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What did you do for your ford today?

CDA 455 II said:
Ordered longer front brake lines and poly axle pivot bushings.
Click to expand...
Amazon delivered the stuff today.

Energy Suspension box had correct barcode/product #, but contents were for a '98 to '02 4-Runner.:mad3:
Rough Country longer brake lines were advertised as for 4" to 6" lift, but said brake lines are the same length as my factory ones.:mad3:
 
How long do you need?

broncoair.com

Extended Brake Line Set (Front)

80-96 Bronco and F150 Xtra Long (10" over stock) stainless steel braided brakes lines. Made specifically for us by Crown Performance. Like everything we sell, these are simply the best available. Direct replacement for the 80-96 Bronco and F150 with a universal Banjo fitting on the axle side to...
broncoair.com

10" longer than stock

Rough Country's website says their extended lines are 22" long, and for a 4-6" lift, which doesnt make sense. I just measured the lines on my wife's 90 (stock height) at ~20". Specs on Rock Auto's website confirms this. So i dunno where RC is coming up with that length. We're in the parts ordering phase for lifting hers so im currently looking for longer lines as well, but 10" is a bit much.


Edit: Bronco Graveyard has some at 26" long:

Extended Brake Hoses-Broncograveyard.com

shop.broncograveyard.com
 
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reptillikus said:
How long do you need?

broncoair.com

Extended Brake Line Set (Front)

80-96 Bronco and F150 Xtra Long (10" over stock) stainless steel braided brakes lines. Made specifically for us by Crown Performance. Like everything we sell, these are simply the best available. Direct replacement for the 80-96 Bronco and F150 with a universal Banjo fitting on the axle side to...
broncoair.com

10" longer than stock

Rough Country's website says their extended lines are 22" long, and for a 4-6" lift, which doesnt make sense. I just measured the lines on my wife's 90 (stock height) at ~20". Specs on Rock Auto's website confirms this. So i dunno where RC is coming up with that length. We're in the parts ordering phase for lifting hers so im currently looking for longer lines as well, but 10" is a bit much.


Edit: Bronco Graveyard has some at 26" long:

Extended Brake Hoses-Broncograveyard.com

shop.broncograveyard.com
Click to expand...
Exactly; thanks for reconfirming.:beer:

I lifted the front of the Bronco by the frame via welded hitch at frame horns until tires were off the ground.
Found factory original brake lines to be at max length; possibly a bit beyond max.:eek:

So you think 26" is long enough?

$75 vs $95 also.🤔
 
Im looking at those Bronco Graveyard lines for my wife's bronco, which should end up ~4" lift. Im not sure where youre at in regards to amount of lift, but in our case i think 6" longer for a 4" lift will be more than enough. If youre at max length with the front end just hanging like that, and these are 6" longer, i think theyll be plenty long for your truck.
 
reptillikus said:
Im looking at those Bronco Graveyard lines for my wife's bronco, which should end up ~4" lift. Im not sure where youre at in regards to amount of lift, but in our case i think 6" longer for a 4" lift will be more than enough. If youre at max length with the front end just hanging like that, and these are 6" longer, i think theyll be plenty long for your truck.
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Do you have any experience or opinions on Prothane axle pivot bushings?
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Put a big chungus 4 row radiator in the bronco this weekend. Sits on the thermostat, right at 160 :smokin:.

Apparently, even if my A/C condenser isn't being used right now, it disrupts airflow enough to not want to keep an engine cool if you put dinky little 1" core radiators behind them like the previous owner did. Stoked to have this truck back.
20200912_101746.jpg
 
willis_racing said:
Put a big chungus 4 row radiator in the bronco this weekend. Sits on the thermostat, right at 160 :smokin:.

Apparently, even if my A/C condenser isn't being used right now, it disrupts airflow enough to not want to keep an engine cool if you put dinky little 1" core radiators behind them like the previous owner did. Stoked to have this truck back.
20200912_101746.jpg
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nOOB question:
Isn't the ideal/proper temp. 195*F?


What radiator did you install?
 
CDA 455 II said:
nOOB question:
Isn't the ideal/proper temp. 195*F?
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Depends on your definition of ideal I suppose. 160 might make 3-5 more hp, 195 might make the exhaust stank less and get a little more mpg. that's something I intend to play with over time, although T-stats on 300s are a pain in the ass to deal with since they're stood up vertical.

There's also the wives tale of too low of a thermostat causing overheating because of too much water flow, but my understanding of thermodynamics prohibits me from believing that.
CDA 455 II said:
What radiator did you install?
Click to expand...
A Chinesium one :flipoff2:

It was basically the same cost as a parts store rad. I figured why not.
 
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willis_racing said:
Depends on your definition of ideal I suppose. 160 might make 3-5 more hp, 195 might make the exhaust stank less and get a little more mpg. that's something I intend to play with over time, although T-stats on 300s are a pain in the ass to deal with since they're stood up vertical.

There's also the wives tale of too low of a thermostat causing overheating because of too much water flow, but my understanding of thermodynamics prohibits me from believing that.

A Chinesium one :flipoff2:

It was basically the same cost as a parts stor rad. I figured why not.
Click to expand...

My info is old school:
Temps less than 195*F prematurely wears the engine.
Temps more than 195*F prematurely wears the engine.
 
Got a lot of little stuff done on the Bronco.. have some loose ends to tie up before starting the motor:
  • install radiator
  • finish engine bay wiring with the Centech harness
  • get the 23 gal rear tank installed

Earlier I mentioned I would be buying a smog-exempt highboy to build instead of the F150... instead of that plan I bought a much cheaper smog-exempt 2wd F250 that has a nicer cab etc. Going to continue with the 1-ton swap on my F150 and then cut the front frame off (engine -> forward) and splice that onto the F250. Will have to repeat some work here and there (rear axle etc) but in my research its all the front-end stuff that's a pain in the ass. This is all going to occur later on down the road, maybe a couple of years from now (ideally before I have to pass smog again!).
 
CDA 455 II said:
My info is old school:
Temps less than 195*F prematurely wears the engine.
Temps more than 195*F prematurely wears the engine.
Click to expand...
There's a lot to be said for old school info and the pioneers that discovered it.

That being said, the fights found on the internet about this subject make me lose hair.

I personally think that consistent oil changes and other factors having to do with warm-up time affect engine wear characteristics a lot more than an operating temperature swing of 30 degrees. This might be a good idea for a discussion thread in gen 4x4 or something though.
 
Had to fix a thermostat housing leak anyway, so while I was in there I went ahead and put a 195 back in it.

Also chased down a clutch dragging issue I've been having by making a new bushing for the clutch pushrod, and modifying it to be adjustable length. Wasn't getting enough travel out of the slave, despite being fully bled.

20220807_165245.jpg
20220807_181503.jpg
20220808_210222.jpg

Not proud of booger welds, but lack of a good fab table and no workholding method is what it is. If it doesn't break idgaf :laughing:
 
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Clutch fix is tits, 195 thermostat is causing some real funky readings on my temp gauges for some reason but it's not over heating, so no biggie there I guess. Thermostat housing is still weeping for some ungodly reason though. I probably need to flat sand it on the next go around.

I couldn't resist loading up the FoFiddy and heading to the moto track with it though. Thing is classy!
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Figured out why my power locks and power mirrors slowly stopped working the last couple years.

Of course it was pretty much the most difficult connector on the entire truck to get to. Buried under the ebrake/dash support bracket AND inside the body. What a pita.

Now they work, I just put in 2 weather pack connectors since I don’t really have ford connectors.

However after I put it al back together and went to park it, the locks don’t work with the door closed. 😩. So I get to pull it back apart and figure out what that’s about.

