Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[rookieshooter]

I've noticed a slight problem when I'm on the Interstate doing around 65 to 70 mph. It happens when going up a hill where I had to give it more peddle, and believe going up hills or down is a normal occurrence where I live lol.
It gave the symptom of running out of gas just for a second, and then all I do is to let of the gas for a second and it would be fine.
But not good when passing going up hill.
Always had an idea what it was. And that is the floats not set high enough. which meant a lower fuel level in the fuel bowl. But for this bored out 302 with high comp pistons, cam, headers, MSD Ing. and Edelbrock heads, it needs all the gas it can get. Plus I have the smaller of the
Holly off road carbs.

So went with my hunch to check the fuel level which is no big deal at all.
All you do is to remove the sight plug on the side. In the pic it's the large brass plug you see on side of the fuel bowl.
Bingo, that's what it was. The fuel level should be right at the bottom of the hole when plug is removed. In my case it was about 1/2" below. Not a good thing for this engine. Then couple that with it happening going up hill with the fuel level even worse.



So here is all you have to do. Unscrew the locking screw a few turns with screwdriver. And then while holding the locking screw with screwdriver turn the 5/8" nut clockwise to raise the level in 1/8 to 1/4" turns. Re tighten the locking screw. Make sure the side sight hole is plugged. Start the engine and cut off. Take off the side sight port and check level. I had to do mine couple times cause the gas was about 1/2" down.
When you get the level right, the gas will be at the bottom of the hole.
The below link shows the correct level.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v8...t=M4H02928.mp4
Just rock truck a little and gas should flow out the port.
Then took truck out on the same hills and no hesitation at all going up long hills around 65 mph.

[rookieshooter]

Here's a first generation X owned by a new friend named Scott. He seen my B2 running around town and then was looking on this site and saw the same B2. Contacted me an I went over to his house and we were talking all about suspension design. Were going to hook up and do some of the Raush creek trails. He's been there many times with this truck when it was more tamed looking. His will be most likely be done next year with all the new mods he's doing.
Scott and I plus one of his friends who has a crawler may team up this year and tow Samson up there and do some trails.

Maybe he'll chime in.

[janderson4010]

nice looking cage, can't tell for sure and I don't want to sound like some Pirate a-hole but the top looks like it needs more triangulation, if he rolled to the side there isn't a lot of support to keep the cage from collapsing sideways.

[gingell15]

Yah buddy,look at that truck lookin good,lol. yah we are deff. hookin up and doin wheelin shooter,cant wait to get done so we can hit the trails.thank you again for stoppin by and helping me out. I talked to my buddy hes goin to build me a cross member for my 4 link like you got.started today on rewiring the battery cables.hopefully its not to hott out tommorow so i can finish.

/and to jander my last cage i had on there had alot less support to the cage,i rolled it up at rausch creek couple years ago and it held up,i was susprised it did hold up,lol.this new cage will deff. hold up alot more support then my last one and much better welds.

[Tech7427]

Hey guys, this is rick's son.. He wants me to advise you all that he is ok and still without power out here in WV..Hopefully power will be back shortly, its already been two days.

[rookieshooter]

Thanks Brian for posting that. Not to tie up this thread with what happend during the Derecho wind storm. But I posted this link to show some of the destruction.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...=1#post2994490

[janderson4010]

I thought you were running on an old water wheel in a creek out there or something, didn't even know that WV had power haha . all in good fun I'm glad you are alright, must have been a mighty crazy windstorm.

gingell no offense meant or anything like that. It all depends on the way that you roll, a triangle is the strongest geometric shape, it will distribute load the best. potentially squares in your cage could hinge in on themselves and fold when you roll. Another consideration is that you may be fine but your cage could be ruined, where an over-engineered cage would be ready to take another beating. your fab-work looks really good, its a nice looking cage and im sure it will save you in a rollover, the color is kick ass too haha

[rookieshooter]

Had to order this switch holder to hold the ARB rear toggle switch. It was just delivered today. Instructions say mount where it will be easy to reach while wheeling, well that's a no brainer.
It's sitting about where I'll attach it. Going to keep to the left just in case I go ARB in the front and then it will be mounted next to it. But the Aussie is working great so far.
Next week going to order some DOM for the rear links.

