cutting and turning

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

getting there.

the other one was perfect, this one I may have to reem out the the lower BJ just a pinch, but I think it will work as is.

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

fuuuuuuuck done with the bracing. 3/16" plating is considerably harder to form than 1/8". thank god for my plasma cutter too.
now I just have to swap internals, ball joints, new spindle bearings, and couple u joints.

Whats the deal with calipers? Ford decided to use a different way to attach them on the bronco than on the F150???
1 set requires a bolt to hold the caliper in place, and the other uses the rubber squeeze pins

metal, weld rods and purchase of the ttb, I have $165 total in this set. but i got spare axles too.

[Rmc]

2nd times the charm bro. Very nice in comparison, how's the camber angle issue with this set?

[ChaseTruck754]

Whats the deal with calipers? Ford decided to use a different way to attach them on the bronco than on the F150???
1 set requires a bolt to hold the caliper in place, and the other uses the rubber squeeze pins

I THINK that is a year difference thing - not F-150 to Bronco difference thing.

[baja-chris]

Check the ball joint spread vs stock. Don't think your ball joints are going to fully seat.

[Jbfab]

Did you happen to check for stub shaft/ axle clearance on the drivers beam? It looks like it will be a bit tight. I know mine is but that might be because im using a d50 stub.

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

It was a tight fit for ujoint on the drivers beam, I had to do a little grinding.

I had never thought of measuring the BJ spread... I put the pass side together and the balljoints were perfect, but the when I put the driver side together I measured the BJ spread and it was 3/16 wider lol, fortunately I was able to modify the camber adjuster to slide down another 3/16 and now it's nice and snug.

now I just have to put these bitches on.

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

so here's my problem with the steering,

basically this driver side tie rod can't swing back far enough to bolt up, it binds at the joint in the center. So do I just buy a drop pitman arm or is there another trick?

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

So for the length in which I moved out the lower ball joints, I had moved them out 5/8" and 3/4" as ESHALLBETTER suggested, I did my own crappy mock ups and also agreed with him. Keep in mind I couldn't test fit the parts, without burning more time and money, as I was working at 2 different locations.

It's ALMOST perfect, with the ball joints maxed out, we'll see once the springs settle. I think 7/8" and 1" would be perfect for the 4" Rancho springs.

I'll pull a couple tricks out of my sleeve if I need to lower it a pinch in the front

it's sad to think this is an 8mp camera on a $500+ phone

[Agui-E7TE]

I'd suggest a drop pitman arm since it's not too much money. A simple drop pitman arm for a 4-inch lift kit will bring it back into spec. It's worked great on mine with no adverse effects at all.

Camburg did my friend's Bronco with 4.5 inch extended cut and turned beams and it uses a longer drop pitman arm than mine. The tie rods almost look like what you'd see on a solid axle but it's worked better than any other Bronco I've ridden in and it drives great on and off road. I think the front end is strapped at 19 inches of wheel travel and it does just fine through even the biggest of whoops.

A 70 mph landing into a 4ft. hole in sand just managed to shear the bumpstop bolts in the rear but other than that and the hard landing, the truck stayed in one piece and didn't pull to any side when the front end smashed down. It plowed straight and the suspension held up fine. All this with what appears to be a 6 inch drop pitman arm.

[Jbfab]

No need to pull tricks out of your sleeve to lower it a bit. Use a ranger lower coil retainer instaed of the truck one. You'll loose about 3/4-1" of height. It what i did with my deavers to keep the height down but use the nicer coil. Ill grab ya a photo tomorrow weather permitting.

[SteveG]

so here's my problem with the steering,

basically this driver side tie rod can't swing back far enough to bolt up, it binds at the joint in the center. So do I just buy a drop pitman arm or is there another trick?

What would the dropped pitman arm do? It won't change the fore and aft location of the inner pivot for the driver side tie rod. Are the tie rods bent?

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

thank you Jbfab! What year rangers? just anything with a Dana 35 TTB ??

Steve, the tie rods aren't bent, I'll have to try disconnecting the link from the pitman arm and see if a drop arm will work.

[Rmc]

so here's my problem with the steering,

basically this driver side tie rod can't swing back far enough to bolt up, it binds at the joint in the center. So do I just buy a drop pitman arm or is there another trick?

What would the dropped pitman arm do? It won't change the fore and aft location of the inner pivot for the driver side tie rod. Are the tie rods bent?

Here we go agian lol I love geometry discussions

[johncharlesb]

I agree with Steve, tie rods. I would loosen up the ends to rotate the twist out and check for straight. I would pull those springs and cycle it before you hit the road. We don't want to lose our Skipper.

[SteveG]

so here's my problem with the steering,

basically this driver side tie rod can't swing back far enough to bolt up, it binds at the joint in the center. So do I just buy a drop pitman arm or is there another trick?

What would the dropped pitman arm do? It won't change the fore and aft location of the inner pivot for the driver side tie rod. Are the tie rods bent?

Here we go agian lol I love geometry discussions

Ha! This isn't a geometry issue, though. if the tie rods fit before, they should still fit now. Unless the front end was WAY too much lift.

It could be that the tie rods bent a long time ago and that the front end was aligned (or not) with them bent. The drag link currently on my Bronco has been straightened via a really hard landing at speed. To the untrained eye, it does not look bent....

[Jbfab]

thank you Jbfab! What year rangers? just anything with a Dana 35 TTB ??

Steve, the tie rods aren't bent, I'll have to try disconnecting the link from the pitman arm and see if a drop arm will work.

Yup any ranger or bronco 2, 1984-92 maybe some of the older exploders idk.

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

...so It looks like they changed brake caliper styles in '86+


I looked more into the steering issue. I have 2 different drag links.
The one from the '85- bronco steering is different from the one on my '90 F-150, it may also be an aftermarket link.

I can't find pictures for shit online, so I'll take some pics later. Basically 1 drag link is S shaped and the other (from the '85- bronco ttb) just has a sharp bend at the center joint, which might fix the steering issue.

[ChaseTruck754]

...so It looks like they changed brake caliper styles in '86+

Figured it was something like that. Good to know the year though.

And do post up pics of the drag links. Don't think they changed over the years, so yes, the one you have may be aftermarket.

[CPT. SPRINGINGTON]

here's the drag links,





success!