Wilson the Stretched Bronco - Prerunner turned Prelander?

[SteveG]

Bit off a lot between KOH and San Felipe.... One of my biggest goals right now is to quiet the car down enough that I don't need to run headsets on pavement or fire roads. With the new MagnaFlow exhaust and sound deadening material on the floor, I'm down to about 85-87dB going down the road. I'd really like to be around or under 75dB. A challenge for this kind of car but I think I can do it.

Anyway, on the docket before SF:

• Replace factory bench seat with the two front bucket seats

• Install new PRP front seats... heated and air conditioned, of course!

• Apply sound deadening material to all side panels under the fiberglass roofline

• Build fluid holders for 10 1qt Nalgene bottles so I can get rid of one of the FrontRunner Wolf Packs in the cargo area

• Install transmission cooler fans (I pulled Paul's fan years ago when we replaced the cooler)

• Relocate SPOD's

• Relocate GIANT Samlex inverter... maybe. Running out of time

NOT happening before SF now that I've dug this giant hole for myself:

• Remove and re-valve rear shocks... this one's a bummer because the car is working sooooo well but is limited by rear shock valving. no sweat, though. It's already ridiculous and fun. Besides, for SF, I'm rolling with all Raptors, so the spice level is limited!

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[PaulW]

Have fun with the new stuff.

Sound reduction. Good luck
* The design of a fully caged truck results is a lot of sound that cannot be defeated.

* I suspect a full exhaust setup with exit out the back would help a lot. The exhaust should be soft mounted with proper OEM like supports which is something that did not happen on Wilson. The result was more noise than I liked. That mod I guess would have the best result for cabin noise reduction? New muffler would be better to help with sound. Lots of choices for them. Quiet usually means High cost and less motor horsepower.

* Headsets suck, but they do keep the sound under control even without noise reduction built in. Wireless sure would be better.
Ear buds (custom fit) were way better but I did not like being wired to the truck. I was too cheap top get wireless earbuds. Wireless are available to include noise reduction technology.

* BTW, one of the things I did correctly was to keep the double metal cabin top. Guys that deleted the inner layer had way more cabin noise and sound deadening material did not help.

* Another BTW, after doing electric fans on two non Wilson rigs I found out that the result was a major trial and error project. Those projects resulted in left over stuff that did not perform as advertised, and put the electrical system under stress. Hard to get better that the highest flow mechanical fan an a proper clutch with a custom fit shroud. Still even then one rig had to have booster electric fan up front. Anybody want leftovers for great price discount?

[ntsqd]

My friend Lars found that iFone wireless earbuds ('airpods' or whatever they call them) are almost as good as his airplane's $300+ each headsets at active noise cancellation. They just don't have a mic option that I know of.

I use these hangers: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-35460 on Ø5/16" or Ø3/8" bar stock to hang all of my exhaust systems. Leave the section of bar that it slides on long so that thermal expansion isn't pulling them sideways or causing other grief. When I need to keep one short and/or desire a retention function I use these: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-35780

Killing noise w/o adding weight is the tricky part. I usually just add mass loaders, but you don't have to cover a whole panel to kill its resonance.

[SteveG]

Good morning!

Sound reduction has come a long way in this Wilson. putting the sound deadening material on the floor did a lot. Magnaflow built an exhaust system using their X Mod muffler and a second, small muffler (because I told them I didn't want to hear the engine).
The result is a system that flows significantly more than the previous system, more power, and, most importantly, exhaust volume was minimized. It now sounds like an OEM "performance" exhaust... quite pleasant. The next noisiest item on the truck was tires... switching back to All Terrains made that go away. To be honest, the noise level inside is borderline pleasant. Good enough that we often go without headsets these days (unless in the rough).

the muffler on Wilson (2.5"): https://www.magnaflow.com/products/1400 ... fler-14006

I hear you on the electric fan. I'd love to get rid of it but I like the reliability of the mechanical. The only downside these days is that the properly functioning OEM clutches are becoming quite rare. And Motorcraft has gone to shite.

Wil you be in SF for the 250? I've talked a big game on meeting up but am always on the move... might have some downtime this year. We'll be there Tuesday afternoon, race week.

[SteveG]

Killing noise w/o adding weight is the tricky part.

I have no problem adding weight for my comfort! Have you seen my load in?

[ntsqd]

Since you have more room it's likely worse than mine and I've been thinking to ditch the Q80's and go to a spring with better load carrying ability.

[SteveG]

KOH load out... minus the red X's

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[PaulW]

Good morning!

Sound reduction has come a long way in this Wilson. putting the sound deadening material on the floor did a lot. Magnaflow built an exhaust system using their X Mod muffler and a second, small muffler (because I told them I didn't want to hear the engine).
The result is a system that flows significantly more than the previous system, more power, and, most importantly, exhaust volume was minimized. It now sounds like an OEM "performance" exhaust... quite pleasant. The next noisiest item on the truck was tires... switching back to All Terrains made that go away. To be honest, the noise level inside is borderline pleasant. Good enough that we often go without headsets these days (unless in the rough).

the muffler on Wilson (2.5"): https://www.magnaflow.com/products/1400 ... fler-14006

I hear you on the electric fan. I'd love to get rid of it but I like the reliability of the mechanical. The only downside these days is that the properly functioning OEM clutches are becoming quite rare. And Motorcraft has gone to shite.

Wil you be in SF for the 250? I've talked a big game on meeting up but am always on the move... might have some downtime this year. We'll be there Tuesday afternoon, race week.

=== = =
Hayden still makes good clutches
We wont head N until the week of 4/21/25
Contact me with email

[ntsqd]

I noticed on my neighbor's Volvo OTR that it's cooling fan is mechanically driven, but has what looks like a seriously over-kill A/C compressor electric clutch coupling the fan to the pulley. Has anyone looked into clutches like that?

Searching Hayden's page I found this: https://www.haydenauto.com/media/12534/ ... c_8pgs.pdf

[toddz69]

So happy to see this thread revived! Love the updates/changes you're doing to Wilson. Man that's a ton of stuff you carry!

On the trans cooler, weren't there several smaller ones on there? And now it looks like you have one of the Tru-Cool coolers/V10 Super Duty coolers?

Todd Z.

[GoFastBroncos.com]

So happy to see this thread revived! Love the updates/changes you're doing to Wilson. Man that's a ton of stuff you carry!

Good morning!

Ha! Yes lots of stuff! This trip included camp gear which doesn’t usually stay in the car while on dirt but, still, A LOT of stuff. As you can see, I like to travel prepared… for trail fixes and to help others, which is almost always why gear comes out (knock on wood).

On the trans cooler, weren't there several smaller ones on there? And now it looks like you have one of the Tru-Cool coolers/V10 Super Duty coolers?

I pulled the previous cooler a long time ago. I only remember one and an electric fan. This is a Duramax cooler that’s worked really well for a long time. The only time I need more cooling is in San Felipe… got a little toasty last year, hence the fan install.

[PaulW]

So happy to see this thread revived! Love the updates/changes you're doing to Wilson. Man that's a ton of stuff you carry!

On the trans cooler, weren't there several smaller ones on there? And now it looks like you have one of the Tru-Cool coolers/V10 Super Duty coolers?

Todd Z.

=== =
I remember I used two Ford trailer package coolers in series. They were were off a full size bronco or F150 and I got them as a salvage yard. I like the plate plate design

[PaulW]

...

[PaulW]

...

[PaulW]

Coolers:
The way it was.
Tranny cooler and a Power steering cooler mockup below
I think the Tranny cooler was a salvage yard Ford unit?
Steering unit was new from Summit.

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[toddz69]

Thanks Paul - I thought I remembered that you had used 2 smaller ones.

Todd Z.

[toddz69]

I pulled the previous cooler a long time ago. I only remember one and an electric fan. This is a Duramax cooler that’s worked really well for a long time. The only time I need more cooling is in San Felipe… got a little toasty last year, hence the fan install.

Thanks for the info - I think that's pretty similar to the one I just installed on my EB.

Todd Z.

[SteveG]

Coolers:
The way it was.
Tranny cooler and a Power steering cooler mockup below
I think the Tranny cooler was a salvage yard Ford unit?
Steering unit was new from Summit.

Memory is starting to jog now... we changed the cooler situation when we had a new bumper made for it.

[SteveG]

Rear buckets going in soon. The brackets are bigger than I'd like, but this makes for more comfortable sitting angle... much better than the bench as it's several inches lower and the back is reclined more. Leg space is a little tight but there's some wiggle room for sub 6-footers. The good news is that I'm not a 6-footer, and I've only ever sat in the back once. And I don't intend to make that a habit!

The rear bracket is going to be kind of a hook that the back of the seat slides into, then align the front and pin in place.

Both front and rear brackets will have body-mounted nut plates so that seats and brackets can be removed if desired... which will be rare. The only time I would do that is if we're camping out of the car, carrying a tent, bedding, camp kitchen, etc.

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Next up is lining these dudes up and putting holes in the car... uuuuugh. I'm a big fan of eyeballing things, but there's a left and a right here, so I should probably spend the extra time to make sure everything is square and matches!

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[SteveG]

Paul, just curious what this almost hole was intended for.

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