69 Dudes-- Just the beginning

[Eck]

Besides mounting the long arms and getting the front axle installed...



...I finished the ARB compressor install as well as the electrical and switch install. Not the most glorious solution, but it is easily accessible and tucked out of the way.

[Gunnibronco]

Nice work. Looks like you'll be the first to actually test drive the Metal Cloak joints.

[EFI Guy]

Nice, who did the welding?

[Eck]

Nice, who did the welding?

Justin

[EFI Guy]

Nice, now I know who to bother in the future.

[Eck]

Was able to get my tunnel cover cutout and bent. So the problem I am running into and a quick search seems to confirm its common, is the shifter boot for the ZF isn't tall enough to reach the body. I've seen some people use aftermarket boots (anyone know of any tall ones that might work)? I've also seen people make the tunnel cover angle up so that it can reach the body but I don't like that look.

Any suggestions on shifter boots or how to make the stock one work?

[landshark]

iam no help as iam using the stock boot stretched as far as it will go, which is where the handle is bolted on. let me know if you find another as i never bothered to look myself was just happy with the ZF ;)

[Eck]

iam no help as iam using the stock boot stretched as far as it will go, which is where the handle is bolted on. let me know if you find another as i never bothered to look myself was just happy with the ZF ;)

I saw your pictures and it looked stretched to the max. I ordered one from Jegs today. I'll let you know how it fits.

[rt9]

Eck - if you get a chance to run by a junk yard,,, the Ranger pickup boot is a lot like what you have there, but taller (longer). Unfortunately I don't have one anymore as I tried it for my toploader and must have pitched it. Anyway, just a thought.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1992-Ford-Range ... 1792202551

[Eck]

Thanks for the info- will have to keep that in mind- especially if the one I ordered doesn't work or look good.

[Eck]

Made some more progress this weekend. Was able to get the whole rear axle and springs removed. As seems to be normal, the shackle bolts and bushings were a complete female K9. I broke off one of the bolts and then had to heat the crap out of it just to get it to budge. Then it took a lot of effort with a BFH! Once those came out, the outer metal sheath of the original rubber bushing had basically rust welded itself to the shackle. An air chisel ultimately did the trick in ripping them out. The new poly bushings seem to be a better solution as they wont create that same rusting capability.

Thanks to Justin's welding help, the new spring perches and shock tabs were attached to the housing. I've got some work travel this week so it was great timing to get them painted. Next weekend I'll hopefully be able to reinstall everything and take it for a test drive. I've also got new driveshafts, front shocks, and stuff to finish my transmission tunnel cover being shipped to me this week.

[Digger]

You're ripping through that thing.

Good work.

[Eck]

You're ripping through that thing.

Good work.

Thanks- I feel like I still have a lot to do but the end is in sight.

So once I get everything back together, I'll need to get an alignment done and get numbers. What all do I need to make sure the alignment shop does (it seems most shops don't do everything required). Also- anyone have a place they'd recommend? Preferably Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, NW Denver area?

[Rox Crusher]

You're ripping through that thing.

Good work.

Thanks- I feel like I still have a lot to do but the end is in sight.

So once I get everything back together, I'll need to get an alignment done and get numbers. What all do I need to make sure the alignment shop does (it seems most shops don't do everything required). Also- anyone have a place they'd recommend? Preferably Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, NW Denver area?

On Landshark's recommendation, I got a lifetime alignment service from Firestone which really pays off. I take mine to one in Englewood area and they have one guy that "does all the old stuff".

[Eck]

another long day of progress. Thanks to BroncoRaider for his help today!!

Got the rear axle assembled and in along with the new suspension. Also got the new Tom Wood's rear driveshaft in.

Question- anyone see anything wrong with taking the LONG passenger side e-brake cable from the passenger side of my old axle and putting it on my new driver side axle? Otherwise I will need to order one of the new longer ones from WH.



Also finished up the tunnel cover with new shifter boots for the twin sticks and ZF shifter. I think the new boot actually fits very well.



Also got the front shocks installed and the Bronco is now sitting on 4 legs.

Still need to do a number of "small" things but most of the big projects are done. Hopefully I can get more done tomorrow.

[mickphatmac]

Question- anyone see anything wrong with taking the LONG passenger side e-brake cable from the passenger side of my old axle and putting it on my new driver side axle? Otherwise I will need to order one of the new longer ones from WH.

Nice work today!

I did the same to mine after my lift. Drivers side was tight so I used a passenger side and it's worked just fine. It is Plenty long!

[Justin]

Looking good! Agreed, there's no problem with re-using the longer cable so that you only have to buy one.

[Eck]

E-brakes are done. All brake lines are in- just need to bleed them now.

ARB lines were run and tested. The front axle was bought used and somewhere along the way of it sitting on my garage floor for a year, the air line was kinked and cracked. So I had to repair that which wasn't fun or easy (the old design of the air line connecting to the locker is far inferior to the current one. Ran 2 leak tests after repairing the front air line and I have no leaks!

Replaced my front D20 yoke (had a Borg Warner shaft and yoke). Those nuts that hold that on are tight! Got the new Tom Wood's front driveshaft installed.

All that is left to hopefully be road worthy is to:

Bleed brakes
Bleed ZF slave cylinder
Put fluids in both axles and transfer case
Install cotter pins on steering linkage
Pray

[Rox Crusher]

You are kicking ass

[phyler]

Awesome. I wish I was as close to being on the road as you are right now.

Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk

[Gunnibronco]

Nice work. I wish I was as close as you (seems to be a theme). Thanks for the info on the driveshafts.

[Eck]

Well- the good news is I took it for a drive around the block. The bad news is I had forgotten to swap in my new rear braided brake line and so when I went to disconnect the old one, I put a small hole in the hard brake line that runs from the proportioning valve to the rear of the vehicle.

I'm hoping I can just get another line at a local parts store. Anyone know what the fitting size is at the proportioning valve? 3/8?

[ZOSO]

so how do the lars bars ride?

[Eck]

The lars bars seem to ride pretty good. Kind of hard to isolate the lars bars and compare to what I had before because I have changed so much at once. I did have an alignment done yesterday and here are the numbers:

BroncoAlignment001.pdf

I drove it about 10 miles yesterday and probably had it up to about 50mph. Ride is much softer than my previous setup for sure. I actually drove it over to Dusty Dog Garage where David helped me take a look at the clutch/slave/master cylinder. I have been having some funky issues with the slave not engaging and disengaging consistently. I have bled the system multiple different ways and for good measure, David vacuum bled it yesterday. It doesn't seem like there is air in the system and the clutch pedal has resistance if you press on it hard and fast. The pedal doesn't seem to rebound as well as it should. If you press the pedal very slowly, it will go all the way to the floor without engaging the slave. If you press it quickly, slave acts as it should. There are no fluid leaks anywhere and so David and I both have decided the first thing to try is to replace the master cylinder. We can't think of what else it could be (the master on it was new from Advanced Auto).

The only other thing that was a little concerning is that the transmission seems to make a little bit of a grinding noise when it sits in neutral with the clutch depressed. We also put the transfer case in neutral and put the transmission in gear (obviously standing still), and the same grinding noise was going on. This ZF was apparently rebuilt and used in a truck for about 1500 miles and then the guy who rebuilt it's son rolled the truck totaling it but the engine and transmission were still good. I put about 5 quarts of Mercon V ATF in it. I am not sure if it was completely drained before I added fluid. Any thoughts on what could be causing the noise?

[Gunnibronco]

They are known to be noisy in neutral. Something about how they work. Google it or look on CB.com.

I read that people were using a synthetic gear oil instead of the Mercon. But I don't know off the top of my head what that is.

[Digger]

The lars bars seem to ride pretty good. Kind of hard to isolate the lars bars and compare to what I had before because I have changed so much at once. I did have an alignment done yesterday and here are the numbers:

BroncoAlignment001.pdf

I drove it about 10 miles yesterday and probably had it up to about 50mph. Ride is much softer than my previous setup for sure. I actually drove it over to Dusty Dog Garage where David helped me take a look at the clutch/slave/master cylinder. I have been having some funky issues with the slave not engaging and disengaging consistently. I have bled the system multiple different ways and for good measure, David vacuum bled it yesterday. It doesn't seem like there is air in the system and the clutch pedal has resistance if you press on it hard and fast. The pedal doesn't seem to rebound as well as it should. If you press the pedal very slowly, it will go all the way to the floor without engaging the slave. If you press it quickly, slave acts as it should. There are no fluid leaks anywhere and so David and I both have decided the first thing to try is to replace the master cylinder. We can't think of what else it could be (the master on it was new from Advanced Auto).
That sounds exactly like an internal leak of the master cylinder. The leak would let fluid from the pressure side leak to the reservoir side. From what you described, you have done everything correctly.

The only other thing that was a little concerning is that the transmission seems to make a little bit of a grinding noise when it sits in neutral with the clutch depressed. We also put the transfer case in neutral and put the transmission in gear (obviously standing still), and the same grinding noise was going on. This ZF was apparently rebuilt and used in a truck for about 1500 miles and then the guy who rebuilt it's son rolled the truck totaling it but the engine and transmission were still good. I put about 5 quarts of Mercon V ATF in it. I am not sure if it was completely drained before I added fluid. Any thoughts on what could be causing the noise?
Mine was a zero-mile rebuild, similar to yours. Its just noisy, especially if the engine has a vibration. I have rebuilt a few manuals and also installed several professionally rebuilt units. My impression has been that it is difficult to get all the pieces back together exactly where they were, particularly the gears. Maybe it's a few thousands off, but pushing the gears slightly out of their original wear pattern seems to lead to some noise. As long as it doesn't get worse, I wouldn't worry about it.

