Let the voting begin for Oct. 2008 FOTM!!!

Okay well lets get this shindig started! First of all, I would like to take a sentence to thank Bruce for nominating me and forcing me to go wheel and whore all of the pictures I have. I promise I will try to do my best to pace myself, yet give you guys plenty of anything I have (which really isnt much). Good luck to everybody this month. Last month is going to be a hard month to follow, but Im sure we can do it.


I will be posting my pictures and stories in chronological order, so be prepared to have a good week of stockness from me... My truck is a multi-purpose do it everything vehicle. If you have been following my built thread, you would know that I call my build an "AEV" build--American Expedition Vehicle. Yeah I know, kinda cheesy, BUT just like you guys build your trucks to crawl over 4 foot boulders, fly through the desert, or romp through deep mud; I want mine to do it all. Of course my truck wont excel in any one thing, but it works in all terrains and is still able to be my Daily Driver (I average 15 MPG). My main goal with my truck is to be able to drive across America, wheeling what the states has to offer and having a blast along the way.

With that said, I swear the FSB is the perfect all terrain vehicle. Its comfortable on long drives, I can sleep in it, pack a weeks worth of gear AND carry a couple of friends, powerful enough to tow something, and agile enough to wheel semi-tight trails. Parts are easy to find in the junkyard and its the most fun vehicle I have ever driven.

Basics:
1996 Eddie Bauer.
D44 TTB with 4.56 Yukon gears and an Auburn ECTED locker.
8.8 with 4.56 Yukon gears and an Eaton E-Locker.
351w with MAF.
E4OD with a Big Ass Ford tranny cooler and all of the late model internal upgrades.
Warn Premium Hubs.
Almost complete interior sound dampening.
Uniden CB radio with FirestikII 4' antenna.
Custom rear bumper with tire carrier and rock sliders in the works.
4" Rancho lift with extended arms and AAL in the rear.
Bilstein 5100 shocks on all corners (6).
35x12.5r15 BFG All Terrain tires (with full size spare).
15x8 Mickey Thompson Classic II's.
6" KC SlimLites, driving pattern on the stock bumper.
Custom brush striping and rock-rashed rockers!


How the truck currently looks:




Thats about all I can think of right now. I still have homework to do, so Im going to get started on that. I'll start posting pictures tomorrow night or Saturday morning!

In the beginning when I bought her. $1900 at the auction. She had everything I wanted..:thumbup

351W:thumbup
C6 tranny:thumbup
Non flange hubs:thumbup
Manual t case:thumbup

Back when it was stock and its first trip wheeling...


Mmmmmm old parts that has been replaced........




Front lift is on.


Rear lift is on. Didn't get any pics but replaced rear leafs wheel bearings and all the brake parts.

Also weld the rear end.

Some old 35's I had laying around.

I guess it's my turn.

Rather than make a bunch of separate posts I'm going to shoot for the longest post ever award and knock most of it out at once. I'm here, I'm on a roll, why not?

The story:

I bought my Bronco for $3,000 from the original (literally a little old lady) owner about three years ago. At the time it had just over 100,000 miles. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of it when I first took possession. It truly was in immaculate condition inside and out. She kept it garaged, covered and parked on carpet (with a drip pan, it did leak). The entire back seat, carpet and cargo area was covered by blankets to avoid staining (as if she was capable of it). The tailgate was simply glorious! Not one scratch... I have since taken care of that! The only blemish in the interior was a crack in the center console that her previous mechanic caused. I picked it up from her a day earlier than she had planned and she was panicked because I didn't giver her time to clean it before delivery... I laughed and told her it was cleaner than any car I've ever owned... even the new ones! The original intent was to drive it for a while and sell it. At the time I had a 4 door 4wd Explorer that I was building as my daily driver soon to be prerunner. I decided to sell the Explorer and all the parts I had acquired to build it and build the Bronco instead just to try it...

The goal:

Keep it simple stupid. Build a Bronco to be a capable prerunner/chase truck and reliable daily driver. My motto was "If it doesn't increase performance then I don't need it". I wanted it to be simple, effective and easy to work on in the shop and in the field. I needed something that would get me to work on a daily basis, to races, runs, etc., and take brutal punishment off-road. Anyone that has ridden with me knows that I drive the hell out of my trucks and show very little mercy. I also maintain them meticulously to ensure (most of the time) a safe and uneventful drive home. Did I mention it also has to haul the family and trailer on camping trips?


Now the onslaught of pictures.

The exterior:

like most things I do, it's straight forward and purpose driven. I keep contemplating building prerunner bumpers for it and cutting the fenders for added approach and departure angles, but the truth is I don't really need them and the sleeper look is fun. A lot of people ask me when I'm putting fiberglass fenders on it... remember the first goal? Simplicity. My suspension and tire choices have been tailored to keep modifications to a minimum and to save me time.

Again, no pics of it when I first got it... damn it!





Interior:











I'm sure you'll all notice the stain on the right hand side. At this point I had owned the Bronco for a while and already managed to stain the carpet with shock oil. DOH! I have since steam cleaned the rear cargo area and removed the stain.






Upgrades!

Wheels and tires:

These of course came first. I used OE Ford 15x7 Alcoa wheels and 33x12.50R15 Bridgestone All Terrains. I had actually bought these for the Explorer and the D44TTB conversion, but luckily they fit the Bronco. Pics to follow.


Front suspension:

It's no secret I'm a fan of Autofab. This is my third Autofab kit and as always I'm blown away by it's performance and reliability. Autofab's approach and design philosophies go well with my own. Simple and effective. Like myself, John is a fan of retaining as many stock parts as possible. if it ain't broke.... The kit I chose allows me to retain stock axle-shafts, bump stops, axle-housing pivot points and steering. Because it's stock width I also don't need fiberglass fenders and can retain the stock inner fender liner.

• 4" lift
• Autofab modified axle-housings (stock width)
• Autofab heim joint radius arms
• Autofab fully-fabricated adjustable coil-buckets
• Shock mounts fabricated (hacked) by yours truly
• 2.5"x14" Fox shocks

Axle housings (Please excuse the oily mess!):




Radius arms:










Coil-buckets and shock mounts:










Upper coil springs retainer and adjuster:








Rear Suspension:

• Autofab Leaf springs
• Autofab 2-link kit
• Self-fabricated (hacked) upper shock mount
• Stock lower shock mounts
• 2.5"x12" Sway-A-Way shocks with piggyback reservoirs

Engine: I ran into some trouble during a camshaft replacement... cam bearing woes, shredded distributor gears... it turned into quite the headache. I ended up biting the bullet and installed a later model rebuilt instead of fighting with the original engine.

• Stock rebuilt 2bbl carburetor: I'm currently gathering parts to convert to EFI. A big THANK YOU to Motoxscott for the EFI parts donated to the cause!
• Edelbrock Performer intake manifold
• Jasper Engines rebuilt roller cam 351W

Out with the old:






In with the new:






I also installed Autofab EB-302 Engine mounts. Anyone considering these should step up. They are well designed and super stout. They install just like stock and it's hard to tell if there is even any increase in engine vibrations transmitted through to the cab. I'm very happy with them.




The transmission is a completely stock, original C6. No pics.


Exhaust: While I love the sound of a healthy V8, this was a daily driver and needed to be quiet and comfortable. Hence the full exhaust and mellow muffler. I've been pretty happy with the exhaust as a whole. It sounds good at idle and lower RPM and around town and on the freeway. When I'm really on the gas and playing off-road it leaves a lot to be desired, but the goal was quiet and that's what I got.

• OE Y-pipe
• 2.5" from Y-pipe back, full tailpipe
• Magnaflow muffler
• Magnaflow catalytic converter

Original junk:




Ultra-low tailpipe:




New muffler:






2m radio:

• Icom V800
• Antennex magnetic mount
• Antenna Specialties antenna

I mounted the radio in the ashtray slot. It's fits great and only required the drilling of one additional hole. The best part is if I change my mind it comes right out and the ash tray goes back in.







Steering wheel:

Although the original steering wheel is in excellent condition, it's grip is way too thin and it's a little on the large side (diameter). Aftermarket wheels are easy to come by, but the problem is you lose cruise control unless you drop big coin on the conversion kits. On top of being expensive, the kits I've seen are fuggly!

I remembered that older Saleen Mustangs had the OE switches mounted behind the steering wheel with a custom bracket. I knew finding someone that was willing to part with the original Saleen part would be near impossible but through a Saleen Mustang forum I found a machinist that has made new brackets that allow the use of stock Mustang switches just like the original Saleen version. The bracket is designed to work with a specific Momo steering wheel but can be modified to fit some five and six hole aftermarket steering wheels. I used a cheap steering wheel I had from another project and plan to replace it with a nicer, slightly larger diameter wheel. I'm hoping to find a Momo like the Saleens came with, but they're spendy!

BTW: Most Ford cruise control switches are interchangeable (the resistance values) through 1996, so this should work on all ford trucks through 96 that DO NOT have an airbag.


A new bracket:




My bracket after I drilled it for the 5-bolt flange:



Installed on my Bronco (excuse the ugly steering wheel, it's not staying forever):




A couple pics of the bracket installed on a Momo steering wheel:






If anyone has any questions, let me know.

Playtime pics, video and future upgrades to follow!