1990 Ford Bronco 4BT swap

BrandonMag

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This project has fallen on the backburner the last few months, so I'm trying to spend at least a couple hours a day working on it. Prototype jackstand:

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This ended up being out of square (because I eyeballed it) and too short. So, I'm working on my beta version.

Some Spicer goodness:

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The completed axleshafts with the new ujoints and 35-spline stub shafts:

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The passenger side axleshaft had some wear:

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So I touched it up with some 600-grit sandpaper. When I picked up the completed axleshafts from the machinist, I asked what he thought and he said they'd be fine.

Complete Sterling (minus passenger drum) awaiting teardown:

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Draining the gear oil. I hadn't looked at a Sterling axle cover in years. It's about 1/16" thick. :eek: The RuffStuff cover will be a welcome upgrade. I was surprised, this oil didn't smell at all but was very dark:

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Gears look good; there is some wear on the spider gears, but they won't be staying for long:

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I'm unsure what to do next. I'm going to have ARB lockers installed both front and rear. I am under the impression the correct way to install new gears in some axles is to press out the axle tubes to align the gears correctly. Since this isn't going to be a dedicated offroad rig that will need them right away, I was thinking about having the ARBs installed next year (once my pocketbook has recovered). However, I'm going to be installing a truss on both the Sterling and Dana 60. I don't know if that will make aligning the ARBs impossible. Any thoughts? Do I need to install the ARBs before I weld trusses on these axles?

EDIT- This link makes no mention of spreading the tubes from the pumpkin: http://ck5.com/forums/resources/arb-air-locker-install.29/ It seems pretty straightforward. Maybe an ARB install is actually a possibility in my own garage.
 
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BrandonMag

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A little more progress:

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I just realized that I need to paint the RSK brackets black. If I install as you see them now, that'll be too much red.

Got the passenger side of the Sterling torn down:

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There was a little rust built up near the axle flange, but it cleaned up fairly well with some Corrosion X and 600-grit.

This anti-roll bar design ain't gonna work:

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So I'll have to remove it and figure out a way to mount the roll bar I will use in front of and above the Sterling, with links coming down to tabs on the front of the axle. I have a general idea of what I want, but I still need to do some more investigating to nail down exactly what I'm going to use.

I'm almost at the point where I need the Artec Industries truss. I've been slacking and still haven't ordered it yet, so I should get to it tomorrow.
 

BrandonMag

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Updates and goodies

I've been able to get a little done in the last couple of weeks:

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Getting it in the air was a hurdle. I was going to make four custom jackstands; one for each corner. I fabbed up two, got lazy and bought two of these instead:

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And then I did this:

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In order to install the RuffStuff 6" RSK for the rear axle, I need to drop the gas tank. It's a 'universal' RSK kit, so the bolt pattern doesn't match the factory Ford pattern. We'll see how much of a PITA it is to drill eight 9/16" holes in the frame. I have a feeling I'll be wishing I had bought an RSK kit that matched the factory holes. Oh, well. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get to it.

The correct pinion angle and exact location for the Sterling are another couple pieces of the puzzle I am sorting out. I ordered a digital angle finder on Amazon earlier today; it should be here on Wednesday. The 8.8 came with angled spacers between the spring perches and leaf springs and the 10.25 came with 2" lifting blocks (that have the bumpstop catchers cast into them). I may ended up needing zero rate add-a-leafs because 6" of suspension lift is going to shift my axle forwards a bit: http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/Zero Rates.htm Stuff to think about.

The factory 8.8 rear had these on it:

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The D44 IFS front has them as well. 5X5.5" spacers, 1.5" thick.

The baby rear pumpkin that came out:

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And the full-size rear pumpkin that will be going in:

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I was at a point where I really couldn't move forward on the Sterling placement because I needed my truss... and then Brown Santa showed up today:

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Here is what was inside:

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I haven't purchased from Artec before, but based on my initial impression, these are high-quality engineered and manufactured parts. The trusses look cool; the individual pieces that make them up go together and come apart easily (until I weld them together). The fit and finish is damn good.

(My only complaint: during shipping one of the misalignment spacers came out of it's heim joint and got a little chewed up from rubbing on one of the trusses. It wouldn't press back in to the heim. It wasn't a big deal: a minute with a file and it fit right back in the heim like it was supposed to.)

The smaller truss on the left is for the Sterling, the truss that's upside down is for the Dana 60 and all of the other stuff is a 3-link kit for the Dana 60.

The 3-link kit: the top three pieces of DOM are 2" OD .25" wall with heim joints that are 1 1/4"(the 3-links), the smaller piece of DOM on the bottom is 1.5" OD .25" wall with 7/8" heim joints (the panhard bar), they're all 48" long; some misalignment spacers, rod ends, jam nuts and tube adapters; and various brackets and mounts to keep the Dana in place while flexing during offroad activities.

Time for some axle strengthening and suspension fabrication! ;Sweet
 

F350camper

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...

The correct pinion angle and exact location for the Sterling are another couple pieces of the puzzle I am sorting out....

When your angle finder shows up, and I guess more importantly when you get your engine back in, I'll be curious to hear the angles you decided on. I've been playing with mine quite a bit and I think I have it dialed. Off the top of my head I think I'm at 3.5° off the driveshaft on both the rear axle flange, and the transfer output. I was hoping to get it to 3° on each end, but I dont have enough length. I swapped out my rear trans mount with one from a 5.0 explorer. It was a direct swap from the f350 zf one I had, but quite a bit shorter. This helped with my output angle quite a bit.
 

BrandonMag

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I'll definitely post that info up when the times comes.

This Broncos rear driveshaft is short (about 30 inches long), has a double cardan joint on the front and a flange on the rear. I had thought about going with either 1350 or 1410 joints for both the the front and rear driveshafts, I guess we'll have to see how it all works out; angles may be a bit too steep to run monster u-joints.

That's a good piece of information about the Explorer trans mount. ;Sweet

What is the size and configuration of the Ranger rear driveshaft?
 

F350camper

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out of the 1356 transfer case is a slip yoke.
Then we hit a 1330 to 1310 conversion u-joint
on to a 48" driveshaft center to center
then a regular 1310 u joint
and finally the axle flange / yoke

On another note, its funny your picture of the "baby pumpkin" coming out. haha that is my upgraded pumpkin from a 7.5 LOL
 

BrandonMag

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On another note, its funny your picture of the "baby pumpkin" coming out. haha that is my upgraded pumpkin from a 7.5 LOL

Truthfully, this Bronco doesn't need a trussed 10.25 rear and Dana 60 front. But it may in the future. Why not be prepared? :D
 

laserjock

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I actually drilled the holes for my trailer hitch with a step drill bit. Worked great. Center punch, drill 1/4" pilot holes and go to town. A sharpie mark to show where to stop is a good idea.
 

BrandonMag

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I started futzing around with the Sterling truss tonight in the garage. It needed a little trimming, so I ground a couple of spots and got it to fit pretty well before I realized I didn't know exactly what the proper installation specifications are. My assumption was that the top of the truss could be parallel to the pinion angle. According to Artec, the proper way to install their trusses is to set your pinion angle and then weld the truss parallel to the ground at ride height. Well, the problem is I can't set the pinion angle of either of my axles without the transfer case in place so I can mock up the driveshafts. Which means the drivetrain needs to be in place.

I'd really rather not put everything back together only to have to take it apart again, so it looks like I may be getting the E4OD rebuilt sooner than later. And I still need a low stall (~1600 RPM) torque converter and flexplate.

I had wanted to get both of the assembled axles installed in roughly the correct place before I started on that part of the build. I can still make forward progress, but I can't weld my trusses on until my drivetrain is in place. Crap.
 

BrandonMag

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Project Bronco has been put on hold: we bought a house in Damascus, OR. Unsurprisingly, it's been pretty busy around here for the last few weeks. With the holidays coming and our actual move in the middle of them, it will continue to be until at least the new year.

The new house is pretty nice, but the garage space is significantly smaller. Not too big of a deal, really; I have WAY more space than I need now. The problem is that I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff I need to pare down. Long story short, it will be at least a few months until we get settled in and I get my stuff reorganized enough to get back on the Bronco.
 

BrandonMag

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Wow, time flies.

The house in Damascus didn't work out; once we had our inspection done, it had too many problems. We actually ended up buying a house in Milwaukie.

The downside is, I no longer have a shop. Only a one-car garage that's FULL of all the stuff from the shop space I used to have. And I'm working lots of hours out of town for the foreseeable future.

Consequently, this project has been put on hold until I get a shop built. Hopefully it will be this summer, but it may not happen 'til next. I'll update this thread once I have something worthwhile to report.
 

asmith

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This news makes me sad. I am sure you are even more anxious than I am, but I really like this build. My first vehicle was a Bronco. I still have it, but have not driven it in years because it is in the midst of a years long engine rebuild. I miss it.


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F350camper

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Let us know when you fire the project back up Brandon. I'll be looking forward to it.
 

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