[rookieshooter]

Even though I adjusted the fuel bowl float, I still thought that there was just something not right when I reved it up in the garage or tromped on it on the street. Just did not rev up as quick as it used to. So off comes the bowl.
On first inspection it's just as clean as a whistle. Starting to think there will be nothing wrong in this area.



The metering block was also just as clean.



Took out the first of two jets, and nothing wrong here.



Bingo, the second jet was about 50% blocked. And they're only the #57 jets to begin with.
So in my thinking, that's only 75% efficient. Air hose took quick work of that problem.



While I was dissecting the carb I went ahead and put a weaker spring in so the Vacuum operated secondaries will open sooner. The one on the left is the weaker one. Holley goes by color. But all you have to do is to push on them and very easy to tell.



Click on pic
Now here's what I'm talking about. A whole lot more responsive and quicker rpm's.
These Hollys are just so easy to tune and keep running. At least this off road Holley is. Just as long as we still have atmospheric pressure on the fuel in the bowl, which I think we still do lol and create a negative pressure in the manifold, it'll run.
Really need to get an AN fitting where the fuel line goes to carb like most of it has.

[rookieshooter]

While I'm waiting later this week to order some goodies for the D70 mod so I can get working on that again, as in links and a few other things like maybe front 5.13s and possibly some other items. I'll continue to tune this bad boy up.

I made the exo higher then the fenders so I can lay support across so I can lay on and work on the engine, dang lifted trucks. Going to make one of those cantilever things that you climb up and flips right down on top of the engine this winter or sooner. But this works for now.
Found a few loose rockers so that means not getting as much valve action as I should. Really need to invest in locking nuts for the rockers.
The black pistol grip thing is my remote starter. What I do is make sure the ignition is off and then bring each cylinder up to TDC by watching the intake valve close and then adjust the valves, close enough for me.



Here I'm checking the resistance between the two wires that come from the magnetic pick up in the dist. 600 Ohm's and right in the ball park for what MSD calls for.


Look what I found when I removed the rotor button The grommet is missing where the two wires that I tested come up through the dist. Wonder how long this has been off. The grommet was still on the wires but just below the hole where I could not see it.
That explains why I noticed a miss when I had a water leak at the T-stat while driving. All the incoming air pushed some of the water up into the dist housing.

While the rotor was off I took some very fine sandpaper and cleaned those vanes off. Really not bad considering the years this has been on the truck. I've seen pics of these vanes and pick-ups rusted beyond belief. Has to do with dissimilar metals, ionization and mayonnaise.

Might as well use up some more of the Right Stuff up. No need to let it go bad.
Next I'll Ohm out the MSD spark plug wires. These are those large diameter wires.

[rookieshooter]

Well just received a message from East Coast Gear that they do in fact have the thick 5.13 gear for the High Pinion Dana front 44. That will be ordered by the end of the week. This D70 mod is going a lot faster then what I had planned. All the DOM along with all associated hardware will also be ordered this week or no later then next week.
Wish I could get it in before the Extreme 4x4 class competition at the upcoming Truck National, but just won't happen.

While I'm in my super tune mode. Notice the little gap in the plastic adapter that sits on top of the carb. It's at the top of the plastic ring where it buts up to the body of the carb where the vent attaches to. This is no good cause a small amount of air can leak in once the air cleaner is installed without being filtered.

So again some adhesive RTV was applied around the Boss and also around the perimeter where the adapter sits.

Next was to gently place the adapter in the RTV and then smearing some along the boss area to make an air tight seal.

Done. Also went out today and checked out how it pulled in the 2000 to 3000 rpm range after tightening some loose rocker nuts... Just fantastic. This Comp cam really cranks out some torque just as long there is no, and I mean no backing off of the nuts. I'm talking not even a quarter of a turn. So I guess some locking nuts will be in order.

[rookieshooter]

I've posted on the Parts Wanted forum, so might as well say her what I'm looking for also. Looking for an 8 lug Dana 44 spindle and hubs for my front axle to match the 70 axle.

