buying suspension, body mounts, bushings etc, TIPS?

[rodez]

hello everyone,
well i have great news, my Bronco is in the shop, today they are beginning with the tear down, a complete rebuild is awaiting the Bronco. so i have some shopping to do.

i'm going to buy the 3.5 suspension, body mounts, bushings (does the back have any other than at the leafs?)...i was looking at wild horses and i noticed that you can buy just the exact things that i want, but im currently debating whether to buy the shocks from them or to get some Bilsteins 5150. any tips on this?

thanks...
will post pictures of rebuild

 

[73AnneBoleyn]

welcome aboard!
suspension questions have come up a LOT in the last two weeks. i guess it's that time of the year or something. here's some reading material to get you started:
http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123561

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123701

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123711

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122490

 

[trailpsycho]

Congrats on the Bronco. Welcome to CB.

Bilsteins would be a good way to go. WH offers good stuff; they are definitely a top tier vendor, IMO. There are other excellent vendors as well with fantastic products to get your ride where you want it. Get some coffee, sit down and spend about 2-3 hours going through some threads...the search engine on here works pretty good. The suspension is something you can install yourself however with just an assortment of good tools, some stands, a quality jack and some common sense. Sometimes the common sense isnt even required, but the other stuff is. You would be amazed what some of the fools on here accomplish themselves...and survive, myself included. Doing things yourself is highly recommended. These trucks have 'personalities', so they tend to act out sometimes (often)...better you know how to remedy the situation than to have to over-use your AAA membership and or your bank account. It can become quite expensive paying shop hours to get these trucks in line...plus they are simple enough that its fun and rewarding to accomplish different stages yourself. Whatever you decide, Have fun.

 

[rodez]

thanks everyone, the car shop is in Mexico (about 20 minutes from here) so its a looot cheaper to do the work there.

thanks for your help,!

 

[tortuga]

If you don't want to spec things out yourself, let the experts do it. You are already deep into a WH lift, let them spec the shocks. That way, if you have any issues you know where to go - but you probably won't. I run the shocks WH recommends for a 3.5" lift and love them.

 

[TN1776]

Mexico, huh? I hope you know the shop owner pretty well! I've heard horror stories about vehicles coming back from shops in Mexico with upholstery full of Marijuana that gets found at the border and other such bad stories.

In all seriousness though - welcome aboard. These rigs are an addiction. I can't knock you for paying somebody else, mine has consumed many many weekends over the past two years and I'm still not ready to drive it.

 

[bcrump5252]

ditto to what everyone has said. I run a james duff susp. 3.5 with rancho shocks. Im not fond of the shocks but the lift is great. Im still trying to figure out what shocks to go with. as stated above there are several top tier venders around who offer complete systems you can piece it together or get a complete system do a search and see what works for you and your aplication.

 

[rodez]

haha marijuana on the seats haha,

yes i do know the owners, they are my best friend's family in law.

Tortuga, i am getting new shocks, so the WH are good then huh? . i'll probably get those, the Bilsteins 5150 are kind of expensive, i can always get them later if i need to... how many shocks do you have? my bronco has the capability to use 8.. 2 on each corner...

thanks

 

[rodez]

well i was going to get the Wild Horses 3.5 lift kit but now im undecided....
WH $733.16
http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/system3_w_WH_Shocks_3in/Suspension_System_3in

or Tom Bronco kit....$969
http://www.tomsbroncoparts.com/product.php?category=39&id=348

thoughts?

 

[bronko69er]

Well the tom's kit has more parts (hoses, cables, pitman arm....) so its not really apples to apples.

Perhaps if we know what your end gaol for the bronco is we can better steer you in the right direction. Steet, trail, rock crawler? How much time spent on each? Do you have a certain budget?

Example, if you're never gonna get out ans really flex the suspension, you may be able to get by w/o the extended hoses and cables.

 

[rodez]

the bronco will be for 50% street and 50% offroading.

i dont do rockcrawling at all.. my offroading is 100% dunes.

budget, i really dont want to spend more than 1,000 bucks on it...at least right now..

i took into consideration that i dont need to buy the hoses and cables...so if i buy the suspension kit by separate parts, its cheaper...around 858.

 

[bronko69er]

Dunes, then you DO want extended cables, hoses and I'd get the big bump stops too.
http://www.tomsbroncoparts.com/product.php?id=939

 

[rodez]

Im going to wait on the extended cables and hoses..
thanks everyone

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Go ahead and wait , let physics do its thing .
You'll be getting them shortly after your first decent , wheels off the ground hill crest manuver. Make sure you leave plenty of room to coast to a stop.

 

[73AnneBoleyn]

yeah, i don't think i'd "wait" and play the luck game. not with brakes. especially when extended cables are such a small additional investment.