Getting another B2?

[wild horse]

Well I'm going to be getting another B2 ? But I have some concerns about it. First of all it's a 88' with the 2.9 and push button transfercase - I want to know how good they are and any knowen problems with them and if it can be converted to a manual shift very easy? Next it has about 140,xxx miles on it and has been sitting for awhile without being ran and looks to have never had a tune up at all and has sign's of oil leaks and what not . Now the kid that has it wants $800 for it and I don't know if I should really get it or keep looking for another one?It has a snorkle and a safari rackon top and i would like to know what diff's they came with and what not so any advice would be a big help in deciding weather to get it or not? He also say's it get 20-25 m.p.g but i'm not to shure about that eather ?

 

[richard booth]

How clean is the body? And how much work do you want to put into it? If the body is clean and it runs ok it sounds like a steal. It has a 7.5 rear w a limited slip most likely and a d28 up front. The miles aren't bad if it has been well maintained but oil leaks can be a bit of work especially if its a rearmain seal but if you're going to keep it for a while and dont mind doing the work I would get it. A tune up is easy enough and w a complete fluid and filter service it will have good improvement. I just got an 88 and smog here in WA is no longer an issue plus there are lots of them in the wrecking yards. I have seen well maintained 2.9 motors go well past 200,000 and mine w 140,000 runs well. Again I would base my decision on how well it ran and shifted and how much rust and dents it has. Seats and bumpers and mirrors and stuff like that are easy and cheap in junk yards. I just got a 5speed w a transfer case from a 93 ranger for 250.00. Point out everything you will have to repair or replace to be happy w it and offer him7? Other wise 800 isn't bad for a straight B2 that is running ok.

 

[wildbill23c]

Does the Bronco 2 look like this one? If so you may be wise to run past it.

This is my 84 Bronco 2 that I picked up for $975, thought well ok, it needs a bit of body work as it ran awesome when I test drove it, however during the time I was making payments on it, the previous owner's son had a field day with the vehicle tearing out a bunch of wiring and crap, and messing around with carburetors and alternators along with screwing up the starter. So far I've had it in the shop for repairs more than I've driven it since November.

Look it over extremely carefully as kids tend to trash stuff because oftentimes it wasn't them who bought it, it was most likely bought for them by their parents so they abuse the hell out of stuff until its about dead then try to sell it.

 

[4.0B2]

so far my pushbutton 4x4 has never failed me.. I've had to play with it, off and on, before to make it work... but never let me down.

the 2.9 is a great motor, not much extra power, but it will get 20 mpgs. Mine did at one point.

came with d28 and 7.5... don't know gear ratio's without looking. either axle code or tag on diff.

 

[4x4junkie]

140K is about what mine had when I got it. It did 25 MPG on the highway before I lifted it. It was recently driven and in decent shape when I bought it though (but did have a bad rear driveshaft).
ODO reads close to 180K now... With as much driving in low-gear I do, it's probably effectively more like 220-230K (plus I had the speedo disconnected for about 6 months after I put the t-case doubler in (cable was too short).

I seem to recall someone here having around 730K on an original 2.9L, but I never could find the thread again (thinking maybe it was before one of the forum changes years ago).
Whatever it was, it was aaaaaaaaallllllllottt of miles. Typical seems to be in the 250-350K range for a well-maintained 2.9L.

 

[superds]

I've got a 90 Ranger 2.9 with 200 miles short of 200k on it. The engine has never been opened up but the rear main has been replaced a couple times, the other seals seem ok yet but are starting to give up. I took the electric shift tcase out while it was still working and replaced it with a manual shift 1354. Easy job, the toughest part was that the tcase and tranny didn't want to come apart, they tend to fuse together after years of not being separated.

 

[wild horse]

well as far as the body goes I did not see any rot or rust and it looked straight for the most part . The intieror was dirty as usual but he said it had a dead battery so he could not start it so I cannot tell how it runs or if it even runs? I just want to make shure I'm not going to be buying a can of worms as he says he bought it and drove it home and parked it because he dident like it and it wasent his style? It just sounds weird to me.well I guess i'll make the deal and make payments on it I guess? O he said he wont take less then $800 when it has oil leaks from who know's where? what do you all think?

 

[superds]

Take a battery with you when you look at it. It's very unlikely I'd buy anything for $800 without knowing whether it runs or not. If it doesn't run after trying to start it with your fully charged battery I'd probably tell the owner it wasn't your style and find a better one.

I know there's a lot of differences in prices of vehicles from region to region but around here a non running BII would go for under $500.

 

[Spede Demn]

Stock powertrain with a snorkle owned by a kid? Thats enough of a red flag for me, I'd look real close for any sign that its been stalled out in a mudhole, if it wasnt sealed up properly that will cause all sorts of problems. If it wont start or run smoothly it isnt worth more than $300-400. According to bluebook values an $800 B2 should be a road ready vehicle that requires only minor repairs. "IF" it has a really really really good body, it might be worth $800, but it doesnt seem worth while IMO.

