www.ColoradoClassicBroncos.com

Making my usual slow but sort of steady progress. Getting tired of notching tubes....

Looks beefy Justin. Great work!

I like it! Notching tube is tedious especially to get right. You'll be happy you did quality work when it's done!

Looks like I found the cause of my oil consumption issue......

Looks like you have a missing baffle. What intake is that? It's kind of Ford like but kind of not also.

100% missing the baffle. It's an Edelbrock I got used.

Got the engine back together after waiting for 100 years on the baffle from Edelbrock. Major fabrication on the cage is done as well. Need to make a bunch of tabs to tie in the cowl, windshield and pillars, then will pull it and finish weld.

Justin wrote:Got the engine back together after waiting for 100 years on the baffle from Edelbrock. Major fabrication on the cage is done as well. Need to make a bunch of tabs to tie in the cowl, windshield and pillars, then will pull it and finish weld.

So, you'll be done by next week? [emoji1787]

Looking good! Hope to see you at SC.

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Cage looks nice!

I let Alex drive the Bronco.

Hope he brought it back in one piece!

Took it for a drive. Cage came out great, although I'm going to have to realign one of the doors. Really like the tie ins for the windshield and cowl, as it totally eliminated cowl shake. Also really happy with the new power steering pump, which has totally eliminated the lag I was getting with my old one (4x4x2 box, hydro assist and hydroboost). I may take it for a longer run tomorrow, but for now I'm pretty happy withthis round of upgrades. Will probably like it even better when my full length bikini top shows up from Wild Horses.

Nice work that cage turned out sweet!

Thanks!

Looks Great!!!

That looks great! Nice job!

Cage came out nice.

What PS pump did you do? Is it an "upgrade" or just replaced with newer pump? I'm wondering how things will do when I add hydroassist to my system. I'm running a Saginaw pump, hboost and 4x4x2 box now. I have some pages saved on upgrading performance of the Sag pump, but wondering if there is another route I should be looking at. I am still running v-belts until my alternator gives up, then I'll probably upgrade to serp (V8 truck or Explorer, not sure which- I have both).

Your Bronco is a beast. Great work you have been doing! You have picked some awesome skills.

Hey, thanks!

I'm planning to replace my Bloody Knuckle arms with DOM radius arms. I have someone eager to buy mine.

I'm planning to use the Ballistic radius arm mount/lower coil bucket.

https://www.ballisticfabrication.com/pr ... oil-mounts

This looks a lot like what you used but with the coilover mount instead of coil spring bucket.

Do you have more pics? Maybe I missed them in your thread.

I'm concerned with the angle of the arm into the mount, I know the bushing shouldn't have much stress on them. How did you keep the bushings straight in the mount while "aiming" the arm back at the frame? Did you angle cut the upper and lower tube?

Are your arms are bent or straight? It looks like there might be a bend towards the back of the upper arm bracket.

Metalcloak ends at the frame?

What angle are the frame brackets mounted at the frame, to point the arms out to the axle mount?

How long is the upper arm? Ruffstuff's kit comes with a 24" piece of DOM for each arm, but yours looks much shorter. I don't want to buy more DOM than needed.

I hope my questions make sense.

Thanks

-That's exactly the same as what I used, although I had mine done with shorter distance between the holes where the radius arm attaches to the bracket since my arms were designed with a 6" span instead of a 7" one.
-I did cut out the inner side of the bracket some to angle the brackets more towards the frame, but my arms also have some built in angle to them, so I could run them close to perpendicular to the axle tube.
-My arms have a fairly significant bend in them, which I appreciate since I still rub a little with the 37's.
-Yes, Metalcloak joints. I'm happy with them, although I also haven't run anything else.
My brackets are parallel to the frame, mostly due to the bend in the arms.
-24" of DOM should be plenty. When you figure in the heims and sockets, it's more than enough. The tube portion of mine is 6-7", not including the other hardware.

I can get better pics when it's light out if helpful.

Thanks that helps a lot.

I'm hoping to keep the arms straight. I guess I won't know if the tires rub until I can put a finished axle under it. Not sure how the D60 knuckles will fit/turn compared to the D44.

I was thinking of offsetting the brackets or possibly putting a bend in them to 'point' them at the frame brackets. My frame brackets are mounted slightly angled out, but not a lot.

I guess it's a wait and see situation.

I just angled the axle brackets in some by grinding out the 2 inner plates where it contacts the axle tube and it worked great. Seemed much easier than having to accurately repeat bends across the 4 plates. When we did the DIY radius we bent the tube using a Harbor Freight pipe bender. Sketchy as heck, but it worked. Even did 1 set in a parking lot. If I had it to do over I'd probably have it done by someone with a proper bender. I thought it was worth it, but your mileage may vary.

Justin wrote:I just angled the axle brackets in some by grinding out the 2 inner plates where it contacts the axle tube and it worked great. Seemed much easier than having to accurately repeat bends across the 4 plates. When we did the DIY radius we bent the tube using a Harbor Freight pipe bender. Sketchy as heck, but it worked. Even did 1 set in a parking lot. If I had it to do over I'd probably have it done by someone with a proper bender. I thought it was worth it, but your mileage may vary.

Thanks.

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Are you concerned with the the tube axis being perpendicular to the bushing axis? My brackets are perpendicular, and I just cut the tube at the appropriate angle to get them to point towards the frame bracket. I don't believe this to cause any additional stress to the bushings as if one side pushes, the other side pulls, if that makes any sense.

Jesus_man wrote:Are you concerned with the the tube axis being perpendicular to the bushing axis? My brackets are perpendicular, and I just cut the tube at the appropriate angle to get them to point towards the frame bracket. I don't believe this to cause any additional stress to the bushings as if one side pushes, the other side pulls, if that makes any sense.

I just read the bushings shouldn't have more than 5* of misalignment or you need to use a heim joint.

I've rethought things and will be moving the springs back to stock width, this will minimize angles with straight arms while keeping a good turning radius.

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Huh. I'll bet mine are more than 5* out, but I would have to look closer. I do think I recall replacing the bushings once, perhaps with poly?? Again, my memory is weak.

When I built the cage, I welded in some spots for interior lights, as my Bronco has never had them and it's annoying. Finished up the install and wiring today, since it's finally cold enough to think about running a top. I'm now considering renting it out to a grow operation on the side.

I don't know if I've ever had light in my Bronco. That goes for the instrument cluster, overhead, anything. That looks pretty amazing.

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So many easy LED options now make it a no brainer to add lights. Looks good!


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