[v8only]

I'm putting this in the local section because I made a personal deal on a vehicle-trade with a member here, locally, so I figured this would be the best place for this thread.....

Anyhow, I've been around on and off here for years now with NO luck...not enough time to do major projects...I had a 91 bronco first with too many e40d issues, so I sold it and bought a 78, that had a rod knock (didn't hear it, exhaust was too loud)...so I sold that and eventually bought a 78 f150, which was "ok" but too raw and was my DD at that point, so I had to sell it for something more reasonable.

This time around, I've had a 98 lincoln mark viii...nice little car, but I still wanted a bronco....I put up a trade post here and Ryan rhauf Came to the rescue with this neat little 90.

It's in generally decent shape....needs a few things here and there, but it's got a solid drivetrain and a good suspension....4" rancho lift on 33's...

Anyhow, it's trail ready for once, and I look forward to wheeling finally with all the local guys after a few years of trying to get into it. It's my "dd" so I absolutely plan to hold onto this fora while at least

 

[txdxrider]

Looks good

 

[v8only]

looking at going wheeling dec 10, anyone wanna come?? Anyone suggest a place not too far from corona that's fun, but won't tear my truck in two? Never been to asuza b4, how is that, is there some challenging spots, or mostly dirt roads?

 

[Ziggy]

Nice looking Bronco you got. As for 4 wheelin' in the local area and you don't want to tear your new baby up, I'd head for Big Bear area. Nice trails from mild to wild, only about 1 hour away for you so it's not that far. Make a day trip of it, hit a trail or two first thing in the AM, break for chow and finish out the day with one more trip before heading home. Azusa Canyon is a fun place to go watch everyone play in the mud but if you want to play as well be ready to pay the price depending on how far into the mud you go. I haven't been there in years but a lot of people around here like to hit it up so they can play in the mud. Everytime my friend and I went, we either ended up stuck, broke down or both.

 

[v8only]

hmmm..thanks for the advice..didn't know azusa was pretty much only....not sure if I'm ready for that with tiny little 33's....

Big bear would be killer, but this 5.0 is a pos in it's current shape. I'd literally never make it up the mountain at my current power level...I've got to go through the entire ignition system and hopefully find some worn plugs or timing severaly off...if I can't tweak some more power out of it, I'm going to have to either swap gt40 heads on, or search for a 351w....

Motor seems to be pretty healthy..no knocking, no smoking, so I have hope that I can work some magic with a good tune.

 

[rhauf]

Hey there it is, looks good!

Ill have to check for sure but i think i could do big bear on the 10th.

as for horsepower, put 'er in low range and you will have more than enough to crawl, trail run, or break stuff if your foot is heavy horsepower is over rated for trail rigs. for mud more is always better. but for 5-10mph on trails, in low range, you'll be fine. at least try it once before you tear into it. hell my explorer only has a 145hp v6, pushing 37s, and i *still* managed to break a shaft in my dana 60 front.

also if your comparing it to how 302's ran in your foxes, remember that a bronco weighs almost double what a mustang does.

 

[Ziggy]

If you're running 33's and you're having power problems, the issue might not be with your engine. Check and see what gears you're running, with 33's, you should be running at least 4:11's or 4:56's. If you're still running the original gears (@ 3:50), the engine is running outside of it's power band. You'll have great power on the freeway, but at lower speeds, your power is gone as well your torque.

 

[jasoncarpenter1]

congrats on the new bronco............:thumbup
good time of year to want to go wheeling.......:rockon
snow is on its way, only a matter of next time it rains..........:beer
as far as Azusa is concerned. ziggy is right, mud is plentiful......also because water is so low there are a lot of natural obstacle's. water crossings, sand, rocks, hill climbs. man made obstacle course, whatever spins your hat? now Azusa different, depending on what day you go. saturday or sunday. saturdays not many people show up, maybe 50 trucks. mostly stock a few built. now sundays are the best......with the current water level. 250+ trucks. still mostly stock, but a lot more built trucks. a lot of action. i love to spectate as much as i love to wheel. go out and have fun........take pics and post up.
am working out of town right now but am planning a b.b.q. meet and greet on sunday the 11th. if you go out with us me and Ed from the shop will do whatever it takes to get you home. thats how we roll. leave no off roader behind........:beer

 

[v8only]

you guys are great, and I'm way happy to finally have this chance to go out and do what I've been dreaming of for some time....Ryan got me a pretty sold truck, and a fantastic platform to start with.

I'm not worried about trail power in low...I was proved that last night when he had me climb over a dirt pile as high as my roof line, lol...

The problem lies in the power on the streets and fwy...literally last night I was first worried I wouldn't make it up the freeway hill, then I was worried I was pushing the thing too hard for too long.

part of the problem lies in the throttle cable...it doesn't seem to be getting wot very easily...so I've got to play with the adjustment.....

I also agree with the gears...I haven't checked, but I believe they're stock. I've actually got a 4.10 irs lincoln rear in my garage with trak lok, maybe I can pull out the center chunk and install it into my truck...however that's more down the line, as I don't have the cash for the gear swap for the front...don't you have to do both at the same time?

the 10th right now unfortunately is my best day, only cause the wife and the women in the family all come over to my house for "cookie" making day, and I have to get the F' out for a few hours!

