Nice looking '76 Jason! Very clean.
Quite a few doing the combination you're contemplating though, so someone should know just how much body lift you need to make the job easier.
I don't like 3" of body lift for the look, personally. But the added clearance can be very helpful. Enough to justify it perhaps.
The only alternative to something not fitting under the stock height, is to cut sheet metal. Whether that's the trans tunnel, firewall or hood, something's gotta give.
Not sure exactly why coil-overs would not be considered desirable for the street, but they are a lot of work to install. Not an insurmountable obstacle of course, but not a bolt-on either.
Perhaps it's the typical mounting style that compromises the isolation of road noise? Factory coil springs are not insulated on our rigs, other than with the radius arm and trackbar and shock bushings. Maybe losing the shock bushings (coilover mounts are typically spherical rod ends instead of softer bushings) is what people are thinking of.
If you do stick with stock-ish design for the suspension, and find the body lift appropriate, some variable rate stock height coil springs will soften the ride up front right off the bat.
And the rear will benefit greatly too! You have stock springs with perhaps an add-a-leaf to shore things up. It did not look that way initially, but the second leaf from the bottom looks like it's a different thickness. Might be normal, might not be. But seems out of place.
Is the rear end sagged at all? You're riding right on the "overload" leaf (the big thick one on the bottom) and that's a recipe for a super harsh ride. Normally there is a couple of inch gap between the main pack and the overload. They should only come in contact during heavy bouncing or when a heavy load is in the back. Bumpy ride!
Either that, or the overload was tossed and a big thick add-a-leaf was put in the lower position to shore up tired old sacked out springs. Lots of things can happen in 43 years.
You're talking about some substantial investment already, especially if you have someone else do the work. Seems like it would be a small extra expense to try out standard modern suspension components first. See if you get the improvement you want, and if not then you can go wit coil-overs and perhaps 4-links and coils and all sorts of other cool stuff. Having only spend a nominal amount on the initial stuff.
All of which you could then sell on for not much less. At least helping to offset the greater cost of the fancy stuff.
Just a few thoughts anyway. It's like re-gearing your rig for larger tires. It's a benefit to re-gear the rear Ford 9" diff only, just to see how you like the new gearing. If it still is not quite perfect for your needs, you can change it again and be out only a few hundred dollars rather than a thousand or more for re-gearing both front and rear.
Removing the second front shock (the front one) and replacing the main shocks with Bilstein 5100's would also be a good start.
As a newer Bronco owner (I assume?) you can actually benefit from Rancho RS9000 series adjustable shocks. The adjustability over a wide range of damping characteristics is a huge benefit and a good way to experiment and fine-tune your tastes.
But frankly, for less money the non-adjustable Bilstein shocks are a proven winner on the street especially. A tad soft for some of us, but not many, and will ultimately depend on lift height, tire size, and driving habits.
Good luck with all the fun decisions!
Paul
