left is the one I mentioned above - goes to the rear.

NOTE: The line on the left at the ABS pump has a small connector, the middle line is larger and the right line is another small connection. You can tell which lines go to the ABS pump because they are bubble flares.


So the second union supplied by Inline Tube connects the line (right in picture) that runs to the RH caliper. The line connects with the second part of the run right against the frame rail.

I went ahead and replaced the middle line (going to LH caliper) because I was in there. I left the line heading towards the rear along. Didn't want to fight the connection where it goes into a union heading towards the rear. It looks fine.

I took all the lines with bubble flares and mocked up each until I figured out what went where.

The HARDEST part of this job - so far - was getting the lines in place where they connect to the ABS pump. Had to remove the 3 13mm bolts holding the ABS pump on the bracket, and physically move it enough to run the lines. They run right up close to the LH shock tower.

I have big hands. No room to get the fittings started. Finally able to get to it from above, holding the ABS pump at and angle and threading the fitting with the other.

Now all I have to do is tweak the line that goes to the LH Caliper and tweak and connect the line(s) that head to the RH caliper.

Juggling yard work, and other stuff doesn't help.

IF YOU WANT TO BEND REPLACEMENT LINES:

Buddy of mine gave me a great tip. Go get some aluminum armature wire (it's for sculptures etc) from the local hobby shop. You can get 1/8" version at a hobby store CHEAP. It's easy to bend by hand, and it retains it shape. Perfect for making a template for bending a line.
 
#72 ·
Downside to owning 4 acres in that's heavily wooded? Yard work. Worth it for the privacy and space though. So after mowing, weedeating etc etc....ate dinner and went to see if these new lines were going to fight me.

Surprisingly no. Got the junction installed for the RH caliper line that runs across the crossmember. Got the new line on the RH caliper installed. Got the hard line hooked up to the LH caliper line.

So all I need to do is install the new LH Caliper, tighten down the ABS pump and plug it up and bleed the system.



New lines connected to the ABS pump. Not fun.



I will tweak these lines a bit to clean them up.



This is where the RH caliper hard line connects and runs across the cross member to the RH caliper.
 
#73 ·
Got the hubs / brakes and lines back together yesterday. Caught hell trying to get the air out of the system. I've never had an issue using my MityVac, but it just wasn't up to the job. Ran by harbor freight and picked up this:

https://www.harborfreight.com/brake-fluid-bleeder-92924.html

I had the much more expensive version of this years ago. For $30 I figured it was worth a shot. Pedal was basically going to the floor. Bled basically a full big bottle of fluid through the system. Then had my GF pump the pedal and hold it while I cracked each master cylinder fitting loose. That combo gave me a satisfactory pedal. I will more than likely get another bottle of fluid and use the bleeder to make sure it's good as it can get.

Rides / drives better. Still a good bit of play (which I knew all along was more than likely the steering gear which looks original).

Was able to air down the 35's and BARELY fit the Bronco in the shop. (shop ceiling is plenty big - it's the door entryway that's short).

Disconnected the upper steering column, disconnected both power steering lines, got the drag link off the pitman arm and got the old steering box removed.





New AC Delco steering box ready to go in:



The new Skyjacker extreme drop pitman arm compared to the already installed 'normal' drop pitman arm:



New steering gear went it with zero issues.

But unless I'm missing something, there's no way the Skyjacker pitman arm is going to work.

It won't match up with the drag link. I was going to try and break loose the LH tie rod from the drag link and go from there, but it looks like the LH tie rod would interfere / hit the drag link IF I could get it to match up. Keep in mind both drag link and all tie rods are newly replaced right before I bought it.





I'm going to remove the old drop pitman arm and install it on the new box and see how it drives from there.

Anyone else had experience with installing the FA600 Skyjacker extreme drop pitman arm? I found a couple of threads mentioning have it installed - but no issues I could fine with installing it.
 
#77 ·
I ended up with the JBA headers and the Jegs off road y pipe. With the difference in price for Bassani headers + y pipe, I'll pay my exhaust guy to run a custom exhaust after the y pipe and have some cash left over.
 
#78 ·
Subscribed.

Awesome tech and how-to pics/descript. :ford


I'm replacing worn out stuff so this thread will come in real handy. :beer
 
#79 ·
"Most of mine is heavily wooded. That's one of the reasons we bought this place. Of course the detached 2+ car garage (For parking) and the detached 2+ car shop with it's own power didn't hurt either.[/QUOTE]

I bought my house before I got married. Main reason I got the house I did was 30 by 40 shop with 3 phase. My wife complains that the shop is almost bigger then the house but I was a first time home buyer with a Bronco addiction. Now I just need to get a Mill and Lathe to use that 3 phase
 
#80 ·
So had a bit to work on the 95 today.

Picked up a pitman arm puller and got the old drop pitman arm off the old steering box.

