69 Dudes-- Just the beginning

[Eck]

That said, selling a 205 is easy if you ever decide you want more gear.

On the flip side, selling the D20 adapter would also be easy too.

If moderate trails are all you ever intend to do, then you can get by with either. But just like a bronco addiction, crawling also gets in your blood and you may want to push the limits down the road.

Yah, I hear ya. Digger and I kind of discussed this as well. If I decide that the 205 isn't enough, there is a pretty good chance, the D20 wouldn't have been enough either. At this point-- an Atlas would be the natural progression. However, a 205 is the cheaper option and wouldn't require too much of an investment. With shipping, the D20 adaptor is gonna cost me $450-- I can rebuild a 205 for half that, still sell my D20 and probably only be in the transfer case for less than $150.

Seems like an easier and easier choice to go with the 205.

[Eck]

Finally got all the parts to mount up my fire extinguisher.

[Justin]

Sweet! Doesn't get more accessible than that. What extinguisher did you end up buying?

[Eck]

Sweet! Doesn't get more accessible than that. What extinguisher did you end up buying?

H3R Haltron 2.5lb.

[Eck]

Went up to Chinns Lake for the day yesterday. Really easy trail but man is it jarring. Very rocky and it has me thinking of what I can do to soften the ride a little bit. Not exactly comfortable for myself, but especially everyone else including the dogs.

Good news was I made it up and back without any mechanical "incidents". Might be a first for me and hopefully I've turned the corner I've anticipated for almost 3 years.

Some pics from the trip...

[Gunnibronco]

What shocks are you running, or planning to run with your Lars Bars? The Lars Bars will help mellow out the ride. Also , did you air down your tires? I make a run to Wheeler Gelogical sometimes, its 13 miles of bumpy road, each way, airing down made a world of difference.

[Justin]

x2 on airing down if you didn't. What springs and shocks are you running?

[Eck]

I'm not really sure what the springs are or the rear shocks. Front shocks are Rancho RS5000. FYI- the springs were originally red if that helps in identifying.

I didn't air down and that's a great suggestion. I currently don't have an air-up solution but will as soon as I go ARB. I haven't put much thought or research to moving to anything different when I switch axles and ad Lars Bars. Open to suggestions.

[Gunnibronco]

High quality shocks front and rear. With the Lars Bars you will have more front travel available, and if you want to relocate the upper shock mount you could really maximize the available travel. Bilstein 7100 (external reservoir)& 5100 seem to be very highly recommended. I did 7100 in front & 5100 in rear, different lengths & valving can be ordered depending on your rig/preferences. Perfect time to swap is when you do the Lars Bars.

Your front springs are probably Rancho?, not known as a soft spring. New front springs, WH or Deaver from Jeff's.

Rear springs look like old 6 leaf packs. I'd switch them (I had a set for 15 years). Again, WH or Jeffs, or BCBs too.

[Gunnibronco]

Basically, tear it all apart, and start over. You can talk to the voices in my head, when I'm not. I think they are the same voices in Justin's head.

[Eck]

Thanks Chad. I like that you had a second post that was basically, "on second thought, tear it all down and start over. Everybody's doing it." I probably need to start game planning as this adds a little more complexity to the situation. 2 axle swaps, Lars bars, new shocks and springs, new ZF5, new transfer case all this fall/winter.

[Gunnibronco]

2 axle swaps, Lars bars, new shocks and springs, new ZF5, new transfer case all this fall/winter.

You hear the voices too!

LOL.

Actually, your suspension is a lot like my first lift. I put it on in 1996. It was stiff as hell.

I've done all the things I listed above, and I love how my truck drives now.

[Eck]

2 axle swaps, Lars bars, new shocks and springs, new ZF5, new transfer case all this fall/winter.

You hear the voices too!

LOL.

Actually, your suspension is a lot like my first lift. I put it on in 1996. It was stiff as hell.

I've done all the things I listed above, and I love how my truck drives now.

Yes, the voices are loud and very convincing. My buddy Levi that rode with you in Moab commented on how much more comfortable yours was as opposed to mine. I will definitely be tapping into your experience and knowledge in the near future!