 

[jasoncarpenter1]

you guys are great, and I'm way happy to finally have this chance to go out and do what I've been dreaming of for some time....Ryan got me a pretty sold truck, and a fantastic platform to start with.

I'm not worried about trail power in low...I was proved that last night when he had me climb over a dirt pile as high as my roof line, lol...

The problem lies in the power on the streets and fwy...literally last night I was first worried I wouldn't make it up the freeway hill, then I was worried I was pushing the thing too hard for too long.

part of the problem lies in the throttle cable...it doesn't seem to be getting wot very easily...so I've got to play with the adjustment.....

I also agree with the gears...I haven't checked, but I believe they're stock. I've actually got a 4.10 irs lincoln rear in my garage with trak lok, maybe I can pull out the center chunk and install it into my truck...however that's more down the line, as I don't have the cash for the gear swap for the front...don't you have to do both at the same time?

the 10th right now unfortunately is my best day, only cause the wife and the women in the family all come over to my house for "cookie" making day, and I have to get the F' out for a few hours!

gears and lockers are like night and day........:whiteflag
if you can install them do it........:thumbup
i have a stock 5.8 that just passed smog with flying colors. i run 5.13 gears with 42" tires. if i go down hill in 4lo i have to give it gas or i stop.
come with us or by your self does'nt really matter. have fun.........:beer

 

[Ziggy]

Yes, both your front and rear gears have to be matched up (+/- .03 is what I've been told) otherwise you'll bind the transfer case up.

Do a good tune up, change all the fluids, maybe run a compression check on the engine and then start your "to do" list and go from there.

 

[explorerst4x4]

Wow. So that is what mine would look like without the rust, crap enamel paint and sticker job. .... Nice looking Bronco.

The rust around the wheel well doesn't show up well in this pic.

 

[v8only]

yea, no rust, anywhere!!!

Made great progress today in the 30 minutes I had...found my NASTY exhaust leak was three missing manifold to head bolts at cylinder #5...strange...reached into my bucket of extra ford bolts, found 3, buttoned it up, and vroom, no exhaust leak..hell didn't even have to swap the gasket ...all I hear now is magnaflow.

Now that it's quite up front, i can finally hear the engine, and it's surging under full throttle....Checked the timing, at it's around 6-7 degrees btdc!...I need to get it closer to 13/14 degrees..adding .6-7more degrees of advance is going to make a world of difference in acceleration...will update after I get a chance to set the timing

 

[rhauf]

Good to hear your getting the bugs worked out!

Should i plan for Big bear on the 10'th? maybe we should start a thread for it?

 

[v8only]

Yea, hell yea let's do it!

If all else fails, I'll get out and push the f'r up the mountain... ...I've got the week off from work, just took a vacation week for the hell of it...Gonna go through that motor with a fine tooth comb tomorrow..When I'm done, I'll be pushing every last one of those oem 185 ponies..lol

I'll start a thread..

 

[Tony R]

If you've got the 4:10 rear, find a D44 or D50 junkyard front chunk with the stub axles. They are around $140 and takes an afteroon to swap put. Since you have to tear it all down, it is a good time to do front bearings and seals if needed....

 

[v8only]

I do have the 4.10 trak lok rear...kinda surprising, I thought it needed a lot more gear, lol.... Thanks for the tip on the d44, is it stronger, I'm guessing??

Nearly blew out my head gaskets today....found out through troubleshooting that the temp sensor was bad, and registering a low temp...nearly found this out the hard way....Coolant all boiled out at a signal, barely got home..Swapped the sensor out, and now my temp gauge reads over half while driving, Then I popped the hood and saw that the clutch fan wasn't spinning at all....So now I'm contemplating replacing the clutch on the fan, or swapping on a mark viii electric fan I have in my garage.

Got a lot of other work done on it today, swapped in a newish cd player I had sitting around, as the old one had the audio channels blown out, then I set the timing at 13/14 and got more power, not a ton, but hopefully enough, I fixed the thermactor system which had an open at the back of the heads, and got the seat bolted down correctly.

One thing I noted was that everything under the hood including all radiator hoses, even the fan belt, everything still had original OEM ford stickers and part #s on it....Looking like it has 88k, not 188k. Won't matter a ton for me though when I rip this engine apart for a head swap, or a 351w swap

 

[Ziggy]

1 Jan, 1/2 price at Pick-A-Part in Monrovia and Ontario, look for your axle there.

 

[chexmix]

seems like a popular rig color, looks like mine a few year ago before I started wheeling it more. :beer

 

[Tony R]

1 Jan, 1/2 price at Pick-A-Part in Monrovia and Ontario, look for your axle there.

Got mine in Ontario. Redwagon (Tim) was there and helped me take it out. One person can do in about an 2 hours if you have all the tools to remove the hubs to get the axles out of the TTB. Look for an older F150 that still has the axle tag to verify it is a 4.10. Might say 4.09