Chuzie's monster transformation

[SC74]

Very good build thread! Look forward to seeing more pics and progress. I'm surprised your bronco fit in the shop with that monster front bumper :hysterical:

[blazinchuck]

Very good build thread! Look forward to seeing more pics and progress. I'm surprised your bronco fit in the shop with that monster front bumper :hysterical:

:hysterical::bdent: yeah i was thinking the same thing....hehe. we might be bringing my old bumper back into action! maybe redesign it some and do a swap-out with his:drinkbud:

[chuzie]

I'm still on the fence with that idea. I am very attached to the aircraft carrier I have on the front end.

[snipes243]

Nice Man Let me know what parts are good that You took off

[firefighter2134]

super job! great pics. u gonna have it ready for november? chuck you have some competition..and its not even stock..lmao

[berg bronco]

who needs instructions when we have a play by play! i really enjoy looking at this thread keep it coming.

[chuzie]

Day 3 (28 Aug 10)
Objectives for today:
1. Install shock hoops
2. Install new radius arm mounts
3. Remove, clean, paint, and install front axle
4. Install new radius arms
5. Install HD lower coil spring retainers
6. Install coils
7. Install rock guards

We started the day with the goal of buttoning up the front suspension so the Bronco will be mobile in the likely event I have to go on a 15-day government vacation next week.

The evening prior I spoke with the staff at James Duff to determine how they were going to fix the existing issues of the missing 4-link hardware and the shock hoop mounting problem. They have apparently started distribution of a newer version of their 4-link kit. This newer version has straight lower links and eliminates a portion of the hardware kit. Unfortunately, the documentation they sent with the kit did not reflect this change. The bottom line is I have all the parts I need.

As for the shock hoops, we are nowhere further now than when we started. I sent the hoop pictures to JD on Friday morning but they took until 5pm to tell me they didn't get them . I will have to wait until Monday for a potential solution which will either involve a new set of hoops or a reduction in $$$ since we will have to modify them to fit properly. So it goes without saying that, right off the bat, objective 1 is incomplete.

The radius arm mounts were already slaved in and marked for correct position, so we prepared the contact edges for welding, double checked the measurements one last time, and tacked them into place. Objective 2 complete.



The axle was removed, brake lines plugged, and differential breather capped. We moved it outside to soak in degreaser, pressure wash, and paint. After cleaning, I made the comment that the axle looked much thinner than before; less dirt and muck. We also found that the bottom of the differential was tapped and plugged for ease of draining; great find for future use- I never would have found it otherwise. Once the paint was dry, we positioned it under the Bronco for installation. Objective 3 complete.





The new radius arms are HEAVY and bulky. We had a little difficulty inserting the new head units into the arms as the bushings had a tendency to expand outward due to the excessive lithium grease lube job on my behalf. Don't hate, I just don't want this thing to squeak, ever. We found that our problem was our attempt to install them directly from the front where the ears of the radius arm are narrower. Instead, we fed them from the top down which worked out well. We installed the hardware and torqued the bolts to 150 ft-lbs with caution not to over tighten as it may limit travel. We also installed the 1" rod ends into the radius arms making sure to coat them in anti-seize.





Installing the new radius arms is certainly a two man job considering the weight and movement involved. Our first attempt at mounting the arms to the frame brackets was met by resistance due to the power coating. The second spacer just would not fit so, rather than force it in with a BFH, we opted to grind off some of the powder coating from the inside of the brackets. Even after grinding the powder coating, there was a lot of resistance but it was an amount we were able to work with to properly position the hardware and install the arms.





Once the aft sections of the arms were installed, we headed for the front caps on the axle. We completely coated the C bushings and axle mounts in lithium grease. Then we triple checked the markings on the bushings to ensure we had them in the correct positions before installing them. Actually getting the caps to mate to the head units was a bit of a pain considering the axle was in a new position and the bushings had not been previously mated. We found that the new cap bolts were too short to mate the cap to the head initially. We used the old stock bolts, which were longer, to get the process started and then swapped them out for the new bolts. We torqued the cap bolts to specification using an X pattern. Objective 4 complete.





Our next task was pretty simple. We installed the heavy duty lower coil spring retainers. The kit did not come with these retainers so the option does cost some extra $$$ but I am told it is well worth the investment. Each spring retainer is marked with a "D" or a "P" so assigning the spring retainers to the correct location is simple. There are three holes for different mounting options. If you use your head, the correct holes to use are pretty obvious. We also noted that our version of the coil spring retainer installation data incorrectly depicted the proper mounting holes; just be aware. Objective 5 complete.



The coils were a fairly quick install as well. The only issue we ran into was the passenger coil spring retainer was not accepting the coil as it should. We found the retainer was welded too short so we had to coax it back up a tad to get the spring to fit. The upper retainers were then installed on the towers and the coils were done. Objective 6 complete.







Once we had the coils installed, we mated the tires to obtain an estimate of the front ride height. The previous ride height with the 5.5" suspension lift, 2" body, and 35" tires was measured at 45.5" from our reference point. The new ride height is 43". I am interested to see how the rear suspension will further effect that number; so far so good though.

Since the shock hoops are not installed, the front suspension cannot be complete and we will not start on the rear suspension installation as a result. To make the most effective use of our time, we installed the rock guards. These heavy suckers are 1/4" steel, so we had to use a jack to slave them into position. We centered the nerf bars under the door but found that the rear of the guard panels extended into my fender flares. We had 4 options at that point. 1: Cut the fender flare 2: Cut the rock guard 3: Slide the rock guard forward or 4: mate the fender flare on top of the guard. We decided to go with option 4 since it would be more aesthetically pleasing and I cannot bare to cut my new rock guards at the expense of my fender flares.

Chuck marked the holes, we pulled it off, then started drilling, priming, and painting. The kit uses nutserts to secure the guard to the rocker panel. We decided to use a rubberized protective coating on the back side of the guard, black paint on the front side, and black paint on the rockers to prevent corrosion. Since I cheaped out on the black paint, we were unable to install the rock guards as they paint was not dry and we were out of time for the day. Objective 7 incomplete.









Day 3 complete.
Objectives 1 and 7 incomplete.
Man Hours worked: 12
Total Project Man Hours: 31

[blazinchuck]

what a day!...my body is soar...lol. looking great mike! cant wait til that front is done!

[firefighter2134]

great job! keep up good work. thats just bad azzzzz

[josephitguy]

Chuck is IRONMAN! :hysterical: