Nothing Special's '71 Bronco

[Gary Lewis]

Well, the tires aren't on it yet.

Today actually went well. I got the shiny new spindles on with no drama, ...

... got the wheel bearings in and the hubs on pretty easily, ...

... and got the brake calipers and locking hubs on with only a little fight.

One of the junkyard hubs was a little dented in, making it a light press-fit to get the body of the locking hub in. No big deal there.

And back on April 24 (page 18 of this thread) I mentioned having to trim a weld bead someone had put on the passenger side caliper bracket in order to get the caliper off. That bracket is pretty boogered. I was able to get the caliper on, but I don't think it will be as free to move side-to-side as it should be. I've got it together and I'll live with it for now at least. But I might try to get a better bracket to use the next time I have this apart. Or I might not.

So with the wheel bearings and brakes done why aren't the tires on? It's always the little things. Brake hoses in this case. The disk brake conversion I had on this used Chevy calipers and front brake hoses. It looked like I probably could've attached the Chevy hoses to the F-150 calipers, but the hoses didn't look great either, so I went to Napa to get new F-150 hoses. I'll have to stop back at the store to pick them up tomorrow.

And as I started looking at brake lines I realized I'm going to have a little adventure getting them attached. Both the '71 Bronco and the '77 F-150 have a hose come down from the frame to the top of the diff, with hard lines T-ing off to each side (much like a rear axle). But the threads in the axle housing are different so I can't use the bolt/vent nipple from the Bronco, and I don't have a vent nipple for the F-150. It won't be a challenging problem to solve, but it'll take a little more effort than expected.

And the steering parts didn't come yet either.

But on the plus side of parts ordering, the conversion tie rod came in, so it should ship on Monday. I'll probably still put it together with the bushings first (unless there are enough other hold-ups that I don't get to it before the tie rod is in). But I'll have it soon enough to have it in when I take it to be aligned.

And I got the hoses I need to install the aux fuel tank ordered. I'd guess they'll come on Wednesday or Thursday.

You are making really good progress, and you have the right stuff in the pipeline to be able to finish it well before time to leave. Well done!

[Bruce moose4x4]

I'm definitely excited about the progress!

As to the OX locker cover appearance, under my Bronco it gets to be a pretty good fit pretty quickly with oil leaking on it and road dust coating it! But the reflective yellow letters were never my taste, so since I was painting the axle I figured I'd do the cover with it.

I hope I'm getting a boost in serviceability with the tie rod, but I'm afraid I might be taking a step backward. On the Bronco the driver's side "tie rod end" goes about 90% of the way across the vehicle. There really is no "tie rod", just an adjusting sleeve and then the passenger's side rod end.

The conversion piece has a tie rod with adjuster sleeves on both ends and shorter toe rod ends outboard of that. I'm hoping those are standard parts, but I don't know for sure.

You should be able to find out if the conversion tie rods are standard on the shelf items with this chart.

https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/universal_outer_tie_rod_ends.asp

Bronco is looking great.

[Nothing Special]

You should be able to find out if the conversion tie rods are standard on the shelf items with this chart.

https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/universal_outer_tie_rod_ends.asp

Bronco is looking great.

How many auto parts stores can look up the Moog number? It seems like all they can go by is what vehicle, year, engine and does it have velour seats? But it'still worth looking up, thanks for the link!

[Nothing Special]

How many auto parts stores can look up the Moog number? It seems like all they can go by is what vehicle, year, engine and does it have velour seats? But it'still worth looking up, thanks for the link!

More little things done, but the front tires aren't on yet.

I got the F-150 brake lines but didn't like them. They'd make the routing very different, and I couldn't really see how to mount them to the caliper without having them hit the coil spring in a turn. So I put the old hoses on. I need to figure out what they are and probably get some new ones, but they are fitting well.

And I made a new bolt to hold the brake line to the axle housing. So my brake lines are all hooked up and I've bled the brakes.

I have the steering hooked up using the tapered bushings. I'll probably have about 2" of toe-in when I put the tires on! But lots of parts are different, so I didn't really expect it to be close.

Getting the exhaust hooked back up was a bit of an adventure. It really isn't fitting well. It'll do for now, but I really need to get something else made.

Both driveshafts are in now, and the transfer case shifters are hooked up. I even changed the engine oil and filled the front diff with gear lube.

So what's holding me up? It really could be driven now if I put the tires on (although with 2" of toe-in it probably would be a handful!). But in addition to tires and toe-in I want to get the aux fuel tank mounted (the hoses I needed for that came tonight). The cables to the rear winch connection are awfully close to the muffler (that's likely been true before but having seen it now I need to fix it). And I need to check fluid levels in everything. I don't know if I'll have time for all of that tomorrow night or not. It'll be close, but I need to run another errand too. Then we're going to the cabin for the weekend, so if it isn't running tomorrow it won't be until Monday.

But it's really close!

[Gary Lewis]

More little things done, but the front tires aren't on yet.

