Rodneys Ford Bronco II Rock Crawler
I first met Rodney (Lil Bronco) at The Ranger Station’s Fall Round Up in 2002 and featured his 1986 Ford Bronco II here. This year he showed up at The Ranger Station’s 25th Anniversary Fall Adventure with another amazing Ford Bronco II build.
While his previous Bronco II was a great trail rig, this Bronco II has been built to play on the rocks. This weekend would be the second time that the Bronco II has been on the trail, so there’s still some fine tuning and final details to take care of.
The Bronco II gets its power from a rebuilt, but stock Ford 302 topped with a Holley Sniper fuel injection. The 302 is backed by a Ford C6 automatic transmission which sends power to a Northwest Fab doubler with an NP205 transfer case. Yes, that’s an A/C compressor you see in the photo above. It gets hot in Texas and Rodney has retained the air conditioning in his Bronco II builds.
A RuffStuff Specialties 4-link kit and 14-inch coilovers mount a 2006 Dodge 11.5-Inch rear axle 4-inches back from where the stock axle was. The axle has an ARB air locker but still has the factory 3.73 Gears. That may seem like a mild gear ratio but remember that this Bronco II has a 302 V8 and doubler transfer case.
A RuffStuff Specialties 3-link kit and 14-inch coilovers mount the 2006 Dodge 9.25-Inch front axle 8-inches forward of where the front axle was. The front axle also has an ARB air locker and 3.73 gears. Steering is accomplished thanks to a PSC full hydraulic setup.
The Bronco II rides on 37×12.50×17 Cooper Discoverer STT PRO tires on beadlock wheels. Braking is accomplished with a Hydroboost out of a mid-90’s Ford truck and a Wilwood master cylinder.
In the cab you’ll find the Holley Sniper display mounted where the instrument panel used to be along with switches for the ARB air lockers on the dash. The Northwest Fab triple shifters let you know that there’s some serious upgrades under that transmission tunnel. The rear coil towers have been boxed in and the ARB air compressor is mounted in the right rear corner of the interior.
Since the quarter panels were cut to make room for the larger tires and the lengthened wheelbase, the fill neck for the new fuel cell was mounted in the floor just inside the rear hatch.
This is a pretty impressive rig that still needs some final work done to make it perfect. Keep your eyes open for it if you do any off-roading in the east Texas areas.
Specifications
Vehicle
- Year: 1986 Ford Bronco II
- Owner: Rodney “Lil Bronco”
- Build: Rock crawler / trail rig
- Purpose: Built specifically for rock crawling
- Air conditioning: Retained
- Wheelbase: Lengthened from stock
- Front axle moved 8 inches forward
- Rear axle moved 4 inches rearward
Engine
- Engine: Ford 302 V8
- Condition: Rebuilt, stock engine
- Fuel injection: Holley Sniper EFI
- Air conditioning: Factory A/C retained
Transmission & Transfer Case
- Transmission: Ford C6 automatic
- Transfer case: NP205
- Transfer case doubler: Northwest Fab Works
- Shifters: Northwest Fab triple shifter setup
Front Axle & Suspension
- Axle: 2006 Dodge 9.25-inch front axle
- Axle position: 8 inches forward of the stock location
- Differential: ARB air locker
- Gears: 3.73:1
- Suspension: RuffStuff Specialties 3-link
- Coilovers: 14-inch coilovers
- Steering: PSC Motorsports full hydraulic steering
Rear Axle & Suspension
- Axle: 2006 Dodge 11.5-inch rear axle
- Axle position: 4 inches rearward of the stock location
- Differential: ARB air locker
- Gears: 3.73:1
- Suspension: RuffStuff Specialties 4-link
- Coilovers: 14-inch coilovers
- Rear coil towers: Boxed
Tires & Wheels
- Tires: 37×12.50R17 Cooper Discoverer STT PRO
- Wheels: 17-inch beadlock wheels
- Tire clearance: Quarter panels cut for larger tires and lengthened wheelbase
Brakes
- Brake booster: Hydroboost from a mid-1990s Ford truck
- Master cylinder: Wilwood
Fuel System
- Fuel tank: New fuel cell
- Fuel filler: Mounted through the floor just inside the rear hatch
Interior / Controls
- Instrument panel: Original instrument panel removed
- Engine monitoring: Holley Sniper display mounted in former instrument-panel location
- ARB controls: Air-locker switches mounted on dashboard
- Transfer-case controls: Northwest Fab triple shifters
- ARB compressor: Mounted in right-rear corner of interior
- Rear suspension: Coil towers boxed into the body
Other
- Build status when featured: Still undergoing final tuning and finishing
- Trail use: Had been on the trail only twice at the time of the article
- Location: East Texas
Links
The Ranger Station’s 25th Anniversary Fall Adventure
Photo Gallery
Click images to enlarge.
About The Author
Jim Oaks is the founder of TheRangerStation.com, the longest-running Ford Ranger resource online since 1999. With over 25 years of hands-on experience building and modifying Ford Rangers — including magazine-featured builds like Project Transformer — Jim has become one of the most trusted authorities in the Ford Ranger off-road and enthusiast space.
Since launching TheRangerStation.com, Jim has documented thousands of real-world Ranger builds, technical repairs, drivetrain swaps, suspension modifications, and off-road adventures contributed by owners worldwide. TheRangerStation.com has been referenced in print, video and online by enthusiasts, mechanics, and off-road builders looking for practical, and experience-based information.
