Big changes to the trail rig

[stout22]

It took a community to get his build done. Yeller's neighbor and co-conspirator in most projects, John, pitched in. Here he is welding on the Barnes truss to the Sterling. It's a well made piece that fit great. We then got both axles wrestled under the Bronco and started doing some ciphering.
The Barnes truss was modified to allow for the axle vent. The back half of the exhaust had to be removed.

 

[stout22]

Yes, I kept the stock gas tank position, but we ended up with about 1//2 to 3/4" of clearance.

 

[stout22]

By the end of Saturday the rear 4-link was "tacked" into position. We quit a little early so we could go celebrate our wedding anniversary, 39 years and counting.
I am blessed with a wonderful wife.

 

[Yeller]

John was a huge help, handled some of the welding on the rear axle and the brackets, let me spend more time figuring.

It was an honor to share a meal with you and Mrs Stout22 on your anniversary. I think I enjoyed chauffeuring to dinner as much as anything. Felt like being the limo driver for a fancy event in the white cowboy limo

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Congrats Stout! Looks like a fun project!

 

[ford man]

Looking good there Roger ! I think I will start calling you yeller 2!!!

 

[stout22]

Monday (Oct 14) we got started on the front 3-link.
I did get sidetracked when the Big Boy rolled through town - once in a lifetime opportunity

 

[stout22]

Another one of Yeller's neighbors, Mark, came over and tig welded the links together.
Mark also machined a couple of parts for us. He has a lathe and mill in his home garage.
The rear had all the final welds applied. We were able to determine the ride height and get the driveshafts turned in for modifications.

 

[stout22]

Rear axle got the springs and shocks attached and was able to support the Bronco.
Steve fabbed the upper coil mounts on his brake.

 

[stout22]

The front 3-link required more imagination.
Both axles were kept at full width. The front driver side was crowded. Yeller got creative with the upper track bar bracket.
The pitman arm is a combination of Bronco and F250. That was done to keep the stock Bronco steering gear and the stock F250 steering linkage.
If you haven't caught on yet, one of the goals was to stick with stock parts - stock axle shafts, stock steering linkage, stock brakes..
The track bar is a custom piece that Yeller's neighbor, Mark, provided.
We had to clearance the front crossmember.

 

[stout22]

We were able to drive it out of the shop Sunday afternoon (Oct 20).
It still had a lot of work to do but this meant we could take it to the muffler shop first thing Monday morning Try not to get distracted by the mustang in the background .

 

[Madgyver]

Rear axle got the springs and shocks attached and was able to support the Bronco.
Steve fabbed the upper coil mounts on his brake.

What springs are those?
For mock -up or actual springs to be used?

 

[Yeller]

What springs are those?
For mock -up or actual springs to be used?

The rear springs are..... caugh, choke, wheeze.... Stock replacement rear springs for a Jeep JK. I've found them to be much better suited for the rear of a bronco than using front springs, I find them to be too stiff and these seem about right, besides being super cheap and if you have a cooperative offroad shop, free. and if you want some lift, there are lots of options. Anyone that wants to try them I can measure the installed height on my bronco, that is what we did on this and set the buckets at the same height and it worked out perfectly.

 

[stout22]

Front coils are a set of WH 3.5" that I had.

 

[Madgyver]

The rear springs are..... caugh, choke, wheeze.... Stock replacement rear springs for a Jeep JK. I've found them to be much better suited for the rear of a bronco than using front springs, I find them to be too stiff and these seem about right, besides being super cheap and if you have a cooperative offroad shop, free. and if you want some lift, there are lots of options. Anyone that wants to try them I can measure the installed height on my bronco, that is what we did on this and set the buckets at the same height and it worked out perfectly.

I found a set of those spring when you recommended them. they were free from a local jeep guy.

 

[Boss Hugg]

How much time went into figuring anti-squatch or whatever for each end? And did you install the new muffler bearings right side up??

 

[Howard2x4x4]

That's a mighty impressive team you have there Roger, doing some mighty impressive work!

 

[stout22]

The Atlas was clocked one notch in order to improve the drive angle. This required a change to my skid plate. After doing lots of hammer massaging and trimming for clearance, we deemed it ready for a test run.

 

[stout22]

We headed to Disney, OK for some off-roading.

 

[stout22]

One of the top goals for this build was it had to fit between the fenders on a standard trailer - it does. We have a camper/hauler that it had to fit in without driving over the fenders.
Another goal was to try and use as many stock/unmodified parts as possible - full width 2008 SD axles with stock brakes, shafts and lockouts, stock F250/350 steel 8"x17" wheels, stock steering components.