[AbandonedBronco]

How's the ride of your new leaf springs? Did they raise the rear any?

It's actually really hard to tell if it raised the rear, since I replaced the front coils at the same time. I didn't measure before.
However, there seems to be about an inch or more space between the tires and the fenders, which says a lot.

The ride is amazing. It's so cushy, it's like a new truck. Even off-road, we were going over some serious rocks and rough road, and it was the most comfortable trip I'd ever been on in it.
Ahhh... loved it.

I mean... If the road is bad enough to do this when I misjudged some rocks, and I'm saying the ride is cushy... Yeah, I'm really happy with my new springs and coils. lol

Not too happy about my skid plate though.

 

[Doosenberry]

That looks like it hit right about where the brace is on the inside of the skid plate. Dented the tank?

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Wow is that one of JBG skid plates?

 

[AbandonedBronco]

That looks like it hit right about where the brace is on the inside of the skid plate. Dented the tank?

I'm not sure on the tank yet. I'm assuming so, although there is about an inch between the plate and the tank. So, maybe not. Either way, I imagine if it's dented, it's not dented very much.

Wow is that one of JBG skid plates?

It is! It's a pretty hefty gauge too! Really came down on that rock, hard.
It surprised us all, since no one saw the drop until after.

 

[SRWillis]

It's actually really hard to tell if it raised the rear, since I replaced the front coils at the same time. I didn't measure before.
However, there seems to be about an inch or more space between the tires and the fenders, which says a lot.

The ride is amazing. It's so cushy, it's like a new truck. Even off-road, we were going over some serious rocks and rough road, and it was the most comfortable trip I'd ever been on in it.
Ahhh... loved it.

Thanks for the report, sounds like what I need. I want to do them before or the same time as my ZF5 swap.

You did a number on the skid plate, but that's what they're for!

 

[Flesh Eater]

It's actually really hard to tell if it raised the rear, since I replaced the front coils at the same time. I didn't measure before.
However, there seems to be about an inch or more space between the tires and the fenders, which says a lot.

The ride is amazing. It's so cushy, it's like a new truck. Even off-road, we were going over some serious rocks and rough road, and it was the most comfortable trip I'd ever been on in it.
Ahhh... loved it.

I mean... If the road is bad enough to do this when I misjudged some rocks, and I'm saying the ride is cushy... Yeah, I'm really happy with my new springs and coils. lol

View attachment 165475
Not too happy about my skid plate though.

If those are all stock springs, could you do me a favor and measure from the center of your rear wheel hub to the bottom of the fender?

Mine is 20.5” on worn out springs and blown shocks. Wondering how much new leafs will net me.

 

[AbandonedBronco]

Finally got around to measuring them.
Mine are 20.5" front and rear.
That's without any lift.

 

[Flesh Eater]

Finally got around to measuring them.
Mine are 20.5" front and rear.
That's without any lift.

Where did you order your springs from?

Do you happen to remember the weight rating?

Thanks!

Also, nice work on those axles/regear!

 

[AbandonedBronco]

These are the springs I ordered:

1980 - 1996 Ford Bronco rear leaf spring, 5(4/1) leaves, 1650 lbs capacity

General Spring provides rear leaf springs with 1650 lb spring capacity for the 1980-1996 Ford Bronco. Call or order online today and find the best deals!

www.generalspringkc.com

There was a 1390lb set (42-811) and a 1650lb set (42-813). From what I could find, the 42-813s were the stock rating, so I went with those. They don't feel stiff at all, and make for a very nice ride.

And thanks! The gears and axles were a really fun job. Very rewarding to go out and hit some trails, as well as drive it every day and have the diffs nice and quiet. First time regearing, so it's been really rewarding.

My only concern is that I got the front Dana 44 bearings too tight (it was a bear to get the diff into the housing without a spreader) but it took the same amount of preload to spin the front yoke as it did the rear 9", so I think it'll be okay. Plus, the front only spins about 50 miles a year, as opposed to the rear diff spinning all the time.

 

[Flesh Eater]

These are the springs I ordered:

1980 - 1996 Ford Bronco rear leaf spring, 5(4/1) leaves, 1650 lbs capacity

General Spring provides rear leaf springs with 1650 lb spring capacity for the 1980-1996 Ford Bronco. Call or order online today and find the best deals!

www.generalspringkc.com

There was a 1390lb set (42-811) and a 1650lb set (42-813). From what I could find, the 42-813s were the stock rating, so I went with those. They don't feel stiff at all, and make for a very nice ride.

And thanks! The gears and axles were a really fun job. Very rewarding to go out and hit some trails, as well as drive it every day and have the diffs nice and quiet. First time regearing, so it's been really rewarding.

My only concern is that I got the front Dana 44 bearings too tight (it was a bear to get the diff into the housing without a spreader) but it took the same amount of preload to spin the front yoke as it did the rear 9", so I think it'll be okay. Plus, the front only spins about 50 miles a year, as opposed to the rear diff spinning all the time.

I was looking at the springs on Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, and they list two different weights, and claim the 1,650lbs. spring raises the vehicle 2"-3".

Yes, running larger tires off road on 3.55 gears is okay, but 4.11's are probably SWEET. There's a lot to go into learning how to re-gear so that was probably awesome having it all turn out so well!

Agreed. If it that front axle was engaged full time, I'd probably be concerned, but I doubt you'll have any issues with it. It's definitely nice finding your thread, since you kept it stock height.

