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Gotta deal with this  Just a simple seal swap  i already have redi-sleeves on the axle, and theyre already showing wear so hopefully i dont have to rip this back apart and replace the sleeve. Got that done and had to rotate the tires on the DD bronco  At 8k miles they were overdue to be rotated. Minimal cupping, but there's still some so i really need to start rotating them every 5k miles i suppose  Lets do it!  the offending piece  Splitting it open
return spring  spring retainer
The piston comes out  looking down into the bore, its just a blind hole  same thing with the piston  simulating a pedal press (pushing on the linkage for the brake pedal)  for being 20 years old, the diaphragm is still good, and theres still grease on the seals  the piston is actually two pieces with a rubber seal in the middle  Speculating the extra piece goes here?  Honestly, no idea where that little pushrod goes, maybe there? Either way, of course i swapped the booster out and it fixed my problem. Its neat to see the inside of the booster, altho it wouldve been cool if i could say for absolute certainty where that little piece goes. Booster is in, and that fixed the problem  Couple other minor things ive got to deal with. #1, D70 has a pretty leaky wheel seal that im going to fix either tomorrow or Friday  Also, my junk aftermarket speedo drive gear in the tcase is starting to get wonky already, and the speedometer is getting very erratic as a result of it. Fortunately, i was able to get a good used OEM gear from Transfercase Solutions so when this gear inevitably bites the dust ill swap the OEM gear in. We are registered for the Carlisle All Ford Nationals this June (for the 60th Bronco Anniversary), which starts June 5th, and then the East Coast Bronco Roundup picks up from there and goes on for the whole next week afterwards. So im just going to be doing some minor tinkering this month trying to get the big 88 and her 90 ready for the event. Got all my parts in, so i started replumbing the front brakes. Out with the old:
...and in with the new! All new -3 AN stainless flex lines, and all new steel lines on the axle as well. Everything new!
 Got it all done and bled, and the brakes still suck. So now im digging into the master/booster. This is my 4 month old '96 F350 master, on my 20 y/o '88 F350 booster  Figured i would check pushrod depth to see if i got it wrong when i put the master on, since technically this master would go on a different booster. Nothing seemed really wrong there, so i pulled the booster, and it rattles???  Shook it around a bit, and something fell out of the booster!  So i ordered a new booster, this time a '96 to match to master. Installed it this morning and its defective! I can hear the vacuum leak over the engine idle, and it has no power assist. Cant get another booster until tomorrow, so i guess ill try again over weekend or monday. Remember the days when you could buy a part, and it just worked? I miss those days. I just crossed 15k miles on the 35x12.5R17 Falken AT4Ws on the DD the other day. Its no 8k diesel tow rig, but its still got to be 5k  Closeup of the tread on the front left tire:  15k miles. Rotated once at 8k, havent done it again. Probably should, but theyre really not showing any signs of needing it. Tread depth is just over 16/32, pretty typical of all 4  These things are advertised at 19/32 new. At the current wear rate ill go 55-60k miles to get down to 8/32" Thinking i will rotate them during the week and then go to 5k rotations just to keep em wearing evenly, altho really theyre wearing very well, especially for a TTB equipped vehicle. Been planning a wheelin trip for the beginning of may. A week or two ago i dug the gray bronco out of winter hibernation took it for a spin, and wasnt thrilled. The brakes dont feel right. I had replaced the master over the winter when i replaced that torn rear flex hose, but it doesnt feel like a problem with the rear brakes, it feel like its in the front. Pedal is hard when truck is off, soft when running and pedal is slow to return. Driving it feels like the rear brakes are doing all the work. Got home to see nice shiny rear rotors but discolored front ones.  A buddy came by and we re-bled the brakes. The rear calipers bled fine, and i could feel them actuating when he pumped the pedal. The front calipers bled funny. No air but the right caliper would only let a small amount of fluid out the bleeder. So i ordered calipers, pads, and replacement flex hoses for all 3 positions (one at each caliper + center drop). Got it up in the air, passenger side caliper retainer had started to slip out again  Got new calipers & pads installed  Used my power bleeder to re-bleed brakes again, and no change. Pedal is hard when truck is off, soft when running and pedal is slow to return. My brake hoses havent shown up yet. Just got an update from UPS that theyve been delayed until next thursday, which pretty much means that wheelin trip is cancelled. Trying to decide what the problem is. Old rubber hoses at front calipers, old stainless drop line in middle, new master (defective?), or old booster. I guess im dead in the water until more parts show up. Meanwhile, ive got something else going on in the background:  Ive decided to do one more round of upgrades to the kiddo's bronco before he outgrows it  ML Toys is now making their own custom gear boxes for power wheels called the Paragon 775. Upgrading from 550 series to 775 series motors as well as part of the kit  ...and steel gears on bearings instead of plastic gear and no bearings or bushings at all  Had to replace the rear tires because he wore them all the way down to the seam!  I was breaking in the new motors while i was pulling the front brakes apart on the big bronco  So hes thrilled because his bronco is back in action  Now ive got to fix mine... The green bronco hit 250k pulling into the driveway the other day  I think it looks pretty decent for a 250k mile DD  When last we left off, i was removing the stone deflector  That piece is now installed on the green DD bronco, so, moving on, i want to take the front clip apart  Check this fender. For a plow truck, this thing is mint  Here's the only rust on the fender, super minimal. This one is a keeper
The driver fender isnt perfect, but i think it might be salvageable  Some rust here, pretty sure i can fix this easily enough  This kind of sucks though  Thats a big dent, and i dont know if i have the skill to fix it. Time will tell. Core support is junk, thats going. Im saving the fender liners. Entire under-hood harness is already removed and in a box to save  Motor/trans coming out   Split the motor and trans. Giving the trans to a coworker as his 97 F250's E4OD needs a front pump  The space between the block and the spacer plate was full of....stuff. The spacer was rotted out, and i had to needle scale the back of the block to get it mostly clean, before putting it on the stand   With that done im pretty much done with this thing so i pushed it outside  I took the cowl, and the black windshield trim since its semi rare. Then took the top off and threw it in the back of the F250 for now  Little dude helped me hitch up the trailer...  Took a chain to rig up the draglink so it wouldnt steer so wonky...  ...and onto the trailer it went!  Took it to the scrap yard Monday morning, and got $174 for it as it sits. So the total tally is this: Purchase price: $700 sold cats for $100 scrapped bronco for $174 that gets me down to $426, and i still have an electric shift BW1356 to hopefully sell. parts kept: 96 roller cam 351w "parts" E4OD i gave to a coworker mass-air airbox under-hood harness PCM stone deflector cowl black windshield trim fenders fender liners entire power window harness power rearview mirror/illuminated visor harness rear cargo panels tcase skid hard top. Dunno why just wanted it because its green! all told, i think i made out pretty good! |
