Chuzie's monster transformation

[chuzie]

Day 7 (16 Sep 10)

Objectives for today:
1. Finish fitting rear coils
2. Finish shock hoop install
3. Begin new fuel system installation
4. Install receiver hitch

This is the first real work day since I have returned to the country. The main issue today was to resolve the ride height problem that arose a couple weeks ago when we first attempted to install the rear coils. I spent a couple hours on the phone with the James Duff techs trying to determine what was causing the rear to be 2-3” higher than the front. The first thing Duff’s wanted me to do was remove my massive front bumper and winch just to make sure their weight was not dramatically lowering the front and raising the rear. I removed the bumper and winch and, though the front lifted slightly, it was not nearly enough to fix the ride height issue.
We swapped many measurements trying to find the culprit in the system. We measured coils, both compressed and uncompressed, the height of the coil buckets and towers in relation to the frame, and even eliminated the front coil towers from the suspect list. We determined that it would take about 300 pounds of weight in the rear of the Bronco to get it to level correctly.

The only thing we could come up with is to try and change out the rear coils for another set just in case the current set was a bad. Now we did measure them and the measurements did check out, but we feel like it is necessary in order to fully eliminate the coils as a player just in case they are not compressing correctly. They are slated to arrive tomorrow via UPS so we should have an answer soon. I fear that the last resort, if the new coils do not work, will be to cut them to adjust the ride height. Objective 1 incomplete.





The shock hoops have also been a lingering issue awaiting resolution. Chuck worked on them in my absence and managed to beat them into submission to the point where the tabs hugged the frame enough for a good weld. The only tab he had to cut was on the front upper passenger side. Today he finished welding them to the frame and we painted the mounts black. The driver’s side was then fitted with the dual shocks.


The shocks gave us quite a fight due to the tight fit between the hoops and the bushings. We lubed the bushings and had to beat the shocks into place with a mallet. In retrospect, it would have been much easier if we aligned the shocks in the upper mounts before we installed the hoops. Since we ran out of time, the passenger shocks will have to get installed tomorrow. Objective 2 complete, less the shocks.






The old fuel system was mounted inboard of the driver’s frame and has to be removed due to the installation of the 4-link mounts and radius arm mounts. The plan was to just move it up higher than the frame parallel to its previous position. After much discussion, we decided to install the fuel lines, rear harness, and possibly the brake line inside the driver’s side frame to keep it protected and out of the way.

New fuel lines were fit and I relocated the fuel accumulator and high pressure pump from the rear, near the gas tank and low pressure pump, to the engine bay so the high pressure pump does not have to work so hard to push fuel to the engine. Plus, the relocation means I would not have to use as much expensive high pressure EFI line. It turned out really nice and the HP pump fit quite well under the old tire jack clamp on the wheel well. We are waiting to relocate everything to the inside of the frame until we finish welding the frame mounts for the suspension. Objective 3 complete.



While I was out of town, Chuck started to install the receiver hitch. He ran into a lot of resistance with it not fitting correctly and had to trim a lot of the frame between the frame horns to just get it to slide back far enough to line up with the bolt holes. Since the hitch did not come with any hardware, L, the installation is pending the purchase of ½ hardware for completion. Objective 4 incomplete.



Day 7 complete.
Objective 1 and 4 incomplete
Man Hours worked: 8
Total Project Man Hours: 60