 

[PlumCrazy]

If you have to make payments on an $800 vehicle....a poorly maintained B2 is the last thing you need.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[adsm08]

The manual transfer case conversion is very easy. I did mine as part of a clutch job, so it was easier yet. The manual case will bolt up (87 and earlier had SAE threaded bolts, 88+ had metric) then about 30 minutes of trimming and checking with a dremel on the floor plate, and bingo bango, manual 4x4.

The auto hubs used on TTB axles will keep working with a manual transfercase and do not need to be changed out at the same time. I did mine because I still wasn't getting 4x4 engagement due to a bad hub and had the stuff for a manual conversion just laying around.

 

[wildbill23c]

well as far as the body goes I did not see any rot or rust and it looked straight for the most part . The intieror was dirty as usual but he said it had a dead battery so he could not start it so I cannot tell how it runs or if it even runs? I just want to make shure I'm not going to be buying a can of worms as he says he bought it and drove it home and parked it because he dident like it and it wasent his style? It just sounds weird to me.well I guess i'll make the deal and make payments on it I guess? O he said he wont take less then $800 when it has oil leaks from who know's where? what do you all think?

Has a dead battery, this is a very common excuse sellers use which in translation means it doesn't run or doesn't run right. I'd run away from it, just for the fact they're trying to sell it for $800, if its truly in that good of condition you would be looking around $2,000 or more for it. Given it was owned or driven or both, by a teenager, I'd look elsewhere, kids don't take care of anything, this is just their way of trying to sucker someone into buying a pile of crap. If you want one that runs I'll sell you mine for $1,000, it runs and drives just looks horrible LOL.

 

[superds]

The manual transfer case conversion is very easy. I did mine as part of a clutch job, so it was easier yet. The manual case will bolt up (87 and earlier had SAE threaded bolts, 88+ had metric) then about 30 minutes of trimming and checking with a dremel on the floor plate, and bingo bango, manual 4x4.

The auto hubs used on TTB axles will keep working with a manual transfercase and do not need to be changed out at the same time. I did mine because I still wasn't getting 4x4 engagement due to a bad hub and had the stuff for a manual conversion just laying around.

Lucky you. I did my 1354m swap immediately prior to a clutch change. I had just finished up the swap and I took it for a test drive to make sure it was working, found the nearest dirt road and engaged 4wd and hit the throttle to make sure it was working and proceeded to roast my clutch. I drove it back to my garage without being able to use the clutch and then started taking eveything back apart to put a new clutch in.

I took that opportunity to upgrade to a 4.0 clutch so all wasn't lost.

 

[adsm08]

Well I had the case sitting on a shelf left over from my 1354M swap on the truck. I was waiting for warmer weather to put it in and the clutch went before warm weather came.

 

[wildbill23c]

well as far as the body goes I did not see any rot or rust and it looked straight for the most part . The intieror was dirty as usual but he said it had a dead battery so he could not start it so I cannot tell how it runs or if it even runs? I just want to make shure I'm not going to be buying a can of worms as he says he bought it and drove it home and parked it because he dident like it and it wasent his style? It just sounds weird to me.well I guess i'll make the deal and make payments on it I guess? O he said he wont take less then $800 when it has oil leaks from who know's where? what do you all think?

If you cannot start it, or jump start it at least I wouldn't waste my time on it. If they won't let you try to start it, or test drive it don't waste your time. If they drove it home and parked it because they didn't like it, sounds like a fake story to me to cover up major vehicle issues. My 84 B2 leaks oil all over the place as in you can watch it drip from the back of the oil pan where its bent all to crap. I can say this, I've been very lucky I've spent about $100 in parts for my bronco 2 and had all the work done at my local high school auto shop which has saved me thousands of dollars in labor. now that the weather is warmer so I can work on it, I've been doing all the stuff on it myself now. I was tossing around the idea of just scrapping it because for a while it seemed like everytime I turned around something was going wrong, but now that I've started wrenching on it myself and fixing things, I don't know it just seems like an accomplishment everytime I fix something on it.

At $800 if it runs and drives without major issues I'd buy it, but if you can't start it or test drive it, I wouldn't pay that much for it. When I looked at my Bronco 2 last August and made the deal, I drove it around for about 45 minutes and it had absolutely no operational issues, it was during that 3 months of payments that the owner's son decided to start screwing around with crap on it. When I went to pick it up I didn't know it at the time, but later found out as things weren't they way they were when I originally drove it and looked at it so I knew then someone was screwing with crap. I called the lady up and reamed her over it and demanded a refund for everything I had to fix just to get it running again. She sent me a check for $200 so in all I paid $775 for a vehicle that looks like crap but runs descent now. The looks like crap part I'm trying to decide on how to go about getting that repair started as I don't have the money to take it to a shop and have them replace body panels on it which is what it will need.

Sorry about the rambling, but kind of thought maybe it would open your eyes to what you possibly might be stepping into. My thing was it was a 1984 Ford Bronco 2, same year as the ford ranger I had, and something that I knew about already and knew a few things I had learned about them after selling my ranger which has helped a lot combined with this forum to keep this vehicle from going to the scrap yard.