welcome! i think you would have a much easier job leaving it built the way it is.... i haven't seen anyone bother to do that. for a bogger though, broncos are definitely good rigs to start out with! good luck!

 

I have seen a guy move the motor back into the cab, using a van motor box to cover it inside. that moves the weight back toward the center and he needed a longer front shaft and a shorter rear both custom lengths. If you measure correctly it may work but you'd definitely have to do a lot of trimming to the cab. Maybe too much to move the engine back to use the front shaft on the rear. If you have the equipment and the ingenuity you should be able to do it. Good luck.

 

you could mount the motor and trans backwards in the bed and flip the axles so you don't have the problem of reverse rotation ( turn them upside down ),then run the rear shaft to the front and the front to the rear, I am having the same thought, we were just talking about this on another forum, I have been told that you want a long wheel base rig in the mud bogging pit, big tires are also a plus,
I plan on using a 76 F250 4x4 LB on 44's + mid mounted motor, I am also thinking about closing in the front engine bay so it acts like a boat hull and helps bring the front up on the mud and not act like a dam?? but thats just a thought

 

Other than the reverse rotation of the axles you have to remember the offset on the t-case. It may not be so bad to the front end but a short shaft to the rear on that much of an angle is asking for failure.
Long wheelbase is good, big tires are a plus. the lighter the better and having the power to turn the tires in the mud means power.
Salt-Man, the guys I run with tried a large piece of flat rubber in the front thinking it would help them float a little. took it off after a season and found out it made no difference in their rigs. One guy has a similar setup (pickup, motor shifted back in the frame) and he tried to lighten every thing. All non-essental peices were chopped. Skinned the front fenders and hood. Removed all platic and chrome, left the head light buckets. Moved the radiator into the bed (which was just the side skins on a tube frame). The truck lost ALOT of weight and it really helped. One buddy has a stock 4.3 in an S-1o he cut a lot out of removed the back of the roof and skinned the doors. He could alomst pick up one side of the truck by himself. He did really good running a light truck with a stock motor. Actually placed higher than some guys running more stout equipment and more power, because he floated over more stuff than dug thru it.

 

the rear engine will work good but in a short wheelbase it might stand on it's tailgate andactually lost traction due to too much weight transfer. plus you would be better off using a 2wd tranny with a divorce case mounted properly then use a v drive to connect the 2.

 

thanks for the input. i wasnt so clear about the rig selection. planning on using 79 long bed for bogger truck. trimming the cab and the fab work isn't a problem. I have done much fab work and have been building on these trucks since i was 14. just finely became member to the site. been here many times before for info. first post and kicking my self for waiting so long to become a member.

 

This may be a little diffrent than what your asking but this is what I have seen. Alot of the rigs dont move the motor back, they just stretch the front and shorten the rear. I dont know how this would look on a f150 though but movong the motor back very far is not going to be easy, but anything can be done. Keep in mind once you do any majior mods like this you will have to run Promod IIRC. Considering this, just build the rolling chassis and add a sheet metal body. I think you would be better in the long run doing this when you think of all the weight you will loose even though it will take more work. Good Luck and keep us updated!!!


EDIT: I just remember I did see a 70's f-series with the front stretched once. The frontend was about twice as long (hood and fenders) then a regular cab and about 2 foot of bed. The fab work was prety good but IMO it still looked like shiat! But it was diffrent. Wish I had pics. IIRC I saw that truck outside of moble al more than 10 years ago at a bog.

 

Thanks, goning a for sleeper look. want people to not notice at first and then walk up on it a realize its not just a truck. I know this is going to take time to build probably wont be done till next year. trying to gather thoughts ahead of time. my main project this winter is my 79 bronco, engine/trany/case swap, rear coil spring, rollcage, and try and lighten it up a littlebit, but one thing i know for sure though no matter the work, if i do this it must have a 73-79 body. i am a little obsessed with these trucks. after getting on here yesterday and reading replys and suggestions mind was running last night.thanks agian

 

Maybe doing a tube frame under the body work and just hanging the fender skins on it would keep you "sleeper" look.

