Tuesday Tech Tip #6 Hood Clearance Options

Our Bronco picture of the day:

 photo courtesy of Oracle Lighting

Classic Broncos were not designed with hood clearance in mind. The front axle is centered under the motor, which means the motor has to sit high in the frame which in turn limits hood clearance.

When running a high rise manifold or fuel injection or even just a tall air cleaner, you need to make some room. There are several options...

There are plenty of generic bolt/rivet on scoops like the cowl induction style available from Summit Racing

 or the newer Dodge style

You could go with an old school Plymouth Six Pack style (my Dad has one of these on his Bronco)

Sticking with the old school theme, you could run a Ford Power Bubble, made popular by the Fairlane Thunderbolt drag cars

 

BC Broncos offers a Boss 429 style hood scoop 

You could go with the classic hood bubble from James Duff. They are only $89 and provide 4" of extra clearance. I am running one of these on my Bronco

Fiberglass Specialties offers a similar one with cast in divots, price is $90

You can also get an entire fiberglass hood with the bubble molded in for $349.95, also from Fiberglass Specialties

This cowl induction style hood from Rocky Roads retails for $395 see it here

 TerraComp offers several styles of fiberglass hoods including a cowl induction style

and one with a molded Boss 429 style hood scoop

Bronco Works is offering their version of the cowl induction fiberglass hood with vents for added cooling. The price is $425

Tom's Bronco parts sells the original High Country hood for $499

Wild Horses Four Wheel Drive sells one of the coolest hoods on the market, they call this the "Buckaroo", it reminiscent of the Pontiac "Ram-Air" style. The hood will set you back $559 quid

The folks at Bronco Design came up with one of a different flavor. I have yet to see one of these on a Bronco, you you may be the first on your block with one! The price is reasonable too at just $350

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.

Bronco of the Day 12-18-15

The Bronco of the Day is a project vehicle built for Skyjacker's 40th Anniversary.

The 1976 Bronco features parts from Skyjacker, Hanson, WARN Industries, Bushwacker, Bestop, JW Speaker, Winn Trim, WeatherTech, BFGoodrich, BMF Wheels, McGard, JE Reel, Hedman Hedders and SSBC.

“With 2014 being our 40th anniversary, it was clear that there was no better vehicle to build than the one that started it all,” said Lonnie McCurry Sr, CEO and president of Skyjacker Suspensions. “When Matchbox approached us about working in conjunction with them on a toy replica, it was not only an honor and a privilege, but a natural fit. After all, we are a family business with multiple generations running operations and we want to inspire the future generations to join the off-road community. Creating a real-size and toy-size edition of this landmark vehicle will do just that.”
The toy-sized version of the Bronco was released in the fall.

Credits
The Shop Mag




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.

Bronco of the Day 12-11-15

...and now for something completely different.... A Classic Bronco with some parts made from wood....

 The license plate says "CHRRY77"

The door hinges are actual house style door hinges

Famous Broncos part 4

This Bronco saw duty in the FX series Sons of Anarchy

This 1967 Bronco was featured in the 2001 movie Zoolander starring Ben Stiller

Hot Wheels made a mini dies cast version of the movie Bronco 

This Bronco was built on the History Channel show Counting Cars by Count's Kustoms in Las Vegas.

This California 1/2 cab was featured on a calendar given away to customer of Shucks/Kragen/Checker Auto Supply stores.

 This Monster Bronco appeared at events across the country in the '80's & early '90's....I wonder where it is now?

 The 1975 movie The Eiger Sanction starred Clint Eastwood and this Baja Bronco. I wonder if one of the Broncos in the Baja Bronco Registry is the one from the movie?

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.

Bronco of the Day 12-5-15

Today's Bronco of the Day comes from the Rockstar Performance Garage:

After the Body parts from Wild Horses were installed we focused on Gears and axles from Nitro gears, a crate engine from Lucas Oil showed up using a Ford racing 363 power plant. Fuel was delivered by Fast technologies with EFI and delivered by automotive. Power transferred by Advanced Adapters with an Atlas 2 keep it stable.

K&N Filters, Mishimoto, CVR, Odyssey batteries and Heatshield products wrapped up the engine bay with parts needed. Bullet liner sprayed the entire body in a blend of balck and white Bulletliner truck bed coating giving it an aggressive look that’s durable off-road.

The suspension was one of the crucial parts on the Bronco, turning to Rockkrawler and Genright we created a three link front with a dual triangulated 4 link rear with coil overs.  Creating the perfect blend of desert and rock capable beast…
The builders created this computer concept before building the early Bronco.

Credits
Rockstar Performance Garage
Dakota Digital
Bilinski Bros Photos

Tuesday Tech Tip #5 - New Tie Rods

The Bronco Picture of the Day:

This weeks tech tip is about steering tie rods and drag links. I performed this modification on my Bronco a few years back after seeing it on Broncofix.com, the following was cut and pasted from their website

Tools or Materials

1.250 OD x 0.812 ID DOM for the tie rod.
Tie rod tube should be about 38" for stock early Bronco knuckles (39.5" for 76-77 disk knuckles) and drag link should be about 25" for high misalignment ends and 27" if using the tie rod ends for the drag link. If using the F-series box and the high misalignment ends, then the drag link tube length should be 18.75".
Source
http://www.onlinemetals.com

I got my tubing from Specialty Metals in Kent, WA 

7/8" x 18 UNEF extra fine left and right hand taps
Source
Travers Tool Co, Inc
14-056-182 (plug style)7/8-18 right hand $20.47
McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com
2595A424 7/8-18 right hand $49
2595A999 7/8-18 left hand $108 (Special order)
MSC Direct http://www.mscdirect.com/

7 degree reamer
Source.
Afco Racing $120 p/n 80770 http://www.afcoracing.com
Stock Car Products $80 p/n R8201 http://www.stockcarproducts.com/
Goodson $50 p/n TR-216-2 http://www.goodson.com/


Tie Rod Ends
1. Passenger side tie rod (with hole and regular misalignment) Source: 85 Blazer 

2. Driver side tie rod regular misalignment) Source: 85 Blazer

3. Passenger side drag link end (high misalignment) 

4. Pitman arm side drag link end (high misalignment) 

Source
 
Autozone:
1. ES2233L pass side tie rod 
2. ES2234R driver side tie rod
3. ES2027L high misalignment drag link end
4. ES2026R high misalignment drag link end

The tie rod ends should come with the jam nuts, but the drag links won't. You'll need one extra right hand thread jam nut and one extra left hand thread jam nut
 
Source
Chevy dealer:
P/N:14026805 (left hand)
P/N: 14026806 (right hand)


The nut is a 7/8 -18 Right & Left hand thread, you might be able to rob an early to lat 80's Chevy or GMC 4wd Blazer, Jimmy, Suburban, or pick-up in the local wrecking yard.



After I cut the tubing to length and threaded it, I had to ream my knuckles from the top side. 
Then I had to raise my track bar mount. This is for two reasons. 1. the bolt will hit the drag link and prevent full travel of the steering and 2. it will align the arc of travel with the drag link, eliminating bump steer.

After the installation, you cannot see the track bar behind the drag link, it is perfectly aligned with the drag link.

Here are the list of benefits earned from this swap:

1. Bump steer is eliminated
2. The steering tie rods sit up higher, avoiding damage
3. The tie rod ends are all replaceable with easily found components
4. The tie rod ends are stronger than the factory Bronco units.