[CrazyBRONCOguy]

Sweet, they are as pretty as they look online. They are not a thick as I thought they would be either, being the double tube design. Nice arms for sure. I am hopeful to hear that they do as good as I think they should. Looks like they are made really well regardless

 

[379sinvb]

Built very well Brandon. They get installed on Wednesday so stay tuned in.

I got my hands on one of them 3M eraser wheels and finished off the pinstripe removal.

Tom's Woods drive shaft arrived this week so I swapped it in. I plan on keeping the stock one with me on wheeling trips. Though I don't forsee a this Woody breaking. Look at the difference in size.

Put the ol girl to work also. Help the Old Man out and pulled his boat. Notice no sag in the rear even while towing. Deavers on there and it would of been dragging it's arse. The WH's leafs road just as nice as they do without load.

I painted up the long arms and made some alterations to some floor mats I have. Sent the email and come to find out it didn't send. Deleted pictures so I guess it didn't happen. :banghead

 

[379sinvb]

Worked three days last week in getting a few things installed. Cavalier Garage mechanic Scott Swiger did a lot of the work but he was gracious enough to allow me to look over his shoulder a learn a few things.

First was the twin stick from JB Fabrication via wildhorses4x4

To do the modifications you must drop the tcase.

You gotta pull the spring and ball out then the shifter pin to get the rail out. We used a punch to hold the fork in place for reinstall. Once that is done you have to shave a couple of spots on the rail.

Then we reinstalled the rail. It took for hands to do this. Two to hold the fork in position and then two the hold the pin and tap in back in place.

The kit came with four different length rods for the sticks. The longer of the four worked on my application.

A tight fit makes for a time consuming job of tightening of the hardware. One guy said he did it in 3 hours. He must of had a four leaf clover and a rabbits foot. It took us every bit of 5.

As you can see from the pictures above the shifter sits at the back of the alloted hole. We trim a little on the inside to clear the left one. The back side,front and right all had plenty of clearance. We could not get the boot situated in a position we liked. It was as if it was to small and sat too far forward to cover the hole. Instead of drilling holes only to abandon them. I opted not to and will be calling JB Fab for their opinion. We did take it out and test it. Works awesome and will be one of the best upgrades/mods I've ever done.

Next was the long arms from West Coast Broncos.

Big difference?

With the longer arms going in the drop brackets for the stock arms had to go. However the tranny still needed support. So I decided to ease the work load for the job and cut the bottom of the bracket off. The top was more than strong enough to handle the support job.

Old shorty's are out

Pass side was easier so it went in first.

Fuel lines, brake lines and an exhaust pipe made the driver side more of a job.

After install Scott wanted a good test on the arms before I left. I'll quote him here, " I want to put those arms under some stress, I'd rather those welds break here in the lot than on the trail" Agreed Scott.

Deleted the rear axle thanks to my new cool twin stick and locked the front in 2low. Gave the go pedal a good push and I was surprised with the tires turning over.

 

[79BroncoSpringTx]

Hey Rick cool write up. 5 hrs on adjusting the shifters. Wow what a pain.

 

[379sinvb]

While the Bronco was in the air decided to reroute the fuel line. I've been having an issue with it boiling and running lean and thus running hot.

Some 3/8's brake line zip tied up the frame and then rubberline to fuel pump should get it far enough away from the headers.

Some pictures of how she's sitting now.

After all that what better way to test the ride than a 300+ mile round trip to cruise with some earlies?

Shirley Plantation in Richmond VA was the start.

Stay tuned in, more to come!

 

[CrazyBRONCOguy]

I thought that kit came with brackets to go in place of the radius arms to support the trans cross member? Or like you said just quicker to leave what was there???? Not oppose to either just asking so I know what to expect. Also love the twin stick that is also on my list, will be perfect for some 2 wheel action in the sand dunes.... Looks like its coming along great, are you happy with the arms on the street? are they much different then stock? I would think that the whole front end is much more solid now

 

[silent one]

Looks good Rick.

But, those welds on the radius arm mounts look horrible and I would not trust them. I would drill some holes and put some bolts in or have someone reweld that or both.

 

[Sloride75]

Filly is looking great Rick, and nice pics of the road trip. It's hard to tell from a single pic, but I'm with Silent One - those welds look a lil sketchy to me.

