'88 Bronco II highway speed death wobble / steering upgrades

[notforhumans]

Hi, y'all! New to the site and to classic cars... but I am learning quite a bit as I go!

This is my '88, just recently purchased and is running great. Quite a bit of restoration work went into it, even with the interior.

I've just recently started driving it on the highway: I live in Texas, so highway speeds can get up there.. The steering has quite a bit of play I know isn't at all uncommon and it is totally manageable at speeds lower than 40mph. After that, bump steering, death wobble, particularly on highway going between 55mph to 70mph (around 70mph the whole car is really shaky). I've been driving in the slow lane for right now staying at about 60-65 and it's okay temporarily. Just recently got it checked out by a shop for a detailed inspection for unrelated reasons, and got the tires aligned, so I know shaking isn't alignment. I also know the notorious bronco II steering lore, so that's a factor (hoping that the big tire upgrade and the new suspension would help ease some of that and distribute the weight better). Any tips for how to decrease the *sometimes* horrifying steering at high speeds (especially hitting bumps or rounding even wide corners)? Driving on the highway literally feels like an arcade racing game (but I don't have three lives). I looked into getting a steering stabilizer from rough country, but it looks like you can't install them if you have a sway bar. Any help much appreciated!

 

[Uncle Gump]

That's a slick looking Bronco II... I like the grill conversion.

Does it still have the twin traction beam or was it solid axle swapped? The hubs say TTB.

These little trucks can get funky when lifted. How much lift? Who made the lift? Does it have a drop pitman arm?

Did the alignment shop print out the specs they set it at?

 

[notforhumans]

Thank you! The grill sold me for sure

Not the best picture but yeah its got twin traction beams and a drop pitman arm it looks like. I wish I knew more about the lift but I bought it from someone that didn't have all the redesign specs cause it had passed through some hands. I'm pretty sure I can get the alignment specs if ya need them

 

[R£D*R£APER]

Your B2 is sweet. Ultimately I'd love to get mine looking that nice. If only money just duplicated itself. The interior is really nice and the grill is sick.

I have an 85. The day I picked it up I hopped on the highway and almost died when I tapped the brakes at 75 MPH. My wife and kids driving behind me said their goodbyes by the time I stopped. Whiteknuckled at 45 in the slow lane the rest of the way home. Got home and discovered one of the swaybar bushings was dangling from the swaybar. Fixed that and ever since, the sloppy steering and sketchy high-speed rides don't bother me as much because it's nowhere near as sketchy as that first drive.

In my case I need to replace all of the suspension and steering components for sure. I have heard that the B2 is cursed with sloppy steering though, so I'm not counting on a hell of a lot of improvement with those parts alone.

If you do happen to tighten it up please post. I'm looking to start the fun parts of my B2 now that I've replaced all of the clutch components and it's driving again. You're ride looks about like what I envision mine being in the future so if I can learn anything from your experience it'd be much appreciated.

Take care.

 

[notforhumans]

Your B2 is sweet. Ultimately I'd love to get mine looking that nice. If only money just duplicated itself. The interior is really nice and the grill is sick.

I have an 85. The day I picked it up I hopped on the highway and almost died when I tapped the brakes at 75 MPH. My wife and kids driving behind me said their goodbyes by the time I stopped. Whiteknuckled at 45 in the slow lane the rest of the way home. Got home and discovered one of the swaybar bushings was dangling from the swaybar. Fixed that and ever since, the sloppy steering and sketchy high-speed rides don't bother me as much because it's nowhere near as sketchy as that first drive.

In my case I need to replace all of the suspension and steering components for sure. I have heard that the B2 is cursed with sloppy steering though, so I'm not counting on a hell of a lot of improvement with those parts alone.

If you do happen to tighten it up please post. I'm looking to start the fun parts of my B2 now that I've replaced all of the clutch components and it's driving again. You're ride looks about like what I envision mine being in the future so if I can learn anything from your experience it'd be much appreciated.

Take care.

I hear you! I was lucky that it came with the look already done and the interior redesign (with bluetooth and all the modern "necessities"). My mechanic said that everything looks great internally and they tightened the steering play as much as they could when they initially checked it out. Nothing is loose or deteriorating. I feel like my only option might be replacing the steering box with something more modern? Would eliminate play and give more control and less "reactive" steering, maybe? Even though my steering box has no wear, I just don't think I can rely on the original to handle high speeds, considering the ford lawsuits of years past...

 

[JerryC]

The number one thing with a lifted BII is caster. You don't have to lift them much before caster is a problem and it drives like a shopping cart.

Also check all of bushing and joints for play. Replacing sway bar bushings and the caster right made a world of difference on mine. Play in the drag link can give you fits as well, mine wore out at about 80k miles.

 

[Peter Griffin]

LOVE the round headlights/grill that would have sold me too, that's for sure!

Death wobble...thought I was on the Jeep forum(s) again; well versed in that from my own personal experience.

Can't help here as I'm a BII noob, just here to learn...

 

[tw205]

Hard to tell from your picture but to me that looks like a stock pitman arm. The steering angle should be as close as possible the the angle of the axle housing. Imagine a line between the axle housing mount bolt and the center of the wheel hub. Your steering arm should be as close to the same angle as you can get it. This allows the steering to follow the same geometry as the axle. When they differ you get bump steer. As for caster, adjustable ball joint seats and radius arm bushing can help. Caster won’t be noticeable in the same manner as steering geometry. Caster will effect steering response and steering centering. I’d get the specs from the alignment shop just to see the results

 

[broncogal]

First thing i would do is ask the previous owner if he or she had been chasing the same wobble problem. If no,i would start at the wheels and tires and check the balance and or sloppy wheel bearings.Then move on to have an alignment done. You can check the toe-in your self with a long stick, nail and some chalk.

Just My 2 Cents

Nice Rig, and Good Luck

 

[TrackAire]

Besides worn parts look at your front tires. If they are cupped or have weird wear issues, that will make the death wobble worse. Your fronts look to have cupping...seems there is both light and dark sections on the tread pattern. Maybe it is just the lighting but worth checking out. Good luck finding what the issue is.