Another one

[Teton]

Sup dudes. Been cruising the forum for a few months now getting ideas for a build. I like the forum for the wealth of information and support shown.

Been planning on upgrading from the RZR to something more comfortable for a growing family but love the suspension on the RZR. Just moved to to central Wyoming and after being here a few months I am tired of getting pounded by the miles and miles of shitty dirt roads. I want to build a comfortable mid/long travel bronco for camping, hunting, fishing, and for getting there fast.

Build plans over 5 years
1. Cage, bumpers, interior comforts
2. Suspension, gears, lockers
4. Motor, trans mods/replace
5. Paint, wrap

Found a few potentials to start the build. One thread in particular “doing it all over again” has me torn on what to start with. Looking for some insight or maybe the gentle nudge.

Option 1: 95 bronco, 5.8l, $5k, 234k miles on body and transmission, 50k on motor. All stock. Body is immaculate. Interior is a 25 year old interior.

Option 2: 95 bronco, $6k, 5.0l, 145k miles. Has 4” Rancho lift, 4,56 gears, Detroit true tracks front and rear, prerunner front bumper, aftermarket rear bumper and tire carrier. Cons: all 4 corners are rusted pretty bad. Can see tops of Wheel wells on rear quarters.

Option 3: 1996, 134k miles, $4k, 5.8l, all stock, interior is cleanest, minor rust on rear quarters, interior In decent shape.

Option 4: keep looking

I am torn on option 2, On paper it is the best option. Just worried that cab sheet metal and pillars probably look like the corners. All 3 broncos are about 4 hours in opposite directions (yay Wyoming), talked to the owners but haven’t laid eyes on them yet.

Which bronco do you drive to look at for 8 hours of your time? (With 2 young kids in the car)

[ChaseTruck754]

Welcome.
The choices are tough being 8 hours away. It sounds like there's not a ton available in your market which makes things even harder.

Since you asked, here's my long winded advice.
See if you can explain to the seller(s) that you'd be driving hours to come see it and ask for more pictures to get a better overall idea on the truck before investing that time. Ask for specific pictures of rust areas, or known problem areas on broncos. Also ask the seller what's wrong with the truck or what he would replace next, or what may need work. If the seller openly obliges to your questions and pic requests then he's got nothing to hide. If the seller balks at more photos or gets squirelly during questions I'd probably avoid driving that far to go look as they may be hiding something. IF you do end up driving to go look and the truck is not what has been advertised but you still may be interested, throw out a lowball offer. Honestly at the price range you're looking at I'd cut asking price in half for my opening offer if things don't look right. Tell him the truck wasn't as stated and you're worried about what else may be lurking due to the fact it wasn't represented truthfully. My thought here is you've already invested the time to drive hours to get there and will be driving hours home, if you like the truck enough to still make an offer make it worth your while. Worst case scenario he says "no way" and you head home on a drive you already had coming. Best case is he says "ok" and you get a truck at a much lower cost. Chances are what will happen is it'll open a dialogue on price and you'll find out what the really bottom line is for the guy. You then just need to see what it's worth to you and whether you buy it or not.

All that being said, #1 catches my eye. The downside there is 234k on the trans as the trans would be expensive to fix. If you do get #1 set some $ aside for if/when you need to do that. See receipts if you can on the motor and hope it was done well.

My thoughts on #2: I'd rather have the 5.8l than the 5.0l, so that's already 1 strike. Sure the list of parts is nice, but how used/abused is the truck overall with those parts on it. Yes, having that work done already will save you some cost, but body work is often more expensive than the parts you listed. If the thing is rusted through in the corners I bet there rust lurking in other areas!

#3's an option too of course. Lower mileage is nice but it's not as low as the 50k on #1. Interior isn't a huge deal to me personally as I put new seats in anyway and with a camping/fishing rig it's gonna get beat. So I personally wouldn't pay more for a nice interior. Some guys that's their jam though...

[hobbyturnedobsession]

I'll throw in my two cents. First of welcome, and you're in for a good one. Broncos are fun. I had a 92 i had bought lifted with 4.10 gears done. 5.8 e40d and just over 100k on the ticker. Lost the cam and the trans went south. Also, the person who did the gearing obviously didn't know how to use a dial caliper or had too many beers when reading back lash resulting in a front and rear diff rebuild. It was coilovered and had deavers when I was done so the lift was absolutely worthless. It also had deeper issues i couldn't see when i first bought it. The second is my wife's bronco. 96 220k on the ticker this time with a 5.0 and completely bone stock. AC is ice cold, the smog guy had to put it on the sniffer twice because it burned so clean. I did replace the trans but my dumbass was towing a boat with it to blythe in 110* heat with no trans cooler doing 75. It is now getting cut/ turned beams radius arms and more. I did the front diff myself so I know the contact pattern and i know what parts went in it. I will tell you this, find the cleanest out there. Remember, just because work was done, doesn't make the work right. Also, how good a fabricator are you? Are you willing to put in the time or the money? If you're going to buy parts, remember, its going to be pricey any way you look at it. For me, I can weld and wrench plus have good friends who have built more than one bronco so advice is always plentifull. If you do have those abilities, I'd find the cleanest bone stock one you can find. I can tell you my wife's bronco with 250k doesn't leak passes smog and, before the tear down, we drove it all over the place. The trans lasted until 225k before it gave out. It's all about maintenance. Check the oil, the trans fluid, everything. Either way you are working on a vehicle over 20 years old, so find one that suits your strong suits and move forward. Interior, if your caging, really isn't high on the priority list in my eyes, since you'll be ditching pretty much all of it for better seats etc.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

I'll throw in my two cents. First of welcome, and you're in for a good one. Broncos are fun. I had a 92 i had bought lifted with 4.10 gears done. 5.8 e40d and just over 100k on the ticker. Lost the cam and the trans went south. Also, the person who did the gearing obviously didn't know how to use a dial caliper or had too many beers when reading back lash resulting in a front and rear diff rebuild. It was coilovered and had deavers when I was done so the lift was absolutely worthless. It also had deeper issues i couldn't see when i first bought it. The second is my wife's bronco. 96 220k on the ticker this time with a 5.0 and completely bone stock. AC is ice cold, the smog guy had to put it on the sniffer twice because it burned so clean. I did replace the trans but my dumbass was towing a boat with it to blythe in 110* heat with no trans cooler doing 75. It is now getting cut/ turned beams radius arms and more. I did the front diff myself so I know the contact pattern and i know what parts went in it. I will tell you this, find the cleanest out there. Remember, just because work was done, doesn't make the work right. Also, how good a fabricator are you? Are you willing to put in the time or the money? If you're going to buy parts, remember, its going to be pricey any way you look at it. For me, I can weld and wrench plus have good friends who have built more than one bronco so advice is always plentifull. If you do have those abilities, I'd find the cleanest bone stock one you can find. I can tell you my wife's bronco with 250k doesn't leak passes smog and, before the tear down, we drove it all over the place. The trans lasted until 225k before it gave out. It's all about maintenance. Check the oil, the trans fluid, everything. Either way you are working on a vehicle over 20 years old, so find one that suits your strong suits and move forward. Interior, if your caging, really isn't high on the priority list in my eyes, since you'll be ditching pretty much all of it for better seats etc.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Sorry for the double post, don't know what happened there.

[Teton]

Thanks for the responses. Sellers have been good about sending pics and answering questions. Interior is my first planned project, like what has been said not to concerned.

#1 is my first choice. Older couple owned. Plan to go look at this weekend.
#2 is tempting, approx $4k in aftermarket parts. But I don’t want rust to be a snowball of repairs
#3 lower miles, lowest asking, rust is minor issue

I have fabricated a few odds and ends, when you own a welder buddies are always needing stuff, built an SAE tubular frame and A-arms for a college project. Have operated CNC mills and lathes. Worked on cars forever. Wife was a welder, now a full time mom.
Deal with turbo machinery at work so know the ins and outs of all types of equipment. We have the means and the space so want to work a project. Budgeting ~$25k for this build.

[ChaseTruck754]

Based on the above - go with #1 and build what you can by yourself. Parts will cost what they cost. Paying someone else to make or install those parts kills a very large part of most budgets. If you can start with a clean and well maintained vehicle you're off to a better start than even anything with a bunch of parts on it already. Sometimes the parts already installed aren't what you want/need in the long run and things like bumpers you'd want to change based on your style, so in reality they don't add near the value you calculate to begin with.

[ThrustMaster]

#1 would be my choice, i just got done fixing rust on my 85 and it's not bad but there is always more hiding beyond what you can see.

[Teton]

I bought number one. Low balled the offer and met in the middle.Number 3 sold. The body is in great shape, all wheel wells/fenders rust free. Small amount of rust on tailgate. Motor is strong, tranny shifts good. Needs shocks, ball joints, a few leaks fixed. Gonna start on the minor maintenance to get it some what driveable and start on the interior. Thanks for the input, will continue updates on another thread.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Congratulations!

[ChaseTruck754]

Awesome! Do post a build thread as you get into this thing.