[Justin]

Dude, the voices are so, so real. I suspect you've got Rancho coils up front as well. That's what were on my truck when I got it, and a swap to a used set of Duff progressives made a huge difference. Some 11 leaf springs in the rear will help as well. I've got a set of 5 or 6 leaf Softride springs in the rear of mine and they actually ride pretty well, but the 11 leafs are supposed to be better. Mine'll be up for sale at some point when I link my rig. The other thing I'd consider (that has been mentioned) is a new set of shocks. I'll second Chad's vote for Bilstein 5100 or 7100s. The 5100s are a great way to get a very good shock for a reasonable price. The 7100s are awesome if you want to be able to tune them or decide you want reservoirs. To run either you'll need different shock mounts, but the older F-250 mounts are very good and really cheap (I think $30 each?). http://classicbroncos.com/f250shockmounts.shtml They're also 4.5" longer, and will give you as much travel as you'll use running any trail on the front range.

[Gunnibronco]

How about $18 each, free shipping. Ask me how I know!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-E5TZ18183A ... c3&vxp=mtr

[Justin]

Sweet, even better! Oh, and air down, it makes a massive difference and it won't hurt anything to drive a short distance to a gas station to air up. Just don't take any fast corners.

[Digger]

Airing down will definitely help.

Judging by the photo, the coil springs look older and thick, which would lead me to believe they are fairly stiff on a lighter rig like your. Also, my experience with Rancho RS5000's is that they work fine at low speeds, but any high velocity movements are jarring due to their linear valving.

I would start by figuring out what the front coil rate is (it could be done in about 30 minutes with careful measuring) and adjust if necessary. Then buy some good shocks like Bilsteins.

[Jesus_man]

Nice pics! Yeah, that ride is rough up there!

As with others, airing down will make a huge difference on the trail. I'd go down to about 12 for starters and see where that puts you. Looks like you have real beadlocks, so you're safe to go down to about 6 with those.

But just find the nearest air pump on the way out and keep speeds low!

[Eck]

Ran Kingston Peak today. Started in Rollinsville and ended up coming out at Alice. Not a tough trail at all but man does it have some great views and some serious elevation gain!! We stopped at James Peak Trail and hiked to Little Echo Lake to do some fishing. Once again, some serious elevation changes on that hike. We were the only ones fishing the lake and caught about 9-10 trout (all pretty small but fun on a backpacking rod and reel).

[Eck]

Bought new leaf springs, coil springs and rear Bilstein 5100 shocks today from WH. Was on the phone with Paul for probably an hour figuring things out. What great customer service! Anyways, still waiting to purchase the front Bilstein 5100 shocks because we weren't real sure which ones to go with to maximize travel using what I am planning to go with.

I will have 3.5" lift, extended radius arms, F250 shock towers. Anyone by chance have an idea of which front shocks to go with or even better, running a similar setup?

For guys using the F250 shock towers, did you mount them in the same location as the stock towers?

[Justin]

The F250 towers are usually done as a direct swap for the stock ones. For the fronts shocks, I'd get it all assembled then run the suspension through its travel. You can also measure how much room you have between the upper and lower eyes currently, add a couple of inches for the taller towers, and then figure from there. My guess is that you'll need a 10" regular shock or a 12" short body 7100. Shoot for roughly 40% uptravel and 60% droop.

[Gunnibronco]

Justin is right. The best way is to get everything set up, including bumpstops. Pull the coils and cycle the suspension and measure. It's worth waiting to buy the right ones, don't get a set then try to fit them.

I went with 14" 7100's, in front, but had to do a lot to get them to fit (moved uppers through the inner fenders, and lowers down on my Bloody Knuckle arms). I have around a 3.5" lift, but am running a 5.5" coil, so with the long arms I have lots of axle drop available.

I'm changing my uppers now. I'm doing the F250 towers, but will be spacing them out & up to fit.

Digger's thread has pics of a nice, simple way to get a little extra height out of an F250 shock mount.

I'd do what you can to get as long a shock as you can use.

I forget, do you have a body lift? It will get you a little extra room to get a taller shock.

[Eck]

Bronco making its tailgating debut today!

[phyler]

Very nice! I know that spot well. Go Buffs! Hopefully they can start to right the ship today.

[Eck]

Installed the new LED headlights today. I think I still need to do a little tweaking of the angle as I'm getting a little bit of VV spots. They are definitely a big improvement. The head on look you can really tell how much of the driveway is lit up.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:

[ZOSO]

looks good.

[Justin]

X2. That's a big difference. Rob, thanks for coordinating this. I might need to order some if he does another group buy.

[Eck]

looks good.

Thanks for coordinating and running them by Sunday. Does that pattern look similar to yours?

[ZOSO]

looks good.

Thanks for coordinating and running them by Sunday. Does that pattern look similar to yours?

Yours are a bit higher than what I had mine at and I believe that is what was giving me a problem with my light pattern.

[Eck]

I went out to try to figure out my ZF clutch master cylinder rod to pedal situation and got a little carried away...

No more Dana 30!