302 to Diesel anyone?

[Seth Haddix]

Hello bronco zone'ers,

I am trying to find some one who can tell me how to convert my 92' Bronco from the Gas 302 that it came with to a ford 7.3L turbo diesel. Or if you think it is even fesable. I think that it would be, because the trucks shared the same front-end until 96' or 97' and those trucks had the 7.3 turbo diesel in them. Let me know what you think or if you have any advise or information that might help me out in my newly aquired adventure.

thanks,

Seth

 

[harleydeen98258]

Yeah personally I think it could be done, but I would think you're going to be doing alot more to the suspension then anything. Especially since the weight of the 2 motors would be like starting with a Lab and going to a moose. Does anyone even manufacture suspension components for broncos that would be beefy enough or are you going to straight axel with leaf sprung suspension?

 

[BLADE262US]

The 96 F250 2 wheelers with the powerstroke were sitting on coils so theres your suspension problem solved . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Seth Haddix]

I haven't even thought about the suspension, does anyone know how much a 302 wieghs compared to the 7.3L? The Bronco is curently an automatic trans but I want to make it manual and still keep the 4 wheel drive. Maybe I could steel the entire drive train from an F 250 along with the axels and everything. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your input,

Seth

 

[BLADE262US]

Anything is possible with the right tools and skills . Im putting a 1972 351C in a 99 ford ranger quad cab right now with a dana 44 straight axle cut down in the front . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Txquadhunter]

if your going to rob full drive line from one. dont waste time on the f250, get the f350 for the solid d60 front end. you'll be much happier in the long run by doing so.

 

[BLADE262US]

Yes the parts from an F350 would be a cool swap take the entire bracket system off the 350 frame and put it on the bronco . Only thing is for some reason they dont give those dana 60,s away something about being lined with gold on the inside . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[gungho]

Hey Blade, i'm helping my Buddy put a 351C in his 85 ranger. His ranger has about 24 inches of lift, and is on 39 inch tires right now. It is quite the project.

As for you Seth. Your work is going to be cut out for you. I am doing the same thing to my 93. All i have done so far is take the body off of my loner F250 and done some measurments. I've found that you are going to have to change out the crossmember, because it will be a problem trying to get the one in your bronco to work. I am just converting mine to a solid front axle/w leaf springs from my loner 250. You are going to have to sit the two trucks side by side and measure where the front springs are going to have to be placed, then do the back. It will probably take me about six months to get back to you on whats next. My loner F250 is in Wy. and i'm in california and gas is pretty expensive right now.

Oh by the way, you might as well plan on keeping your truck automatic, it will be easier in the long run. Everything is already there all you have to do is hook and play. I don't know if you know, but you are going to have to trade out pretty much everything from the F250, tranny,t-case, and axles, along with the fuel delivery system, the gasoline parts won't hold up to the diesel engines power. Also you are going to have shorten a set of F250 drivelines, because they are slightly different than the ones in your bronco, and since you have to change out T-case and axles the F250 drivelines will be the only ones that will work. I'm not sure about anything else yet. You can read my other post in here it will tell you a little more.

So to answer your originally question, yes it can be done, but it is not an overnight project, so take your time and plan to have problems lol, i will keep you posted.

 

[Txquadhunter]

here is a site to mount the leaf spring setup.

http://www.2bigbroncos.com/technical/d60/intro.html

 

[ocalabronco]

it is doable, but it would require ALOT of cutting and fabrication, leaving very little if any of the originaly bronco front half intact, frame wise. your absolute best bet would be to pick up a wrecked rig with your diesel, yank the body, and modify the body mounts to accept the bronco cab and ass end. if you think about it, there is a reason why 3/4 and 1 ton rigs weigh more than broncos. heavier duty frames, suspensions, and supports. see where i"m going here? you'd have to integrate so many supports into your bronco that you would have been able to buy many bronco's with the money you just spent

 

[gungho]

The frames are the same box style frame, the weight differense comes in with the axles and engines and the truck being bigger in general. The hardest part of this conversion is going to be the wiring. And maybe Aligning the spring perches.

Either way you do it it is going to be expensive.

 

[ocalabronco]

gungho, dunno if you've checked, but an f-250/350 frame is considerably different than your standard bronco frame. first, the bronco frame is not boxed entirely, only from the xmember forward. the frame is a thinner material, and the factory mounts are not made to handle the extra 500+ pounds of an oil burner. like i said previously, IMO, it would be safer, easier, and more cost effective to do a cab swap instead of a full on diesel conversion

 

[BLADE262US]

Im not buying into the frames being different either in fact I know there the same . Look for my post "look what I did "its pics of my plow truck I made . It started life as an 81 2 wheel drive frame that was poweered by a 300 6 ( should be weakest right ) I then took an 84 3/4 F 250 frame had them side by side removed all the suspension brakets from the 84 and on everyone of them atleast one hole matched up in the 2 wheeler frame so it could be bolted in and the rest of the holes drilled ( im not ******** ya ) I had to knotch the bottom of the front of the frame for the shackle to go down out of the frame but thats all they did on the 84 3/4 . Now as for boxing of the frame all the fords 80 to 96 are boxed on the drivers side thats how the steering gearbox is mounted and between these they were identical on the passengers side the 2 wheeler was just channel and the 84 was boxed but it is just a plate that is welded into the channel kinda like another peice of c turned around . So I cut the welds on the channel and took it out it then slid right into the 2 wheeler frame just like it was supposed to be there and I welded it in so now I created a 3/4 ton short box frame . As for thickness there the same around 3/16 I can break out the mic,s if you want I still have a peice of that 84 frame here . The extra capacity comes from the axles theres not even anymore bracing in the frames . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />