Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[janderson4010]

Ricks BII is either black now or there are some dead critters that aint runnin round no more

 

[rookieshooter]

Ricks BII is either black now or there are some dead critters that aint runnin round no more

Nope,just waiting for around June 11 to order the paint

I promise the next few vids will be from another perspective.

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Who said a radius arm rear won't flex. Notice how level the body stays compared to the axle.

In the mean time I wanted to see how the rear wristed radius arm is working but only from a different perspective. Now this is with the pin removed.
It's like having your cake and eating it to. Pinned for street and flexy for trails.
It is totally amazing dirving this on dirt or gravel roads with the rear pin removed. It just floats over all the bumps. Might do a short vid on how funny this truck does on asphalt without the pin, I telling you it will flex like crazy just going around a turn. You should see the looks on peoples faces. OK on back country windy roads with no more then a 45 mph speed limit.

Now to see how the wristed end of the axle does.
Watch it slide in the top bracket where the pin is removed. This also has the girdle that I made to make sure it stays lined up when it really gets all twisted up. ha ha
I bet not too many have seen a video like this one or probably a better chance to have seen a similar one like the first.

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And need to see how the front is doing. Still need to do a spring change.
But waiting to see if I get larger dia. shaft and longer travel ones first.

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For me this is just so informative. There is just so much to check out.
Like it looks like the Atlas Fluid is a little low.
I really need to do this where there are some rocks.

Did find one small rock about 10 feet back in the brush ha ha
Hey just realized I need to put my transfer skid plate back on.

Click it, and you thought tube doors were just to keep someone in.
Camera mount maybe? Just need some isolator material.

 

[rookieshooter]

Ok sense I'm in this video taking frame of mind ha ha. I went out this fine morning and did some flexing to find problems or and just to get a good picture of what is just going on with this truck since so many mods have been done.

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My banged up legs and knees are not what the used to be.

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I love the way you can see the two different angles of the front and rear axles as it is coming at you. It also looks like I need to extend the rear vent line.

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Heard an awful racket which I was sure what it was, check it out.
I need to cut some more sheet metal that is still hanging down below the exo.
I'll also most likely re-shape the angle exo part that is to the left of the tire so it's not so sharp an angle and then have it come higher up where it runs parallel under the brake light. This will be a must do if I do go to 37"s or higher next spring. Hey, i would get bored real quick if there was nothing to do on this rig.

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I'll call this one... Unbridled Torque
I left the rear axle un-pinned or wristed. Normally I would have put the pin back in, but it was on slow speed limit roads.
You can see from the pic that you click on that it was already doing the twist.
Check out how Sampson gets all twisted up when I step on the loud peddle. Does make for a super smooth ride though.

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Here is my front fender cam vid. I'll call this one...Good approach angle.
That hill is steeper then what it appears. You can tell by how close the front end gets before it starts up. Had the camera been mounted on the front bumper it would have been better, but might not have had a camera then.

Hope you have fun watching them as i did making them.

 

[rookieshooter]

Here is the reason for all noise that reminded me of the fact that I was supposed to do this after the larger dia. tires, Oops.

Now that's a little better, now to raise the suspension by another inch.

Just need to turn the ring on the coilover for that.
Also I'm going to do some adjusting to the 4 link and track bar due to all the suspension mods.
This is a never ending job to tweak the best flex.

Also checking out the condition of the bushings including the welded studs. After inserting a steel rod through the bolt hole and rotating the bearing found out that they were as tight as the day I put them in...good news here, they're expensive but in the long run it seems they will be worth it in how tight the suspension and steering remains. Tight meaning no slop in the bushings.

 

[janderson4010]

what kind of joints are those Rick? i was going to buy the trailgear creeper joints for my 3 link, they seem to be pretty cool and my buddy gets them at cost bk he is a trailgear dealer, but im always open to suggestions.

 

[rookieshooter]

what kind of joints are those Rick? i was going to buy the trailgear creeper joints for my 3 link, they seem to be pretty cool and my buddy gets them at cost bk he is a trailgear dealer, but im always open to suggestions.

