"Blanc-Oh!", my distraction

[ntsqd]

Posted a pic of this in 'my' other thread, figured that I'd start a thread. It isn't supposed to be distracting me, but of course it does.





'96 5.8L Auto, Camber-Corrected & plated beams (sorry, they are NOT what I think of when the term 'Cut and Turned' is used, That is a Live Axle term), long radius arms. Shoulda had a recorder going, PO stated who did the work and I don't recall the name. Maybe something like "Hoa"? Reportedly Q80's (how do you tell?), pin top dual Bils 5100's up front, single Fox (no reservoir or charge bung = emulsion?) rears on LT mount, top-braced 8.8, 4.56's, TruTrac rear, some kinda clutch up front, HID converted 4k's, has a GlobalMap 7200 in it, need to find a spot for the V8k that the coax will reach.

Needs BJ's & UL's, that I knew (scheduled at the local prep shop next week). Pinion angle is off, guessing ~4°, bought some shims to test it and then I'll angle mill the existing wedges. Coming back from its inaugural trip I realized that the noise 'back there' is not all pinion angle and that something's not right in the 8.8 Makes noise on all but closed throttle deccel. Part-throttle deccel is the loudest. Then I noticed an interesting "rib" that's been added to the inspection cover parallel and next to the RG clearance section. Formation of said "rib" has cracked the paint.....

[AussieRod]

Either cracked a cap and the carrier is deflecting, or the tone ring is coming adrift and trying to re-profile the cover. Could even be the pinion pin is walking out (broken retaining bolt).

[ntsqd]

Forgot to mention that I did crawl under and check for pinion bearing pre-load loss. I've had a Ford 8" and a Toyota 8" both lose the pre-load due to the crush spacer crushing further. Those got rebuilt using a solid spacer like God intended.
I've been wondering about the tone ring too. Every once in a while the speedo gets very jittery for a two to three count. Same shop is tasked with pulling the cover and inspecting.
Found a pic of the 'rib' (its a feature, not a flaw, right? LOL):

[toddz69]

Oh my...

Todd Z.

[ntsqd]

yeah, don't have high hopes for a painle$$ cure. Kinda sucks because my new toy is a driveway queen until we know what's going on in there.

I guess worst case is that I have to relocated the tone ring to the rear of the t/c. I'd rather not though, I have fantasy's of replacing the BW with a later model's manual shift 271 and the relocation kits only seem to be made for the BW.

[ntsqd]

Well, got the report. Bearings, brakes, R&P, tone ring, and one axle. At least the TAD only needs a new set of springs......

I know where there's a new ARB cover for $160 and I'm tempted.

[toddz69]

Maybe do an Explorer disc swap while he's in there too?

Todd Z.

[ntsqd]

I've flirted with the idea, but it's going to be spendy enough (they found other issues that need to be addressed too) now w/o any upgrades that I need to wait a while. Least spendy kit that a qwik search found was this one: https://www.moserengineering.com/6300g- ... e-kit.item

Any idea if Exploder RDB's play nice with this ABS?

[LvSteve]

Explorer disc brakes work fine with ABS.
But hard to get parking brakes to fit or work.

You can put the parts list together much cheaper. If you have the time. Or look at the Currie stuff

[ntsqd]

Specifically the Exploder p-brakes or just RDB p-brakes in general? I ask because the Exploder RDB p-brakes under the Bronc-up work fairly well and weren't hard to get working. I did need to build a multiplier lever since I used a Fiero's hand lever for the p-brake.

Currie's Exploder parts price is about the same as the Moser price. https://www.currieenterprises.com/11-ex ... -brake-kit

[ntsqd]

Forgot to mention that time is precious, I'd rather buy a kit than try to find all of the bits in the JY.

[mustacheride]

Maybe buy this? http://www.gofastbroncos.com/forum/view ... =26&t=9770

[ntsqd]

Tempting, but wrong ratio. Mine is 4.56 Have to think about if it's worth the trouble to change that.

[ntsqd]

Shop found that the rear upper shock cross-member has partly cracked loose from where it is welded to the top of the DS frame rail. It is a well built, but poorly integrated cross-member. It has to come out. I feel some allegiance to Autofab, but I could not find anything on their web page. Thinking maybe the Solo bolt-in assembly. Suggestions? I'll likely be going back with RR 7100's because I have a new set of the right length from a friend's stalled & abandoned project.

Appears that whomever did the rear axle assembly didn't know what they were doing. One bearing spun in the LS diff case due to the pre-load being too low. Now has a TruTrac in it. R&P wasn't salvageable, so those are new too. Thinking to replace the diff cover when the break-in oil comes out. Probably will go with the ARB cover in black, but this one is interesting: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms- ... /overview/

[toddz69]

Look in Autofab's pdf catalog on the site and they show the rear shock mounts I think you're looking for. Perhaps PN RSM-150.

Todd Z.

[ntsqd]

Never noticed the pdf button before, still took me a while to find it! Guess I'll need to call them for price & delivery. Looking like I need this sorted out before the Parker pre-run.

[ntsqd]

Well, I called Autofab on the 19th and got a guy who knew nothing. He suggested that I email a particular address, so I did. Crickets. Needed to move on this so on the 20th I called Solo. Two biz days later theirs is sitting here waiting for painting weather.
While I had Solo on the line I asked about getting their side of seat fire extinguisher bracket for the co-dog side as well. They only offer it for the DS online. The DS came with the rear damper mount kit. The PS bracket is in the works. I'm told about a month to get it thru their development process. Sounded like they may be making more of these.

[Becks_Bronco]

Nice!

Bobby is likely split on stuff. Nothing but good experiences with them for both Toyota and Ford parts.

[ntsqd]

Pics from today's test run thru the Calico mtns: https://machinegenesis.smugmug.com/TRIP ... h/n-SNzmdv As some likely know, it is extremely unusual to see snow in Acton, Mojave, & Palmcaster. Traffic was a disaster. Partly due to a big rig on it's side just past the CA138 exit and partly due to I-5 over the Grapevine being closed.

[ntsqd]

Got tapped on the shoulder, would I drive Blanc-Oh! on the Parker pre-run? It was the only 4 person capable vehicle in inventory suitable. We were easily the slowest rig out there. While waiting in line for the start I think that I spotted a celebrity:



There were a couple other Fords that caught my eye.