 

[90EddieB]

Wow! What an awesome build thread. I've been on the forum a while but just got back on and started scrolling. Very impressive build. You've got me wanting to get mine back into tip top daily driver condition. Do you happen to remember where the eec was located for the v8? After seeing your kick panel vents I really want to find a set but I think my eec (1990) is behind my kick panel.

 

[AbandonedBronco]

Thanks! Much appreciated. It's been a really fun and rewarding build.

The EEC on the '85 was up underneath the dash, just to the right of the steering column. No idea where it'd be on a 1990.
The sheet metal didn't change much, so I can't imagine it being behind the kick panel, as there's a big hole for the vents there. It also requires a bit of interior disassembly to get the kick panels out, which would be really inconvenient if you had to service the EEC.

I'm curious if 87+ models came with the kick panel vents. They are are a nice addition! I use mine all the time in the summer, even with the A/C.

 

[90EddieB]

Thanks! Much appreciated. It's been a really fun and rewarding build.

The EEC on the '85 was up underneath the dash, just to the right of the steering column. No idea where it'd be on a 1990.
The sheet metal didn't change much, so I can't imagine it being behind the kick panel, as there's a big hole for the vents there. It also requires a bit of interior disassembly to get the kick panels out, which would be really inconvenient if you had to service the EEC.

I'm curious if 87+ models came with the kick panel vents. They are are a nice addition! I use mine all the time in the summer, even with the A/C.

I looked today and it actually is behind the kick panel 😳😳 I've seen you and "Reptillikus" take the effort to put them in so natural I want them too haha. Reptillikus had the same issue that I have since he's using a bricknose body on his rebuild. He got an extension harness to move his ecu. I've swapped a zf5 into mine as well and I've mildly built my factory injected 351 so I'm going to use an A9L mustang ecu and go to mass airflow. since I've got to build a harness anyway I might try to find a harness and ecu bracket like yours originally had and move the ecu while I'm at it. The 87-88 bricknose f250 351 trucks were carbureted so they had a nice rubber plug in the ecu hole..... hmmm i need to hit the junkyard 😁😁

 

[dash_cam]

There was a 1390lb set (42-811) and a 1650lb set (42-813). From what I could find, the 42-813s were the stock rating, so I went with those. They don't feel stiff at all, and make for a very nice ride.

hey there, your bronco is looking good!

i have a question about your springs, if you don't mind. i know that you will tow a trailer time to time. i wonder how these factory springs hold up doing that. i'm looking to replace my springs front and back with minimal lift over stock. however, my old springs sag with any load on them. i am debating if i should try to get slightly stiffer springs or go with stock.

 

[AbandonedBronco]

Hey dash_cam. Honestly, I'm not sure yet. I haven't towed anything. Mostly just filled the back with camping gear. It's enough weight that I certainly feel it while driving (acceleration wise), but it doesn't handle any different, and the back end hardly drops at all.
But yeah, so far no trailers, so I'm not sure on that one. They seem plenty strong though.

 

[SRWillis]

Next, I figured that since the rear was getting new leaf springs, the front should get new coils. MOOG makes a progressive spring replacement for about $80 a set. If they suck, it doesn't set me back too far, so they're worth a try.

The only thing I don't like about them is it looks like they have a lot more coils in them, which means they'll coil bind easier. But, we'll see:

Hey AB, how are you liking the Moog springs? Thinking of putting a set on mine.

 

[AbandonedBronco]

I really like them and have had no negative issues. They're comfortable on the road, and I've given them a serious workout off-road and they made for a good ride.

 

[SRWillis]

I really like them and have had no negative issues. They're comfortable on the road, and I've given them a serious workout off-road and they made for a good ride.

Great! Can't ask for much more than that. Thanks for the report!

 

[AbandonedBronco]

So, it's been a while since I've had any updates!

It's been a long year for the Bronco.
Back in March, I took it into a body shop because it was already rusting out from the previous body shop's work.
Pretty awful for only 2 years.

Not to mention, this is on the driver's side. The passenger side is the one that had the full panel replacement. The driver's side rear wheel well was one of the few places that originally didn't have any rust. So they did some horrible prep work or something.

To make matters worse, the whole area around the panel on the passenger side was starting to crack.

So, I took it in on March 1st 2021 to get it all patched up and repaired. The guy there told me it would take about 4 weeks.

Well.... long story short, it didn't take 4 weeks. After he got into it, the previous shop had pretty much destroyed the body. Instead of just cutting out what they needed of the patch panel, they cut out the whole thing. Then, since it was seam to seam, they had nothing to attach the panel with, so there were only a few spot welds and the rest was just filled with bondo. He said that everything wrong they could do, they did do. He recommended that I sand blast the entire thing to strip it down to bare metal, and start completely over. Which I did.

Since it was taking way longer than it was supposed to and a lot more work needed to be done, he had to fit it in between schedules. The Bronco was at his shop for about 8 months...
I only got it back at the end of October.

Here's the crack after the bondo was sandblasted out of it. It was barely attached.

 

[AbandonedBronco]

It really sucked going the entire summer without the Bronco, as I had a lot of plans that kept getting cancelled, but I was glad to know it was all going to be done right.

As it should have been done the first time, he only cut out the sections he needed to repair:

The previous shop had taken the panel right up to the door, so there was almost nothing left to attach it with. They had connected it with a few sheet metal screws. So all of this had to be redone too.

Here's the section the previous shop cut out, which was the entire size of the patch panel:

Passenger side rust fix: