Bronco_Willis
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I am building up my 87 Bronco for some mud and trail action. Can anybody point me in the direction that will tell me what to do and what I need as far as parts and what not?
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Welcome to Bronco Zone!!! I moved this topic to the 80-96 forum so that you may get more replies.
To start with, iwould say the fullsize bronco like your 87 is a very capable offroad rig in stock form, so you might take it out on a couple of trips first. See how it handles the local trails or mud. You can make alot of headway with the right tire, either an all-terrain or mud tire. Either a 31x10.50R15 or 32x11.50R15 should fit without any added lift. A good gripping tire and drving skill should take you to 95% of the places your fellow wheeler will go. If you then find that some spots cause you to hang up or you need more ground clearance, then you might consider a 4"or 6" suspension lift and 33" or 35" tall tires. But I would get used to the habits of the stock Bro nco and find it's limits before dropping a few grand $$$ on mods. JSM84
To start with, iwould say the fullsize bronco like your 87 is a very capable offroad rig in stock form, so you might take it out on a couple of trips first. See how it handles the local trails or mud. You can make alot of headway with the right tire, either an all-terrain or mud tire. Either a 31x10.50R15 or 32x11.50R15 should fit without any added lift. A good gripping tire and drving skill should take you to 95% of the places your fellow wheeler will go. If you then find that some spots cause you to hang up or you need more ground clearance, then you might consider a 4"or 6" suspension lift and 33" or 35" tall tires. But I would get used to the habits of the stock Bro nco and find it's limits before dropping a few grand $$$ on mods. JSM84
Roadkill
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Very good advice from JSM84. Take it out and see what it does then go from there. You won't be dissapointed.
paintballdude902
New member
agree totally with shootme
i would be happy putting a 3 inch suspension on her and some 33 muds (stay away from micky thompsons long story short buddy had some on his f150 had a piece of tread come off while mudding and the company said since he was off road it wasnt cover under warrenty tires had less than 500 miles on them)
what you need to pay attention to is the ruts if you have any doubts about the whole drive on the rut to keep on solid earth
look at the trail before hand
and talk to others about it and look where they go (and if its a jeep look where they get stuck
/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> )
the only thing a jeep has over a bronco is its break over angle and smaller wheel base the wheel base is a give and take some times you want a smaller wheel bas and some times you want a larger just depends on where you are and the conditions
i would be happy putting a 3 inch suspension on her and some 33 muds (stay away from micky thompsons long story short buddy had some on his f150 had a piece of tread come off while mudding and the company said since he was off road it wasnt cover under warrenty tires had less than 500 miles on them)
what you need to pay attention to is the ruts if you have any doubts about the whole drive on the rut to keep on solid earth
look at the trail before hand
and talk to others about it and look where they go (and if its a jeep look where they get stuck
/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> )the only thing a jeep has over a bronco is its break over angle and smaller wheel base the wheel base is a give and take some times you want a smaller wheel bas and some times you want a larger just depends on where you are and the conditions
Bronco123456789
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well if you want some 35's go with a 6'' lift.
Bronco_Willis
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Well I got the truck with a 3" body lift and 33's. Granted im gonna have to buy some new tires because these ones are a little to worn. Still needs minor work as far as figuring out why my fuel gauge does not work, and hopefully replacing the power steering pressure hose fixes the leak
body lifts are bad news for offroading. It really messes with the center of gravity. You can run up to 35" tires with no lift if you dont mind a little(lot)of trimming. I actually saw an article where they took a 95 bronco, suspension lift,35" tires and they cut the fenders and dropped the body down.
Bronco_Willis
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Im thinking of swapping over to 1 ton running gear all around. Will this matter if I am running smaller than a 38" tire? or will I get that extra security from stuff breaking?
Bronco_Willis
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Correct that last note. Most likely gonna run a Dana 60 wit ha 10.25" rear. Any comments on it?
Miss Kitten
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my question would be are the trails in your area that extreme that you will require one ton running gear
or do you want one ton running gear to "be one of the cool guys"
i'm really not meaning to sound abbrasive here, but if you are going to be running less then 38" tires which you previously stated then why put the extra money into the heavy drive train
go back and listen to what the others have told you. learn your truck first. learn what it's capable of as a rig, and what you are comfortable with as a driver and then make your decision based on what YOU want, not based on what someone "thinks" you should have
or do you want one ton running gear to "be one of the cool guys"
i'm really not meaning to sound abbrasive here, but if you are going to be running less then 38" tires which you previously stated then why put the extra money into the heavy drive train
go back and listen to what the others have told you. learn your truck first. learn what it's capable of as a rig, and what you are comfortable with as a driver and then make your decision based on what YOU want, not based on what someone "thinks" you should have
Bronco_Willis
New member
I know what she is capable of with the 33" tires and a 4.10 rear, not sure of the front end as i posted in another thread. But will going up in tires and axles/gear ratios help improve where my truck can go?
