1984 Ford Bronco II Any Concerns?

[wildbill23c]

I'm picking up a 1984 Ford Bronco 2 on the 20th of this month. Its the 2.8L V6, 5 speed, 4x4. manual everything no electric windows, locks, etc. I plan on towing a 13' travel trailer once ever 3-4 months, it does have a tow hitch on it, but will be adding the trailer light wiring to finish off the tow package. Is there anything special I need to watch for? Anything I need to really do to the B2? I plan on leaving it as close to stock as possible as I'll be using it as my daily driver as well. I drove it around for about 45 minutes on all sorts of different roads, hills, etc. Seemed to have quite a bit of power, no odd noises, etc. Being this is a manual transmission is there anything specific I should know about towing a trailer with it? I've towed with a manual transmission before just not in something this small. I've done a lot of towing but I've always had a larger vehicle for the most part, and its been far heavier and larger trailers and loads. The travel trailer I believe weighs around 1700-1800lbs. Maximum I will ever tow with the bronco 2 will only be up to 2,000lbs but very rarely as I have a full size truck if need be.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Make sure your steering is good. Here are a couple of articles about ttb front suspensions that explain them well;

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Alignment.html

I towed a 16' trailer with my b-2 with no problems, but I have a 4.0 in mine.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[adsm08]

The engine management on the 2.8 sucks. Ford tried to make a computer-controlled carb. Look into duraspark or TBI conversions.

 

[wildbill23c]

Make sure your steering is good. Here are a couple of articles about ttb front suspensions that explain them well;

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Alignment.html

I towed a 16' trailer with my b-2 with no problems, but I have a 4.0 in mine.
Good luck,

Richard

The engine management on the 2.8 sucks. Ford tried to make a computer-controlled carb. Look into duraspark or TBI conversions.

Thanks guys for the heads up and for the links. As of right now the steering seems to be ok, but then again its bone stock, no modifications at all on anything.

I'm completely aware of the whole 2.8L engine management deal, I had a 1984 Ford Ranger with the same engine LOL, once the ford garage touched it, it never ran right again which led me to getting rid of it. If only all this info about the duraspark or tbi was known back then I'd probably still be driving that truck. Since the ranger before hand I still kept all the Haynes and Chilton manuals so that's a plus.

Also, I'm pretty sure the B2 has the 3.45 gear ratio rear axle so at a minimum I'm looking at the 3.73's but how hard are they to actually change myself? Do I need a different axle or can I find a donor vehicle and get the gear set and just swap into the axle? What about the front differential I need to change that one as well correct? Sorry for the dumb questions just never done any gear changes.

With my previous dealings with the 2.8L V6 I know the ranger did just fine towing the little trailers so I don't think the B2 would be any different. I'm not planning on towing often or anything that heavy and it will be on back roads anyhow so no freeway's or highway's other than like 4 miles at 55mph across town to get to the back road.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If it's 4x4 then you need to do both axles. I would say it would be easiest to swap axles rather than swap gearsets. I picked up front and rear axles with 4.10 gearing for $200.00. A long weekend, scraped knuckles and another $100 in misc. parts and fluids and I was back on the road. Actually thinking back I swapped out the whole rear axle but swapped the pumpkin only on the front.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[wildbill23c]

^^Sounds pretty straight forward and simple then to just do an axle swap, not sure on specs for sure on the B2 but I'm pretty sure it's just a standard open diff rear end, so in the upgrade if I do the 4.10's or 3.73's whichever, is it wise to get the limited slip differential or better to go aftermarket on a limited slip or locker?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

IMO I'd look for a lsd and rebuild it. If you have extra cash; a lunchbox locker. Unlimited budget; air or e-locker. No budget; add an extra side gear shim to the open to make a cheap lsd, or make a lincoln locker [weld the spiders].

Richard

 

[wildbill23c]

^^^Maybe just the stock LSD would be fine, I don't have a budget to do anything really, but could probably manage with saving from a couple paychecks to get one axle at a time and swap them, and if needed do an overhaul on the gearing and bearings. I'd love to have the ARB Air Locker, but that's like 3 of my paychecks put together. Welding the gears is not an option as it will be a daily driver, and I don't plan on doing much heavy offroading, just don't like the idea of not having at least a limited slip axle.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes, you can always rebuild down the road if needed.

Richard

 

[wildbill23c]

Thanks for the info Richard. I think I'll start looking around for axles at least. What year rangers or bronco 2's can I pull axles out of?

 

[Brownie Mobile]

Thanks for the info Richard. I think I'll start looking around for axles at least. What year rangers or bronco 2's can I pull axles out of?

Dont quote me on this but im pretty sure you can use axles out of a sploder as well.

 

[wildbill23c]

Dont quote me on this but im pretty sure you can use axles out of a sploder as well.

Kind of figured the 1st gen explorers, but I've got to have a pretty wide year and model selection as these old vehicles are very hard to come by in scrap yards here in Idaho because of their offroad durabilities, hunters grab them pretty quick.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The exploder would require spring pads moved and welded. There is an awful lot of info through-out this site, it just takes some digging. Look at http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/index.php
and then look in the appropriate forum stickies [at the top of the forum].
I'll start you off;
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/announcement.php?f=91
There's many hours of research if you want/need the info, personally I like learning.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[wildbill23c]

Hmm, lots of great information thanks. Maybe if I start reading now, by the time I get the money I'll know what I'm doing LOL. I knew the ranger and b2 were pretty close for parts, but never thought about the explorer, however a direct swap from a donor ranger or another b2 would be easier for me to do being on a car mod budget.

 

[wildbill23c]

One other question that I just thought of, the muffler and tail pipe are sitting in the back of the B2, the CAT is still there, if I take the CAT of since where I live emissions controls aren't required, will it cause any issues as far as operation any carburetor adjustments that I would have to change removing the CAT and just putting the exhaust pipes and muffler back on for now until I get the extra money this spring to replace the muffler?