 

It's funny Streetcar you and me are thinking along the same lines, I am still working on my 78 Bronco and I lightened it up as much as I could, I also want to keep the 76 F250 mud bog truck looking as stock as possible from a distance and as light as possible, I am seriously thinking about doing this rear motor deal. its not going to be a wheeling rig and it already has a divorced transfer case so I don't think drive-shaft angles are going to be an issue, I'm working that out in my head trying to come up with lots of different ideas, I am also thinking about finding an old aluminum topper to put on the back to cover what I do back there (motor, radiator, etc), those should be real light? I would love to find another canvas one like I put on the Bronco ? I'm going to gut everything that it don't need including the inner bed and just leave the skins, I'll use the bed liner to keep the mud out ?, but for now its too damn cold out there for my liking and I can't fit my trucks in the garage so my stuffs on hold till spring. I look forward to hearing more thoughts and ideas from all of you, this is a good thread, thanks for starting it, lets keep it alive....Rick

 

i like the skin idea need a cage of sorts, so hanging the skins on the cage works. hey salt-man ever consider tilting the engine towards rear end to help with angle. i think the engine will run fine for boggin on 5-10 degree angle and the long shaft to the front with a high pinion on top of that should except the adverse effect of angle to the rear. how much lift you plan on i'm thinking 8 -10"s that with fender trim should allow any thing i can afford to run. i plan on running matted case cause thats what i got. just bouncin ideas around i agree keep post alive...

 

A lot of guys out here just move the front axle forward. I'd like to get a short box frame and do the stretch, still have same wheelbase as a long bed, but abit lighter and weight would be more centered. On my'79 long bed, I went from a 6500lb trail truck, stripped all the unneccesary stuff off and ended up with 5300lbs of mud truck. I threw the rad, batteries and fuel cell in the box to put abit more on the back end. I was thinkin about just running the bed skins but I wanna keep some weight in the back until I get the front lightened up some more. I did notice a big difference after stripping off the junk though!! I am going to look into a 'glass front clip and doors maybe next year sometime, that should get it alot lighter in the front, but it ain't cheap so we'll see how that goes HAHA.

 

I am glad you guys are on board for keeping this thread alive :thumbup
as far as tilting the engine, no I never thought of that, I did however think about putting a trans tunnel in the back of the cab to move everything forward if necessary, or you could clock the transfer down, but I don't think it is needed, for me at least ?, I have both a married and a divorced transfer if needed, I plan on using the divorced?
Lift: well it is already a Hi-boy and I am thinking 6" in the front and maybe 4" in the back ? (rear shackle flip), but that is just a guess right now , bear in mind I am talking about a Mud Bog Only Rig so having the front up a bit more shouldn't be a bad thing? I already have some old 44" monster gumbos and I was just sitting here thinking about maybe running a narrower rim up front?, I have to go right now but I will come back to this later, I have a lot of ideas, I'm just not sure if they are all feasible? :clavin :doh0715:

 

I'm not sure I'd move the motor to the rear of the truck for the same reason you don't want it in the front. If your gonna go to the work of moving it, I would think you could figure out how to place the mass of the weight in the center of the truck as much as possible. That way the load would be distributed evenly over all 4 wheels. This would give you the best traction and floatation. You'd have to take the transmission and transfer case weight in to the equation and balance all that out. I think that would place the carb somewhere near the front or center of the cab. Then you can leave the rad up front (less plumbing to worry about) and mount the rad in the center of the engine compartment. Tube frame the front end and the bed will remove a lot of weigh and help out for the power to weight ratio. I think you could mount the center of mass close to the middle of the frame and still keep the truck appearing normal.

 

ya right there with you mud bog only. i never build one only for boggin but by doing it and keeping my old 79 bronco as my trail rig opens a lot of doors on both trucks. i was considering running skinner tires in the front also. i am not looking to compete with the truck, more of just a toy so not sure... but maybe duals or something big and wide in the rear. i have a dana 70 rear so not to conserned there.but skinny or maybe even slightly smaller tires in the front will aid steering and axleshaft failure. in the rear the width and hieght of a tire is almost unlimited with a "little" trimming. i will put about anything with a decent trend on the rear even if i have to cut the center of a rim out and reweld it in a differnent one."its only a bogger" diffinitly having fun with this thread i'll help you keep it going. oh anythings feasable with enough time and money. i am trying to keep this under $500 so that is best part.. I am always trying built something from nothing to keep up with the money trucks haha!!!!!!!!!! talk at ya later

 

didnt see your post before finishing mine but yes dont want all the weight to the rear. i am thinking 60/40 more weight on the rear for traction and the ability to run a bigger tire or the duals to help float it and help to keep the front from sinking. i know differnt size tires means different gears in each end. i have seen the differnt sizes a few times and seems to work. but i agree wieght placement will be critical to proformance. along with power to wieght ratio thanks.

 

Mudduck once again you have brought up a valid point that I have not thought of, but I do think that with what I have in mind I should be OK ?
and once again Streetcar you are thinking along the very same lines as me.
I am not going to be running professionally, just the local mud bog pit, and the Bronco is the trail rig (even though it is gettig to be too nice:doh0715 and everything I do is also on a budget, I don't have money falling out of my azz here, but I don't mind taking my time and having fun doing it , I'll be back to post some video of my local pit and a picture of my Bronco, off to my photobucket:iiss:brownbag

 

OK here is the truck I'm starting with for the BOGGER
its a 76 F250 4x4 Hi-Boy I used for parts on my 78 Bronco, plenty of room in the front of that bed to centralize the weight

it has a great strong running 390 already in it

I have already started doing the rims like you were saying Streetcar (brilliant minds think alike??)

here's my Bronco, I call him " BEAR METAL "

and last but not least "THE PIT OF DOOM !!"
it was like 4' of wet cement :barf
CLICK ON IT and turn your speakers UP!! :rockon

" IF THAT DIDN'T GET YOU BLOOD PUMPING FASTER ? YOU MUST BE DEAD !?! "

 

for starters Id relocate the radiator to the rear of the truck.. move exhaust up thru the bed. liten everything up by removing interior door panels, inner fender skins... all unnecessary weight. Id run a bogger rear tsl front set up that combo pulls well in the mud.

 

As for different rears having different gears, as long as this is a mud only truck, and won't see any high traction surfaces, you can run different rears. Just don't go too wide a ratio. For that amatter you could even run different sized tire. With a little math you could figure out a larger rear tire/smaller front combo that you could gear to be close. I really don't think you'd have to tie up too much $$$ in your rigs, sounds like you want to do most of the work and thats only a time investment. The most expensive thing I could see you having to spend might be on some driveshaft mods.

I've never been a fan about the rad in the bed. Now I know it moves the weight and keeps it from getting clogged up with mud, but with all the tubing you need and connections you have to make it seems like a weak point to me. For a mud bog that is only 300 feet you're not gonna build up enough heat to need the cooling effect you'd gain moving it. You still need electric fans to pull air thru the radiator. As long as you clean the rad out after a run (the bogs around here usually have a fire company loaning a tanker truck and a pump to wash off afterward) you'll should be ok.

Badass1ton makes a good point about the exhaust. Get it up high and the motor doesn't have to force the exhaust out of the pipe thru the mud, it can flow free. Same thing with the intake, keep it high so it keeps dry clean air going into the motor. More agressive tires in the rear is also a very good idea.

 

Interesting thread, I cant wait to see the build start. opc1:

 

first off like both trucks nice bronco your right to nice. when i figure out how to get my pics on i'll post. i see your not afraid of fab work either i like the rims ya know sometimes just gotta jump in and see if you can swim. although i try to always keep safty in mind. but if the rims are not perfect so what. i really think i want a set of agg.tires for the back if i cant find a set cheap enough. talking to you has really got me wanting to have something up and running for the spring. at least you have some tires already all i have are the 35x15.5 swampers sx's off my bronco. not looking for to much in the means of trend just bigger like yours are bout perfect for me. to much trend and i wont be able to spin them. 71 429 w/flattops and looking to put cam in but still not a power house. although my thought now is build the truck run the tires i got and still do better then most stuff because of weight placement. hey i know some people my not like this, but ever take the front brakes off and run with the rears only?? buddy of mind tried that he really likes it. agian "it is just a mud truck" but takes a ton of wieght and drag off the front end.

 

thats what i planned matching different gears to the different tire sizes. and i would also rather keep the rad up front for simplictiy reasons.

 

I wont be starting on my build until spring time Ratking, so your going to have to on mine, but you are pretty much the one that put this bug in my ear,
and personally I don't think I would gain enough by taking off the front brakes Streetcar, I'd rather keep them, but to each his own, I might be able to make this a dual purpose rig? " ya never know until ya know :toothless "
if I can cut down on drive shaft angles and build it right it will be
as far as doing these on a budget you just have to start out with what you have at hand and work from there, I only paid $50 for those old 44's with the rims, I collect parts until I have enough to do something with
I had planned on moving the radiator to the rear of the truck but didn't like the fact of having to run all that pipe, with moving my motor to the rear it eliminates the need for all the pipe plus I could still use the motor mounted fan as well as a electric
building the drive shafts I can do myself and I had thought about building a center mounted pumpkin front end, but then if I break parts its going to be a bitch to replace them
my exhaust will also be going up on mine with flapper caps
well I have to go for now but keep the ideas flowing, you got me itching with anticipation to work on it :beer

 

Being that we are all ford lovers here
How do you like this Tattoo I just got paying tribute to my "FORD GODS ! "
its a little blurry

I cleared this one up a bit

here's the drawing

Streetcar, as far as posting pictures go, I use http://www.photobucket.com its free, as long as you can load the pictures on your computer in a file, you can do this :thumbup