Crawlercreations build thread finally!
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:13 am
I guess it should be more of a built thread than a build thread as is it mostly, kind of doneish. My addiction to Broncos started when i was 17. My dad bought a pretty nice one and I was hooked! It had some engine problems so he parked it for a while until I bought it from him when I turned 18. I got in a tight spot when I was 22 and sold it. I sold it about 2 weeks before I met my wife. I always talked about it to her. Finally 3 years ago, I talked her into going to Moab for the easter jeep safari so she could at least see what 4-wheeling was since she had never seen it. We ended up coming back 3 days early and bought my Bronco the day we got back! It was pretty much stock besides being cut out in the rear. I bought it in south colorado springs and drove it home over 100 miles that day. I paid $1500 for it and it included a brand new 3.5" WH lift kit! Pretty good deal! I told my wife it was going to be a 4 year project.
In 2 weeks time I had installed the lift and welded the front diff. Took it wheeling for the first time after 3 weeks of owning it after installing the 4X4X2 power steering. That was an eye opener into gearing! The stock 3 speed just wasn't low enough to go anywhere! The search was on...I found a np435 with adapter ready to go for $150. Installed that next along with some 1/4 life 35" xterrains I got for free from work. It was coming around nicely! Took it wheeling again with the new gearing and it was way better! So good in fact that I was trying some dumb lines and ended up breaking a front axle.
Well my wife is wonderful....I bought some Yukon front axle shafts with super joints to replace them. And figured the front only broke because the rear was still open and not helping much! Next came the rear spool and more Yukon axle shafts for the rear! Then it was mostly unstoppable! BUT it was still stopped by a couple of things.
So the christmas of the year I bought it my wife got me some 5.5" CAGE coils for the front. Then it was ON! Started off building some custom radius arms for the front and got it where I wanted it but hadn't decided on a route for the rear yet. Battled back and forth on rear suspension until my wife said just do what you want as you will regret it later if you don't! So I 4-linked it. Took it out again and WOW! I took on A LOT of body damage on that trip because it was so capable.
Forward to a week after that and I decided it was time to put a cage in it. Well the floors were pretty rusted out so it didn't make sense to install a cage on a failing floor. So I repaired all the rust in the floors and strikers. That turned out so well I fixed the rust on the inner fenders. I was so happy with the rust repair and it was looking so good I decided it was a good idea to do some body work and paint! Amazing how these things snowball! Started on the body work with the mindset of how I was going to use it still so I didn't go crazy making it super nice. So I built a cage, repaired most of the dents and spray painted it.
Took it out wheeling again...this time into a really hard trail. So much for a lot of the body work! I broke an upgraded rear Yukon shaft(small bearing 28 spline) too. Time for more upgrades! Swapped the rear end out for a big bearing housing that I custom trussed and shaved almost 2 inches off the bottom of it. Installed another spool and 31 spline axle shafts. Kept wheeling it like that for almost a year and decided it was time for EFI! So I installed EFI and loved it..but wanted more power still. So I installed some 5.13 gears in the axle to offset my 37" tires. That is pretty much how it sits now with more plans on the way(building a new front bumper today).
Well if you made it through all of this awake still you are way more patient that I am! Everything on my Bronco was custom built or done by me. On to the Pictures!!
In 2 weeks time I had installed the lift and welded the front diff. Took it wheeling for the first time after 3 weeks of owning it after installing the 4X4X2 power steering. That was an eye opener into gearing! The stock 3 speed just wasn't low enough to go anywhere! The search was on...I found a np435 with adapter ready to go for $150. Installed that next along with some 1/4 life 35" xterrains I got for free from work. It was coming around nicely! Took it wheeling again with the new gearing and it was way better! So good in fact that I was trying some dumb lines and ended up breaking a front axle.
Well my wife is wonderful....I bought some Yukon front axle shafts with super joints to replace them. And figured the front only broke because the rear was still open and not helping much! Next came the rear spool and more Yukon axle shafts for the rear! Then it was mostly unstoppable! BUT it was still stopped by a couple of things.
So the christmas of the year I bought it my wife got me some 5.5" CAGE coils for the front. Then it was ON! Started off building some custom radius arms for the front and got it where I wanted it but hadn't decided on a route for the rear yet. Battled back and forth on rear suspension until my wife said just do what you want as you will regret it later if you don't! So I 4-linked it. Took it out again and WOW! I took on A LOT of body damage on that trip because it was so capable.
Forward to a week after that and I decided it was time to put a cage in it. Well the floors were pretty rusted out so it didn't make sense to install a cage on a failing floor. So I repaired all the rust in the floors and strikers. That turned out so well I fixed the rust on the inner fenders. I was so happy with the rust repair and it was looking so good I decided it was a good idea to do some body work and paint! Amazing how these things snowball! Started on the body work with the mindset of how I was going to use it still so I didn't go crazy making it super nice. So I built a cage, repaired most of the dents and spray painted it.
Took it out wheeling again...this time into a really hard trail. So much for a lot of the body work! I broke an upgraded rear Yukon shaft(small bearing 28 spline) too. Time for more upgrades! Swapped the rear end out for a big bearing housing that I custom trussed and shaved almost 2 inches off the bottom of it. Installed another spool and 31 spline axle shafts. Kept wheeling it like that for almost a year and decided it was time for EFI! So I installed EFI and loved it..but wanted more power still. So I installed some 5.13 gears in the axle to offset my 37" tires. That is pretty much how it sits now with more plans on the way(building a new front bumper today).
Well if you made it through all of this awake still you are way more patient that I am! Everything on my Bronco was custom built or done by me. On to the Pictures!!
