LMC to the rescue! One new 'diesel' bumper with trim: I also ordered new bumper brackets because one of them was bent Removed the trim from across the bottom, and the large braces are next: Original braces cleaned up and painted! Now weve got to put this thing together! Before we do that though, were going to carefully trim the corner of the bumper, to make some room for the 35s. Before: And after: Its a decent amount of material, but once the bumper is installed you dont even notice its missing. So moving on, brackets, braces & trim installed, next up is the moulding! ...and the finished product! Heres a close-up of the corner. You cant even tell it was cut. Overall this is a decent bumper. As youd expect of the aftermarket, its a little thinner than the OEM bumper, but it looks good, and all the holes were in the right place, so i cant complain too much. I do like the look of this bumper more than the solid XL bumper, i just wish it didnt have to get swapped under these circumstances. I got the front-end alignment adjusted during the week, so we're good to go to drive this thing again! Swerved to dodge a car in the snow this morning, ended up losing it and hitting a guardrail. Shoulda had the hubs locked in, oh well too late now. Caught it dead in-line with the frame horn. The whole bumper is twisted, so thats gonna have to go Frame horn is bent in slightly, as is the bumper bracket Steering wheel is crooked so its gonna need a front-end alignment. Still snowing so i dug out the diesel (which i never did from the big storm last week) so i can drive that to work tonight. Ive got a plan for tomorrow to straighten the frame horn, and then ive got to come up with a plan for a new front bumper. It lives again! What a crazy adventure. So we had the storms from the hurricane that dumped almost two feet of rain on us which definitely delayed me! A poorly installed intake gasket that i re-did, new Ford Racing lifters, and the craziest coolant leak youve ever seen that led to swapping out for a different set of stock heads, but finally she's a runner once more! Hopefully there will be no more problems popping up, cuz i am ready to turn some wrenches on the big bronco and finally get her running again! Got the heads off today: #4 was definitely blown Luckliy the rest of the motor appears ok, so i guess im get some gaskets and put it back together! Just pulled the #4 plug: Cylinder was full of coolant. Pretty obvious i blew the head gasket. So i guess im gonna put a parts list together so i can start tearing into it monday. Ole reliable had to tow her home today. Guessing i blew a head gasket on my way in to work last night. Motor was hydrolocked in the parking lot, guessing it filled up during the shift since it didnt overheat on the way in. Towed it home, its at the garage door now awaiting repairs. Drained a gallon of coolant out of the oil pan! I wont really be able to tear into it next week, but im guessing passenger head gasket. Got all spark plugs out in parking lot at work except #4 as i didnt have a socket that would clear the header. #3 was was sparkly, like it was burning coolant. Guessing #4 will be as well. Couple months later, the bornco is still handling like a champ! Wish i flipped the steering sooner. Tires are wearing so much better now too. So ive hard the hard top off since memorial day, and the XL rear cardboard panels are getting a bit rough: I cant find XLT rear panels anywhere, so i went to the local scrap yard, and found a huge sheet of 1/4" thick black plastic for $20! So i made my own: Laying out the second panel. The sheet was just barely big enough to make both: cheapy sound deadener from Amazon: First panel installed: I used the rear speaker grills out of my '88 since the cardboard panels didnt use any. I still need to find another pair because sooner or later these are going to end up back in the '88 again! ...and both done! Im pretty happy with how they came out, altho if i ever find some XLT panels im still gonna get em. Picked up the bronco this morning. Handles really nice with good tires up front. I was really close on the alignment, and now its perfect. Passed insp with flying colors too, so we're good to go! aka "Fixing" the Steering. So ive been chasing alignment issues. Basically, the theory is that the F250 pitman arm doesnt drop enough for the 2.5" lift, and its causing camber in turns. Truck looks good on a rack, but continues to wear the front tires. The obvious solution is a drop pitman arm. But thats too easy! So lets make it more complicated! Steering angles before we started: So i bought some Ford tie rod sleeves from Sky Manufacturing Hole drilled out to 7/8", sleeve going in with some red loctite: tie rod's new home: Check those angles, and that ground clearance! Piece of cake, right? WRONG! Now the tie rods hit the sway bar. So, here we go! Cut the end links in half. I extended them about 1.5" using 3/4" steel rod; i thought i had a pic but apparently i dont. Endlink halves reinstalled, but on the opposite side of the bronco. 8" piece of 1" tubing to extend the link. Its crazy, but the way Ford made the bar, it totally fits just fine like this. Decided to drill/bolt the 3 pieces together: ...and just like that, sway bar disconnects! New poly bushings.... ...and done! Bronco needs an inspection, so while its there im going to have them double check my driveway alignment, see how far off i got it. Only went around the block and that was before re-adjusting toe, so i cant give a final opinion on if it handles any better/worse yet. And now, the finished product: So this pretty much finishes off this round of mods. Couple little things id still like to do, but for now im calling it done! (Again, lol) |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2024
|