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Bronco-II rugged v8 sas build


Dirdy Dan

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I was on these forums years ago when I was in highschool. The account is long lost.

Found a decent 87 to start with. Found another junk one with a doner frame.

Going to have...
EB D44 I built the crap out of
Narrowed 9.75 in the rear
4.56 gear with detroit tru-trac front and rear
M5OD/1356 combo
Carbed 302 that has a decent build
33" tires on 15x10 alloys
Fully boxed frame
Front extended radius arms on EB lift coils
Rear on Explorer lift leafs

I have every major part except the headers and gears for the back.

Purpose of the truck is to be a family get-a-way vehicle that can drive a long distance, hit the trails, and return. I'm over trailering toys around. This should have no issues with taking abuse and returning home. I'd like to say it will be done before summer, but I know it wont. Maybe before fall.

Pics to follow.
 


Sweet-85'

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Looking forward to this build! Question, why limited slip instead of lockers for the diffs?
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Purpose of the truck is to be a family get-a-way vehicle that can drive a long distance, hit the trails, and return.
My WAG is durability; less chance of breaking axles, u-joints.
 

Dirdy Dan

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Eaton Detroit TrueTrac. Look them up. They use gears and work amazing. Virtually can't wear out.
 

Dirdy Dan

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I have to finish my cut-n-turn I-beams for my dune toy, '96 F150, first(done awaiting install). Then I am on to this truck. Doner frame is bare, body is scrapped.

And here is a sneak peak of the D44 I built over the winter
 

Dirdy Dan

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It is a lot of stainless mig wire. Not to mention all the pre-heat and post-heat. I wrecked a welding blanket and singed a comforter.

The 9" in the dune truck is far worse than anticipated. I blew the limited slip apart, bolts came loose from the ring gear(bad china bolts), gears are trashed, and third cracked. So I hope to find a complete third, or enough parts, at a Bronco swap meet this weekend. I wish Bronco Graveyard still had theirs. I'm 20 min from them.
 

strackso

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Any news on this build?
 

Dirdy Dan

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Any news on this build?
Life...

Anyways, glad I didn't start yet. I found a 2007 F150 frame today, cheap, that looks brand new. I'm picking it up tomorrow morning.

This will be way faster, and a better fit in the end. I can shorten, narrow, and weld this frame back together. The engine, and rest of the drivetrain, will fit easier. Plus I will have a lighter, more rigid frame. It will help speed everything up going this route. I have the complete, in-tact B-II body still on the one frame, and another B-II frame I can use to set this one up for width and body mounts. 1 complete truck, 1 bare frame, and the new frame. Will be super easy to measure it all out. I can even mount the engine and trans without having to mount and dismount the body over and over(I plan to mount it low and back).
 

Dirdy Dan

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Dirdy Dan

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Measured it all out. Preliminary findings is to narrow frame rails 5.5", cut 50" out of middle, and cut a few pieces out here and there to shorten up the rear section. The front crossmember must be entirely removed and relocated for the steering box. Most body mounts will have to be moved up. The rear mount, in front of the leaf springs, will have to bolt directly to the frame rail. The B-II gas tank will fit. All other f150 crossmembers can be shortened and re-welded back in place. I will have more than enough room to run full length headers inside the frame.

Now I'm debating putting in a 5.8. I have a 96-97 5.8 roller cam motor with low miles.
 

Dirdy Dan

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Going to be a 5.8. I'm going to put in an Explorer cam, GT40 heads, and keep an eye out for an efi intake. Either a Lightning lower, complete aftermarket, or run the ported out truck lower I have with a 5.0 truck upper. Run this all on a stand alone Explorer harness and ecm.

I have plenty experience with harness work. Put a Mustang overlay in my '95 F350 5.8 and run that on an X303 Cobra ecm. I also did a stand alone OBD-II in my '96 dune F150. I have another stand alone Mustang harness and ecm, but would rather run the OBD-II because Explorer computers are still plentiful and cheap. And used hand held tuners are cheap to get yet, as well.

The 302 I have is built with 11:1 compression and it's also set-up for high rpm. I want to be able to use 87. It will go in the dune truck, and the new flywheel on that 5.8 will find its home in this B-II.

This project keeps getting shoved aside. My F350 needs some TLC, and I have to tear down the trans in my '08 F150 again(lost 1st gear suddenly).

I will try to get some more pics posted soon of the other goodies I have already built and sitting around.
 

Jim Oaks

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Man! I can't wait to see how this all fits together!!
 

Dirdy Dan

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Well, I need to use the 9.75 parts for my DD. I do have a 9.375 from a '71 Thunderbird. A new diff and gears will give me a bullet proof 9" rear. It's already set for larger bearings. It's also less than 2" different wms fron the EB D44. And a truss for a 9" is easy to come by, and cheap.

The Corona shutdown is definitely going to speed, and slow, progress. I can do more to the frame faster, but can't spend money I'm not earning.
 

Dirdy Dan

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Got so many other projects done, it's this ones turn for attention. Frame is up for the initial strip down. Got the bare rolling chassis next to it for measurements




I actually just got done taking everything off the F150 frame. I'm about to cut brackets off now, and prep it for more surgery. I will only be cutting it up on the trailer. I have a couple large beams I will use for a straight, level, surface to weld it back together. Meantime it's nice having it up in the air.
 

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