68 Bronco

[chuzie]

Would a new tie rod end not be comparable to the cost of a tap and die that size?

Sent from my GS3 on Cyanogenmod with T2.

[wepuckett]

I will check but from everything I am seeing on thier sites at least locally they are 100 plus even wild horses just for a tie rod is 40. The last die I bought was only about $7 tap even less and I have a coupon for ace for $5 off my next purchase plus I will have that size in place if I need it for anything else on the bronco as long as I own it.

[chuzie]

I stand corrected.

Sent from my GS3 on Cyanogenmod with T2.

[Crawdad]

I wouldn't waste money on one die. A good investment would be a jewelers file set. It's a fine file that corrects boogered up threads. We aren't allowed to chase threads with a die on airplane bolts, but we can remove a nick with such a file. A jewelers file set will go a long way on future stuff. I had a "quality tap and die" set from HF. It goes up to 1/2-20 and for the price ($45) it does well, but keep it away from humidity!

[wepuckett]

Well let me say first I misspoke a little as it was a tie rod end if I am getting names right but it was one of the two ends on the bar that connects from the pitman arm to the left tie rod end and at orielies the only one they could get is 250 so as for the die and tap got it, and most kits I looked at didn't have this size anyways, I picked the 9/16-18 tap and die up for 16 at ace and would of cost me at least 20 to drive to hf or somewhere that might have that jewlers set, but a good option to look up and add to the christmas list to help avoid future issues.

[wepuckett]

Well got it all installed after cleaning out the threads there was a lot of junk that came out of the nut when I screwed it over the tap had to roll it up and down the tap like 4 times to get all the junk in the threads out. After getting it installed I got the tire back on and dropped it down and moved it away from the edge of the drive way so i will have room to work when I jack the rear end up and take it out. Still not sure if I can use the entire rear end or will need to swap the suspension over to the current rear end in the 68 as the rear end with the suspension on it currently is a 66. Thinking I will have to swap it all over unless I wanna add shock hoops to the rear as 66 has the shocks facing forward instead of to the rear of the bronco.

And as promissed here are some pics it is gonna have a nice stance to it when I get this all installed.

[wepuckett]

Well got back on it and got the rear end out, after the troubles I had disasembling the last few thought I would have a headache but it actually came out fairly easy. So I will need new rear shocks as well, any suggestions there? Gonna take the cut off wheel to the ubolts on the axle I just pulled as there are brand new ubolts on the other axle with the 11 pack leaf springs.

Ok a few ?'s
Are there any torque specs I need to be aware of?
The nuts on the ubolts with nylon inside are they reusable or do I need to replace them after I take them off the other axle?
What rear shocks does everyone recomend?
Do I need to install the leaf back on the other axle or on the bronco 1st?
Is there a trick to getting the emergency brake cables out so I can put the new extended one's in?
Any lessons learned along the way that you all wanna pass on is greatly apreciated.

Thanks
William

[chuzie]

I think Bart mentioned it earlier, perhaps in another thread, but don't over-torque the u-bolts on the drive shaft.

Replace the nyloks on the spring u-bolts though. Those are not checked as often as a drive shaft and they will come lose when you least expect it. The couple bucks are worth the piece of mind.

Most folks go with stock hydros from one of the vendors. 70/30 are popular. If you are going to run a softer spring set, I suggest running nitrogen. They are more responsive in dampening and stabilizing, especially on the road. I run M95 nitros and 70/30 hydros on the rear on my quad setup.

Install on Bronco first to ensure everything lines up correctly on the axle.

Adjust the e-brake out all the way. If they won't come loose, remove the c-clips for some extra movement since they have to come out anyway.

Take note which direction the springs are installed. There IS a front and a back.

[wepuckett]

Ok I went to get new hardware for the leaf springs so I could get them installed as the old bolts and nuts are well old and bent that came off the 68. I think the old nuts are nyloc inserts but there is no nyloc left to verify, and none of the hardware stores have anything that size and nyloc just plain nuts.
The kit broncograveyard sells is nyloc http://shop.broncograveyard.com/Rear-Spr...nfo/13259/
Also what do they have flat washers in thier kit for as none where on when I took the bolts off?

Should I put a lock washer on to be safe?
Are there any torque specs for the leaf springs?
hate not having instructions for the install of the lift kit and couldn't find any on bronco graveyards site where it came from I could down load.

[chuzie]

Nylok and lock washers are overboard. Just get regular nuts and use lock washers; no biggie. Use flat washers on either side too. Torque 50-80 ft-lbs.

As a general rule, just cuz it's not on the old one does mean it doesn't belong.

Sent from my GS3 on Cyanogenmod with T2.