Tony Raine's Bronco II

[Tony Raine]

Why not move the buckets forward?

i want to, but the "kickout" of the frame around the steering box makes that a little more difficult

 

[Tony Raine]

great info on how to do a fw axle swap , also are you going to run fender flares and what size tires do you plan to run

thanks! i'll probably run 36-37" tires, depending on what i can find a good deal on. for width, 12.5", on an 8" wide rim. going to tuck the tires in as much as i can. i'll probably just get a roll of those cheap pacer flares, and some mudflaps to cover the tires a little more.

 

[1986fordranger]

thanks for the info , your thread makes it look alot easyer then i thought it would be to do a fw axle swap

 

[Tony Raine]

thanks for the info , your thread makes it look alot easyer then i thought it would be to do a fw axle swap

pictures only tell part of the story. constant measuring, going from one side of the rig to another over and over, then double checking, then finding out you started out wrong, takes up lots of time.

despite that, it was a lot easier than i thought it would be.

 

[Tony Raine]

so i was checking for numbers on the 9", and here is what ive found so far.

on the third, near the housing, stamped upside down is "7L3", "67", and 2 "C"s with an "M" over that.

also on the third, but near the yoke, is D2SV4668C, and SF5

I also noticed that with one tire on the ground, i could not turn the other by hand when it was on a jackstand. so the rear is not open, but a limited slip or locker. that's a nice bonus.


anyone know what the numbers above mean?

 

[Tony Raine]

well, i was going to do some work to the F150 today, but didn't have some of the tools i thought i did.

so i worked on the BII instead!

Got the "new" 44 swapped in. i really miss that hoist, this would have been a lot easier if i still had it. someday i need to break down and buy my own. i was hoping my order from bronco graveyard would have come in, i ordered new "C" bushings, and some trans mount bushings (need them to start mocking up my trans mount). its been 8 days, so i checked and my order is "on hold". waiting for an answer from customer service....

while i had everything apart, i moved my radius arm brackets back, to try and straighten out those coils. i was only going to move them back 1.5", but there was a hole already about 2" forward that lined right up. that leaves 4 holes to drill instead of 6. since i had the hiems screwed all the way in, i backed them out .5". still plenty of thread left for fine tuning.

finally, i bolted on an old set of shocks in the front. not good enough for street use, but should help cut down on all the "bounce" when i'm lifting and moving stuff around.


so the front wont be pushed out as far as i would have liked, but at this point i just want to get it done.

oh yeah, managed to smack my hand with a hammer. pinched (and split open) a chunk between my thumb and first finger. right where your hand "grips". if i was left handed, i'd be pissed, haha.

 

[bobbywalter]

well, i was going to do some work to the F150 today, but didn't have some of the tools i thought i did.

so i worked on the BII instead!

Got the "new" 44 swapped in. i really miss that hoist, this would have been a lot easier if i still had it. someday i need to break down and buy my own. i was hoping my order from bronco graveyard would have come in, i ordered new "C" bushings, and some trans mount bushings (need them to start mocking up my trans mount). its been 8 days, so i checked and my order is "on hold". waiting for an answer from customer service....

while i had everything apart, i moved my radius arm brackets back, to try and straighten out those coils. i was only going to move them back 1.5", but there was a hole already about 2" forward that lined right up. that leaves 4 holes to drill instead of 6. since i had the hiems screwed all the way in, i backed them out .5". still plenty of thread left for fine tuning.

finally, i bolted on an old set of shocks in the front. not good enough for street use, but should help cut down on all the "bounce" when i'm lifting and moving stuff around.


so the front wont be pushed out as far as i would have liked, but at this point i just want to get it done.

oh yeah, managed to smack my hand with a hammer. pinched (and split open) a chunk between my thumb and first finger. right where your hand "grips". if i was left handed, i'd be pissed, haha.

they had a party there this weekend. sure they are busy busy busy

wondering if my bro broght home some sort of bronco for me to work on

 

[Tony Raine]

they had a party there this weekend. sure they are busy busy busy

wondering if my bro broght home some sort of bronco for me to work on

huh?

JBG has been partying for 8 days? and your brother works there? are they hiring?

or was this reply meant for another thread?

 

[Boggin]

I was watching the video on the JBG homepage of their celebration, looked like a sweet time. i would love to be there

 

[Tony Raine]

I was watching the video on the JBG homepage of their celebration, looked like a sweet time. i would love to be there

ah, makes much more sense now. the first time i read bobby's post, it was about midnight and i was half-asleep

 

[Tony Raine]

Front axle is moved back and front end is sitting on its own weight again.

I liked it a lot better forward, but the coils are not bowed anymore.

So I turned my attention to the back. Bought some new wheel studs from advance auto, and turns out they gave me 2 different kinds, and neither fit. So I just spent some time getting the rear of the truck ready for the 9”.

Jacked up the back and rolled the 7.5 out

Dug out the F150 front spring hangers I had laying around, and gave them a coat of spray paint.

Compared to stock

BTW, the hangers came from about an 86 f150 2wd. Looks like it will drop the front of the leaf about 3” from stock.
Removing frame rivets is a chore that I despise, because its so time consuming. But I got one stock spring hanger off, picked up my tools, and went in for the night.

 

[Tony Raine]

I have today off of work, so I am chugging away at the BII some more. Just came in for a short break in the computer chair with a big glass of Tang (one of my favorite drinks)

Got a jack handle keeper for my hi-lift. Worth every penny, no more bear-hugging the jack, or pinched fingers when carrying it around

Also found a 4’ long snake skin INSIDE the bronco. I’m afraid of snakes, so that’s not good. But I have a little .22 revolver with some “rat shot” in my pocket, so I feel a little better

I hate rivets!

Old

New

Not going to put all the bolts in until I am satisfied with the location.

More to come….

 

[RangerSVT]

Lookin good, you see how the washers are caving on the spring hanger bolts?? I'd either get thicker washers or double/triple them up, those will cause your bolts to loosen. Thats what happened to my front TTB brackets, when they were on there
SVT

 

[Tony Raine]

thanks!

…and I’m back. Taking one last break before I go out and pick up all the tools.

although it looks like they caved, they just bent to match the curve where the hanger goes out. space is a little tighter since i drilled the mounts and frame holes out to 1/2" (except that one shiny little guy, thats the same size as the factory rivets. just for comparison, its getting replaced with another 1/2" bolt)

Rear axle is in and centered

And back down on it’s own weight

With the F150 perches lined up with the top, forward hole, the front leaf mount is moved down approx. 3”, and rearward about 1”. I also have the ruffstuff axle perches that scoot the axle back about an inch as well.

I have to buy/borrow a drill bit bigger than ½” to drill out the center bolt holes on the u-bolt plate before I can bolt them down. For some reason, the holes in the ruffstuff u-bolts plates are not big enough for the nut on top, but the same size fits great on the axle perches. Probably because my center bolts are grade 8 bolts with the heads ground round.

Rear lift comparison for the day:

Before

After:

Front is still a little high, but it will be getting a winch and bumper, plus the front springs are brand new, where the rears are well broken in.

 

[RangerSVT]

Tony, if you haven't already (and it's hard to tell), flip your springs around to where the center bolt going through the spring pack is closer to the rear than the front (in the factory arrangement), this will give you even better departure angle without relocating the hangers...And great work so far!! I'm building a B2 at my house with the owner (WCB2) and will be using a 351W, ZF, and 1356/1356 doubler out of a 1990 F350...
SVT