Project "Big Country" - Front Bumper Fab

[broncosbybart]

You gonna have it ready for the fall run at URE? i hope so!!

[SC74]

You gonna have it ready for the fall run at URE? i hope so!!

My goal is Fall Crawl in Harlan - don't know if the budget is going to allow or not.

List of things to do still:

1. Explorer Radiator conversion - fab new mounts, buy radiator/hoses
2. Exhaust - hopefully in the next week this will be done
3. Figure out my link spring rates - too much squat/rise in it. Taking it to the local 4x4 shop to get their advise on spring rates and check the gas in the shocks. This will be right after exhaust.
4. Limit Straps & Bump Stops
5. Front bumper (or cut my PO old one down for now) & get winch operable
6. Gears & Lockers
7. Test run the Gulches at least once or twice before hauling it to KY.

[broncosbybart]

FYI, I bought a Griffin alum rad from Summit for about $170. I went w/the 22" wide rad, but in hindsight should have gotten the 24" rad, as they taper at the bottom. Had to fab mounts, but that would have been needed with whatever I did. You might want to do that vs the Exploder rad. I have heard that they have had issues running the exploder rads.

[SC74]

what upper and lower hoses are you running on the griffin? I want more "buy off the shelf" parts so I can buy a replacement if need be when out of town at any parts house. I will look into that though.. thanks for the heads up.

[SC74]

Add #7 to the list: Fab mounts for ram assist steering

Update: Dropped it off at the exhaust shop this morning and plan on picking it up tuesday. The exhaust guy is a 4x4 enthusiast and has a sick jeep buggy. I showed him the problems I am having in the 4-link and he gave me some good suggestions on how I may be able to lose my rise/squat issues. I will work on that next week and if his suggestions don't work it'll go to the local 4x4 shop who does a lot of link set-ups for their opinion.

Picking up my front gears from Charles next weekend. That will give me the fever to buy the rest and get to work on the axles I hope!

[broncosbybart]

i don't have a set of front gears. these are rears, or at least it came from a 60 rear axle. i'll bring them. if they don't work, no biggie.

you are going to be hard pressed to find an upper hose. I ended up using one of those metal corrugated hoses on the upper. the lower is an off the shelf part, cut to fit. i am running a stock oil cooler though. the hose goes to it, not the water pump inlet. i waded through the hose aisle at advance till i found one that would work. didn't find anything for the upper.

good luck w/the suspension. did you run any numbers on the setup?

[SC74]

Front / Rear - whatever it is I'm happy b/c I don't have anything so far!

Why not an explorer upper - you are running explorer serp also right? Or does the explorer upper mount lower than usual?

No numbers on the 4-link. It's actually a kit from IronBenderII on Classic. It worked perfectly on the test truck, but I think the difference is that I moved my rear back 1 ft. and the lower links mount on the rise in the frame rather than the flt of the frame. If that 1 inch or so makes a difference maybe? The upper links to have 4 positions to mount to at the frame. I'm currently in the very bottom mount so I'm going to move it up to the top and see if it helps. That's the first thing the guy told me today so we will see. His uppers on his buggy are shorter than mine and his lowers are much longer - comparing apples to oranges but it's any easy thing to try and keep my fingers crossed it works!

[broncosbybart]

if you can picture it, the explorer hose is kinda shaped like a handle bar for a road bicycle or a ram's horn. it curves up from the outlet and over the alt and back down to the water neck. the bronco hood sits a lot lower than the explorer hood. naga, naga, naganna work...

[SC74]

if you can picture it, the explorer hose is kinda shaped like a handle bar for a road bicycle or a ram's horn. it curves up from the outlet and over the alt and back down to the water neck. the bronco hood sits a lot lower than the explorer hood. naga, naga, naganna work...

OVER the alternator? Dang didn't realize how low the motor sits in an exploder ... no that won't work for me either. Back to the drawing board AGAIN cratchhe:

[SC74]

The GOOD News for today: Picked the bronco up from the exhaust shop and it sounds great. Wade (who was recommended to me) did a very clean job and I am happy with it. I'm sure my neighbors will be happy with it too :bdent:

The BAD news: I tried the adjustments to my 4-link that Wade suggested and they did not work. It would have been too good to be true - should have known :banghead: Taking a beer break right now and going back out to put things back where they were to start with. Looks like it is going to the 4x4 shop to get tuned on. I should have stuck with leaf springs and saved the money too :crying: