Because tomorrow is Halloween...the night that monsters come out ...I figured I would make today's Bronco of the Day, some Monster Broncos:
This is the Monster Bronco that became known as Hog Machine
Th owner replaced those tractor tires with some 73 x 44 x 32 Goodyear Terra Tires
This picture was taken in Gunnison, Colorado, not sure of the date
This one is more recent, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest
The pictures above were found freely on the world wide web
and are used under the guidelines of Fair Use, per Title 17 of the U.S.
Code. Where possible the source has been credited.
If you own the copyright to any of these images and wish them to be credited or removed, please contact me immediately.
This weeks Throwback Thursday is a magazine test of the then new 1966 Ford Bronco....
Before we get to the Tech Tip we have the Bronco picture of the day:
photos courtesy of
Powertank
Brakes are the most important piece of equipment on any vehicle, no argument there.
Until 1976 Broncos came equipped with drum brakes on the front. These work OK when new, but when they get old and rusty (exacerbated by off-road adventuring). They don't work so well.
Once I ran into a gas station to get some gas for my lawn mower...I ran into the gas station....well actually it was a garage can, but my brakes had gone tango uniform.
So what is the best and or cheapest way to get disc brakes on your Classic Bronco?
You could buy a complete front axle from a '76 or '77 Bronco...not cheap
photo courtesy of Tom's Bronco Parts
You could buy this kit like this one from Tom's Bronco Parts which has everything you need....(it uses Chevy Parts)
You could also rob the parts from a '76-'79 F-150 or '78/'79 full size Bronco, but you would need everything from the ball joints out. This is because the F-150 used a larger bolt pattern on their spindles.
Ford on right, Chevy on the left
This is the route I took, my front axle needed ball joints anyway and I had free access to a good used '77 F-150 front axle. This required me to install new tie rods (which we will go over next week).
See a great write up on the Classic Bronco Forum here
There is another route, the kit from Tom's Bronco parts above uses Chevy spindles that have the same bolt pattern as the Broncos, in addition, the Ford disc brake hub from an F-150 will fit the Chevy spindle. Luckily these parts are available cheap from wrecking yards. So if you don't mind using bowtie parts on your Bronco.....
Here is the list of parts you will need:
Junkyard pieces:
- One pair of spindles from a 1972-1979 Chevy/GMC Blazer/Jimmy or 1/2 ton pick-up (make sure it has the Dana 44 front axle)
- One pair of hubs from a 1976-1979 (you may be able to go as late as 1986) Ford F-150.
New Pieces
- One pair of Calipers & pads for a 1972-1976 Chevy/GMC Blazer/Jimmy or 1/2 ton pick-up
- One pair of Ford rotors (better to buy new) to fit a '76-'79 Ford F-150/Bronco
- Bearings, races and seals for the F-150 hubs
- Flexible brake lines and banjo bolts to fit the Chevy calipers
- New Master Cylinder for a '76/'77 Bronco with manual disc brakes (unless of course you have already updated your rig with a power booster). This is important as the drum brake master cylinders use a residual pressure valve.
Modifications:
You will need to grind a bit on the steering knuckle to clear the Chevy calipers.
There is one more small modification needed to make this work (although any claim this is unnecessary). Because the Chevy spindles are 1/4" longer that the Bronco spindles, you will not be able to install the snap ring to hold the spindle to the axle in unlikely event of a broken spindle...
no worries, the end of your stub axles are threaded, simply find a bolt that fits the thread and a fender washer of the correct size (slightly larger than the axle diameter)
credits
Bronco Fix
Fourwheeler
racycj
Happy Monday!
Today's Bronco of the Day comes from Fuel Off-Road
The pictures above were found freely on the world wide web
and are used under the guidelines of Fair Use, per Title 17 of the U.S.
Code. Where possible the source has been credited.
If you own the copyright to any of these images and wish them to be credited or removed, please contact me immediately.
Today we will look at Broncos that are famous for one reason or another...
This will be a multi-part series, there are several to go over.
We should start with one of the most famous Broncos...The Big Oly Bronco.
Although not really much of a Bronco, it was built on a two-wheel drive concept vehicle, custom suspension was added, a 351 Windsor motor, automatic transmission (before Ford began offering them in a Bronco....again this was more of a 2wd truck), custom suspension and custom body. About the only thing it shares with a real Classic Bronco is its shadow.... See the detailed story here
The iconic Bronco has been the subject of a few tribute Broncos
This one dates back to 1966, to help the new Bronco get exposure Ford had custom car builder George Barris (of the Batmobile fame) build a customized roadster called the "Dune Duster". Ford displayed the Bronco at car shows and promotional events
This next one is famous for being built on TV. The Discovery Channel had a show on for a few seasons called Monster Garage, hosted by Jesse James, the owner of West Coast Choppers.
At any rate, they took a standard Classic Bronco and turned it into a rock climbing, 4 wheel steering rock buggy.
This next one is famous because it helped launch a business, if you know who James Duff is then you probably have heard of or even seen the Pony Express Bronco. I have seen it in person, it was just out of the shop, freshly restored to its 1970's glory.
This one was in a movie....although you may not have seen it, this is from the 2008 movie Role Models
The pictures above were found freely on the world wide web
and are used under the guidelines of Fair Use, per Title 17 of the U.S.
Code. Where possible the source has been credited.
If you own the copyright to any of these images and wish them to be credited or removed, please contact me immediately.
