Bronco II 302 Swap Questions

[Curious Hound]

My craftsman wrenches are awful thick and at the moment I can't remember if it was the Bronco or the Explorer that had very little clearance to get to the nut. Made me think somebody probably made a thin special wrench to get in to snag that sucker.

Sometimes you take an extra wrench and introduce it to Mr. Bench Grinder.

 

[Jaren831]

Thanks for all the feedback guys... I feel so lost lol, don't know where to start. Talked to a couple custom shops, to do what I want to my B2, $10k+. So got to do it myself....

I have some happy news though - just it get detailed (attached).

Found this build -

Basically exactly what I want to do, minus some additional bells and whistles, and original black paint of course .

At the moment, figure I'll come back to the engine/transmission since that seems to be the most difficult.

Figure I can swap the axles and do the lift, but am so confused on what to do. I know what I need on paper - Dana 35 front, 8.8 rear, 6" james duff lift kit. From there, what? Everything I'm reading is contradicted by the next person, is axle swap bolt in? From what model/year?

Is anyone here in the Seattle area I can talk to? Phone call?

 

[Shran]

Dana 35 from 1990-1997 is a bolt in axle. Beware some 4 cylinder Rangers after 1995 have weird hybrid axles, best to stay away from those.

No 8.8 is going to bolt into your Bronco II. Ranger 8.8s are close but the leaf spring perches on a B2 are wider than on a Ranger. Explorer 8.8 is your best bet for strength, requires welding to move the perches and shock mounts. 91-94 has drum brakes, 95-01 has disc brakes.

Duff lifts are the highest quality lift on the market but they are also the most time consuming to install. I helped my buddy put one in his Ranger last year and it took us about two full days total. Lots of grinding out rivets and stuff. The dual shocks are pretty cool but the rear shock mount on that kit was quite difficult to install - hard to explain, their design works but could be a lot better. Everything else went pretty smooth. We work pretty fast and I have a significant amount of experience with these... give yourself a good week to install a Duff lift if you've never done one before.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Thanks for all the feedback guys... I feel so lost lol, don't know where to start. Talked to a couple custom shops, to do what I want to my B2, $10k+. So got to do it myself....

I have some happy news though - just it get detailed (attached).

Found this build -

Basically exactly what I want to do, minus some additional bells and whistles, and original black paint of course .

At the moment, figure I'll come back to the engine/transmission since that seems to be the most difficult.

Figure I can swap the axles and do the lift, but am so confused on what to do. I know what I need on paper - Dana 35 front, 8.8 rear, 6" james duff lift kit. From there, what? Everything I'm reading is contradicted by the next person, is axle swap bolt in? From what model/year?

Is anyone here in the Seattle area I can talk to? Phone call?

@deathbypsi I think is friends with the guy that has the tan BII, he has a youtube channel with a ton of BII stuff on it too,

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuUqRtmKZK8k3uvGTuCvNvQ/videos

And yeah, D35 is pretty much bolt in, you need the steering linkage too. You can keep your D28 radius arms which have better shock mounts (I did)

Get the powertrain done before you fuss over the rest of it.

A. its easier to put an engine in an unlifted truck
B. you don't want to get overwhelmed and burn out trying to do too much at once

 

[Craig_S]

So do you want a solid axle or Dana 35? They are two completely different things and require different lift kits from Duff.

The 35 was an upgrade to the B2 the last year and then came in Explorers from late 90 to 94ish. That's a bolt in upgrade (not sure about Explorer driveshaft info but not a big deal). The 35 is a twin traction beam (TTB) design like you have now.

The solid axle Dana 44 will come from a later early Bronco (not sure of years) and be a low pinion. Or you can get one from a 78-79 Bronco or F150 and be a high pinion. The 78-79 unit needs narrowed for the B2. The solid axle swap (SAS) is NOT a bolt in deal until after you do a complete removal of your current front suspension down to the bare frame and even then there's some welding & fab work required.

Look up Randum Adventures on YouTube. He's hard to find by searching his name, but if you look up Bronco 2 V8 you'll find him. He has the red and black one called Gilligan. He has a lot of videos that will better explain all the different parts if you'd like to do a V8 and/or solid axle swap. Keep in mind though, that he did a 9-inch rear instead of an 8.8. That is also a very good upgrade but Explorers are so easy to find now that it makes sense for some guys to go that way.

Brian (Randum Adventures) explains the advantages to using the high pinion axle in some of his videos but you will want to look at the earlier ones first to get the solid-axle swap information and details so you can decide if that's the way you want to go.

Craig

Edit- @85_Ranger4x4 I was writing mine when you posted yours. I guess great minds think alike huh?

 

[Curious Hound]

Edit- @85_Ranger4x4 I was writing mine when you posted yours. I guess great minds think alike huh?

And you two think alike also.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

So do you want a solid axle or Dana 35? They are two completely different things and require different lift kits from Duff.

The 35 was an upgrade to the B2 the last year and then came in Explorers from late 90 to 94ish. That's a bolt in upgrade (not sure about Explorer driveshaft info but not a big deal). The 35 is a twin traction beam (TTB) design like you have now.

The solid axle Dana 44 will come from a later early Bronco (not sure of years) and be a low pinion. Or you can get one from a 78-79 Bronco or F150 and be a high pinion. The 78-79 unit needs narrowed for the B2. The solid axle swap (SAS) is NOT a bolt in deal until after you do a complete removal of your current front suspension down to the bare frame.

Look up Randum Adventures on YouTube. He's hard to find by searching his name, but if you look up Bronco 2 V8 you'll find him. He has the red and black one called Gilligan. He has a lot of videos that will better explain all the different parts if you'd like to do a V8 and/or solid axle swap. Keep in mind though, that he did a 9-inch rear instead of an 8.8. That is also a very good upgrade but Explorers are so easy to find now that it makes sense for some guys to go that way.

Brian (Randum Adventures) explains the advantages to using the high pinion axle in some of his videos but you will want to look at the earlier ones first to get the solid-axle swap information and details so you can decide if that's the way you want to go.

Craig

Some do Jeep D30's for the front too, they are cheaper and lighter than the 44/60 and although a tad weaker out of the box than a D35 they do have bookoo aftermarket, are easy to find, have the right wheel bolt pattern to match RBV axles and are close enough to not need narrowed.

Explorer front driveshaft should be the same as any other A4LD/M5OD length shaft, your results may vary depending on V8 transmission/t-case length though. With a R2 (which is pretty clsoe in length to a A4LD/M5OD1) and a NP205 mine was way too long. Being gear drive a 205 sits farther forward. With a more normal t-case it might fit fine though, it will come down to powertrain placement and I don't think any two swaps fit exactly the same.

And lol because I linked Brian literally one minute before you posted about him... that is random.

 

[4x4prepper]

I would like to point out when you are swapping in transmissions, the B2 does not have much drive train length to spare. I have looked for a 4x4 C-4, but, have only found 2x4 C-4. The whole 302 drive train from a F-150 is pretty long for a B2. Every B2 I have had, including this one, suffers from the floors ripping at the seams. A v-8 is not going to help that much. I see they now offer a V-8 adapter plate again for the Bronco/Ranger transmissions.

 

[Jaren831]

I would like to point out when you are swapping in transmissions, the B2 does not have much drive train length to spare. I have looked for a 4x4 C-4, but, have only found 2x4 C-4. The whole 302 drive train from a F-150 is pretty long for a B2. Every B2 I have had, including this one, suffers from the floors ripping at the seams. A v-8 is not going to help that much. I see they now offer a V-8 adapter plate again for the Bronco/Ranger transmissions.

Hey great tip on the V8 adapter, ordered one and just arrived the other day. Simplified my swap concerns.

So been a while but here's an update:

Thanks for the advice everyone, going to focus on the drive train and come back to axle/suspension stuff in the future. Mission right now is to get V8 swap done.

Got these parts:

- 302 from an 85 F150, carbed
- James Duff v8 Motor Mounts
- James Duff 2-inch body lift
- Advanced Adapters V8 -> Stock transmission adapter plate

So now I seem to have the most important parts, current goal is to focus on getting this engine swapped in. What else am I missing? From what I've been reading I'll need to get a bigger radiator, what else? I can't find a video for "bronco ii v8 swap step by step"

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I would like to point out when you are swapping in transmissions, the B2 does not have much drive train length to spare. I have looked for a 4x4 C-4, but, have only found 2x4 C-4. The whole 302 drive train from a F-150 is pretty long for a B2. Every B2 I have had, including this one, suffers from the floors ripping at the seams. A v-8 is not going to help that much. I see they now offer a V-8 adapter plate again for the Bronco/Ranger transmissions.

F-150 drivetrains are not much longer than RBV drivetrains.

My M5ODR2 is the same length as a M5ODR1 and judging by the distance between the t-case and torsion bar crossmember in the host truck a 4R70W can't be too much longer.

With my shortcoupled NP205 my driveshaft is pretty close to the same length as it was with a C4 and 1350. Transmission crossmember sits in the same factory holes in frame that it did in its A4LD days.

C4/1350 driveshaft on left, M5ODR2/NP205 driveshaft on right



Adding overdrive took me from 11mpg hwy empty to 18mpg loaded, no regrets.

 

[ireallydontcare]

Well any update at all? Did you end up using the adapter for the stock manual transmission?