David's little mule

[Wrightracing.net]

Ok, I thought I would start a page. This is the life and times of my little mule.

This story started back in late 1992. I had a 1981 semi prerunner F100 with 300CI straight 6 and a 4 speed granny gear tranny. It was a great truck and had many dirt miles in Baja, Plaster City and Glamis. Prior to getting my Bronco I had built a couple buggies and in the picture below you can see my F100 and my first dune buggy in the late 1980's. Now at this time I had a 300 amp craftsman arch welder and a little bit of fab experience with buggy repairs.

So a friend of mine got a newer Bronco and I bought my first 4x4. My little mule started life as a 1986 Ford Bronco with a 302 Fuel Injected Motor, AOD trans, 33x12.50 BFG AT tires and 3in Rancho lift kit. The Bronco had the cool stuff at the time like the roof rack, smitty built duel tube rear bumper and a bolt on prerunner light bumper up front. For years my friend and I had been friends with Howard the original owner of ORW and he gave us a bunch of hand me down suspension parts to modify and enhance the Rancho stuff. The parts included AutoFab upper shock mounts in the rear and dual shock mounts for the front. Also a unknown set of leafs that gave me 13" of travel which back then it seemed like a lot. We then ditched the Rancho shocks and ran some Bilstien's up front. It was night and day back then and we strapped it at 12" of wheel travel. For a Daily Driver is was a beast. Back then it was considered a go fast bronco. Also back then people did not run coil overs like now days. Even John at AutoFab was doing 4 smooth body shocks per wheel on his 16" wheel. Keep in mind, at this time people thought more shocks are better and stiffer is stronger. AutoFab and shops like Spirit were developing long travel for us non racing guys.

After I got the Bronco I rebuilt the 302.
The Bronco had around 160,000

The next upgrade to the Bronco was a set of JBA headers and a custom exhaust. I had some random muffler shop in Escondido in the late 1998-99 put on a 3" Cat and removed the two stock cat's. I had a 2.5" flowmaster muffler on it, but it was falling apart so I upgraded to a 3" Spin Tech muffler and had the shop do a side exit pipe. He ran the exhaust under the front leaf hanger. Looking back, I would have done it differently, because it had been squashed a little into a oval shape do to the location.
Right off the bat I could feel the increased performance and it was a great bang for the buck upgrade.

more to come soon about David's Little Mule...

[Rmc]

I love hearing the history of rides, how they came to be what they are today. Keep the pics coming.

[Wrightracing.net]

Now something Good from something Bad.

In 2000, I was up at Big Bear lake in the snow and someone pulled in front of me and the bumper and front fenders got crunched. So of course, time for fiberglass. And of course I had to go to the best, Auto Fab. I then decided to convert the front end to a 1992 style. I picked up the lights and grill at a auto body warehouse in Mexico along with a steel hood. I could not afford a fiberglass hood at the time.

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At that time I was still learning how to do fab work, so I had a Friend help me build the new front bumper/skid plate and mount the new fenders. It turned out ok but not as good as I would do now days. The grill was not quite right. With the new fiberglass I now had room to run 35" tires.

One of my favorite things to do is play in the sand at Glamis. Back then the only things in the big dunes where Buggies, Bikes and jeeps. So to see a Bronco in the big bowls and making some fun but stupid jumps into the bowls. Keep in mind, stock seats, no 5points and no cage. So even the guys at a well know early website deepsand.com were surprised to see a mom mobile SUV in were I would take the Bronco. The thing that made me think I could take my Bronco in the dunes back then was that I learned to drive a dune buggy and a two wheel drive F100 in the smaller dunes, so of course a 4x4 should be able to take on the big dunes, right.

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[Wrightracing.net]

After a couple years of playing in the desert I had beaten up the Bronco pretty bad. I had nose dived the Bronco off the big Jump at the Glamis Sand Drag races next to Gecko Road.

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Then the Bronco was retired from Daily Driver life and I got a Superduty F350 Crew Cab short Bed. I wanted something that would be able to go into the dunes and retrieve the toys like out quads and the Bronco if we had problems. I also wanted something to take on my duties as a chase truck and remote pit truck in Baja. Also I had been doing check points for FUD at Plaster City and then when he passed, for MDR.

Since I was being so hard on the Bronco I wanted to do a cage but was still learning how to fit tubing and bend tubing for a cage. So my first project was a new cage overhead for my Class 12 car. The cage was to close for comfort at the time. Next I made a bolt in cage to protect the guys in the back seat.

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I got the bolt in cage done, just in time to make one of my annual summer trips to Pismo Beach. I have been making the trip up there almost every year taking my church's youth group and playing in the Buggies and the Bronco.

These pictures are video grabs, we did not take pics much back then. Pre camera phones.

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One thing I learned, was that the cages that are only bolted to the floor like to move around. Also that the rear stock seat, seatbelts sure are painful in the long woop section at Pismo. A female friend felt like she had been violated by the unused seatbelt buckle. ouch.

[Wrightracing.net]

Now this brings us to about 6 years ago.

The Bronco blew the reverse gear in the trans trying to put a Van out of the dunes at Pismo. It is not a good idea to pull in reverse when the dummy in the van leaves the e brake on!!!!!!!!!

I ended up rebuilding it my self for $200. Upgraded then clutches and bands.
I also replaced the stage 1 shift kit with a B&M stage 2 shift kit for better shift points.

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[Wrightracing.net]

A couple years went by and then the Mule got put in the garage to start a Ground up build. Over The years I had been getting parts like Coilovers, and A set of National Leaf springs race pack from a Full Stock race truck a friend of mine turned into a linked class 8 F150. The spring pack was a spare set that was rebuilt but never used.

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I also picked up a parts Bronco for $400. I got a C6, 351w and a bunch of parts off it.

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[Wrightracing.net]

The parts Bronco was a 1989. I saved the shell which was in better shape than the 86 shell and took the main body to the scrap yard. I got $295 for the frame and body and sold the 8.8 for $200. I gave the front seats to a friend in need and the rear folding seat was mounted in the back of the F350 for a fun place to ride in the desert.

[Wrightracing.net]

Thats it for tonight. More to come!!!

[Wrightracing.net]

Here are some shots of the donor Bronco before it went to the scrap yard. We had it stripped and ready to go in one afternoon.

[Wrightracing.net]

Now for the parts that I have been saving for the Bronco.
I have Fox 2.5×16 coilovers I got new from ORW with a gift card
from a MDR race at Plaster City. Next is a second set of Fox 2.5×16 threaded body
shocks I got off Craig's List for $300. I am going to run them up front on the bronco.
I then picked up a couple sets of coils for the fox shocks. I got them from a friend that raced a pro2 truck in core years ago.

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For the rear I picked up a used set of King 3.0×18 shocks used off Race Dezert classifieds for $200. They need to be rebuilt and painted but they are in good shape.

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[Tchajagos]

I wonder if those shocks are going to be way too long. You could always buy new bodies and shafts for the right length then sell the old bodies/shafts.

[Rmc]

18's are very long but depends on application, may work for links.

[Rmc]

Then agian they could be used without coils and who dosnt want 3.0's

[Wrightracing.net]

The 16" are for the front and will work well. I have removed the stock brake booster and I have a hydro boost going in. I also have removed the ac/heater core box and the shocks are going to kick back to allow the shocks to cycle properly. The setup is going to be a copy of a friends class 8 front end that has years of proven race miles on it.

As for the rear, it is a setup from a F150 full stock and I have already cycled it and it looks good. I need to finish the cage work and upper shock mounts.

My rear leafs are Nationals from a Full Stock Race truck. They were a spare set but my friend ended up linking the rear and changed the truck to a Class 8. You can see the difference between the old leafs with a 3" lift leaf and the new ones.

I also am upgrading the u bolts as you can see in the picture below showing the difference from stock.

I also have Fox Bump stops for all 4 corners of the Bronco.

I have cut all the spring perches and have new ones so I can setup the drive line angle properly once the rear suspension is all together. I also have delrin bushings for the leafs and plan to make custom inner 4130 sleeves a bit wider than the bushings.

[Wrightracing.net]

So the cage got started. I am using 2.0"×.120 DOM.

I ran the main hoop to frame. I plated the frame with 1/8 plate behind the front leaf hanger.

I got as far as the rear cage when I had my Grandfather and my Mom came down with cancer. For several years now the Bronco has been sitting covered on the trailer or in the garage. My grandfather passed away from the cancer but my mom is in remission. I had to spend a couple years back in Phoenix helping mom. Then I finally got my mom to move back to San Diego but I have had to remodel a house for her. I am finally getting some free time and plan to start back on the Bronco.

[Wrightracing.net]

More rear cage stuff.

[Wrightracing.net]

Still have a long way to go on the cage.

For the other stuff I have for the Bronco. I have some Dana 44 housings that have 7\8 uniballs and the lower ball joint pushed out. Glen that built the Yellow Race Bronco with Chris Wilson showed me how to do it. I also plan to make a jig for the radius arms and housing, so I can extend the housings out 3" per side. Also if I ever bend or break anything I can remake a replacements a lot easier.

Right now I have a set of hiem jointed radius arm from Camburg than I won in a raffle at a Powder puff race a few years back.

Also, I have a Currie 9in rear end which I have ran for 10 years after bending the 8.8 that was in the Bronco originally. I am running 4.10 gears, a Detroit Locker with 31 spline. I do not plan to keep this rear end but eventually plan to upgrade to a 35 spline full floater 9in housing with 14 bolt hubs converted to 5 lug.

I will be running a 351w with a C6. I am eventually going to do a 408 stroker kit and run 3 bar GT40 heads. I am shooting for 400hp, which a friend has got in his truck.

So I hope to have news in the near future.

[Wrightracing.net]

My next move will be to strip all the old 302 stuff and old wiring and prep for the rest of the cage .

Also the stock dash and steering column is coming out. I have an adjustable steering wheel setup with Howe heavy Duty steering quickener and wilwood steering wheel disconnect.

My Plans for the dash are a simple custom dash but we will see how simple it ends up being. I have dual Lowrance GPS units, so I will have one for the passanger and the driver.

For the tires, I have 35" Baja TA tires. The Bronco is already setup for 5/8 studs.
I have Mastercraft seats and since I am a big guy, the front seat are +4 wider with custom seat frame bracing done by Robby Pierce. I was the test case for the seat and when the aluminum slider failed the seat frame broke. Robby fixed it with a bunch of bracing for free and I bought a second matching one. I also gut a matching rear bench seat.

I hope to make some progress soon...

[Wrightracing.net]

So I have been thinking of a Full Floater for the Bronco. I have three options that are relatively affordable. Dana 60 with conversation hubs, 14 bolt with conversation hubs or add Dana 60 or 14 bolt snouts to a 9". One thing about the conversation hubs I don't like is they narrow the width of the axle. This week I plan to clean the garage to make room for the Bronco to come home.

[1Hondalover]

I like your story.....and your perseverance.