[landshark]

They are known to be noisy in neutral. Something about how they work. Google it or look on CB.com.

I read that people were using a synthetic gear oil instead of the Mercon. But I don't know off the top of my head what that is.

I am using Synthetic Gear oil - same oil I used the Transfer Case and both diffs.. royal purple 75w 90..

there is another brand of oil recommended for the ZF if you do a search on the ford truck forums that is recommended to quiet it down, including the neutral noise - also will help when its cold however i have had no issues what so ever with using the gear oil since I installed it.

I have some slight noise in neutral sometimes, 2nd gear is grouchy when its cold but once warmed up its great.

a shot in the dark - I assume the clutch fork is fully seated on the bell housing inside?

[Zenzone]

I'm excited to see your truck in person. You have done some good work and it's looking good! I'm wanting to see how your front long arms turned out and what rear leafs you used. I need some new leafs but I'm afraid the 4.5 or 5.5 lift will be to much arch and not work as well(I'm on 2 inch blocks right now). So I'm really interested to see how yours works! Keep up the good work!

[Digger]

The lars bars seem to ride pretty good. Kind of hard to isolate the lars bars and compare to what I had before because I have changed so much at once. I did have an alignment done yesterday and here are the numbers:

BroncoAlignment001.pdf

Forgot to ask, what C-bushings are you running? Your caster is really low.

[Eck]

I will see if I can respond to everything. Yesterday I had to shut the Bronco brain off to celebrate the GF's birthday (although she did let me stop at the parts store to pick up a new clutch master).

OIL/NOISE-

I had researched the oil topic but never really came across anything with the noisiness of the ZF. As was mentioned, there were numerous opinions as to what fluid to use. Mercon V was what the supposed Ford Manual called for and so that is what I decided on. It wasn't very expensive and so I am not too pissed if it makes sense to change it. I also saw some people just putting 50W motor oil in it, but I will not be doing that. It seemed that some people have used the Royal Purple as well as the Redline 75w90 Manual Trans Synthetic Lube with good luck. I think I will order the Red Line MT90:

Red Line Oil 50305 Details

MT-90 75W90 GL-4 Popular in Nissan, Toyota and Mazda manual transmissions and transaxles as well as other selected applications, this is a 75W90 GL-4 Gear Oil that's slightly heavier than MTL. Provides excellent protection of gears and synchronizers and its balanced slipperiness provides a perfect coefficient of friction, allowing easier shifting.

Red Line Oil's manual transmission fluids - MTL and MT-90 - are designed to provide excellent protection and improved shiftability for manual transmissions and transaxles, having cured the problem of hard shifting in thousands of transmissions with shifting troubles. How? Red Line manual transmission fluids have the appropriate coefficient of friction for most manual transmission synchronizers (many gear oils, engine oils, and ATFs are too slippery for proper synchro engagement). And, the wide viscosity of MTL and MT-90 allow proper shifting over the entire temperature range which the transmission will experience. The synthetic base oils used have a very high viscosity index which provides relatively constant viscosity as temperature changes. MTL is a low 70W at very low temperatures and a high 80W, nearly an 85W, at elevated temperatures, providing adequate viscosity to prevent wear and deaden gear noise. MT-90 is a thicker 75W90 version of MTL. The shear stability and oxidation stability of these products are excellent, thus the physical characteristics of Red Line MTL and MT-90 will change little with use. Try Red Line manual transmission fluids in your vehicle!

As far as the noise goes, thank you Digger and Landshark for confirming the noise is "normal." I did research it and it seems like the noise I am getting is the common noise. Landshark-- you mentioned the clutch fork-- am I mistaken in that the internal slave cylinder on the ZF S5-42 eliminates the clutch fork? It seems that most people either just eventually ignore and learn to live with the noise or they change the oil and that helps. I will throw the new oil in and see if it helps.

MASTER CYLINDER:
Bought the new one from O'Reilly's yesterday and will be installing it this evening. I will post up the updated results.

ALIGNMENT NUMBERS:
I was hoping someone chimed in because I truly don't know a whole lot of what that means. I figured I would drive it a while and if it feels fine and the tires wear ok, then it is all good. But, I am open to more expert opinions than those of my own!! To answer your question Digger, I am running 4* bushings. There was 1* built in and the idea was that the 4* bushings would work on a 3" lift. I did keep my 7* bushings if you think that would be a better fit...
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