It's been just over a year since my last post here. No big projects in that time, but we've used the Bronco a bit and I've done a few small things, so I thought it was time for a catch-up.
Last September we took the Bronco to Hurricane Utah and did some 'wheeling at Sand Hollow. The Bronco did great, and the extra clearance under the transfer case and especially the radius arms was appreciated. The Double Sammy trail at Sand Hollow was the 'wheeling highlight. You can check out the video on my
YouTube channel. I did bend the front bumper on Milt's Mile, and somewhere along the line the front driveshaft tried to share space with the exhaust crossover pipe. Fortunately it just dented the pipe and made clearance for itself.
Next was correcting a death wobble that started a little after the Utah trip. The bolts holding the steering box bracket to the frame were loose. All good after tightening them up.
The idea when I got the mud tires was to get better street tires for most of my driving. So I went from 33-10.50x15 BFG All-Terrains to P235/85R15 Hankook Kinergy PTs. They look too small under the lifted (and cut rear) fenders. But they handle well, are quiet, and make it easier to get in and out of, which is a really nice plus. And I still have the 33/12.50x15 mud tires for off-road. (there's a picture with the new tires a little farther down)
October brought another 'wheeling trip to SMORR in Missouri with a bunch of others who were mostly driving flat-fender Jeeps. The Bronco didn't let me down at all on this trip either. There are a lot of videos from this trip on my channel.
This one might be one of the better if anyone cares.
Next project was replacing the oil pan. This got rid of the HORRIBLE oil leak I've been living with (about 2-3 quarts leaked out while it sat in my garage over the winter). The pan I got also had the drain plug on the bottom rather than the back of the sump. This was important because my exhaust crossover goes behind the sump and made it very hard to drain the oil, so that's resolved as well.
Next was replacing the soft top I ripped on a tree six years ago. I'd have replaced it sooner, but all anyone carry's anymore is dark tinted windows and I didn't want that. But when towing it home from Utah it started tearing across the top of the windshield too. The top was 20 years old, so I sure can't complain. But now I had to get a new one, so I had to settle for dark tinted windows (on another Bestop). After having it for about 4 months now I'm still not getting used to them and I still don't like them. But it's better than not having a top.
In June we took a 'wheeling trip to Windrock in Tennessee. I can't say I'm a big fan of Windrock. Lots of deep ruts that tend to high-center anyone running less than 40" tires. And too often laying the truck on its side. Fortunately it was mostly on pretty soft dirt, so I didn't do any real damage. I probably won't be going back there. But I did get
video.
After that trip I finally started looking for and corrected the brake fluid leak I've had since adding the hydroboost in 2020. It turned out to be a plug in an unused port in the proportioning valve wasn't tight enough.
One "downside" to the new street tires is that I can hear other noises, like the rear wheel bearing that was going out. So that got replaced. There was a
separate thread for this.
Then the last (as of now) little thing was raising the front bump stops. When I built the high pinion axle I grossly underestimated the amount the rubber would compress. So I extended the studs on the stock bump stops and put a spacer under them.
Well, that catches everything up. If you stuck with me through all of this, thanks for reading!
give me a shout and I can share some details.
