Alright we're trying this YT thing.

I recommend watching Joe's video, he's got a pretty good overview of the day in his: 

Heres the highlights from running the trails at AOAA with Ox, Darre & Joe.  It was a rough day for me with issues with the water/meth injection on the drive up, then sinking the bronco in a mud pit and stalling it, and wrecking the alternator as well.  Everybody else did fine!  Got some cool pics though.

I shot some video as did Darrel, so there should be some good videos to watch soon at least! 

Weve got a wheelin trip planned for this weekend, so what better time than to quick cram in an update to the front suspension!
Enter one set of Bilstein 7100s:

We're also swapping from the standard 80-97 F250/350 shock mount, to a set of Rough Country dual shock mounts for a Superduty:

So lets get the old tower removed:

But wait, what's this?

Crack in the frame!  It was far worse than it looked.  But i got it all ground out from top to bottom, and all welded back up, which meant we could get the upper mount installed:

...and shocks!

...and done!

Barely noticeable, but makes a huge difference on the road.  Nice and firm without being stiff.  Definitely what this big heavy truck needed, and just in time to test it out this weekend!

Never got to take the 88 for a test drive.  I got the headlights all set and roughly aimed, with a plan to drive it to work one night and then adjust the headlights to get a good pattern.  But when i went to turn the key, nothing happened.

Well, thats not true.  Something happened.  The column broke!
Im going to give you the abridged version:  the ignition lock cylinder actuator rod broke.

Fortunately, Dorman makes a replacement, which is actually pretty cheap on Amazon.  Unfortunately, replacing it requires the complete disassembly of the steering column:

While i was in there i figured its now or never, and i replaced the turn signal/hazard switch mechanism.  

i spent a couple days cleaning up parts and slowly disassembling/reassembling the column, but all is now well, and the column is back where it belongs!

I do have around 80 pics of the process, so the plan over the next week or so is to get them all resized so i can put together a full gallery of pics on how to completely rebuild the column. 

Got tired of the junky OEM style headlamp housings i have on the 88.  Also, the lens fell off the passenger side turn signal housing!  So i had to replace those anyway.

Went digging around and some some decent looking replacement housing sets on Amazon so i figured why not?  And ordered em.

As expected, theyre typical cheap-ish china made housings.  They didnt include the lower adjuster gear box so i had to swap that over, and the yellow zinc coated studs are total junk so i swapped them for the ones off my original housings (black in the pic)

Aside from that, they seem decent enough.
I bought another set of Hikari LED headlights because i have them in every other vehicle i drive, and they work very well.

Finished and installed, they look pretty good:

They look pretty good, and while i havent driven it yet, i was aiming them at night and the light output is much better, as is the beam pattern.

We're back from the Roundup!
All said, it was a good time.  We arrived wednesday, set up camp, and just chilled out for the day

Towed the 88 out there with the diesel, and Dawn drove the 96 out.  We had a big of an issue with the deisel; during my pre-trip prep, i broke the nozzle for the water-methanol injection!

There was no time to fix it (broke the day before) so we made the trip without it.  Parts are on the counter, we'll get this fixed next week.  So, the Roundup!

Thursday it rained basically the whole day.  People were showing up as the day went on and the campground filled up.  Friday was the official start, which consisted of some street cruises and an offroad trip to Rausch Creek.  We went for the wheelin trip, but the kiddo isnt quite ready for that stuff yet so we bailed early and went back to go hang out in the pool instead.  Friday evening was the SHow N Shine + dinner, and then Saturday was another offroad trip (this one to AOAA) and a street cruise to Pioneer Tunnel, an old coal mine that closed during the great depression.  I wont bore you with family pics, but it is actually a very cool place to go if youre ever in the area.  Once again followed by a big dinner, along with all the club's raffles and awards.  So baring the family photos, we have a collection of pics from the Show N Shine friday night along with a couple misc pics: 

There was a really cool EB done up in a Ghostbusters theme and loaded with all sorts of cool little details.  A beautiful stock uncut one (orange), a lowered 2wd green one with a mod motor (mustang).  A blue one with a black stripe, except it was styled as a topographic map with locations of offroad parks theyve been to.  Of course Joe's monster diesel bronco was there.  I think the most noteworthy though was a beautiful dark green one complete with custom trail used to haul their son's wheelchair, which was super awesome.

In our case, ti was the little dude's first Roundup and he was a little overwhelmed so we kind of kept a low key and just chilled out for the duration, but next year i imagine we'll be a bit more involved.  We're already planning the list of upgrades to get done before then!

Have to make my own collector gaskets, because i dont know the brand of the headers, and i never found a gasket that matched. That said, this time i tried Remflex Gasket Sheet, and im sold. Easiest best stuff i ever worked with.

...and the header reinstalled!

Wrapped part of the y-pipe as well, since its so close to the trans pan.  Hopefully this will help with the trans temps some!

​First impressions are that it works pretty good, but ive only had it idling in the driveway. We'll see how well it does on the trail soon enough

​Already running a 3G alternator in the '88, but its tired and isnt charging properly. Its a 200a unit that i built many years ago, and i dont have time to troubleshoot it before the ECBR next week, so i ordered a new 200a one from Powermaster:

After the Roundup ill put the old one up on the bench, disassemble/clean it, and see if i can fix it for a trail spare.
Also, header wrap!

Wrapped the passenger side header while still installed on the motor, that sucked!  I dont recommend it.

​i pulled the driver header to wrap that one on the bench:

​Tomorrow itll go back in and then hopefully thats the last thing i have to do before the Roundup next week!

The 24th Annual East Coast Bronco Roundup is happening on June 23-25th at Twin Valley Campground.  Its been a few years since weve attended (other than being passengers for trail rides), but this year we'll be there for the whole event, with both the 88 & 96 broncos!  Hope to see everyone there!