Beating on a Bronco

[mongo]

SO JUST HOW BAD DO SOME OF BEAT ON YOUR BRONCO.LIKE I SAID BEFORE WE HAVE HAD OUR WRANGLER OUT ON SAND ,TRAILS AND MUD BOGGS,WE ARE EXCITED ON OUR FIRST FULL SIZE BRONCO ,TO SEE WHAT IT CAN DO,SOOOOOO HOW BAD CAN WE BEAT ON THIS BEAST, P.S JUST HAVE 31'S ON IT .....A FRIEND IN HIGH SCHOOL WOULD TAKE HIS ALL OVER THE SAND DUNES OF SILVERLAKE AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIS ON THE TRAILS,,JUST AWONDERIN ?? :wacko:

 

[Broncobill78]

Well, look man it's a truck not a slab of granite <grin> if you beat it JUST for the sake of beating it you will surely break it. SOME of the Broncos were almost indestructable right from the factory (the 78/79's with 351/400, C6 & *gear driven* NP205 Xfer case are the leading examples) but the trucks built since 1980 have weaker IFS front ends. They're still tough, but they're not AS tough as they were in the late 70's. If you want to put some work into them you can surely MAKE yours bulletproof, plenty of guys here have done that, and if I may say so myself, I think that's a lot of what this site is for, teaching guys how to make the trucks tougher and last longer. Unfortunately in stock form you're gonna find a LOT of parts that you can break.

I for one usually take the approach that I enjoy going out and goofing around until I break something. I then come home & fix it with a stronger part. Eventually *that* part stops breaking and you start finding the *other* weak points in the system. After going thru a few evolutions of this cycle you'll have a very tough truck indeed. Now, on the other hand, if you don't want to go thru all those evolutions you can just read thru the archives and ask some questions and you'll have an excellent idea of where your weak points are and what you can do to upgrade & protect them. Like anything else there's a learning curve here and unfortunately due to the cost of parts & labor that curve can be kinda steep. If you're doing a lot of your own work it's not nearly as painful as when you're fixing things with your checkbook.

Don't get me wrong, Bronco's are pretty tough damn trucks but they aren't as tough as they *used* to be, fortunately if you're willing to turn your own wrenches and don't mind asking questions & looking for help then you CAN indeed build one tough damn truck that can take a **** of a beating & still bring you home & to the library the next day.

 

[mongo]

WELL WE DO SOME GOOFING AROUND ,BUT WITH MY 2 DAUGHTERS 9 AND 11 IN THE BACK,DON'T WANT TO GET TO CRAZY,1 GOOD BUMP THEY GO FLYING OUT :huh: ( OF COURSE THEY HAVE SEATBELTS ) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> THEN I HAVE TO TRY TO EXPLAIN THAT TO EVRYONE :lol: :lol: :lol: JUST KIDDING I WAS WONDERING.THE BRONCO ( 88 ) JUST FEELS SO MUCH MORE TOUGHER THEN OUR WRANGLER,THANKS FOR THE TIPS AND ALL,YOU GUYS DO ROCK

 

[Seabronc]

Well, look man it's a truck not a slab of granite <grin> if you beat it JUST for the sake of beating it you'll will surely break it. SOME of the Broncos were almost indestructable right from the factory (the 78/79's with 351/400, C6 & *gear driven* NP205 Xfer case are the leading examples) but the trucks built since 1980 have weaker IFS front ends. They're still tough, but they're not AS tough as they were in the late 70's. If you want to put some work into them you can surely MAKE yours bulletproof, plenty of guys here have done that, and if I may say so myself, I think that's a lot of what this site is for, teaching guys how to make the trucks tougher and last longer. Unfortunately in stock form you're gonna find a LOT of parts that you can break.
I for one usually take the approach that I enjoy going out and goofing around until I break something. I then come home & fix it with a stronger part. Eventually *taht* part stops breaking and you start finding the *other* weak points in the system. After going thru a few evolutions of this cycle you'll have a very tough truck indeed. Now, on the other hand, if you don't want to go thru all those evolutions you can just read thru the archives and ask some questions and you'll have an excellent idea of where your weak points are and what you can do to upgrade & protect them. Like anything else there's a learning curve here and unfortunately due to the cost of parts & labor that curve can be kinda steep. If you're doing a lot of your own work it's not nearly as painful as when you're fixing things with your checkbook.

Don't get me wrong, Bronco's are pretty tough damn trucks but they aren't as tough as they *used* to be, fortunately if you're willing to turn your own wrenches and don't mind asking questions & looking for help then you CAN indeed build one tough damn truck that can take a **** of a beating & still bring you home & to the library the next day.

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Well said Bill /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I :wub: mine too much to beat tyhe living crap out of it.

 

[mbtech2003]

WELL WE DO SOME GOOFING AROUND ,BUT WITH MY 2 DAUGHTERS 9 AND 11 IN THE BACK,DON'T WANT TO GET TO CRAZY,1 GOOD BUMP THEY GO FLYING OUT :huh: ( OF COURSE THEY HAVE SEATBELTS ) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> THEN I HAVE TO TRY TO EXPLAIN THAT TO EVRYONE :lol: :lol: :lol: JUST KIDDING I WAS WONDERING.THE BRONCO ( 88 ) JUST FEELS SO MUCH MORE TOUGHER THEN OUR WRANGLER,THANKS FOR THE TIPS AND ALL,YOU GUYS DO ROCK

man stop shouting.... dont beat it just drive slow and enjoy countless hours off road saftly.

 

[Broncobill78]

WELL WE DO SOME GOOFING AROUND ,BUT WITH MY 2 DAUGHTERS 9 AND 11 IN THE BACK,DON'T WANT TO GET TO CRAZY,1 GOOD BUMP THEY GO FLYING OUT :huh: ( OF COURSE THEY HAVE SEATBELTS ) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> THEN I HAVE TO TRY TO EXPLAIN THAT TO EVRYONE :lol: :lol: :lol: JUST KIDDING I WAS WONDERING.THE BRONCO ( 88 ) JUST FEELS SO MUCH MORE TOUGHER THEN OUR WRANGLER,THANKS FOR THE TIPS AND ALL,YOU GUYS DO ROCK

Well, it *should* feel tougher, it weighs about 1800lbs more <grin>. Your Wrangler is a light-duty vehicle at best and just doesn't have enough weight on the suspension. Now don't get me wrong, I know for sure that there are plenty of trails out there that are pretty much Jeep-only (unless you have an Early Bronco) and there are plenty of times when you need to be light on your feet, but each truck springs from an entirely different design philosophy and you can feel it when you drive them.

Even though it's not as bada$$ as they *used* to be your 88' is a good solid truck. Put a rollcage in it, get some 4 & 5-point harnesses for everyone then pull the top off and the girls will go wild. I have to keep telling *my* daughter to sit down & stop screaming "WooHooo" while we're still in the neighborhood. SHE's been telling me the Bronco is nice but she wants a lifted crewcab dualie (*that's* my girl <grin&gt. So, sure, put on the 33's, pull off the top and let them enjoy the **** out of it.

 

[mongo]

Sorry mbtech ! Left caps on Ya Bill thats the idea this spring, just to enjoy it.Hey when you put a rollcage on does the hard top fit over it or do I have to buy a soft top ? Or do I buy a roll-bar oppose to a roll-cage ?SORRY DUMB question

 

[bryan thomas]

Sorry mbtech ! Left caps on Ya Bill thats the idea this spring, just to enjoy it.Hey when you put a rollcage on does the hard top fit over it or do I have to buy a soft top ? Or do I buy a roll-bar oppose to a roll-cage ?SORRY DUMB question

I'd buy the whole family cage from broncograveyard.com if i were you. I plan on doing that and somehow mounting the shoulder belts to it so it's safe when I pull the top off this spring. Or you could just get the sport cage for you and your lady up front. They aren't to bad either on price. And I'm sure if you take it down the road to a school that has a vocational welding class their boys or the teacher can weld it up nice for you. I have a friend that's a welder and he's already promised he'll do it for a case of cold ones. So it won't be expensive or a pain. I used to be in vocational school. I'd gladly would have done it if someone would have bought the class some pizzas and drinks. I'm sure things haven't changed in 5 years. Also get some manual locking hubs that's usually the first thing to be done. Good luck Mongo.

 

[Burns]

Sorry mbtech ! Left caps on Ya Bill thats the idea this spring, just to enjoy it.Hey when you put a rollcage on does the hard top fit over it or do I have to buy a soft top ? Or do I buy a roll-bar oppose to a roll-cage ?SORRY DUMB question

Personally, I'm looking into making an external cage for my Bronco, for a few reasons. First, I'm 6' 6", I need all the inside space I can get. Second, I think it just looks cool. And lastly, if I do roll it, which every one of my friends keep telling me I will (why I dunno, I'm not a crazy driver 0 ) it'd be a lot easier to scrap some rollbars instead of the body panels, I think, anyway. If anyone knows for sure, it'd be nice to know. It's not all that hard to do, an outside cage. Just gotta know how to weld, keep measurements, and be prepared to go back and redo some work.

 

[Broncobill78]

Personally, I'm looking into making an external cage for my Bronco, for a few reasons. First, I'm 6' 6", I need all the inside space I can get. Second, I think it just looks cool. And lastly, if I do roll it, which every one of my friends keep telling me I will (why I dunno, I'm not a crazy driver 0 ) it'd be a lot easier to scrap some rollbars instead of the body panels, I think, anyway. If anyone knows for sure, it'd be nice to know. It's not all that hard to do, an outside cage. Just gotta know how to weld, keep measurements, and be prepared to go back and redo some work.

Every cage I've ever seen has fit under the cap so that shouldn't be a problem. The cages are all Bronco-specific so there's rarely a problem. The only time I've seen clearance issues was with fabricated cages so I wouldn't sweat it, especially if you pick it up theu a Bronco supplier like The BroncoGraveyard or one of the others (sidebar here: whatever happened to K-bar-s ? Tried to look them up & couldn't find a refrence anywhere, did they go belly-up ? ) they know good & well what works & what doesn't and they rarely carry crap.

As for the Exo-cage. Geez, isn't the damn truck big enuf *already* <grin>. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of some of them and I've sure put MY share of trucks on their side (only gone all the way over once) but that's quite a project. I guess if I had a hydraulic bender & a TIG I'd probably start thinking about it myself eventually. It sure would make for a dedicated machine & something that really looks that part, but I used to get enough Mad Max jokes when my trucks had 4" tube bumpers, 38" tires & were in primer. On the other hand, it really takes away your fear of those parking-lot dings we all seem to pickup & would probably help with keeping those pinheads in Honda's from pulling out in front of you.

 

[Burns]

Every cage I've ever seen has fit under the cap so that shouldn't be a problem. The cages are all Bronco-specific so there's rarely a problem. The only time I've seen clearance issues was with fabricated cages so I wouldn't sweat it, especially if you pick it up theu a Bronco supplier like The BroncoGraveyard or one of the others (sidebar here: whatever happened to K-bar-s ? Tried to look them up & couldn't find a refrence anywhere, did they go belly-up ? ) they know good & well what works & what doesn't and they rarely carry crap.
As for the Exo-cage. Geez, isn't the damn truck big enuf *already* <grin>. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of some of them and I've sure put MY share of trucks on their side (only gone all the way over once) but that's quite a project. I guess if I had a hydraulic bender & a TIG I'd probably start thinking about it myself eventually. It sure would make for a dedicated machine & something that really looks that part, but I used to get enough Mad Max jokes when my trucks had 4" tube bumpers, 38" tires & were in primer. On the other hand, it really takes away your fear of those parking-lot dings we all seem to pickup & would probably help with keeping those pinheads in Honda's from pulling out in front of you.

I want those tube bumpers! I can't find em anywhere! So I'm trying to get my friend's uncle, union ironworker for the last 30odd years, to help me with them. I'd rather have primer than rust heh. And the honda's around here seem to stay away from me, ever since I took one that pulled out of the Wawa parking lot, thought he'd blitz fast enough to get away from me, (read - cut me off and tried to blame me for ensuing destruction of his ricer) and my rear passenger tire ate his front end. Nothing to me, but totaled his front end and crushed his engine. Still got some of his body panel inbetween the rim and tire bead... /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Oh, and "it can always be bigger."