And I took my old alarm system out of it before it leaves me stranded somewhere. The key fobs have all basically stopped working, so if the battery dies I can’t turn the alarm off.
 

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Checked front end of the Bronco due what feels to be a:
Dying ball joint or,
Dying tie rod linkage or,
Dying wheel bearings.

Everything checks out except:
Found the center tie rod ball joint (next to pitman arm) loose and when I attempted to tighten it, the bolt spun in place.

Time to order a new left side tie rod.:shaking:🙁
 
I replaced the a/c clutch, still no a/c but one less reason why. It was rattling pretty bad.
Amazon delivered the OBDLinx EX adapter I ordered last night and I downloaded FORScan, hooked it up, pulled all the GEM codes for fixing the 4WD shift-on-the-fly.
 
TrikeKid said:
Carpet! I got pieces for the kick panels too but they need a fair bit of trimming and this took way longer than I planned. I need to put some weights in a few spots to get it laid down but it beats the shit out of bare floors.

PXL_20220813_171311157.jpg
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"Carpet? There's no carpet in baseball...!":flipoff2::laughing:

Having grown up wheelin' in a '68 V6 Kaiser Jeep; that was my baseline on what a utility rig is/should be.

Removing the factory rubber flooring; one section at a time:
1660569859497.jpeg


Before I put the camper in:
1660569580715.jpeg
 
Last Friday was when I worked on the Bronco last.. a little bit of re-doing things:
  • got the trans cooling lines bent/lined up and connected to the transmission, involved re-mounting the exhaust.. all tightened up now.
  • put the radiator in
  • alternator
  • was going to install the battery tray but PO hacked the mount to bits. Bought a replacement mount but PO also welded the shit out of the old one. Removed the grill to drill out the spot welds of the old one but finally decided to just create a patch panel on the hacked one to make it work for now. This Bronco is getting full paint and body in a year or two, I'm trying really hard not to do things I don't have to. With that said the grill had some rusty bolts that caused damage during removal. So, I had to take the grill home and cut those bits out, make new ones, and weld them in:

Before:
IMG_1756.jpg IMG_1754.jpg
After:
IMG_1763.jpg IMG_1762.jpg

As for the 78 F150.. the guy I purchased the 74 F250 from (for a future frame swap to make my F150 smog-exempt) may deliver it next week. Going to have to get the vin verified then start taking what I want from it: fenders, bedsides, tailgate core support, doors, cab, hood, and the frame. Engine, trans, axle, grill, bench seat, are about all I'm going to sell off of it. I have no room to store a whole other vehicle for very long especially with the Bronco restoration and pending 1-ton swap.

Plan for the fenders/bedsides is to cut the wheel wells out in a square shape to be used to "lengthen" the wheel openings of the fenders on the F150 to accomodate the 40" tires and still look original.

The frame swap will happen when I financially recover from all this shit and can afford to start the Godzilla swap. :flipoff2:
 
CDA 455 II said:
"Carpet? There's no carpet in baseball...!":flipoff2::laughing:
Click to expand...
Most of the things I've owned over the years have been bare floored or vinyl mats. Shit my Mustang I even scraped all the sound deadening out since weight loss is cheaper than horsepower. I've gotten soft and kinda enjoy comfortable cruising. Plus I have irreversible brain damage from growing up in a '70's single wide, brown carpet and wood grain reminds me of home. I'm tempted to scrounge up some old wood wall paneling and do the back of the cab with it.

Speaking of carpet, got the passenger side kick panel piece trimmed and installed tonight, need to come up with something to dress the edge. While I was there I went ahead and vacuumed out the passenger cowl end so that it doesn't return to the earth like the driver's side did.
PXL_20220816_030112213.jpg


Also restored on the kick panel vent for the driver's side. Made new foam seals, cleaned off the old duct tape residue and dusted it with a coat of paint, little shinier than I'd like but it looks a ton better than it did.

PXL_20220816_030355927.jpg
 
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