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78 bronco upgrades

8K views 35 replies 9 participants last post by  bzysfguy 
#1 ·
I'm new to this post and have read alot of different forums.... I have a 78 Bronco with a 400 and 35x14 Super Swampers. Took it out a couple weeks ago, got in a rut and blew up the Ford 9 inch rear. I now have a Dana 60 and a Dana 44 HD out of a 78 F250. What's the main concensus on front ends, keep my coils or go with the leaf springs? I just put coils out of a 06 F250 in the truck before blowing up the rear, so not sure what to do... Keep the 5 inch lift I got from the 250 coils and take the front axle in to have coil perches and shock mounts welded onto the D44HD or change to leaf springs... Any advice appriciated. Also, how can I tell if the axles (both front and rear) have lockers and how do I know the gear ratio with both axles missing the inspection tags?
 
#3 ·
welcome to fsb!

as far as the coil vs. leaf debate goes, it all depends on your budget. Personally, I'd go with the coils, and keep all of your original suspension stuff. If you have a shop that you'd trust to weld all of that stuff on, I'd go for it.

Finding the axle ratio...well, are both axles out of the truck? If so, its as easy as pulling the covers. the ratio is stamped on the ring gear. That will also solve any questions pertaining to the presence of lockers.
 
#7 ·
You wanna go crazy do 5:13's and twin stick it. That more geared towards rocks. Go with 4:56's or so with mud?? You could probably do 5:13's as well. If your doing a solid offroad truck definitly do coils. Leafs are more for hauling. You may want to do a 4-link rear as well, you'll get a ton of flex.

Here is broncomania's old bronco... more mud than rocks:



Here is another members (cant remember who) with a 4-link rear susp.:




Kinda depends on what you are going after. Do a good intermediate superflex lift, some 38" Crawler BFG's a locker front and rear, 5:13 gears, and twinstick NP205 and you are set. You will crawl up any rocks and go through the deepest mud. IMO do an all susp. lift, no body or cut fenders.
 
#8 ·
swaping the nine out for a rear dana 60 is not worth it. your 60 probably only has 30 splines, or even the worse 16 splines depending on the year it was sold.

the dana 44 HD is also not worth the swap. Just leave your housing on the radius arms, use knuckles out from the F250 and a bigger rear axle. this wa your rims match.
 
#9 ·
hey whats up i got a 79 bronco with a four inch lift and 35 inch bfg at i bought a 78 f250 and swaped out the front knuckles and outer shafts and the rear dana 60 left the coil springs in fornt the truck actually rides nicer the my 2000 f350 diesel with four inch lift and 35 inch bfgs so bronco is the daily driver
 
#10 ·
Gonna go tommorrow and talk to the shop about welding the perches and mounts onto the 44HD, not sure what kind of a price range the guy will have... I'm planning on just using the 60 as is for now, but the 4 link is a good idea but will probably wait til after gears and lockers and a new carb. The twin stick, are you talking about running two transfers in line? I've heard about guys doing that but never seen it, but I know right where to get a second NP205 (it's in the F250 that I ripped the axles out of)
 
#13 ·
Aight lets stop here

Twinstick, is not 2 transfer cases, it is running 2 shifters on 1 transfercase, one stick controls N, 4Hi, and 4 Low for the front driveshaft, and the other stick controls the rear driveshaft

fairly inexpensive, and very handy if you bust a u joint on your driveshaft...

a Douber, is running 2 transfercases in a row, so a 203/205 are mated togethor and you have more options for gearing. Now you can twinstick a doubler and have best of both worlds, front and rear controls along with another reduction box

More expensive

For a trail only rig maybe get a shackle flip in the rear, Aviod blocks, get some soft coils in the front, custom radius arms, get your steering correct so your not fighting it, or having problems with bumpsteer, and like you said, gears and lockers, I wouldn't go with a big lift for a trail only keep it Low center of gravity and cut the wheel wells if you need to/ or rusted.
 
#15 ·
IMO, ditch that Dana 60 from the start and drop in a 14 bolt!!! Lockers are cheaper for them also and its alot stronger than that Dana 60. 14 bolts are cheap and easy to find also and will give you the 8 lug pattern. Also save yourself some money and just swap everything from the knuckles out on to the factory houseing(use the HD axles also). But the houseing on the HD is thicker. Good luck.
 
#16 ·
I'm definately planning on swapping the 44hd into my truck because of its thicker walls and the reinforced housing. What makes the 14 bolt better than a Dana 60? I have the 60 right now and a blown up Ford 9 inch, so in order to get rolling again I'm using the Dana 60 while I look at other upgrades. Let me know about the 14 bolt though, because a 4 link suspension could be easy to get done, but would want the rear end I'll stick with prior to putting the cash into that project.
 
#18 ·
You guys have helped me out with this information also, I have a 76 F 250 4x4 Highboy that I was considering doing a lot of mods too , thinking that its running gear was a lot stronger, but I have come to find out on this forum , that they are basically just 78-79 Broncos running gear on Steroids :muscle071
 
#19 ·
the shafts on a dana 60 in the rear are smaller than the 14 bolt. not to mention the r/p are smaller as well. the 14 bolt has the same setup on the pinion as a nine but far stronger. shafts are far bigger in diameter.

seriously, unless your jumping this bronco, having all the stuff welded on the 44hd housing is a waste of money. your not gaining a huge amount of strenght. Just put a good truss on the bronco housing.

better yet, post a pic of your bronco housing. it could have been swapped for a pre 77 housing which are beefy.

the dana 44hs front is 4.09 ratio. 45 divided by 11
 
#22 ·
I think I have a pretty solid plan on using the 44HD that will be fairly cheap and minimal welding on the axle. Between changing out all the innards of the axle I have now and adding a truss, it will be just as easy to do a little cutting, grinding, welding and install the HD. I'm thinking about going with some parts of this kit ordering only the parts I need as single items for a total of $100 +/-:

https://catalog.foothilloffroad.com...d=238&osCsid=64ca4dbffe9526ae59e863c1c6530058

One thing that I would have to upgrade while doing this is the track bars. Any ideas? I'm not sure the length I would need, do you want the double bar arms or the solid one, hinged, it goes on and on... Keep in mind, I plan on adding coils to the rear at some time in the not too distant future, so I'll be adding radius arms to the rear as well (probably using a simular perch set up).

This weekend I'll hit the trail with the Dana 60 in the rear (after I change out my 5 lug rims for 8) and I'll get some photos for you guys. Hopefully in a couple weeks I can put the 44HD in and decide the next upgrade.
 
#26 ·
I just got out from under the truck... To tell you the truth, I'm now not sure I have a Dana 44 up front because I couldn't find the stamp on it. There is a big "072" on the bottom of the housing, I couldn't find a DOM on the long shaft (which is where I was pretty sure it should be) and couldn't find a 44 anywhere.
If I can figure out how to post photo's in my garage, I'll put some photo's in there, both of the blew up 9" and the front axle.
The inspection plate was present, the numbers on it are 3.50 D9TA YC
610088-5

I know the rear was 4.10, so I'm not sure now if the front has the wrong plate or if the r/p were changed at some point.
 
#29 ·
so seeing that, would you swap for the HD? where is the stamp on those? shouldn't it be right on the housing somewhere?

Jopes, you had told a guy in a different posting that you'd run 8" rims on 12.5 tires? What's your suggestion for 35x14x15 Super Swampers? I blew out the 9" on the Super Swampers first outing so I'm stuck with 15" rims even though I'm upgrading to 8 lug. I'll upgrade rims to 16.5 or 17 next tire purchase. Can I get away with 10 inch or should I stick with 12? I have 5 lug 12" now and was planning on picking up 8 lug 15x12 rims with 4.5" backspacing on Saturday.
 
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