I got the F-150 brake lines but didn't like them. They'd make the routing very different, and I couldn't really see how to mount them to the caliper without having them hit the coil spring in a turn. So I put the old hoses on. I need to figure out what they are and probably get some new ones, but they are fitting well.

And I made a new bolt to hold the brake line to the axle housing. So my brake lines are all hooked up and I've bled the brakes.

I have the steering hooked up using the tapered bushings. I'll probably have about 2" of toe-in when I put the tires on! But lots of parts are different, so I didn't really expect it to be close.

Getting the exhaust hooked back up was a bit of an adventure. It really isn't fitting well. It'll do for now, but I really need to get something else made.

Both driveshafts are in now, and the transfer case shifters are hooked up. I even changed the engine oil and filled the front diff with gear lube.

So what's holding me up? It really could be driven now if I put the tires on (although with 2" of toe-in it probably would be a handful!). But in addition to tires and toe-in I want to get the aux fuel tank mounted (the hoses I needed for that came tonight). The cables to the rear winch connection are awfully close to the muffler (that's likely been true before but having seen it now I need to fix it). And I need to check fluid levels in everything. I don't know if I'll have time for all of that tomorrow night or not. It'll be close, but I need to run another errand too. Then we're going to the cabin for the weekend, so if it isn't running tomorrow it won't be until Monday.

But it's really close!

It is always a battle right at the end when everything comes together. Especially when you spy something you don't like, such as the lines to the winch, which you think you need to fix. But, how long have they been that way and do they need to be fixed now?

But you are almost "there"! Is it the next weekend you are leaving? You have it made!

[Nothing Special]

It is always a battle right at the end when everything comes together. Especially when you spy something you don't like, such as the lines to the winch, which you think you need to fix. But, how long have they been that way and do they need to be fixed now?

But you are almost "there"! Is it the next weekend you are leaving? You have it made!

The winch cables have been there since I installed the winch in 2017. The muffler almost certainly got closer to them when the exhaust was redone in 2018. But I'm not sure that it didn't get closer again this week when I had to reef on everything pretty hard to get the bolts for the exhaust hangers to line up. And now the cables are running about a half inch above the muffler. So does it NEED to be done now? Well, not necessarily before I start it, but it certainly does before I drive it much.

I still have a few weeks before the trip, but no more weekends. This weekend and Labor Day we're going to my folk's cabin. Next weekend (and probably much of the next couple of weeks) we're installing a fence at my son's house (so he can dog-sit for us while we're on vacation). And I want to get a few miles on these major changes before we head across the country. Plus I want to get it to an alignment shop. So I have time, but not a lot extra!

[Gary Lewis]

The winch cables have been there since I installed the winch in 2017. The muffler almost certainly got closer to them when the exhaust was redone in 2018. But I'm not sure that it didn't get closer again this week when I had to reef on everything pretty hard to get the bolts for the exhaust hangers to line up. And now the cables are running about a half inch above the muffler. So does it NEED to be done now? Well, not necessarily before I start it, but it certainly does before I drive it much.

I still have a few weeks before the trip, but no more weekends. This weekend and Labor Day we're going to my folk's cabin. Next weekend (and probably much of the next couple of weeks) we're installing a fence at my son's house (so he can dog-sit for us while we're on vacation). And I want to get a few miles on these major changes before we head across the country. Plus I want to get it to an alignment shop. So I have time, but not a lot extra!

What about insulating the wiring with some of the thermal wrap like I used on Big Blue? It has a Velcro closure down it and just slips around whatever it is protecting w/o having to take things loose. I can get the brand and vendor if you are interested.

[Nothing Special]

What about insulating the wiring with some of the thermal wrap like I used on Big Blue? It has a Velcro closure down it and just slips around whatever it is protecting w/o having to take things loose. I can get the brand and vendor if you are interested.

That wouldn't be bad to look into. if you can get that I'd appreciate it. But I think it won't be too hard to move the cables a bit so they don't go right over the muffler.

[Gary Lewis]

That wouldn't be bad to look into. if you can get that I'd appreciate it. But I think it won't be too hard to move the cables a bit so they don't go right over the muffler.

This is the stuff I'm using and it seems to work well: A-Team Performance - Heat Shroud

[Nothing Special]

This is the stuff I'm using and it seems to work well: A-Team Performance - Heat Shroud

It's ready to drive!

Tonight I got the aux tank in and checked most of the fluids. Then I put the front tires on and measured the toe-in. I was a little off in my estimate before. It was about 3.5". I set it to roughly 1/4" and figure I'll call it good at that for now. I'll be putting the conversion tie rod on it before taking it in for an alignment, but I wanted to get it close enough to drive.

I was really hoping to drive it tonight, and maybe take it to work tomorrow. But it was going to be after 9:00 before I had it out of the garage. And I didn't really want to take it for its first drive in the rain after dark. So I've got something to look forward to when we get back from the cabin!