[MikeyD.]

So I thought I would post up some pics of things I have done to my OJ Mobile the last couple of years, minus general maintenance this will be my thread for general build stuff. my thought is to improve the bronco, but keep it DD. it sees a good amount of snow and very light trails and that's about it.

so some things so far...
POR-15 and peel and seal cargo area
found some XLT rear panels from a jk
new 32x11.50x15 BFG A/T's with black steelies
gauge pod holder with trans temp and tach
new 6.5in component Kenwood's, plus some 6x8 kenwood's for the rear
130Amp 3G Alt
new 2 gauge wiring ordered and shipped for the Big 3 upgrade
everything ordered for the sixlitre tune up
designing a new center console to house a sub and amp, maybe two amps
new dome light

anyway, here are some pics, let me know what you think!

Old Setup

New and improved!

 

[Jasonhughes2009]

Looks great man. Will be subscribing to this one. Once I fix my leaks I might think about putting carpet back in with peel-n-seal

 

[MikeyD.]

ya, my top still leaks depending on how I park, i know exactly where its leaking from, but havent gotten time to take that top back off and fix it with all this rain we have. gotta love Puget Sound

 

[ToddACimer]

What color was the truck originally? I have never seen black door trim like that on a white truck

 

[MikeyD.]

door panels where the speakers are I painted a semi flat black to hide the tweeters a little better, thought it would look kinda cool. the rest is stock, standard beige with black XL trim elsewhere. glad i did a good enough job that you didnt notice that i painted it. lol

 

[MikeyD.]

sorry for the lack of posts, life got busy. some new items arrived via UPS recently though!

The rest of the tie rods come in today. those are radius arm, front sway, and axle pivot bushings. springs are moog cc820, thought i would give those a shot and see how they ride, hoping for a little front in lift since it currently sags a bit. and of course the stock height bilsteins. sorry guys, i dont plan on doing a lift. :whiteflag

Still trying to figure out what kind of center console I want to design, i have seen some folks do one that goes all the way to the firewall, i like the idea of being able to reach things on the passenger side floor, aka my work backpack and whatnot, so im not sure if thats the route I want to take. I have two amps, one a 4 channel and a 2 channel for the sub, but im having trouble fitting both amps and a sub box in a center console that is 21in in length (about the length I have now).

I dont have pics but i did wheel bearings and seals last weekend, just for peace of mind.

Other plans are some type of fog/off road lights, but i dont know how I want to mount them. I like the idea of keeping it clean and "stock" looking, i dont want some aftermarket lights looking like an afterthought.

 

[THOROUGHBRED]

looks real good.

watching opc1:

 

[Kalashnikov]

Looks good. I like the white truck/black wheels combo. :thumbup

What kind of gauge pod is that? Is it a whole piece that replaces that trim piece? Looking to get one for my CC 350. Also, did you paint it or was it pre painted?

I'm 99% sure I bought those same springs. Raises the height a bit and is about level with the rear. Makes the 33s look like they came on it stock. I used KYB 2" lift shocks and it was a perfect fit. Rides and handles pretty nice now.

Oh and the only bad thing about those springs so far is that the paint is already peeling off, and I got these like the end of of August.

 

[MikeyD.]

Looks good. I like the white truck/black wheels combo. :thumbup

What kind of gauge pod is that? Is it a whole piece that replaces that trim piece? Looking to get one for my CC 350. Also, did you paint it or was it pre painted?

I'm 99% sure I bought those same springs. Raises the height a bit and is about level with the rear. Makes the 33s look like they came on it stock. I used KYB 2" lift shocks and it was a perfect fit. Rides and handles pretty nice now.

Oh and the only bad thing about those springs so far is that the paint is already peeling off, and I got these like the end of of August.

Gauge Pod is from Summit, they have a two and three version. it actually goes over your current trim and has those push tabs, like those used for door panels and whatnot. I didnt use them though and just screwed it into the existing trim holes, didnt want any noises.

i am hoping i dont need different shocks for the front if it raises it up a bit, i mean its supposed to be a stock replacement but heavy duty. and ya, the paint is chipped a tiny bit already, but im not getting them to admire their beauty. how do they take corners and whatnot, do they have alot of give or are they stiffer than stock? right now, between my stock springs and my POS procomp E3000 it feels like I am on a trampoline sometimes

 

[MikeyD.]

so I got the radius arm bushings and axle pivot bushings installed this last weekend, no pics though, i was way too pissed to even think about it! man what a pain, especially the Pivot bushings. oh well, next up springs, the shocks and the stearing linkage. i need to replace the shocks pretty bad, my truck is turning into a huge pogo stick. Never will I buy Pro Comp's again... :smilie_slap

 

[daheepster]

What if you mount the amps flat on top of the trans tunnel up by the firewall then put a cover over them just big enough to keep them out of sight. This way the trans tunnel is only 3-4" taller so you can still reach across to the other side.

 

[MikeyD.]

you know I was thinking about that, or maybe stacking the amps and putting them below the dash on the transmission hump thingy, and then make a cover for it. then I can have a center console with the sub, giving me plenty of room plus have some storage there too. will have to look into it some more.

I was thinking about the fog lights too and did some searches for ideas, and I really like the fog lights built into the bumper. Kinda like this stuff. I wonder how hard it is to have someone fab up, or buy aftermarket even?

some examples...
http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/blog.php?b=277
http://broncograveyard.com/readers/r-983-1993-ford-bronco.html

I also like that pro comp prerunner light bar, but I am afraid it will stick out too far and I wont be able to fit the truck in the garage, there is MAYBE 1 ft extra space as it is right now... just thinking aloud here, any opinions???

 

[MikeyD.]

or maybe a lower Lightening Valence? not sure how that will look with an XL style chrome bumper...

 

[Cheese5.0]

nice truck! did you do any prep to the rear cargo area before you por-15'd it?

 

[MikeyD.]

ya, stripped it down to metal, made sure the surface rust was gone, then por-15'ed the whole thing.

 

[Jasonhughes2009]

hey man, just noticed that center console of yours, is that the tuffy one?

 

[MikeyD.]

nope, my own creation.

 

[Cheese5.0]

ya, stripped it down to metal, made sure the surface rust was gone, then por-15'ed the whole thing.

What method did you use to strip?

 

[MikeyD.]

just a 4.5in grinder with a stripping wheel from harbor freight, i dont remember the type off hand, but i read someone else using it on this forum to good affect, so i thought to give it a try. worked pretty good, went through two of them. the only hard part was stripping the paint off in the ribs on the bed, other than that, took about 2 hours to strip and about 2 hours to apply a couple coats of POR-15. the peel and seal took a little longer, took my time and spent a saturday doing it. works great, really quiets the truck down alot.

 

[Cheese5.0]

just a 4.5in grinder with a stripping wheel from harbor freight, i dont remember the type off hand, but i read someone else using it on this forum to good affect, so i thought to give it a try. worked pretty good, went through two of them. the only hard part was stripping the paint off in the ribs on the bed, other than that, took about 2 hours to strip and about 2 hours to apply a couple coats of POR-15. the peel and seal took a little longer, took my time and spent a saturday doing it. works great, really quiets the truck down alot.

Thanks :thumbup great work so far