Project: 76, Orange Special Decor

[904Bronco]

Your progress Looks Good!
I can relate to a busy summer and toss in there how long it takes vendors to accomplish anything. 2 weeks for some powder coating, A week and a half to get a PS pump rebuilt, back ordered parts... I get it, as it seems to be the new normal.

 

[gnsteam]

I hear you on delays. I put my name on a wait list at a local restoration shop, to have them restore the body. That was June of 2021 with an estimated start date of January 2022. Now it is looking like next year. Same issues every business is having. To much work not enough help and long waits for parts. Not to much you can do other than be patient.

 

[gnsteam]

Today I installed the wheel hubs. I still need to clean up and paint a few caliper parts. And make new hard brake lines. Then it will be ready to go under the frame.

 

[Teal68]

Excellent details! Keep it up!

 

[gnsteam]

Over the last couple of weeks. I pretty much finished up the Dana 44 rebuild. And I have it staged for install under the frame. I'm waiting for the new style spring retainer cups from James Duff. After my initial purchase of the Duck Tuff suspension package in May of 2021. I added the TRO heim steer kit. So the new style spring retainer cups are needed so the sway bar mounting point clears the TRO steering.

I don't know how you guy get the radius arms to come out parallel! I must of tried a dozen times on each side, reseating the C bushing. And with may different combinations of tightening the clamps down. The best I could ever achieve and where I'm at right now, is a 1/2" high on the driver side. My Bronco has always had the Bronco lean from the day I purchased it. Being lower at the passenger rear. Maybe the axle bushing mounts are a little off from the factory. So when I got back to a 1/2" again I gave up. Some attempts were as much a 2" off. And always higher on the driver side. Oh well, if it still has the lean. I will make a point to park with the right rear on a rock. Here are a few pictures from the garage.

 

[omureebe]

Over the last couple of weeks. I pretty much finished up the Dana 44 rebuild. And I have it staged for install under the frame. I'm waiting for the new style spring retainer cups from James Duff. After my initial purchase of the Duck Tuff suspension package in May of 2021. I added the TRO heim steer kit. So the new style spring retainer cups are needed so the sway bar mounting point clears the TRO steering.

I don't know how you guy get the radius arms to come out parallel! I must of tried a dozen times on each side, reseating the C bushing. And with may different combinations of tightening the clamps down. The best I could ever achieve and where I'm at right now, is a 1/2" high on the driver side. My Bronco has always had the Bronco lean from the day I purchased it. Being lower at the passenger rear. Maybe the axle bushing mounts are a little off from the factory. So when I got back to a 1/2" again I gave up. Some attempts were as much a 2" off. And always higher on the driver side. Oh well, if it still has the lean. I will make a point to park with the right rear on a rock. Here are a few pictures from the garage.

Best thing I did to get the T-Rex arms parallel is have a chubby buddy of mine put his weight on the higher of the two and snug down the bolts. Worked like a champ! And did you see Duff has new lower coil brackets for the sway bar?

 

[gnsteam]

I will give the cubby buddy a try. LOL. Yes I did see the new coil brackets and I have them ordered. Thanks

 

[gnsteam]

The new James Duff, lower spring coil retainers arrived yesterday. These feature the integrated sway bar connection point, which gives clearance for the heims tie rod over kit. Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

 

[sprdv1]

Over the last couple of weeks. I pretty much finished up the Dana 44 rebuild. And I have it staged for install under the frame. I'm waiting for the new style spring retainer cups from James Duff. After my initial purchase of the Duck Tuff suspension package in May of 2021. I added the TRO heim steer kit. So the new style spring retainer cups are needed so the sway bar mounting point clears the TRO steering.

I don't know how you guy get the radius arms to come out parallel! I must of tried a dozen times on each side, reseating the C bushing. And with may different combinations of tightening the clamps down. The best I could ever achieve and where I'm at right now, is a 1/2" high on the driver side. My Bronco has always had the Bronco lean from the day I purchased it. Being lower at the passenger rear. Maybe the axle bushing mounts are a little off from the factory. So when I got back to a 1/2" again I gave up. Some attempts were as much a 2" off. And always higher on the driver side. Oh well, if it still has the lean. I will make a point to park with the right rear on a rock. Here are a few pictures from the garage.

Nice work...

 

[gnsteam]

I installed the Dana 44 under the frame last night. bolted up without any issues.

 

[gnsteam]

Tonight I did the first fitting of the front Hellwig sway bar. Looks like it all liens up pretty good. Final adjustments will be need after the full weight of the vehicle is on the suspension. Now to get focused on the rear axle assembly so we can get this thing on some wheels.

 

[gnsteam]

Yesterday I set up the gear for the nine inch. First time doing one of these, so your opinions on the contact patch are welcomed. Backlash is at .009" and I used a shim pack (instead of a crush sleeve) to set up the pinion bear preload to 25lbs. It only took a couple hours and was so much easier than the Dana 44 re-gear.

 

[svastano]

Great Progress!

 

[stupidboy]

I like that sway bar, it probably won’t work with my dual shocks though. Looking good!!

 

[gnsteam]

My wife and I took a four day weekend and went to Colorado to visit our grand daughter. So no work on the Bronco. Other than spending time with the kids and grand daughter. My son in law Matt, had just purchased a used 2020 Launch Edition Gladiator. It was already lifted with a Tera Flex lift on 37"s. And was a true Mall Crawler at best. So we took it out on some trails just outside Boulder to test it out. Nothing real difficult about the trails we found. But good enough to get out and enjoy ourselves and the new ride. I did make it a point to wear a Bronco shirt on our outing. Got to keep the post Bronco related somehow. LOL Matt was looking at the new Broncos, but he found a great deal on the Gladiator and if fitted his needs better. I can forgive him, and show him up on the trails when I finish my 76.

 

[Yeller]

More motivation to get the bronco finished

I really hate to say so.... if they mad that in a 2 door one would be in my garage..... but I'll keep the 70 model Gladiator there instead

 

[gnsteam]

More motivation to get the bronco finished

I really hate to say so.... if they mad that in a 2 door one would be in my garage..... but I'll keep the 70 model Gladiator there instead

Defiantly motivating, headed out to the garage after dinner.

 

[gnsteam]

Not a lot of progress this week. I finished the carrier by installing the ARB seal and air line. And I'm kicking myself for forgetting to take pictures of the install before placing it in the rear end housing. Then I installed it in the housing. Next up is the axles and brakes.

 

[gnsteam]

The stock power steering gear box arrived. And I had a few minutes available to bolt it up. And yes I torqued the bolts to between 50-90 ft lbs. The gear box was rebuilt by powersteering.com in Nixa Missouri. Total cost was $420 including shipping both ways.

 

[gnsteam]

Sunday, I installed the axles in the 9" and placed in under the frame. Waiting on the emergency brake cable so I can assemble the brakes. I kept going back and forth with installing disc brake. In the interest in time and money I decide to go with the stock brakes for now.