[janderson4010]

Ive got a jeep 44 thats 8 lug, im not sure the pattern for the spindle is the same though. You would maybe have to get the knuckles too. You need d44 or 10 bolt knuckles from a ford or a chebby probably

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by janderson4010

Ive got a jeep 44 thats 8 lug, im not sure the pattern for the spindle is the same though. You would maybe have to get the knuckles too. You need d44 or 10 bolt knuckles from a ford or a chebby probably

My knuckles will work. Forgot to mention caliper bracket also. Everything from knuckles out is what I need.

[janderson4010]

The other thing is they are flanged, not locking hubs, ill go take a pic this afternoon for you

[rookieshooter]

When it's time to order new rims, I want to keep with 15" rims for several reasons. When the 37' are mounted it will give me a larger foot print when aired down with a lot of deformation. The other and not so important is that if I get this front and rear mods done before I by the 37s next year I might just put these 35s on for awhile.
But the 15" rims cause a little problem with clearing the caliper on the 8 lug. But a little manicuring of the top part of the caliper will solve that problem.
Could go with a lot of backspacing, but I don't see that happening...yet.

[rookieshooter]

Just ordered 4 of these for my top link. After modifying I'll weld it to the top part of my X member. I like the way the holes are layout in a curve to allow for the top link to arc with out adjusting the link. The other end of the link will stay attached to the gusset over the diff.
Got these from A&A who are big in Dirt Racing.
By adjusting the top link I can change the Instant center, roll axis and the all important Anti squat along with a few other things.



And here one of those other things, it's the LCP, now ain't I fancy ha ha or better known as the Lateral Constraint Points. This is close to where the top links imaginary line will intersect even though the actual connecting points are on top of the pumpkin. This is close to the angle of the top links coming from the Xmember. I could have had that point directly on top of pumpkin had I converged both links to one point on top of diff. But I like the strength of two separate points. But in fact coverging behind the diff is actuall a good thing by many.



Now if viewed from the top the two bottom LCPs links (imaginary lines)will converge somewhere near the transfer case even though the connecting points are well in front of the LCP. But it will act as if the links did in fact meet at the transfer case. Hope I make sense.
So with all this mumbo jumbo, it's no more then where imaginary lines that run the center line of your links intersect from a top view to a side view. And now I'm not going to get it right. No such thing as right. l like the guys who spend hours on a computer and say, I want to get it right the first time...BS.
The dynamics change as the trails change.
Then later I may explain all this if viewed from the side where all these imainary lines intersect with vertical lines from front axle and my estimated COG.

But in the end, I'll just wheel the crap out of it and get used to however it handles. The rest is all stuff that can be argued until the cows come home lol.

[janderson4010]

you are right, its easy enough to know what the numbers on your suspension are, plug them into a link calculator, knowing what they mean in the real world is a whole different animal. The real world can be painfully real sometimes haha. Rick ill go get pics of those outers this afternoon for you, its been a long week

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by janderson4010

you are right, its easy enough to know what the numbers on your suspension are, plug them into a link calculator, knowing what they mean in the real world is a whole different animal. The real world can be painfully real sometimes haha. Rick ill go get pics of those outers this afternoon for you, its been a long week

No rush at all. I'm going to go scrounging around some backwoods junkyards where I can roam to my hearts content.
Things are changing around here. Most yards now won't let anyone go through them like the old days. The largest one only a few miles from my house used to let you do that. Now razor wire fence with people in there that I'm not even sure they are legal citizens that go get your part and then charge about 300% too much, complete with sledge hammer marks on the bearing race surfaces. No thanks I'll pull my own spindle thank you very much.

[rookieshooter]

Look what I just received in the mail today Now this is all makes and models of 4x4s just like last year. Don't want to sound too cocky, but would love to send those Jeeps Packin back up on their trailers like last year lol.

The nerve of them not even waving good bye to me tis tis

Also Speedway motors said that they shipped out those brackets that I just ordered this morning, cool. And in a few days I'll order my 5.13 for the front axle from East Coast Gears.