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Picture stories of what we are working on in the Shop.

green61bug

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2018
Messages
923
Loc.
Greensboro
Hey Jessie! This isn't for Buttercup! I wouldn't swap Buttercup for a train load of these new bodies!!! This was a body we were building for someone else. Yes, I agree. I think a lot of people are deceived and think "Oh well, I'll just throw my old rustly beat up body away and get a new one!"..... Well.. Yes you can, but it's not as easy as you think...
Oh yeah, I knew this wasn't for buttercup. That would break my heart! Haha... I was referencing the old pic of you pulling the fender with the forklift....
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Hate to say this, but that's pretty much how they were when new.
Maybe not every single one, but most of them anyway.

When closed the Bronco gates were a little more solid due to the weatherstripping and little bumpers that were a Bronco-only thing and not found on the pickups. But the tailgate and hinge design were right out of the truck line.
It's why one of the early products for quieting things down was oversized hinges, then inserts to go with the stock ones. Then later full poly cushions/insulators to not only remove the play, but quiet down any banging that would come through the body no matter what.
Here's our version of this now old product: WH Silencer Kits

You'd think that by now it would also be common for the manufacturers to just make the hinges larger to fit into the holes better. Or make the tailgates with smaller pockets?
As said, they were not all that bad, but plenty enough were.

Paul
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
And now that I've said that, I'd better back it up and go out to check both the '68 Bronco and the '79 pickup to see how close they are to yours.
I've got a silencer setup for the '68 but have not installed it yet. Still trying to get things adjusted the way they are to see how much noise reduction I can get before throwing parts at it.

Paul
 
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fordfan

fordfan

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
3,503
Hey Paul. Yes sir. You had better check them.
I know some Broncos are worn more than others, but none even close to this loose!! The urethane pivots are about the same size as the original steel, so that isn't or wasn't an option . I've worked on Broncos 30 plus years and this much slop was completely unacceptable to me, but ultimately (the customer's choice), the customer wanted me to rebuild the joint. The left side had a half inch of slop and the right had less than a quarter of an inch. I reformed the sockets on each side of the tailgate.

Yes, even with this much slop, once it was closed the rubber bumpers would keep it tight and keep it from rattling, but it was so sloppy that you could adjust the tailgate to align it with the tub!!

I have over 30 Broncos to check the tailgates on and I can guarantee you that the worst beat one wouldn't have half this much play..... (y) ;)
 
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DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Gotcha. Or as Antoine (in the movie Free Guy) would say… “That’s baadd” 😁
I thought I had seen some that bad before, but with your extensive experience, you would know.
The sockets on the new tailgates must be bigger, because the polyurethane pads from the silencer parts, at least ours, fit extremely tightly inside the socket. Making the actual pivot point the stub axle on the body mounted bracket.
The poly is so tight in the tailgate that the only thing to turn would be the poly on the bracket.
Unless the few that I’ve tried it on just happen to be tighter than the normal tailgate side sockets.
That’s another thing theory we should test.

All the ones I’ve fiddled with were on factory original tailgates, except for one. That one was Dennis Carpenter piece from several years ago.
 
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fordfan

fordfan

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
3,503
Gotcha. Or as Antoine (in the movie Free Guy) would say… “That’s baadd” 😁
I thought I had seen some that bad before, but with your extensive experience, you would know.
The sockets on the new tailgates must be bigger, because the polyurethane pads from the silencer parts, at least ours, fit extremely tightly inside the socket. Making the actual pivot point the stub axle on the body mounted bracket.
The poly is so tight in the tailgate that the only thing to turn would be the poly on the bracket.
Unless the few that I’ve tried it on just happen to be tighter than the normal tailgate side sockets.
That’s another thing theory we should test.

All the ones I’ve fiddled with were on factory original tailgates, except for one. That one was Dennis Carpenter piece from several years ago.
Yes. I agree. The left socket was a bunch larger than the right, so the urethane donuts would have had to be custom made to fit each socket on this tailgate! I've used NOS tailgates and other Carpenter ones that were spot on. The last Carpenter one I used was maybe 4 or 5 years ago and I remember it being great. This is why I posted up that the quality is dropped significantly ! .... Or this one was a screw up that got through 'Quality Control' !
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Yes. I agree. The left socket was a bunch larger than the right, so the urethane donuts would have had to be custom made to fit each socket on this tailgate! I've used NOS tailgates and other Carpenter ones that were spot on. The last Carpenter one I used was maybe 4 or 5 years ago and I remember it being great. This is why I posted up that the quality is dropped significantly ! .... Or this one was a screw up that got through 'Quality Control' !

Quality checks are good for sure :)
 

mac0424

Newbie
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Messages
14
Loc.
NY
I wish I read this when I started, I would have kept everything. Trying to get accurate information on the necessary body hole sizes and locations is aggravating. The new body arrived last week after waiting over a year. Does anyone have a list of all of the extras I will need and any reference books or cheat sheets? Thank you.
 
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fordfan

fordfan

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
3,503
The old body is the best 'cheat sheet' of all usually. The size and position of many of the holes changed with the models and sometimes even in the same model year. The new bodies are made to accommodate the many modifications and customizations of today's many Bronco configurations, so they are really like a 'blank canvas". To answer your question, I am not familiar with a schematic that shows the layout of the holes and attachments on the tub.

The body that I prepped in this thread was a '75, and he like you, had already sold his old body. Fortunately, I had several original '75s to use as reference.
 
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