Then ran into the same problem when loosely installing it on the steering box - the drag link (still connected to LH inner tie rod) still wouldn't bolt up. So I removed the LH inner tie rod from the drag link.

Decided to go ahead and try to install the Skyjacker extreme drop pitman arm. It went on - key way matched up, drag link bolted up with no adjustment - but I did have to screw the LH inner tie rod IN about 5-6 turns and it bolted right up to the drag link.

Keep in mind - started all this work with the truck on the ground - tires pointed straight ahead, steering wheel centered / locked and secured with the seat belt. Steering shaft matched right up with the flat on the new steering box. Steering box was centered.

Need to torque everything - may try to take a quick road test tomorrow but I have other stuff I have to do - so it might be Sunday.

I'll get it aligned this week.

Also - this is as far as I could get the new pitarm on. Keep in mind - new steering box as well. I'll try to use the impact to see if I can get it to go on further. Had my 3/4" torque wrench set to 200 and I couldn't get it to click to torque.





 
#81 ·
Went back out today to the shop. Got the Pitman arm nut torqued. Went to bleed the Power steering system. Decided to try something I'd seen on a thread here or another forum...

Pulled the coil wire. Filled the P/S pump, cranked the key while moving the wheels lock to lock (Front wheels off the ground). Added fluid until it held steady.

Test drive went well. Truck drive so much better it's ridiculous. It needs an alignment of course and the steering wheel is off center a bit..........but all the work was worth it. It's crazy how good it drives.
 
#82 ·
I need to track down the ATF leak. It's pretty bad. Need to figure out where exactly it's coming from. I'm going to clean off the transmission / transfer case and check the tightness of the transfer case to transmission bolts, as well as the transmission pan bolts.

I'm also going to go another round with the power brake bleeder as well.

I still can't get over how good this thing drives now and I haven't even reinstalled the front swaybar with new endlinks or installed the rear sway bar endlinks (which are totally shot).
 
#84 ·
I need to track down the ATF leak. It's pretty bad. Need to figure out where exactly it's coming from. I'm going to clean off the transmission / transfer case and check the tightness of the transfer case to transmission bolts, as well as the transmission pan bolts
Don't overlook the coolant lines. I drove from Ohio to Arizona and back years ago with one leaking. Had a couple shops look it over in Phoenix. A dealer said I needed front and rear seals, a small shop found the leaking fitting, but couldn't fix it for some reason. Has to fix it when I got back home, but the leak sure made a mess.
 
#83 ·
Yesterday I was juggling several different projects so I decided to take the seat cushion out of the donor passenger seat I pulled from the '93 EB. The cushion in the driver's seat on the '95 is shot. I figured the cushions would be identical between both seats and they are. Took me a few minutes how to take apart the '93 seat but got the cushion out.

Then I got sidetracked and started messing with the tailgate glass on the '95. When I bought the truck someone had hot wired the tailgate window motor straight to a long spool of wire that runs to the interior so you can connect it to a power source and raise / lower it. That part works. In fact the tailgate motor itself looks like it's definitely been replaced.

Replaced the dash switch with a known good switch and reconnected the Y/RD, RD/Y wires to the tailgate window motor. Nothing. Wiring coming out of the tailgate into the LH tail light looks fine - no readily visible cuts or abrasions. Plan is to do pull it back in the shop after work and start tearing into it.

Figure it's best at this point to pull the connector on the frame and clean and make sure no obvious wiring issues then start testing what I've got at the dash switch.
 
#86 ·
Yesterday I was juggling several different projects so I decided to take the seat cushion out of the donor passenger seat I pulled from the '93 EB. The cushion in the driver's seat on the '95 is shot. I figured the cushions would be identical between both seats and they are. Took me a few minutes how to take apart the '93 seat but got the cushion out
I never considered that, but thats a good idea. Much easier to find good passenger seats in the yards than driver seats.
 
#89 ·
Well I crawled in the back of the '96 XL. Scored a few tools, and a shotgun shell carrier.
The tailgate access panel in the '96 looks like it's never been disturbed. That's good.

Realizing the '96 XL doesn't have rear defrost - the '95 does.
Did set up a quick rig that lets me get the tailgate window up and down without crawling in the truck. Like a sauna in there. New weight loss program.



So then I crawled in the back of the '93 EB...with rear defrost. Rear window hasn't been down in 15 years. The motor works. After a ton of pb blaster etc - it went from barely moving to moving a few inches. It seems like one side of the regulator is frozen. I'll search threads and see what I can find.

Here's the passenger seat cushion from the '93:



And cut outs on both sides of the cushion:





It will be a direct replacement for the worn driver's cushion in the '95.

And I've been trying to find a vinyl dye that matches the tan / mocha in the '95.

Desert Sand Duplicolor is too light as I suspected.

Colorbond Ford Medium Prairie Tan is still too light.

Trying the SEM LT Buckskin next.
 
#90 ·
So after tearing through the tailgate tech section on Supermotors from Steve83 (I'd already saved all that to my computer) and searching through a bunch of threads here....

It likely seems the regulator OR the roller / guides allow the tailgate window to move are likely frozen. It's not a stretch. It's literally been 15-16 years since that window has been down on the '93 - it was stored in a heated / cooled bard for 15 years before I got it.

I think at this point I'll just climb back in there and remove the (4) nuts holding the window to the regulator / bracket then manually lower the window down to the bottom of the tailgate so I can get the tailgate down. Then I'll go from there and see if I can get the regulator moving. I want to to keep the '93 weather tight - all I really want is the apparently untouched tailgate wiring harness with rear defog to install in the '95.

I'll try to get at it tonight and see what's going on and update here.
 
#91 ·
For anyone who can't get the tailgate window down, the first option is to remove the access panel, unplug the window motor connection, get a battery and two pieces of wire and simply try to get it down by directly powering the motor. If that STILL doesn't work - like in my case where the tailgate window on the '93 LITERALLY has not been down or open since 2003 (at least), then odds are - if the motor tries to work - the rollers / guides the connect the regulator to the window track are likely frozen.

Like this - All I did was Try to move the guide (still attached to the regulator) after I got the window out.



In that case - grab a wrench (12mm or 7/16" can't remember at the moment) and reach up inside the access panel and take off the two nuts on either side of the window track that hold the glass to the regulator. Bumping the power to the motor at this point will jar it enough to allow you to move the regulator arms off the studs on the guides and get the window free of the mechanism and allow you to lower it manually.

First time in over 15 years this tailgate has been lowered:



So all that work to get to the tailgate harness in the '93 - since it has rear defrost and so does the '95.....and someone has already "modified" the harness. In reality - it was unplugged underneath the truck and it appears someone just ran a wire to the battery at some point to power the tailgate. I guess. It was closed off with a wire nut. God I love previous owners.

The safety switch on the LH side of the tailgate is GONE. They jumpered the wiring harness to bypass this (they were good enough to crimp this connection). I got the entire harness out of the tailgate - only to find out they apparently just REMOVED the rear defrost wire from the harness. It and the rear defrost harness is GONE. On the plus side the tailgate switch seems like it's in good shape.



On the plus side - the tailgate isn't rotted. It's got some scale surface on one inside corner but ZERO rot. So at least it's consistent with the rest of the truck. I honestly believe the top has NEVER been off the '93. All the trim and trim screw hole plugs are intact and not broken.

At this point I need to search the tailgate tech stuff and figure out how to remove the tailgate key switch. It looks like I have to remove the exterior trim panel to remove the key cylinder itself - I'll try that and see what happens I'm going to rob the key cylinder from the '96 because I have a key for it and it worked before. At this point it looks like I'm going to build an entire new harness using the plugs and seals from the '93 to install in the '95. I just have to find where the rear defrost ground actually bolts up - inside the tailgate itself or inside the tail light housing. That wire was cut on the '95 as well.

I want to get the tailgate working from both switches, lubed up and working well, so I can button up the dash on the '95 and install the new instrument cluster I scored + the mint trim bezel I got from the same parts truck.

I'm off to search threads - but does anyone know if power side mirrors (the '93 has them in good shape - the '95 does not have power mirrors) harness plug up is present in a Bronco that didn't have them?
 
#92 ·
Okay so after some digging I found some pictures and other things that I'll leave here to help me document getting this repaired.

Here's a picture (courtesy of Steve83 ) of the later model tailgate wiring harness:



Once I get the '95 back in the shop, I'll verify what I got - but at this point I would feel better about taking the pieces of two harnesses I have and wiring up a new one.

The rear defrost consists of two connections. One wire is the ground, one wire is the hot. They both apparently connect to the window.

The ground connects to a tab glued to the silver connection on the glass connected to the defroster grid. Looking at the tailgate with it down - it's on the RH (passenger side) a short distance to the left is the hot for the defrost - which connects to the same type of tab.

So two of these are used:

https://www.amazon.com/Rear-Window-...+fighter+2300&qid=1559310527&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Again, one for ground (grounds to inside LH tail light housing) and one for hot.

You can also buy new connectors from Frost Fighter as well and they even make a special epoxy to reconnect the tabs to the silver insets on the glass that connects to the defroster grid. But that epoxy is like $40. The connectors (which are just female spade connectors with a clip on plastic housing) are like $6 + shipping.

Me personally, I think I'm going to salvage two tabs from the '93 and '95 rear glass as needed and solder it back on the window. Won't cost me a dime. Then I'll crimp and solder on new spade connectors (again FREE) and then use heat shrink around it.

I'll take pictures when I get the '95 inside the shop and start building the harness.
 
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