88 Bronco 2 Rear wiper/washer and Defroster Option Commonaility With 3 Year Ownership Updates

[wildbill23c]

How common was the rear wiper and washer option for the Bronco 2's? Seems I find them without either most often, is that usually the case? Now that mine is working I'm happy but during the winter with all the road spray that back window was useless most of the time so having a working wiper/washer and defroster back there is a nice bonus now.

Its been about 3 years now that I have owned this Bronco 2 and really enjoy it, even through the tough times with it. Right after purchase in 2016 it went straight to AAMCO for a transmission rebuild, late 2018 it got a new (rebuilt) engine. Runs and drives great now, like stepping into a brand new Bronco 2, now I've got to come up with the money for paint LOL, if it weren't for the paint and worn interior it would be awesome, even at that its very enjoyable to drive and with what has been done mechanically it should be good for another 30+ years since I actually properly maintain my vehicles unlike the previous owner of this one .

Picked up a factory Class II Receiver hitch for it at the pick a part a few months ago for $20 just got it installed, now trying to track down trailer wiring schematics to get the wiring for the trailer plug installed properly since as usual the previous owner just hacked stuff and it no longer functions.

Installed fog lights last month and earlier this year found a Bronco 2 spare tire cover.

This will remain as close to stock as possible, but looking at it and tire options are leading me to possibly needing larger tires just to get some better all terrain tires as I'm severely limited with the stock 205/75R15's, so thinking I need to step up to 235's in order to have options. Only thing I'm worried about is possible rubbing with the 235's? Stock no lift.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You've come a long way?
As far as the wiper, out of 4 b2s, 1 had wiper, 1 had opening rear window, the rest were plain.
I ran 31"x8.5"r15 on my b2 with 4:10's. There was rubbing on hard left turns, and the suspension was clapped out. I think you would be fine with 29".

 

[wildbill23c]

Thanks for your input on the tires, if I recall it had 235's on it when I bought it but went with the stock factory size, well now with it running better and being able to drive it whenever and wherever I want to go I feel its time for some better tires to handle the back roads and winters better. Really enjoying the Bronco 2, its a huge step forward from the 84 Bronco 2 I had previously that you could watch the road go by under your feet.

I wish my Bronco 2 had the rear window that opened, but at the same time I have a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee with that option and it leaks so I'll skip the leak that I'm sure my Bronco 2 would have with that window HAHA!!! My 84 Bronco 2 was plain, and was lucky to get the rear hatch open most of the time...my 88 B2's rear hatch is a bit hard to turn the handle to open but at the same time I'm kind of ok with that since for some reason there's no locking mechanism in it so it kind of keeps most people from messing with it as they think its locked.

 

[wildbill23c]

Another little update, went from the 5' TRAM antenna for my amateur radio to a little 5" stubby antenna, now I can go through drive-thru's and under low lying tree branches without knocking the antenna over and not having it blown over in high winds and occasionally from a passing semi-truck.

Kind of hard to see in the picture but the little black nub in the center of the roof. Seems to work just as well as the 5 foot antenna did. This is VHF/UHF antenna so it covers what I need at the moment. Its also magnetic mounted, not about to go drilling holes in the roof.

 

[XTC90BII]

I looked and looked for a B2 WITHOUT the rear wiper. I did not want the additional holes in the body from the spray unit, the wiper mount also I did not want a roof rack. I really did not want one with the outside spare tire rack just because of all the additional holes in the body to leak and rust but I could not find one so that is the only outside attachment I have. I had 235's on my B2 when I bought it but got rid of them and went with stock 205's. Mine never goes off road so larger tires was not that big of deal for me.

Dennis

 

[wildbill23c]

I looked and looked for a B2 WITHOUT the rear wiper. I did not want the additional holes in the body from the spray unit, the wiper mount also I did not want a roof rack. I really did not want one with the outside spare tire rack just because of all the additional holes in the body to leak and rust but I could not find one so that is the only outside attachment I have. I had 235's on my B2 when I bought it but got rid of them and went with stock 205's. Mine never goes off road so larger tires was not that big of deal for me.

Dennis

Larger tires aren't the issue, the lack of tires for winter and backroads are my issue and in order to get those I have to step up to the 235's minimum...err...max without a lift. I do not want a lift, and I really hate going to larger tires but thanks to automakers and tire makers we have no choice when it comes to traction. If I lived in Southern California where its sunny and 75 all year the all season tires I have would be fine but I live in Idaho where we can get a few inches of snow to several feet of snow, all season tires don't work for that LOL. Sure I could chain up but I shouldn't have to, tire makers should be making tires for these vehicles in their factory sizes, guess they forgot that these old trucks are still running around. I go to work early in the morning before the snow plows and sand trucks are out, so I need to be able to get through possibly a foot or more of snow to get to work. Otherwise the all season tires would be fine for me too, just irks me that we don't have hardly any options out there without being forced into larger size tires....the only benefit to going with the 235's is then my Jeep and the B2 will have the same size tires and if I wanted could even swap wheels back and forth, not that Jeep wheels would look very good on the B2 nor would the B2 wheels look good on the Jeep but in a pinch would be handy.

My 84 Bronco 2 had the fixed rear window, I was fine with it but it lacked the rear defrost which is quite nice in the winter...I could live without it, but now that it and the rear wiper work its even better. The rear hatch leak I found is due to a missing access cover at the top of the rear hatch area, I'll see what I can scrounge up to fix that before this winter, I just don't really go to the pick a part yards in the summer due to all the wasp problems. Completely ruins my day getting stung so I just avoid going during the summer. I do have a list of stuff to pickup, and if I can't find anything for that access hole I'll simply silicone over it as I have no idea why that other access hole is on the driver side for because all the stuff for the rear wiper/washer come through the passenger side access hole on the roof/hatch area.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Don't use silicone. Use some type of rubber based caulk. Make sure to clean the area well.

 

[wildbill23c]

Don't use silicone. Use some type of rubber based caulk. Make sure to clean the area well.

Hmm, I thought caulk contained silicone? I'll use non-silicone caulk then, had no idea there would be a problem using the silicone. Thanks for the heads up. Need to get it fixed before winter though HAHA.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Mainly I was talking about 100% silicone caulk. Once cured nothing will ever stick to it, not even more silicone. Also don't use "DAP" caulking, its meant for interior use. I would suggest a poly-urethane or rubber based caulking. You will probably need to have some sort of backer to prevent the caulk from sagging thru the hole.

 

[wildbill23c]

Mainly I was talking about 100% silicone caulk. Once cured nothing will ever stick to it, not even more silicone. Also don't use "DAP" caulking, its meant for interior use. I would suggest a poly-urethane or rubber based caulking. You will probably need to have some sort of backer to prevent the caulk from sagging thru the hole.

Thanks, I'll do some product research. I'm not even sure where that access hole goes I know if you take the interior trim piece off the rear hatch area you can look through that hole and see the sky, but it looks like there are channels going both left and right and looks like its completely open both directions so I assume for running wires through either side of that area but why there isn't a cover or something over the driver's side one that is empty is weird.