lifting my bronco

[FORDAHOLIC]

hey, i need help again. my fuel tank prob is fixed(thanx very much) so now it is time to lift it. i am putting 35 12.50 15s on it, so i am thinking that i need about 6 inches of lift. all i do is play in the mud from time to time, i do not rock climb. my questions are..... will i HAVE TO have my driveshafts worked on(made longer) and do i really need the longer bent radius arms to clear my tires at full turn, or will the factory arms with the drop brackets work? i have never had this problem before because all my other broncos were 78s and79s, i put 35s on them stock. by the way, it is a 87, and all stock...so far

 

[Roadkill]

You can fit the 35"s with only a 4 inch lift but you will have to either trim the front bumper or use shims to space it forward about an inch or so. There is only a small difference in price between a four and six inch lift so I would choose the 6 inch. (just my personal preference) Drive shafts will be fine with either four or six inch lift, but you should probably think about extended brake lines if you go with a six inch lift. Extended radius arms will give you more travel and flex and put less stress on the frame at the mounting bracket but lots and lots of people use the the stock arms with drop brackets without compaint. I would think that, in the mud, flex would not be so critical so you would probably do ok without extended arms. You may get some rubbing at full lock, but unless you are running a really agressive tire (like Superswamper TSL or something similar) it will not pose much problem. Even if you are running those tires, you probably won't have major issues unless you are trying to make full lock turns while being heavy on the gas.

 

[Broncobill78]

35's on an 80-96 will require a *minimum* of 6" of lift and will *definately* require a dropped pitman arm. (Just as an aside I have to mention that 33's fit just dandy on the 78/79's stock with no mods at all but 35's can, will & do rub & hit the fenders. You can run 35's on a 78/79 with just a 4" lift (unless you're leaving it stock & trim the **** out of the fenders) but you'll have problems with bump-steer if you don't install a dropped pitman arm( AND the proper degree'd C-bushings). The 80-86 Broncos need the extra lift of a 6" kit to fit those tires. Seems a shame but that's TTB for ya. Beyond that I'd follow RoadKill's advise, he's right on and I can't think of anything to add to what he said.

 

[FORDAHOLIC]

thank you, yea i will for sure use longer brake lines, and pitman arm.i was just concerned about the ads on some of the kits saying i had to get the driveshafts extended, i really did not want to get into all that, so again thank you. like i said before, i am out of my element with the 87( i have owned many 78 and 79s) and still have one. 1979 with a 460, i dropped that in about a year ago. other than the tires(35s) and engine, i thought it was in too good a shape to mess with! but this one(87) i want to do a little more to, and play around more. i do play in the mud a little with the 79, but the tires do rub some if i play to rough, but on the highway i have no probs.