BII Eddie Bauer question

[MeanMark87]

This might be a dumb question so bear with me....

So tomorrow I'm going to go and look at (and more than likely buy) an 88 BII Eddie Bauer edition. Thing is, there weren't a lot of interior photos of the truck, and the guy has been slow getting them to me via email.

I can't tell from the one interior photo I've seen whether the rig is actually a 4x4 or not. I'm assuming all the EB edition bronco ii's were 4 wheel drive and had the push button transfer case, but I wanted to be sure, because this guy lives a fair distance away and I don't want to get there and find out the thing is a 2 wheel drive rig.

 

[superds]

There's a pretty good chance if it's in the upper Midwest it's four wheel drive. I've never seen a two wheel drive b2 in ND.

 

[wildbill23c]

What year is it? I'm guessing since its an Eddie Bauer Model its newer than an 85. I believe in 86 they started offering a 2WD model. It may be the push button 4x4 system which if you are looking on the floor for the manual shift t-case lever it won't have one in that case, the push button 4x4 was on the roof panel.

 

[MeanMark87]

What year is it? I'm guessing since its an Eddie Bauer Model its newer than an 85. I believe in 86 they started offering a 2WD model. It may be the push button 4x4 system which if you are looking on the floor for the manual shift t-case lever it won't have one in that case, the push button 4x4 was on the roof panel.

It's an 88. I know that it won't have the manual t-case but I was just wondering if there was such a thing as an EB 2wd. I mean you wouldn't think so, considering the Eddie Bauer ones are supposed to be for outdoorsy types like me who WANT 4x4....

 

[wildbill23c]

They were available in 2WD or 4WD after 1986 regardless of what badging they had. Yeah I know, its like buying a 2WD Jeep Wrangler. People want the name is all for the most part, they have no intentions of driving off of a paved road, nevermind the lack of resale value on a 2WD later on down the road.

They could have manual or electric shift T-cases through the whole production line up, however if you aren't seeing anything pointing to it being a 4WD, its most likely 2WD, especially if they didn't advertise it as a 4WD then generally it will not be.

 

[superds]

I'm still saying it's four wheel drive. Two wheel drive B2s are virtually nonexistent in the upper midwest. Most people up here don't even realize there ever was a 2wd option for B2s. It's like people that advertise a vehicle with an automatic transmission but don't mention it because they assume there was only an option for automatic and there was no manual transmission version, eg. on late model F150s.

MeanMark87, do you have a link to this vehicle for sale? Maybe another set of eyes looking at it could tell if it's 4wd.

 

[superds]

For example, from this photo I can tell it is 4 wheel drive based on looking at the front wheel hubs. Also, not a dead giveaway since it could be modified but for a stock vehicle, a 2wd probably wouldn't sit so high in the front.

 

[wildbill23c]

Everyone used to think my 84 Ranger was 4WD, never understood why because it was completely stock, didn't have a lift or offroad tires on it.



Like I say it could be either one, just because its from the mid-west doesn't mean it came from there originally. I live in Idaho, not everyone owns a 4wd. Location doesn't necessarily mean a vehicle is 4WD LOL.

 

[kunar]

even if it's 2wd, the swap to 4wd is fairly simple on b2's.

 

[wildbill23c]

even if it's 2wd, the swap to 4wd is fairly simple on b2's.

Its just the front axle, differential drive shaft, and T-Case assembly to do a swap correct?

 

[kunar]

Its just the front axle, differential drive shaft, and T-Case assembly to do a swap correct?

if i remember right, yeah. pull the whole front axle and the dummy case and replace both with the 4wd parts. seems like the bracket for the passengers side beam needs to be taken off the frame and flipped to the other side or something like that. ive never even seen under the front end of a 2wd b2 so i cant say for sure.

of course the swap doesnt end there, you have to add the shifter linkage (or electronics) and the proper shifter boot etc. as well as the front drive shaft. there very well may be something im missing.

 

[wildbill23c]

if i remember right, yeah. pull the whole front axle and the dummy case and replace both with the 4wd parts. seems like the bracket for the passengers side beam needs to be taken off the frame and flipped to the other side or something like that. ive never even seen under the front end of a 2wd b2 so i cant say for sure.

of course the swap doesnt end there, you have to add the shifter linkage (or electronics) and the proper shifter boot etc. as well as the front drive shaft. there very well may be something im missing.

You missed one important thing....JUST BUY A 4x4 to begin with :icon_rofl:

 

[kunar]

You missed one important thing....JUST BUY A 4x4 to begin with :icon_rofl:

hey, if its in otherwise good shape, and for a decent price, being 2wd wouldnt be a 'make it or break it' IMO. i mean, think about it, a d35 swap is inevitable anyways, so its really not any more work!

 

[MeanMark87]

Thanks for the help fellas...I wound up buying it and driving it home. It IS a 4x4 and it has a manual transfer case. I'm gonna make a thread on it probably later.

This baby needs a TON of work....

@Superds....how in the world did you find the CL ad!? Lol

 

[superds]

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Using the facts that you list your home as Minnesota and that you are looking at an 88 B2 that is a good drive from you, I surmised that you used craiglist to find the vechicle in question since most people post on there since it's free and that would give you access to the knowledge that it is for sale. Knowing a majority of the population of MN lives near the Cities, I hedged my bets and I used this a basis to search craigslist using my favorite craigslist search engine, searchtempest.com, which allows you to quickly search many different cities around a starting point. Searching for Bronco only yields a few dozen results and looking through for an 88 Eddie Bauer narrows it down to a couple within a couple hundred miles of the Cities, and knowing that he didn't have very good interior photos or mention whether it was 4x4 narrowed the search to one B2, the one I posted.

Glad you got the B2 you were looking for, did you get a good deal on it?

 

[MeanMark87]

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Using the facts that you list your home as Minnesota and that you are looking at an 88 B2 that is a good drive from you, I surmised that you used craiglist to find the vechicle in question since most people post on there since it's free and that would give you access to the knowledge that it is for sale. Knowing a majority of the population of MN lives near the Cities, I hedged my bets and I used this a basis to search craigslist using my favorite craigslist search engine, searchtempest.com, which allows you to quickly search many different cities around a starting point. Searching for Bronco only yields a few dozen results and looking through for an 88 Eddie Bauer narrows it down to a couple within a couple hundred miles of the Cities, and knowing that he didn't have very good interior photos or mention whether it was 4x4 narrowed the search to one B2, the one I posted.

Glad you got the B2 you were looking for, did you get a good deal on it?

I do feel like Watson to your Holmes :icon_thumby:

Yeah, I whittled him down from 1800 to 900. I wasn't expecting there to be as many little nagging things wrong with it as there were.

Basically it needs:

- Steering needs to be gone through...it's sloppy and has rattle inside the column when you go over bumps. I'm going to go through the linkages this week and see what's up (tie rods, pitman/idler arms etc)
- Oil pan gasket...it's seeping very slowly...not enough to lose any real volume between oil changes but it bothers me so I'm going to do it.
- Needs a muffler....it's missing the muffler and I drove it back from Des Moines almost 300 miles with ear plugs in. This is going to be JOB 1, lol.
- Needs a bushing/spacer in the tailgate handle mechanism....that's easy enough to fabricate on my own
- Needs the headliner replaced, needs both dome lights repaired
- Lot of rust work to do and cleaning up a horrible hack n' pack job done previously
- Needs a fuel tank sending unit as the gas gauge doesn't work
- Needs door mirrors (luckily I have a spare set I pulled from a '92 Ranger)

That and some cosmetic clean ups and little things like a headlight switch pull, a hood release handle, etc.

But, I drove it back here and it got 23 MPG highway! So that was one real positive to come out of it. Old girl can still sip gas.

 

[wildbill23c]

Glad you got it and brought it home, yep definitely needs work, but so does my 84 B2. I love mine, and I'm glad mine doesn't have any power options, less crap to go wrong with a 30 year old vehicle LOL.

I'm really curious to see what my bronco 2 would get for highway fuel economy, I rarely get out of the town I live in so I still have no clue what fuel economy it gets, all I know is I can run around town for quite a while on a tank of gas.

 

[MeanMark87]

Glad you got it and brought it home, yep definitely needs work, but so does my 84 B2. I love mine, and I'm glad mine doesn't have any power options, less crap to go wrong with a 30 year old vehicle LOL.

I'm really curious to see what my bronco 2 would get for highway fuel economy, I rarely get out of the town I live in so I still have no clue what fuel economy it gets, all I know is I can run around town for quite a while on a tank of gas.

I was floored that it was able to do 23. EPA says an '88 4x4 bronco II with a manual tranny should do 15 city 21 highway.

Then again I usually beat EPA numbers in all my cars. I've done upwards of 30 in the Ranger before.

I'm pretty obsessive about my mpg, so I plan to keep a good eye on it and see how it improves as I tune up the engine on the Bronco.

 

[wildbill23c]

I was floored that it was able to do 23. EPA says an '88 4x4 bronco II with a manual tranny should do 15 city 21 highway.

Then again I usually beat EPA numbers in all my cars. I've done upwards of 30 in the Ranger before.

I'm pretty obsessive about my mpg, so I plan to keep a good eye on it and see how it improves as I tune up the engine on the Bronco.

EPA numbers on vehicles are never true. I don't even bother looking at them in the first place. I can say this though, the EPA numbers on my 2008 Toyota Tundra said 15 city, 17 highway with the 5.7L V8. Well it actually it will do about 14 city consistently, and with non-ethanol fuel I can get 23-24mpg on the highway with it. Its a truck, I didn't buy it for fuel economy, but when I first got it 5 years ago I was curious and tracked it for the first year and it was pretty consistent 14 city and about 23 highway.

I know my 84 Ford Ranger 4x2 was lucky to get 20mpg, but it was the 2.8L V6 with automatic transmission. My 84 Bronco 2 is the 2.8L V6 and manual transmission and 4x4. Kind of curious to see what it will do.

 

[superds]

I'm glad you got a pretty good deal. Make sure to let us know if you need any advice doing any of the repairs.