General Info

[monsterbronco]

I'm new to the board and very green when it come to my Bronco knowledge! All I knew about broncos before I bought mine 3 years ago was that I liked the look! Now after 3 years of making it look good and run better I've learned a lot more than I knew but still green as far as most standards. I've got a few questions that I hope somebody can help me with. What I've got is a 74 with a 351W(80 modle LTD I think) rebuilt auto tranny, truck avenger carb, petronix electric ignition, off road radiator(tough to find to fit the left hand water pump from the LTD motor!!) new plugs & wires, sky jacker shocks and steering stabilizer(not on yet), 6 inch lift and 37 MT baja claws. In the process of getting transfer case rebuilt. It will not live in a mud hole but it will get an occasional dose of one. Mainly just backroad and trail riding.

Questions:

1. What is the stock axles and gears

a. with my tire size is stock ok, if not what needs to change

2. Disc breaks or power booster(drums don't stop me fast enough)

a. I found a list of parts from all different makes and modles that will work together for a disc break conversion

andybody ever done anything like that. The guy I got it off of said works great and will cost around $300 for parts.

3. Did any of the broncos come with a middle console? I had one between mine but when i took the seats out to be

recovered I saw where the seats where in the wrong hole and now the console want fit with the seats in the correct spot.

4. My steering is real loose how much does it cost to get the steering box rebuilt?

 

[S_bolt19]

At least you are gettin' your hands dirty and enjoying it. If you are like the rest of the EB community, you will probably keep that sucker forever.

1. There should be an aluminum tag on your rear differential. The bolt that most that I have seen were mounted at the 10:00 or 2:00 position. That should tell you what your stock gears are. If they have been changed out, the easiest way to determine what gears you have is to jack the rear end up & mark the tire & the drive shaft & turn them both. The drive shaft will turn ***:1 against the tire. Like mine, at 4.11:1, the drive shaft will turn about 4.1 turns to 1 tire revolution. Most stock axles were between 3.50 & 4.11.

1a. For a 37" tire, I would recommend going to at least a 4.56 ratio or somewhere there close. Reason is that with big tires like that, you are losing a lot of power with the high gears. You get into the lower gears & you gain your power back. I would also check to see if you have 28 or 31 splined axles. If you have the 28s, I would recommend going with 31 or 35 splined axles, a little more money, but much stronger.

2. I like disc brakes. Better, I love disc brakes. I have them on all 4 corners and they work wonderful. You can have drum brakes that work correct and be fine, but I am of the school that if you go much bigger than a 33" tire, then you need to upgrade. As to power booster (PB) or hydroboost (HB), if you have power steering, I very highly recommend going to a hydroboost setup. It is less expensive to do a junkyard HB build than it is to do a PB upgrade from one of the parts warehouses. I did mine for less than $225.

2a. Like I said, I have disc on all 4 corners and absolutely love it. The Chevy front brake conversion is pretty simple to do and the parts are readily available from junkyards, I have torn my setup down enough that I can probably do an entire conversion from start to finish in about 2 hours. For the rear conversion, I would bite the bullet and do the BC Broncos Cadillac rear conversion. It is painless & more user friendly than doing a Lincoln swap. It is easier to get to the axle in the BC swap than the Lincoln swap is. If you go this route, definately call & talk to Chuck, who will help you out emmensily in choosing the right kit for your axle (big bearing or small bearing).

3. No, not a single EB came with a center console. They all had an empty void between the seats. The one that you have is someone else's mastermind.

4. If you have a lot of slop in the steering, especially if it is power, I would say to have West Texas Off-Road rebuild your box. I had them do mine back in October & they did a fantastic job. The total down time for me was about 12 days, and that included shipping to and from. The actual repair time was about 2 days. It was such an easy deal that I will recommend them to everyone I ever come across who needs a box rebuilt. And it was extremely reasonable. My box is a 73 PS box that was the 6 turn. I had them rebuild it, which cost $140, and then had them put in the quick 4 turn gear set in, an additional $150. Shipping cost me about $25 both ways. A local 4x shop here in Colo. Springs quoted me $400 for the rebuild alone and said it would take almost a month before I got it back. So, you do the math on that one.

 

[monsterbronco]

At least you are gettin' your hands dirty and enjoying it. If you are like the rest of the EB community, you will probably keep that sucker forever.
1. There should be an aluminum tag on your rear differential. The bolt that most that I have seen were mounted at the 10:00 or 2:00 position. That should tell you what your stock gears are. If they have been changed out, the easiest way to determine what gears you have is to jack the rear end up & mark the tire & the drive shaft & turn them both. The drive shaft will turn ***:1 against the tire. Like mine, at 4.11:1, the drive shaft will turn about 4.1 turns to 1 tire revolution. Most stock axles were between 3.50 & 4.11.

1a. For a 37" tire, I would recommend going to at least a 4.56 ratio or somewhere there close. Reason is that with big tires like that, you are losing a lot of power with the high gears. You get into the lower gears & you gain your power back. I would also check to see if you have 28 or 31 splined axles. If you have the 28s, I would recommend going with 31 or 35 splined axles, a little more money, but much stronger.

2. I like disc brakes. Better, I love disc brakes. I have them on all 4 corners and they work wonderful. You can have drum brakes that work correct and be fine, but I am of the school that if you go much bigger than a 33" tire, then you need to upgrade. As to power booster (PB) or hydroboost (HB), if you have power steering, I very highly recommend going to a hydroboost setup. It is less expensive to do a junkyard HB build than it is to do a PB upgrade from one of the parts warehouses. I did mine for less than $225.

2a. Like I said, I have disc on all 4 corners and absolutely love it. The Chevy front brake conversion is pretty simple to do and the parts are readily available from junkyards, I have torn my setup down enough that I can probably do an entire conversion from start to finish in about 2 hours. For the rear conversion, I would bite the bullet and do the BC Broncos Cadillac rear conversion. It is painless & more user friendly than doing a Lincoln swap. It is easier to get to the axle in the BC swap than the Lincoln swap is. If you go this route, definately call & talk to Chuck, who will help you out emmensily in choosing the right kit for your axle (big bearing or small bearing).

3. No, not a single EB came with a center console. They all had an empty void between the seats. The one that you have is someone else's mastermind.

4. If you have a lot of slop in the steering, especially if it is power, I would say to have West Texas Off-Road rebuild your box. I had them do mine back in October & they did a fantastic job. The total down time for me was about 12 days, and that included shipping to and from. The actual repair time was about 2 days. It was such an easy deal that I will recommend them to everyone I ever come across who needs a box rebuilt. And it was extremely reasonable. My box is a 73 PS box that was the 6 turn. I had them rebuild it, which cost $140, and then had them put in the quick 4 turn gear set in, an additional $150. Shipping cost me about $25 both ways. A local 4x shop here in Colo. Springs quoted me $400 for the rebuild alone and said it would take almost a month before I got it back. So, you do the math on that one.

Thanks, I can assure you the bronco will be the last thing i sale!! I've waited too long and worked too many late hours to let it go now!!