The Tricky EcoBoost Early Bronco Build

[Tricky Dick]

Nabbed a 01 Dodge axle today. Being a 2 year only run that was probably going to be the hardest to find so I'm glad it's done. I'm think I'm going to yank the shafts, lop off the Cs, and toss the rest to cut down on storage space used. I'm thinking I'll throw the Cs on another unloved junker, a closed knuckle HP44, and make something useful out of it.

I think I'll bring home the EB next week. I had just got my trailer redecked and was ready to go then the V10 shot a plug. Got that fixed today, the Cal-Van kit is amazing. This is the first time I've appreciated a motor more after a breakdown, everything breaks eventually so being easy to fix wins a lot of points in my book.

 

[Tricky Dick]

A buddy wants to trade a nice clean blasted and coated 68 U15 frame for my recently acquired crusty and tweaked 66 U14 frame, both titled. This seems unfair to him IMO but his wife really wants a 66 U14.

That means I need to decide if I want to build off a nice clean slate right now or not. More work up front to get a driver, less work in the long run.

 

[Jwredneck]

A buddy wants to trade a nice clean blasted and coated 68 U15 frame for my recently acquired crusty and tweaked 66 U14 frame, both titled. This seems unfair to him IMO but his wife really wants a 66 U14.

That means I need to decide if I want to build off a nice clean slate right now or not. More work up front to get a driver, less work in the long run.

Have you transfered a Bronco title in WA lately? They want to tax you on the NADA value which is about 60K right now!

 

[Tricky Dick]

Have you transfered a Bronco title in WA lately? They want to tax you on the NADA value which is about 60K right now!

Holy crap. I'm going to try to hold off until I move, trying for next year.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Trailer is finally read to go after many delays, got the fenders mounted today. I still want to put plywood down the center so I can haul smaller items but I can get the Bronco now.

It's evolved quite a bit over the years. Used to be a single axle boat trailer, then became a single axle flat deck utility trailer, now it's a tandem. It has a stout 4" channel frame so the potential was being wasted.

 

[Yeller]

Looks like the perfect bronco trailer. I really like my 14’ single axle

 

[Tricky Dick]

Looks like the perfect bronco trailer. I really like my 14’ single axle

That's what this one is, 14ft. 16ft would be more flexible but this was cheap to build and is long enough for all 3 of my Broncos. I should have considered a single 8 lug axle but I bought the tandems long before I saw your build.

I also picked up some Warflares locally. I want to stretch the wheelbase a bit when I do the axle swap, so trying to decide if I should wait to put them on until then.

 

[Scoop]

That's what this one is, 14ft. 16ft would be more flexible but this was cheap to build and is long enough for all 3 of my Broncos. I should have considered a single 8 lug axle but I bought the tandems long before I saw your build.

I also picked up some Warflares locally. I want to stretch the wheelbase a bit when I do the axle swap, so trying to decide if I should wait to put them on until then.

How much stretch are you thinking? If it's more than just a couple of inches I would hold off on installing the WarFlares. They can stretch pretty wide.

 

[Tricky Dick]

How much stretch are you thinking? If it's more than just a couple of inches I would hold off on installing the WarFlares. They can stretch pretty wide.

2" front, 4" rear maybe? It would be nice to be closer to 100".

 

[Yeller]

I like mine at 100”

 

[EpeditionBronc]

Well that was fateful. I stumbled across a new body Ranger M220 with elocker on marketplace last night for the outrageous price of $100. He's even delivering it for me today. Missing calipers and has a bent shaft flange but still, stupid cheap. To top that off a buddy is giving me a 79 HP44 with GM knuckles. It's all coming together.

You mentioned earlier that you were going to look for a Rubicon 44 to put under it. Those Rubicon 44s are just a 44 center section and inner shafts. Everything outside of that is D30. That HP44 is the way to go. Can't beat the price, either!

 

[Tricky Dick]

You mentioned earlier that you were going to look for a Rubicon 44 to put under it. Those Rubicon 44s are just a 44 center section and inner shafts. Everything outside of that is D30. That HP44 is the way to go. Can't beat the price, either!

Well I'm all over the place, so many options. Rubicon stuff is out of the picture now..... and of course a nice set was just posted on FB marketplace.

 

[Scoop]

2" front, 4" rear maybe? It would be nice to be closer to 100".

When I researched this a while back the consensus was 100" to 104" was the sweet spot. I tried for 104" and ended up 103+" just shy of 104" when measured sitting on flat ground. I love it. 90% of the time it has advantages over the stock WB. Mine really only suffers in turning radius. I moved the front forward 1 1/2", stretched the frame 8 1/2" and used Zero Rates to get another 11/2" in the rear. Using Zero Rates I can easily move the rear axle forward up to 3 inches to adjust the WB if I ever want to. Also I did NOT stretch the body - just used Warflares stretched as far back as I could mount them.

 

[Tricky Dick]

When I researched this a while back the consensus was 100" to 104" was the sweet spot. I tried for 104" and ended up 103+" just shy of 104" when measured sitting on flat ground. I love it. 90% of the time it has advantages over the stock WB. Mine really only suffers in turning radius. I moved the front forward 1 1/2", stretched the frame 8 1/2" and used Zero Rates to get another 11/2" in the rear. Using Zero Rates I can easily move the rear axle forward up to 3 inches to adjust the WB if I ever want to. Also I did NOT stretch the body - just used Warflares stretched as far back as I could mount them.

The 3 rigs that make up 90% of my offroad miles were all right about 100" so I'm really comfortable there. (SAS'd 91 and 01 Explorers, new Bronco). My B2 has a WB closer to an EB and it's generally fine and pretty nimble, but I haven't even tried to use it in places where more WB is desirable. I had a Samurai that was a hoot but 80" was not my jam.

The way the sport is moving now days everyone is getting closer to 120" with the popularity of 4dr Wranglers as a platform. If I every end up building a buggy I'll see what long wheelbases are all about I guess.

 

[Yeller]

I’ve had buggies as long as 125” however I’m firmly in the 105-110 camp. My bronco is 100” and low enough it works exceptionally well. My buggy is 105 wouldn’t change it. Tire size plays a big factor, the bigger the tire the more wheelbase you can use. IMO 37’s need 100”, 40’s need 105-110 and 42’s 110-115. Larger tires effectively shorten your wheelbase as far as maneuvering and how they handle obstacles. Like 37’s at 100 are basically equal to 40’s at 106 and 42’s at 110.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Today was a good day. Took advantage of Tom's free shipping deal and my babies met for the first time.

 

[Tricky Dick]

The Ecobox arrived! I was about to order a NP205 rebuild kit and twin stick rails from JB Fab but the rebuild kit is OOS.

With everything physically here I was able to get a total length. 64" from balancer to output u-joint. How does that compare to say a 302/C4/D20?

 

[Tricky Dick]

After some hemming and hawing I've concluded I should suck it up and spend the dough on a bigger fuel tank. Do it once and be done. Maybe the WH stainless tank? Are there any that are not great? Tom's tank is pretty cheap relatively.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Doing a little initial measuring and finding the 2.3 to be about 6-8" shorter than the 170. Gobs of room for intercooler and electric fan. Width wise tons of room all around, with the canyon on the driver side I might even be able to mount the electric booster directly to the firewall. My Tom's crossmember showed up today too.

 

[Yeller]

I’m intrigued. Like different swaps that I think will work well.