Miss Kitten
New member
it depends what you want your truck to do willis. any amount of money can build a rig, actually making it perform the way you want it to is all driver skill
if you're worried about breaking diffs i ask the question if you plan on doing alot of rock crawling that's going to put high torque down to the tires? that's where axles snap
lifting the tires off the ground don't help matters either
but if you're smart about how you drive the truck the probability of breaking an axle shaft is slim to none
believe it or not the shaft sizing in your rear 8.8 have the same diameter as a dana 60 shaft
you need to figure out exactly what size of tires you want to run before figuring out the gearing
larger tires give you ground clearance, but the larger diffs (ie your dana 60 and sterling) have larger pumpkins which actually reduces the amount of ground clearance your rig truly has
if you're worried about breaking diffs i ask the question if you plan on doing alot of rock crawling that's going to put high torque down to the tires? that's where axles snap
lifting the tires off the ground don't help matters either
but if you're smart about how you drive the truck the probability of breaking an axle shaft is slim to none
believe it or not the shaft sizing in your rear 8.8 have the same diameter as a dana 60 shaft
you need to figure out exactly what size of tires you want to run before figuring out the gearing
larger tires give you ground clearance, but the larger diffs (ie your dana 60 and sterling) have larger pumpkins which actually reduces the amount of ground clearance your rig truly has
Bronco_Willis
New member
Ok so a 36" tire would require a 4.56 or higher along with a Dana 60 correct?
Miss Kitten
New member
4:56 or 4:88 you bet
dana 60 not neccessarily
you'd be more then fine with a solid dana 44
dana 60 not neccessarily
you'd be more then fine with a solid dana 44
Bronco_Willis
New member
I am thinking about rebuilding the front and rear ends just to do it for this coming winter off road season!!!!! I have an 8.8" with 4.10 now. Can I put in 4.56 with the 8.8"?
Miss Kitten
New member
yes but watch your carrier break in the front diff
you have to do front and rear diffs at the same time or you will not be able to use 4wd. i do believe the carrier break on the ttb 44 as well as the solid 44 is 4:10's
you have to do front and rear diffs at the same time or you will not be able to use 4wd. i do believe the carrier break on the ttb 44 as well as the solid 44 is 4:10's
Bronco_Willis
New member
oh my lord differentials are killin me! When it comes to engines, horsepower and torque im golden!
If it were me here is what i would probably do.
1-2" of suspension lift. Loose the body lift. Cut the fenders out for clearance. Trim your front bumper or maybe relocated the bumpers a bit to give you better approach/descend angles. 35" tires. upgraded axles for your 8.8 and some lockers(and a winch).
You may find that with 1-2" and 35s-36s that you may need to loose your inner fenders if you were rock crawling. Since you are talking about mud you just need to be able to keep those wheels spinning so you will need good tires, good axles and good gear ratios to go with a good chunk of HP to keep those wheels rolling.
I was extremely surprised as to what a bronco can do on stock lift stock size tires! The most important investment you can make will be learning how to drive it right. There is no rig in the world that will make up for that. Im not saying you dont know how to drive but there are plenty of guys out there in stock trucks that can outdrive some high money rigs.
1-2" of suspension lift. Loose the body lift. Cut the fenders out for clearance. Trim your front bumper or maybe relocated the bumpers a bit to give you better approach/descend angles. 35" tires. upgraded axles for your 8.8 and some lockers(and a winch).
You may find that with 1-2" and 35s-36s that you may need to loose your inner fenders if you were rock crawling. Since you are talking about mud you just need to be able to keep those wheels spinning so you will need good tires, good axles and good gear ratios to go with a good chunk of HP to keep those wheels rolling.
I was extremely surprised as to what a bronco can do on stock lift stock size tires! The most important investment you can make will be learning how to drive it right. There is no rig in the world that will make up for that. Im not saying you dont know how to drive but there are plenty of guys out there in stock trucks that can outdrive some high money rigs.