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Forged-Chromoly-263-Ballistic-Joint_p_1636.html

I have this type joint plus the ones that you weld the stud on DIY. Extremely pleased with um.
I put this green syn. water proof grease in it and it has stayed fine all this time.
I never put any other so I can't speak for other kinds of lubricant'. It has seen all kinds of road grime, mud and salt plus a lot of rainy days and a few water crossings.

Might add also that these are rebuildable also which i like.

 

[janderson4010]

yeah i looked at the ballistic joints, to spendy for my blood haha, my buddy doesn't deal with ballistic in a dealer capacity, the trailgear creeper joints are rebuildable and all that too, but i get them for 27 bucks each.

 

[rookieshooter]

yeah i looked at the ballistic joints, to spendy for my blood haha, my buddy doesn't deal with ballistic in a dealer capacity, the trailgear creeper joints are rebuildable and all that too, but i get them for 27 bucks each.

That's a steal. But time will tell how good they are. Where are you planning on using them?

This is one cool running engine. Ought to be after all the engine bay work to improve air flow around engine including the firewall mod that uses the cowl below windshield and hood scoop to circulate cool air around engine. But it's when this truck is crawling along the rocks and trails and the Atlas is in low is when the temp. climbs above 200. Also the air temp. lately has been in the mid 90's with high humidity.
I do not have an electric fan...Yet. So I'll see what can be done with what I've got now.
Going to extend the fan shroud so more air gets pulled thru the rad. when doing the slow crawl thing.

Punching some holes in the stainless shroud.

Notching for the large bottom radiator hose that is below the shroud in this pic.

Also filling in an air gap that is between the red horizontal bar and top of radiator. Another piece of plastic is starting to be slid in.

Now I know that it's going to be hard work, but I'll never know if it's working by sitting in garage and the air temp today is going to be the same as the other day without the increased shrouding Hmmm ,another testing session seems justified. Plus all the work in raising suspension and adjusting some links need to be tested anyway.

 

[rookieshooter]

Went up to the Ford Nationals in Carlisle Pa yesterday. The weather was picture perfect.
I'm in the Show field section on the highest hill at the Fairgrounds, nice breeze all day long. Any rate I'm in the Bronco section/Trail Broncos right next to this group of cool Early Broncos from the Mid Atlantic EB Club. They even asked me to join their group. Talk about reaching to the bottom of the barrel a lowly B2.

Here is fellow forum member KINGY 99 with his gf. One really cool dude. I mean he just no sooner got there and he's laying under the B2.
He came up with a cool way to do some different sliders then what I got. Might just do what he suggested.

This B2 here is owned by the owner of the magazine that is dedicated to all Broncos which is called "Bronco Driver". Their going to do a story on the Bronco's at the show. I'll try to get better pics today of his Bronco. That is if mine makes it back up their today. Developed a little electrical glitch that caused it to cut off just for a split second two times on the way home while driving. I did find one connection that might have not been pushed in all the way, so we'll see.

Here's their tent.

I'll get some pics of other cars and trucks including the 2012 Boss 302.

 

[gmanpaint]

Pretty neat stuff. Those Modded EB's paint look so nice, it's hard to believe some of them get wheeled.

Did you see the others from EF out there?

 

[janderson4010]

dude I love EB's but to be honest there are 4 guys with them in our offroad club, and not to talk crap and or anything bk I always defend them to the Chev and yota guys but every time we stop on a trailride they have their hoods up, they overheat, electrical probs, you name it, don't know what the deal is.

 

[rookieshooter]

Sure did meet some other guys who were all cool including one Canadian
VZboom. Had a hard time understanding him speaking the Queens language ha ha. But then again I'm sure my southern draw was equally hard for him.
Also 4x4glen, and a few more, sorry if I forgot their names.
Like to see lynchy wa make it up here from down under, but then again i could not understand what he's saying either ha ha. Then we would have the North South corners of the world represented.


Here's a link that about those guys. I got about the same pics as theirs, so don't want to Hijack it.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303115&page=33&highlight=2011+ford+nationals


Now like I said they were all cool except for one : See pic below

I almost had to exercise my Moderator privilege and yank his Explorer decal.
Which is in the Moderator bylaws. His actions on the Fairgrounds was completely unbecoming of a forum member. Driving around the grounds with his insane crawler with reckless abandonment and then slamming into my poor little B2 with such force that it actually knocked my front tire on top of his.
If that was not bad enough, he then kidnapped me and forced me to ride with him as he hit the loud peddle and I mean Loud slamming me back in my seat with the ridiculously low transfer case. He must have shifted 4 times in the first 20 feet.
I now find my self now totally humiliated and I will bring this up at the next Moderator meeting held in Reno later this year.

 

[gmanpaint]

LOL...Firezapper being a little obnoxious EH?

 

[MrQ]

Hmmm, there appears to be somebody in this thread that took 1st place in category at the All Ford Nationals...

I wonder who that could be... :scratch:

CONGRATS ROOKIESHOOTER!!! ​

 

[janderson4010]

what category? highly modified blue 1984 ford Bronco II's?

 

[rookieshooter]

what category? highly modified blue 1984 ford Bronco II's?

1966-1996 Bronco Trail Truck category.
Thanks MrQ
As the years suggest, this took in all Broncos...Early Bronco, Bronco ii and full size.

Did not think I stood a chance with all those great looking paint jobs. I never even washed it, still had mud on it LOL. So I did not even go back on Sun to see who won what. Found out by checking online.

Best part was meeting all the EF guys and especially Firezapper who graciously let me flex on his cool rig.

 

[janderson4010]

That's great Rick congrats, its a trail truck its not supposed to be pretty, its supposed to have a little mud and a few scratches. sounds like the best man won

 

[rookieshooter]

Thanks guys, now I'd like to thank the Academy, the Pope and to all the ones that have helped along the way.
But you know what, that trophy and $2 still only gets me one cup of coffee.

Got a bad left knee due to a fall during the hunting season (Boomeritis). Need more room so I also did pass side.

Going to see if I can possibly get this truck painted Black before the Truck Nationals.

 

[rookieshooter]

Firezapper and I were talking up at the Ford Nat. (he was doing the talking and i was takin notes) about flex and making ramps to check on all kinds of problematic areas during articulation. Plus they're cool to take to the shows and strut your stuff sort to speak Better then what I had done at the show...any one posts that pic and I'll delete it in a heart beat ha ha
He said instead of making one high ramp make two shorter ramps and put one at LF and RR or opposite. Then measure both tires off ground and this will give you your total flex. Plus it lets you know how one axle is flexing while the other is doing the same. So I think I'll be making two ramps.
In the above pic using 10" travel coilovers I have the mounting points for the shocks to give me a total of 36" of flex. One shock still had about 2" of travel left. Could have had more total flex by adjusting shock mounts for more droop but that just does not leave enough for a safe stuff.

There is still travel left for more droop but this is a safety cushion. I'll have limiting straps and or bump stops to limit the flex.
I think next spring I'll be ordering all new longer travel shocks. This will put it at 40" or over of total flex. But then again that's good for braggin but if it's not usable flex meaning enough traction to the tire that's doing the drooping then what good is it

This is not why I posted this pic, but it really shows the amount of rear steer when flexing meaning the axle is not perfectly at right angles to the frame. It would be if the upper radius mount pin was through the joint and the mounting bracket. But it's not, the center line of the bushing is about 2" from the hole in the bracket meaning that this side of the axle has slid toward the back. But this is not that drastic and i really don't notice it on the rocks.
On this side of the axle which is drooped the two bolt holes directly right of the shock would be a good mounting position for limiting straps.
The bump stops could be a little more problematic due to where to set them for articulation flex or where both sides of the axle go up the same amount.
And this is compounded by having a wristed rear radius arm suspension
I really need to get going on the rear triangulated 4 point. But as Zapper mentioned even though I'll have two different mounting point at the top center section i might have to still run a track bar for street. But if it's just a simple matter of getting used to a slight side to side movement i won't run a track bar. It's the larger side sideway shove of the track bar that I want to completely eliminate by going triangulated 4link. But only getting the job done will I know. Just so many things to do on this rig.
Like grease all those joints while it's up in the air. Might mention that the truck did well in the rain on I-81 on the way home with the rear locked and no doors, thought it was not going to rain ha ha so I never even took the doors to the show. But felt good on my sun burn.

Off topic, but wait untill Zapper gets started on his knew suspension...be worth following.

 

[Glen4X4]

Awesome, congrats on the win! Was nice meeting you and seeing your truck in person it's an awesome build for sure.