 

[379sinvb]

I thought that kit came with brackets to go in place of the radius arms to support the trans cross member? Or like you said just quicker to leave what was there???? Not oppose to either just asking so I know what to expect. Also love the twin stick that is also on my list, will be perfect for some 2 wheel action in the sand dunes.... Looks like its coming along great, are you happy with the arms on the street? are they much different then stock? I would think that the whole front end is much more solid now

No bracket in the kit for the crossmember. What I did is the best approach imo, if you have the drop brackets. Jon w/ wcb said that the 2wd brackets will work also, but I have not verified that. Twin stick is great man, just need to figure out the boot delima. The bronco is a lot tighter steering wise, I noticed a better ride after the long arms. Owner of cavalier garage suggested a brace that ties the two long arm brackets together for added strength. I just need to come up with something. My exhaust reroute is going to make that a little more difficult.

Looks good Rick.

But, those welds on the radius arm mounts look horrible and I would not trust them. I would drill some holes and put some bolts in or have someone reweld that or both.

Thanks
They are ugly for sure but there are three beads there. I'll keep an eye on them and as stated above will be adding some bracing to tie them together.

Filly is looking great Rick, and nice pics of the road trip. It's hard to tell from a single pic, but I'm with Silent One - those welds look a lil sketchy to me.

Noted bud and thanks

 

[silent one]

Thanks

They are ugly for sure but there are three beads there. I'll keep an eye on them and as stated above will be adding some bracing to tie them together.

I am by no means a welding expert, but those weld look cold and look like they are just sitting on top of each other with no penetration. A quote a one read "welders are not hot glue guns" and that sure looks like the hot glue gun method. I'd hate to see these fail as the worst moment or any money for that matter.

 

[CrazyBRONCOguy]

That's good to know on the brackets, I was thinking it came with some, you can see the painted ones in this picture from their website. But the description does not specifically call them out.

maybe those are the 2wd pieces you mentioned.

 

[379sinvb]

I am by no means a welding expert, but those weld look cold and look like they are just sitting on top of each other with no penetration. A quote a one read "welders are not hot glue guns" and that sure looks like the hot glue gun method. I'd hate to see these fail as the worst moment or any money for that matter.

I'm not dismissing yours and Marks concerns at all. I'll have them looked by another welder I know.

That's good to know on the brackets, I was thinking it came with some, you can see the painted ones in this picture from their website. But the description does not specifically call them out.

maybe those are the 2wd pieces you mentioned.

I looked and looked and looked at the arms and at the end realized there was no bracket in the kit. Got lucky and an easy solution was there already.

 

[norfolkff05]

gotta love all the online weld critique, much like all the hollering the guys did over the welds on the bumper of the camo beast! as i recall, it held up pretty well...

 

[152210]

Nice. So now that you have thisone, have the boys started fighting over which of the other two will be theirs? Haha

My boys have gone nutz over the one I bought home and they are debating who is going to get it. Suppose i will need to find them each one before they knock me off prematurely. Not sure the wife is going to like having more around.

 

[152210]

Here's a video of it with the mufflers on.

https://www.

I did a few other things also. If I get them completed I'll post them up.

Reading through the post, didn't see what brand and model those headers were, did i miss it? Can you please tell me as I have to replace mine soon. Love the piping job, over the top of the cross member and such. Thanks, it looks really good.

 

[379sinvb]

Yeah my two boys and daughter all enjoy the Bronco. As for the headers they are the flowtech 32508 ceramics. If you read through you saw the fitment issue. Be mindfull of it when you install yours.


Did a little work to the ole girl this week. Judy included new upholstery in the deal. Seems she had it from when she was living in WA. So it was time to go on the seats.
Rear seat first has more components that the front two.

hog rings

New

On to the butt cushion

 

[379sinvb]

On to the front seats.

Took the arm resyt off for good. Installed a Tuffy console and don't need the arm rest anymore.

Driver seat

What's that?

Gum anyone?

thought I made 75 cents, but one of was a Canadian quarter

So I put that in the drawer with the rare/odd coins I've found over the years.

All wrapped up and installed. Color combo's look much better.

While I was working on the upholstery the UPS guy showed up with a delivery. My shocks came in. Went with some reservoirs from Bilstein. Went to a stiffer valving than the 5100's that are on there now. Chose the 5165's and they have a valving of 360/80. The rear shocks have abouty the same travel but the front shocks I changed up a little to allow for a little more up travel so they shouldn't bottom out.

front

rear

 

[CrazyBRONCOguy]

Everything I have read I believe you made the right choice on the shock valving. Are you going to mount the reservoirs to the shocks or on a separate mount? I will be curious to see what they look like installed and how you fell they work. They look pretty regardless.... Seats look good too, like you said match a lot better

 

[BikerPepe`]

damn man. I thought that was a pretty sweet rig when you got it. she's getting all kinds of fancy now. :thumbup

 

[Ghost Bay]

Dang a few touches alright! What a cool custom build kudos!!! :twotu: