"Mini Me" Low COG B2 Crawler/Jumper Build

[Dugan]

I obtained a Bronco 2 about a year ago with 40" Iroks on it. I was running a modified TTB long travel Ranger on 35s and bought the B2 for the tires. I ran the Ranger for about a year on a Dana 35 TTB and 8.8 Rear with Lockers front and rear and 4.56 gears on 40" IROKs with no issues. Well the Ranger body got quite destroyed in a few roll overs and tree encounters and I wanted something with more room. So hence Bronco 2.

The B2 is a 1988 1st Gen. The Parts list is:

Engine - 2.9 6cyl (Until it blows then FI 5.0)
Trans - C5 fully rebuilt with all new C4 internals, and Reverse Manual VB (With a chance of bellhousing it will fit a 5.0)
Tcase - Doubler 1350/1354
Body - Comp Cut with Exo Cage.
Front Axle - Dana 35 TTB, Trussed, Clearanced, 4.56 Gears, Lockrite Locker, Warn Jeep Hubs (Indestructible per Warn), Moog Joints, Stretched 6.5" forward and each beam is stretched 0.5" for an additional width of 1" overall.
Rear Axle - 28 Spline 8.8, Detroit Locker, 4.56, Truss, Stretched 8".
Suspension - Front: 12" King 2.5" Coilovers. 2" Bump-Stops (Dont know what brand yet)
Rear: 14" King 2.5" Coilovers and 4 link. 4" Fox Bump Stops
Wheels and Tires - 15x10" Steel wheels with Custom MKFab Beadlocks and 39.5x13.5x15 IROKS

The body is comp cut for clearance of the tires on articulation. I believe this will be the first Stretched TTB build ive seen not using a tube chassis and using the stock frame. Overall Stretch is 6.5" front and 8" rear for and overall wheel base of 108.5".

How it sat in my yard for the last year.

The "Mini Me" is based off the Mega truck I built the last two years that a buddy of mine owns.

 

[Dugan]

This was the ranger that all the axles and components are coming off of

Every year I take a week off work, the week of presidents day to build a project. For the last 2 years its been our mega truck bronco that this Bronco 2 is the "mini me" of. So the first day of "Hell Week" we tore apart the ranger.

We then pulled in the Bronco 2 and torched off all the stuff we no longer needed. My next step was to create my own Driver TTB beam bracket. I found the stock bracket was 5.5" roughly off the frame.

The lift that was on the bronco 2 was one I had never seen before, this piece slips inside the stock bracket and gives you a 3" and a 5" drop.

I measured the 6.5" drop bracket I had on the ranger and it verified that the stock was about 5.5" from top bolt to mounting hole.

Next for the passenger drop bracket, we took the plate drop along with the stock bracket and moved it 6.5" to the other side of the front cross member. Along with moving it we shifted it toward the passenger side 0.5". I will have to modify this bracket for full bump in the future, but its a good starting point.

 

[Dugan]

Since I have a cnc plasma, I took some measurements off the stock mounting location of the driver beam bracket and quickly CAD'd up one that is made for a 3.5" lift and is pushed toward the driver side 0.5".

 

[Dugan]

After tacking on the front bracket I moved on to the rear, I started by welding on the Artec truss Ive had sitting around for years.

Heres a quick picture of the C5 mated to the 1350/1354 doubler. The C5 was sent out to my friends shop (Mount Holly Transmissions in Pemberton, NJ) to be rebuilt with all c4 parts and a c4 reverse manual valve body.

After installing the trans and t case and placing it where I wanted it, I started with the 4 link mock up in the rear. I was going for about 100% Anti Squat.

This is where I thought I was going to use as ride height.

 

[Dugan]

Everything is tacked welded together and set how I want it, time to build the link bars.

I had to make custom upper links on the frame to make it so a nut could fit between the bracket and the frame plating. I decided to test out the new press brake I got from Swag Offroad too.

Then I realized, Oh crap, I cant pull the trans and t case as one with this new cross member, can I still remove the t case? Thankfully I could with ease.

Link Bars done, I used 1.25" lower heims and 7/8" uppers, I had the 7/8 floating around and figured they would be fine for a light rig, I can always upgrade later.

 

[Dugan]

Pinion Change is very minor as the bars are very close in length.

Next we started cutting out the inner fenders and the side of the B2 for the comp cut, later I will be going back and making a piece for the front of this area to fill it in.

I started making brackets and mounting the coilovers, I realized that the frame had to be notched, also a buddy of mine has done this before and he had to notch his to avoid the tires hitting the coilovers.

Heres a quick plate I made and I will come back and add top and bottom braces to to notch the frame.

With the frame notched, the coilover fit a lot better and we were almost able to get full articulation, but the body was hitting the tires.

 

[Dugan]

So far I have one side mocked up, I was only able to get 2" of up travel because the coilovers I am using for mock up have foam bumps on the shaft. Any more than this 2" of up travel and I will be hitting the body with the tires. I need to get some 2" spacers for the wheels so that I can push the tire farther from the body. I am already running 15x10 wheels with 3.75" backspacing. I will replicate this on the other side and try various suspension positions to see how everything works. I will be leaving everything tacked together till I get the information together for my spring rates on the kings ill be buying.

 

[jwiseman&barb]

So f'ing cool


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