94 Bronco - Budget Build

JonMac31
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:41 pm
Bronco Info: 1994, 351w, 2.5x12" Sway-Away (500/600#), Deaver J40 w/ Camburg ext. Shackle/Bilstein 5100 14"
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by JonMac31 »

VintageIronFab,

They ran me $700 including shipping. They are 4130 chromoly and bolt directly into the stock bucket locations. In the passenger side pics you can see that it clears pretty much everything very smoothly. I might have to re-locate or redesign the "coffee" can location but other then that it fit snug. For the driver side, I to manuever some things out of the way - mainly misc stuff like hoses, cables, brake lines, etc. It cleared the master cylinder no problem. I will take some pics when I get home and upload them for you to see.
JonMac31
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:41 pm
Bronco Info: 1994, 351w, 2.5x12" Sway-Away (500/600#), Deaver J40 w/ Camburg ext. Shackle/Bilstein 5100 14"
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by JonMac31 »

I apologize for the delay on the pictures VintageIronFab. I have been swamped with work and school. I finally had some time to work on the bronco. I ended up fixing my camber problem by cranking the preload to about 1.5". I have some slight positive camber now but I am pretty sure that was due to the angle I was at when I measured. I know for sure there is some wonky toe stuff going on, but that is easy to fix with a tape measure alignment.

As far as clearing the master cylinder on the driver side here is picture from the front of the bucket:
front view of master cylinder
front view of master cylinder
IMG_3546.JPG (664.57 KiB) Viewed 688 times
And here is a picture of the top view of the bucket:
top view of master cylinder
top view of master cylinder
IMG_3547.JPG (722.28 KiB) Viewed 688 times
You can see that it clears it fairly well - how well it will clear it if I were to upgrade... mmm I don't know yet. The only thing I ran into as far as clearance goes was all the wiring that is there on the fuse/power box and my air filter setup. Luckily I was able to move all of it out of the way and do some mild re-routing. The other thing that was in the way was the braided lines that go into the master cylinder. I had to sort of push those further back, and up to the right in order to clear the bucket. But now they run smoothly behind the bucket.
If you have any other questions - I'm all ears!
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ChaseTruck754
Spy/Ninja
Posts: 9194
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:46 am
Bronco Info: Don't have one - just old Ford trucks
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by ChaseTruck754 »

Looking good. What size coilovers do those buckets work with? 14's?
Owner of only dead and forgotten projects
dtbback
Posts: 1677
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:45 am
Bronco Info: 1996 EB 351W!! First Bronco!! Plan: Prerunner/ Trail Rig/ SHTF All around Rig

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by dtbback »

12s
JonMac31
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:41 pm
Bronco Info: 1994, 351w, 2.5x12" Sway-Away (500/600#), Deaver J40 w/ Camburg ext. Shackle/Bilstein 5100 14"
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by JonMac31 »

ChaseTruck754, dtbback is correct. They work with 12s primarily. They can fit 14s, but it would be hell trying to find a lower mounting location.
dtbback
Posts: 1677
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:45 am
Bronco Info: 1996 EB 351W!! First Bronco!! Plan: Prerunner/ Trail Rig/ SHTF All around Rig

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by dtbback »

SAW 14s with welded loop lower rod ends might make squeezing 14s possible. SAWs and FOAs have the smallest collapsed heights but FOAs are not wjat most on here would recommend.
JonMac31
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:41 pm
Bronco Info: 1994, 351w, 2.5x12" Sway-Away (500/600#), Deaver J40 w/ Camburg ext. Shackle/Bilstein 5100 14"
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by JonMac31 »

dtbback, I will have to look into that and play around with the measurements a little. I think if I were to get 14s, i'd end up mounting them to an engine cage that would allow for an additional bypass shock. That way I could kind of scale for future additions like maybe 16s or so. I took the truck out for a good shake down last weekend though, the front held up great. It felt pretty smooth. The rear however seemed like it loved to dampen and then rocket the rear end up (as all my unstrapped gear in the rear flew everywhere). I ended up busting that stupid coolant hose again - luckily I bought 3ft of extra hose and hose clamps to repair in the event it did happen. I think I found out why it was doing it - the passenger bucket was awfully close to the hose and it kind of pinched it into a 90* angle almost. Each time the engine mounts twisted or moved it would shove that hose right into the backside of the bucket and end up pinching it - thus resulting in a leak.

My buddy and I manged to bend the metal part of that line upwards a little bit more, and that allowed us to run the hose up and over the bucket instead of being behind it. I wheeled it back out to the pavement and it held up, so I think I am finally good with that, hopefully.
JonMac31
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:41 pm
Bronco Info: 1994, 351w, 2.5x12" Sway-Away (500/600#), Deaver J40 w/ Camburg ext. Shackle/Bilstein 5100 14"
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: 94 Bronco - Budget Build

Post by JonMac31 »

Well i've been searching for some used suspension seats, haven't had much luck or they were to expensive... but I ended up finding a corbeau seat. It is the Baja JP model which is similar to the Baja SS model - the only difference is the stitch pattern, and then the mounting. The SS model has vertical tabs, whereas the JP model as flat tabs. It also came with the bronco seat bracket from corbeau as well. Took me about 5 minutes to remove the old seat, 15 minutes to assemble the new seat, and then 5 minutes to install it. I'm pretty please with how it came out. It's comfortable too. I haven't tested it yet for quality as I haven't had a chance to take the truck out. The only thing I would say I don't necessarily care for about it is the fact that it is about 1.5"-2" shorter in height then the stock seats - so my head doesn't have a head rest to sit on. Not sure if that is because of the "bucket" part or not but we'll see how it turns out.
driver side seat
driver side seat
IMG_3562.JPG (595.08 KiB) Viewed 521 times
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