A few questions about my "new" bronco

[Altmann]

Just picked my 74 up on Friday and changed the oil and battery & terminal ends.
Quick specs: rebuilt 302 with C4 transmission, 2 barrel carb, drum brakes.

There are a few things I've been wondering about and I wanted to ask your opinions on:

pinging leaf springs? when I am backing out of my driveway and occasionally on more intense bumps (think speedbumps) I get loud metallic clicks. I asked a friend he said it's likely my leaf springs rubbing, and suggested lubing them with lithium grease and gave me a spray can.
Is that something I should do? I'm OK with it if it's purely a noise issue but I also don't want to just start spraying stuff onto my bronco without knowing the consequences.

Running speaker wire: I have a bare metal interior (no carpet or rhinolining), I am probably going to stick a couple speakers (either in small boxes in the back or in the doors), I'd like to change as little as possible, but where do you gents run the wires? If you did it into the doors do you cut holes and use grommets or flex tubing between the door and front panel? For rear speakers (if I decide to) I imagine I'm stuck with just running them through the interior?

This Saturday I'm going to do a full runthrough on the truck, put her on a lift, take the wheels off, etc. So anything I should keep an eye on our look out for?

Thanks again and I'm so happy to have a great bronco!

 

[JAFO]

Quality springs have plastic type (teflon) inserts between the leafs to stop rub.
Here is an article regarding lubing springs, which you should NOT do with grease.

Use silicone to lube them....
http://www.howacarworks.com/suspension/cleaning-and-checking-leaf-springs

https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/lubricatingleafsprings/

Actually, this site probably has all the info you want regarding springs. Except it seems to be a bunch of posts and sometimes the complete answer is there and sometimes the answer seems a bit incomplete.
https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/learn-about-leaf-coil-springs/

 

[JAFO]

Sometime in the future I plan to install speakers, but no way am I going to cut into anything to mount a speaker. On my FJ40 I installed two speaker boxes (bought the speakers at Best Buy) to the roll bar. The speakers are in plastic housings that are say 5" wide x 10" tall. The housings have brackets. I used hose clamps to attach the speakers to the roll bar. Ran the clamps around the brackets. And wrapped some shower pan liner material around the roll bar to protect the paint. I will post pics some time. Speaker wires are running under the rubber mat.

 

[Altmann]

good info Jafo thanks! I'm happy I asked about that and didn't brashly just spray some BS onto my springs.

I don't have a roll bar, so that limits my speaker placement a bit. I've seen broncos with them in the doors but perhaps I'll figure out a convenient way to mount small boxes in the back. Thanks!

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey Altmann, welcome to the world of Early Broncos.
Here are a few more possibilities for your speakers:http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/category/s?keyword=speaker
Note specifically the kick panel speaker pods and the door straps.
If you want to put some speakers in the doors (doesn't sound like you do, but wanted to mention them anyway) the straps are a good option for the wires.
In case you do prefer the sound quality of the door mounted types, but don't want to cut the doors, these straps would complement the door panels with speaker pods built in that you see there on the page as well.
Otherwise there are going to be plenty of options as you've already heard a couple.

Regarding the springs, it's possible that they're making the noise. A quick hose-down with some water from a nozzle will tell you if it's at least partly in the springs. Of course lubing is better, but the water will at least change it's note to let you know that it is indeed the springs.
Otherwise, some other possibilities include rear wheel bearings, something amiss in the differential, or simply you have a good tight limited-slip and the clutches are chattering.

That last though, is more of a "grunching" sound and you usually feel it by the seat of your pants, instead of the "clicking" sound you mentioned.
Another thing that clicks with springs is the eyes and bolts. With a small prybar or big screwdriver, try to move the springs side to side and up and down in their hangers (the frame ends) to see if they move when they shouldn't.
It's a good chance that if these are original bushings that they've worn into the hangers and you might need some corrective surgery at some point.
Weld washers like those from Ruff-Stuff Specialties can do the trick.
So can new replacement polyurethane bushings.

But it's good to at least inspect the bolts to make sure they're not coming loose, or about to break from rusting through, or anything like that.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Regarding the new battery stuff. Do you have at least two ground wires from the negative?
That would be the main cable (6ga or preferrably the larger 4 or 2 gauge) to the engine block, as close to the starter as you can reasonably get it. And another smaller one (10ga wire is fine) from the negative to the body/wheel well/fender/sheetmetal somewhere.
This last one is way more critical than most think. Ford did not supply much in the way of grounding wires and straps, like they did on the cars and then on later truck models. So it's up to us to keep the circuits looping. So to speak...

Paul

 

[Whoaa]

I made some panels out of plywood and then wrapped them in carpet to cover the rear quarter panel area. These panels do wonders for cutting down on road noise and small rocks/sand flinging off the tires and hitting the inner fender. I put my speakers in these panels, plus added some lights

 

[Altmann]

Wow Paul those door speakers are a great option, as well as the rear cargo containers. I will definitely be taking a look at those. Thanks for the info on the springs as well.

@whoaa, those are a great option as well. I'm not sure how much work I'm going to do to the interior, I do like the exposed metal and i don't much mind the sound of the road (yet) but I like that option.

How did you mount those quarterpanel covers onto the sides?

 

[DirtDonk]

...I'm not sure how much work I'm going to do to the interior, I do like the exposed metal and i don't much mind the sound of the road (yet)...

In his best Yoda voice... "You will...";D

A bare Bronco is not a fun place to spend much time. And it's not really just about the noise, but mostly about the heat. If you're in a hot climate and don't run around with the top off all the time, it can get pretty miserable in there.
If you have A/C it's still likely not enough, but with the top and doors off, you're pretty much outdoors anyway, so it takes a longer trip on the highway to get the heat up to intolerable levels.
And if you've got headers... Well, you'll find out.

A solution would be to leave the floors bare on top, but coat the underside with both of the Lizzard Skin products. First would be the spray-on noise barrier, then over that you'd spray the thermal barrier.
It's not a miracle cure, but it's pretty effective. And passenger's feet will often appreciate some help.

Not a problem until it is though. You might not have these common issues. But they're something to be aware of in case after spending some time in your Bronco you start to wonder how the rest of the world lives.

Have fun!

Paul

 

[JAFO]

Whoaa, I really like those panels you built. Impressive work and great solution for speakers. When I decide on some kind of radio I will go for the panels. Right now my dash is one that never had a radio (no holes) and I don't want to even drill the radio holes. I'm hung up on keeping things stock as much as possible regarding the body. But maybe a console that accepts a radio is what will work for me and then I can run wires under the mat over to those slick panels. Thanks for posting.

Regarding the high temps inside the cab, I am wondering it the sliding windows I've seen for the lid would help. Seems it might. My FJ40 has the hard top and the 1977 model has the flip out rear windows and going down the road, with the front floor vents popped open there is a good draft of fresh are circulating through. You just need some place in the rear to let air flow out.

I installed the sound deadening, insulating material onto the firewall and under the floor mat, then also installed the insulation kit from TBP onto the firewall, in hopes to stop some of the heat from the engine compartment. And I also have ceramic coated headers. Hoping this coming summer it will be tolerable.

 

[Altmann]

Good point about the heat. It's a new truck for me so I like the character but as it gets into the summer I may be more inclined to say "F it" and get some insulation done!