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89 BII


RayInStl

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1983
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Well, that didn't work. Let's try something else!
Not having a bump stop is a problem, but I don't think it's *your* problem. What I mean is, I don't think the reason your fender is hitting your tire is because of a missing bump stop. Would the bump stop prevent it? Possibly. Probably. Does that mean the problem is fixed? Definitely not.

In regular driving situations, your suspension should never bottom out. A bump stop is a "last resort" mechanism to keep the two metal parts of your suspension from slamming into each other under severe conditions. You should only be bottoming out the suspension when hittin a hard bump or in off-road conditions where there is lots of flex involved.

If your suspension is bottoming out while hitting regular bumps in the road, you probably have a weak spring or dead shock. It's common to get the "ranger lean" on the driver side because the fuel tank and driver are both on that side. A bronco 2 should not suffer from this because the gas tank in in the middle. That said, it's still possible that the driver side spring wore more than the passenger side just because whoever owned it put heavier stuff on that side.

Either way, I would suspect the spring and/or the shock. Replacing the bump stop is still a good idea. It's there for a good reason. But you're going to be hitting it a lot, by the sounds of things.

Of course, it's also possible that someone put larger tires on it and didn't do any body or suspension lift to support the larger tires. That would also cause what you describe. What size are the tires?
 


McWillies

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1989
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Ford Bronco II
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2.9 V6
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Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Not having a bump stop is a problem, but I don't think it's *your* problem. What I mean is, I don't think the reason your fender is hitting your tire is because of a missing bump stop. Would the bump stop prevent it? Possibly. Probably. Does that mean the problem is fixed? Definitely not.

In regular driving situations, your suspension should never bottom out. A bump stop is a "last resort" mechanism to keep the two metal parts of your suspension from slamming into each other under severe conditions. You should only be bottoming out the suspension when hittin a hard bump or in off-road conditions where there is lots of flex involved.

If your suspension is bottoming out while hitting regular bumps in the road, you probably have a weak spring or dead shock. It's common to get the "ranger lean" on the driver side because the fuel tank and driver are both on that side. A bronco 2 should not suffer from this because the gas tank in in the middle. That said, it's still possible that the driver side spring wore more than the passenger side just because whoever owned it put heavier stuff on that side.

Either way, I would suspect the spring and/or the shock. Replacing the bump stop is still a good idea. It's there for a good reason. But you're going to be hitting it a lot, by the sounds of things.

Of course, it's also possible that someone put larger tires on it and didn't do any body or suspension lift to support the larger tires. That would also cause what you describe. What size are the tires?
Well I've already mentioned that the rear springs are sagging. If you look at the pic from an earlier post showing the missing bump stop, you can see how smushed the spring is. They're like that on both sides. The shocks are nearly brand new, less than a year with about 5,000 miles. Albeit they aren't very high quality.

Guilty as charged on the tires. Had dry rotted 215/75r15s on it when I got it. Replaced them with 235/75r15s last December. Looking at the space between by bump stop and axle, it's not very much. I suspect that's due to the sagging springs. Eventually I'd like to get some better quality shocks. As for the leafs, I might try to pull the ones of the 86 or 87, doesn't look like they are sagging as much.

Also I'd like to to mention, I'm not always hitting the bump stops. They just redid a railroad track near me that crosses the highway. When you go over that, after passing the tracks themselves, they made it a really hard drop-down. I hit the bump stops on there but so does everyone else. There are some other very specific situations where I hit, most of them being large bumps and whatnot in the road (we don't have the best roads).

Edit: Would it make sense to buy some bunpstops and just cut them to a proper length? If I jacked up the truck by the axle then I could see how long the bumpstops need to be. I need to roll my fenders. And I don't mean the entire fender, just the metal lip that sticks out towards the wheel well. That's what my tire hits. If I rolled that over then I could get a little bit more flex.

Tell me what you think Ray. Thanks for the help.

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Last edited:

McWillies

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Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Was looking on lmc for the bump stops and it seems I've found them. Here's the link: http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fr/full.aspx?Page=43
Just looking for a second opinion to make sure I'm getting the right ones. They're under the name "axle bumper".

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Last edited:

McWillies

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Messages
215
Reaction score
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Points
18
Vehicle Year
1989
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Ford Bronco II
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
I ordered the bump stop, should come in today. At school so I won't have time to put it in until tomorrow. I think I'm gonna pull the leafs from the 87 (alot less sag in them) and throw em in the 89. Hopefully everything isn't rusted together. Don't plan on doing the bushings even though I probably should. How's everyone doing? I been enjoying the weather, hopefully it stays cool.

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McWillies

Member
Joined
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Messages
215
Reaction score
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1989
Make / Model
Ford Bronco II
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Seems like every time I make a plan to do something and I post it here, something else ****s me. Either the timing is off again or I have a misfire. The sound is different than when it's been off time the last couple times. Its also been gradual, I told y'all about how in the morning it has a rough idle when it's cold, but after I get out the driveway it breaks up a little and goes back to normal. Well the last week or so it's been taking longer to go back to normal, then yesterday it just didn't go back. Dropped it at the dealership a few minutes ago with a note. Hopefully they can get to it first thing, but they are usually busy on Fridays :dunno:

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McWillies

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Messages
215
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Vehicle Year
1989
Make / Model
Ford Bronco II
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Dealership got it fixed. I'm guessing it was a misfire caused by a spark plug (they left one of my old plugs sitting in a box in my cup holder). They were closed before I could go pick it up so they just left the key under the mat. Got home with it a few minutes ago and it's running good.

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