Sharp Motorsports 4600 Class Early Bronco

['84 Bronco II]

Not too much of an update today, but I managed to get most of the mounts I won't be using cut off the frame last weekend. I left the factory leaf spring hangers for now since I haven't committed to rear springs yet. I was shocked how much rust was hiding under the rear shock mounts No holes through the frame, but it is obviously a bit thin where it was covered. I might add some plate over those sections depending on what I end up doing for shock mounts.


The pile of removed bits

The frame looking a bit sleeker

I am going to pick up the tubing for the cage tomorrow. Ironically, Craig En Taggert in Las Cruces is the only steel supplier in the state that stocks DOM apparently :rolleyes:



Oh, and Sharp Motorsports swag is now available on TeeSpring!



I hope Austin doesn't mind me pimping my swag on here, but we have men's and women's T-shirts and hoodies. Look good and support the team!

 

[Pitbullcruiser]

Be careful with those jack stands lol.

 

['84 Bronco II]

Be careful with those jack stands lol.

I like to live dangerously

 

[ChrisRWG]

I am going to pick up the tubing for the cage tomorrow. Ironically, Craig En Taggert in Las Cruces is the only steel supplier in the state that stocks DOM apparently :rolleyes:

One supplier in the entire state...damn. Are they at least an okay price or are they selling like they know they are the only ones in NM with DOM tubing?

 

[Austin]

I hope Austin doesn't mind me pimping my swag on here, but we have men's and women's T-shirts and hoodies. Look good and support the team!

Nope. Ordered a hoodie

 

['84 Bronco II]

One supplier in the entire state...damn. Are they at least an okay price or are they selling like they know they are the only ones in NM with DOM tubing?

Not bad (I think ), I paid ~$720 for 4 sticks of 2"x.120", 2 sticks of 1.75"x.120", and 1/2 a stick of 1.5"x.120". I picked up tubing for a couple other guys too when I came down. They don't stock heavy wall DOM for links and such though.

Nope. Ordered a hoodie

Awesome, thanks! Let me know what you are thinking for Irate4x4 logos

 

[ChrisRWG]

Not bad (I think ), I paid ~$720 for 4 sticks of 2"x.120", 2 sticks of 1.75"x.120", and 1/2 a stick of 1.5"x.120". I picked up tubing for a couple other guys too when I came down. They don't stock heavy wall DOM for links and such though

That doesn't seem to bad actually.

Do you plan to make some stickers for purchase?

 

['84 Bronco II]

That doesn't seem to bad actually.

Do you plan to make some stickers for purchase?

I hadn't given much thought about stickers, I might have to look into it if people are interested.


Here's what 300' of DOM looks like (only 130' are for me)

 

['84 Bronco II]

I was finally able to find and read the BOM numbers for the axles from the beater Bronco II; I wish I had found them earlier because it would have saved me some headache The front was 603394-5 and came back as a '73 F100/F150 Dana 44 with 4.09 gears and an open carrier which I had figured out the hard way already. The rear axle was the real mystery since it had 3.5" tubes 9/16" lug nuts with left hand threads and a really heavy-looking center section casting with a non-machined boss for an ABS sensor, but a Dana 60-sized cover. The BOM for that axle was 605212-5 which came back as a 1984-85 E-350 Van SRW Full Float Dana 61 with a 4.10 open carrier. Apparently Dana 61s came with the stronger housings and large-bore spindles unlike standard Dana 60 full float rears, but the pinion is further offset than a regular Dana 60 (in order to accommodate 3.07 gear sets regular Dana 60s can't run) which means 4.10s are as deep as you can go without getting janky with spacers and non-standard bearing races. I had already been keeping my eyes open for a '99+ E350 full float Dana 60U, but I guess I really need to find one now.

For anyone else having trouble finding Dana BOM numbers, both of them were on the passenger-side axle tubes on the side with the cover. The numbers were only about 1/8" tall and not stamped very deeply into the tube which makes them really hard to see with paint, dirt, and/or rust on the tubes.

Dana 44 BOM about 2" to the left of the casting

Dana 61 BOM location

​

Before cutting the front axle housing, I measured the length fo the tubes from the ID with my best tape measure a few times. I hooked the end of the tape on the edge of the tube where it was pressed into the center section next to the carrier bearings and measured to the edge of the ID where the tube was pressed into the "C"s. Then I cut it up and left ~2.75" stubs of the original axle tube sticking out from the differential casting and "C"s to give me plenty of material to make plug welds and to help keep everything straight with the new tube sleeved over it.

The original tubing turned out to not be particularly round and was worst around the center section casting. It seems like whatever tooling Dana Spicer used to press the tubes and assemble the housings caused a bit of deformation creating an interference fit with the ID of the new DOM tubing. I used a sanding drum to take down the high spots and did a lot of test fitting with the DOM tubing to create a snug slip fit. I didn't need to remove a lot of material, but I took my time to avoid taking too much material off.

Then I rough-cut the new DOM tubing to length accounting for the change in inner shaft length by adding and subtracting the difference from my original measurements before cutting the housing. Then I sleeved the rough-cut tubes onto the housing and measured the distance from where the original tube was pressed into the center section to the edge of the ID where it pressed into the "C"s to determine the final amount to turn the DOM tubes down. Afterwards, I chucked the DOM up in a friend's lathe to turn them down to length, square the faces, and bevel the edges for welding. While I was over at that same friend's shop, I put the tubes up on his mill to drill the plug weld holes instead of trying to do it on my crappy Harbor Freight bench-top drill press Proper machine tools are really nice; one day I'll be able to equip my shop with some real equipment

I also got the body tub back from the blaster's. It looks much better without the rattle-can camo job Unfortunately, the blasting revealed a few more cancer areas that will need to be addressed.

 

[FleshEater]

Ordered a tee shirt. Can’t wait to see this done!

 

[Maquet24]

Looks good!

 

['84 Bronco II]

Ordered a tee shirt. Can’t wait to see this done!

Looks good!

Thanks guys! I am looking forward to all these parts laying around my shop to start looking like a rig again.

 

[Austin]

Got my fleece hoodie in yesterday

 

['84 Bronco II]

Got my fleece hoodie in yesterday

Hell yeah!

You just got 100% cooler

 

[Maquet24]

I was thinking about your build tonight. You should definitely make the floor removable/access panels above the trans/tcase. Wishing I had done it with mine.

 

[BUCKWILD]

what Maquet24 said. It is the only way in a rig you will race, no need to remove components to fix and it is much easier to remove trans/tcase with the floor out

 

[Pitbullcruiser]

I was thinking about your build tonight. You should definitely make the floor removable/access panels above the trans/tcase. Wishing I had done it with mine.

Be careful how much you cut into the body.

3.2.2 Stock body (body is considered to be the full cab, including all interior and exterior sheet metal, bed, doors, hood, fenders, grill, etc.) required. The body must be complete and unmodified, with the following limitations and exceptions: Holes may be cut in any part of the body for the single and exclusive purpose of allowing roll cage tubes and transmission/transfer case linkage to pass-through the body.

 

['84 Bronco II]

I was thinking about your build tonight. You should definitely make the floor removable/access panels above the trans/tcase. Wishing I had done it with mine.

what Maquet24 said. It is the only way in a rig you will race, no need to remove components to fix and it is much easier to remove trans/tcase with the floor out

As Pitbullcruiser pointed out, the stock class is super restrictive on body mods, so I don't think removable floor panels would fly. You are allowed to cut the rockers up to the door sill, and make holes for cage tubing and shift linkage to pass through and that is it; all other sheetmetal must be left intact. It would definitely be nice to have access panels in the pits or on the lake bed, but in the shop, I can drop the tranny and transfer case pretty easily with the lift.

I understand why the rules on body mods are so restrictive, but it is kind of annoying at times because it keeps you from doing a lot of really simple mods to make things much better/easier that people do all the time on regular trail rigs.

 

[Maquet24]

Man that sucks. Good catch pitbullcruiser!

 

[arse_sidewards]

As long as the parts of the body you can't cut are the same dimensions they left the factory I think you're solidly within the spirit of the rules. If it were me I'd cut the tunnel then weld some tabs/flanges to the stock sheetmetal so you can pull it. Then I'd bolt it down and spray it with bedliner. If they care tell them to fuck off because it's OEM dimensions. If they still care then weld it in the pit. If they don't care and you need to pull the trans then it's a simple matter of wire wheeling the bedliner off the bolt heads.

 

[ChrisRWG]

They really need to update 4600 rules to make it more accesble IMO. I get not wanting people to hack a body and change the mantra of the class, but yeah access holes for t case should be a no brainer.:rolleyes:

 

['84 Bronco II]

Honestly the trans is pretty easy to pull in an early Bronco, I don't think having removable panels or not will make a huge difference. We'll see how I feel after pulling the C4 out of the other one, but the 3 speed manual wasn't bad in this one.

 

[FleshEater]

T-shirt came in today!

Looks and fits awesome.

 

['84 Bronco II]

T-shirt came in today!

Looks and fits awesome.

Awesome, thanks for the support and the salute

 

['84 Bronco II]

I drew up some fixture pieces in CAD to make a jig for the axle and had a buddy print them out using his 3D printer. They work great and it was waaay easier and cheaper than trying to make something out of metal. The big donut-looking pieces bolt in place of the carrier bearings, and the thinner sleeves with the tapered ends slide into the axle "C"s to keep them concentric with the carrier bearings. I designed everything so I could use a piece of 1.5" DOM I bought for my cage as an alignment bar. Ideally I would have used a larger OD tube for an alignment bar since 1.5" is a little on the flexible side, but the pieces of original axle tube that I am sleeving to have a 1.75" ID which precludes using anything larger.

I also finally go around to installing my 50amp 220V outlets so I can run my welder and plasma set to "Kill" instead of running them on 110V. 175' of 6/3 armored cable isn't cheap

I finally pulled the trigger on some internal pneumatic bead locks so I could get to mounting the tires and wheels I bought last year in anticipation of the build. I went with internal pneumatic bead locks instead of more traditional bead locks for several reasons: they are significantly lighter, they lock the inner bead as well, they help protect the wheel and give some run-flat capability, no bolt torquing, and with wheels, they were cheaper than just about any traditional aluminum bead lock wheel. For wheels,

I went with some 16"x8" Procomp 1069s for that classic 8 hole polished look that is timeless on an early Bronco. I need 16" to clear my brakes, and I looked into swapping my brakes to be able to run a 15" wheel for more sidewall, but all the 8 lug 15" wheels are steel, and I am not willing to step down to 5 or 6 lugs. They were one of the lower cost wheels, but had one of the highest load ratings of anything out there (3,500Lbs.). They are cast instead of forged, but it seems like every traditional wheel under $200/ea and beadlock under $500/ea is as well, so hopefully they hold up. The only thing I really don't like about them is that the valve stem is in a really vulnerable spot, but I think that has as much as anything to do with my sizing (0 offset) which doesn't have a very deep outer lip.

For tires, I bought some 35/12.50-16 bias Trepadors (non-sticky since I have to run a DOT non-sticky). I have had good luck with Maxxis in the past, and the bias Trepador is a mean-looking tire that lots of other competitors in rock sports have been running with success (albeit sticky versions). Justin Reece has won two KOHs on the radial versions, so they should have what it takes.

The install however was a pain in the ass. Here are the highlights, although Coyote Enterprises has a very detailed installation video if you want to get into the nitty-gritty details.

First, you need to sand the inside bead edges of the tires so that they don't cut the inner tube. I used a 1.5" 50 grit drum which worked pretty well.

Then you need to figure out where you are going to put the valve stem hole in the wheel for the inner tube. It needs to be 6-8" clockwise of the normal valve stem hole to help balance the webbing overlap on the bead lock casing. I decided to put the hole on the inboard side of the wheel for protection and since it lined up better with where the inner tube valve stem naturally wanted to be. I mocked the wheel upon the hub, rotor, and caliper to verify clearance before drilling.

After center-punching the location, I drilled into it with a small pilot bit. Then I switched over to a step bit to finish it off which has the nice benefit of making a small chamfer for the O-rings to seat simultaneously.

Next you need to mount the inside bead of the tire and powder up all the bead lock components with talcum powder. Then wrestle everything into place and mount the outside tire bead. This part was a major pain in the ass. It might be easier with wider wheels and tires, but I had a hard time trying to stuff it all together while making sure nothing was pinched or twisted up inside.

Finished product:

 

['84 Bronco II]

The tires weigh about 68 Lbs. each, the wheels 21 Lbs., and the bead lock components 5.5 Lbs. The total for each wheel and tire assembly was ~94.5 Lbs. Not bad considering that most people are well over 100 Lbs. per wheel and tire with traditional bead locks.

After mounting everything up, the tires just looked kind of small to me, so I measured them up. Even brand new at 45 PSI they only measured 34 5/8" tall I was hoping they would be closer to a true 35" tire or maybe a little bigger since the 42" bias Treps measure just under 43".

 

[Arickvan]

whew almost missed it!

ordered a shirt and sweatshirt today

the body mod rules are a bit weird, i think theres been an ref in tech inspection eyeballing it

me and a buddy were arguing about during this koh and found a rule that says you can trim fenders to clear tires as long as it matches OE style

but then found pics of that EV class 4runner when it had a gas motor with big ol radius trimmed fenders 🤷

 

['84 Bronco II]

whew almost missed it!

ordered a shirt and sweatshirt today

the body mod rules are a bit weird, i think theres been an ref in tech inspection eyeballing it

me and a buddy were arguing about during this koh and found a rule that says you can trim fenders to clear tires as long as it matches OE style

but then found pics of that EV class 4runner when it had a gas motor with big ol radius trimmed fenders 🤷

Awesome, thanks for the support!

It seems like they play it a bit fast and loose with the enforcement of the rules at times, but they also don't check for class compliance unless you end up on the podium. There have been instances in the past though where someone was obviously not in compliance with the rules but it got shrugged off because it "it wasn't actually a competitive advantage" -cough- Matt Peterson's WJ -cough-

 

[Arickvan]

Awesome, thanks for the support!

It seems like they play it a bit fast and loose with the enforcement of the rules at times, but they also don't check for class compliance unless you end up on the podium. There have been instances in the past though where someone was obviously not in compliance with the rules but it got shrugged off because it "it wasn't actually a competitive advantage" -cough- Matt Peterson's WJ -cough-

ya i'd play it on the safe side for exterior body and just beat it with a hammer and roll it with a bat

trans tunnel id be willing to risk it, especially if you cut the stock section out and then just add tabs to remount the stock metal

 

[cagcig]

This showed up last week