Another Bronco Build

[DalesSpeed]

It looks like Bronco builds are the thing to post during the winter. Who would have thought? Isn’t this off-road season? Here is what I have been playing with.

The back story…. Almost all of my friends have side by sides. Playing in the dirt, they are super fun, but I hate being too cold or too hot and I don’t like getting covered in dust either. We tried letting my boys ride in the back of a friend’s SxS multiple times. Every time they cried. The seats were too low for our 4 year olds. They couldn’t see. Didn’t matter if we drove 1/2 mph or cruised along slowly. They flat hated it. We would end up taking them out and cruising back to camp with them on our laps up front.

Needless to say, the SxS thing won’t happen for my family for a while. So, the next reasonable thing to do was buy a Bronco and enjoy the build and turn it into something the family could play in the dirt with and be street legal with the a/c or heat on.

I began the hunt for a clean Bronco that wasn’t $50k plus. That didn’t work out too well. COVID pricing is as real as this was spring of 2020. Being impatient I ended up finding one on Craigslist that looked clean, but was just a 30 year old neglected pile that needed a lot.

Here it is the day it came home:

It was clean enough for the start of a build…

 

[DalesSpeed]

Next up was to work out the nonsense of what didn’t work so I could drive it around and ditch some of the ugly while I saved and went on the hunt for parts.

The quickest and easiest way to pacify myself was to order some decent wheels, pull the 35s from my wife’s truck (so it could get 37’s) order a set of 2” front springs and through some yellow Bilsteins on it.

This helped enough for the time being while I sourced parts.

The first batch of real parts to get things going in the direction I really wanted:

During this time the boys absolutely loved this thing. Helping dad and playing pretend is making this one of those vehicles that I will never be able to part with. Prior to having kids, I never held on to ANY toys. They were easy to build and easy to sell.

 

[DalesSpeed]

While progress was slow, we made a couple trips to the desert. Here are some from Copper City:

So at this point, I had a/c, heat, and windows. AND the slowest / roughest riding toy in the dirt out of our group. The kids liked it, but I really needed to get going on this build.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Fast forward to Thanksgiving and it was time to finally start installing parts. I started with the back and got everything installed with the exception of the 9”. For now, the 8.8 with a Desolate truss kit will make do.

Why didn’t I just jump into the 9”? Well, July of this year I was invited to run the Rubicon with a group of friends. So, the Bronco just got a fresh set of 4.88s a rear locker and an e-locker up front. Trussing the 8.8 seemed like an okay decision as I had already sunk money into it within the past few months. And, as well all know, the 9” will snowball the build even further. I really would like to enjoy this on some level this season.

Here are some progress photos that almost bring us to date.

 

[port austin pirate]

Fast forward to Thanksgiving and it was time to finally start installing parts. I started with the back and got everything installed with the exception of the 9”. For now, the 8.8 with a Desolate truss kit will make do.

Why didn’t I just jump into the 9”? Well, July of this year I was invited to run the Rubicon with a group of friends. So, the Bronco just got a fresh set of 4.88s a rear locker and an e-locker up front. Trussing the 8.8 seemed like an okay decision as I had already sunk money into it within the past few months. And, as well all know, the 9” will snowball the build even further. I really would like to enjoy this on some level this season.

Here are some progress photos that almost bring us to date.

View attachment 1182149 View attachment 1182150 View attachment 1182151 View attachment 1182152 View attachment 1182153 View attachment 1182154 View attachment 1182155 View attachment 1182156 View attachment 1182157 View attachment 1182158 View attachment 1182159 View attachment 1182160

looks great, nice setup and installation

 

[RaceTec]

Looking GREAT! Making me miss my old Bronco!

 

[DalesSpeed]

Tear down up front has begun. Waiting for fiberglass still, but have enough parts to make some progress.

 

[AZmike]

Ive always loved the 90's broncos, hell i even love the 90's bronco 2 lol. I'm looking forward to seeing your rig all done up! They make for a great family desert cruiser.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Ive always loved the 90's broncos, hell i even love the 90's bronco 2 lol. I'm looking forward to seeing your rig all done up! They make for a great family desert cruiser.

I’m definitely excited getting this together. Trying to not burn myself out and just enjoy the build.

 

[DalesSpeed]

New wheels came in. Merry Christmas. Now looking for a set of 37” Baja TA’s.

 

[rivermobster]

New wheels came in. Merry Christmas. Now looking for a set of 37” Baja TA’s.


View attachment 1182859

My hats off to you for staying away from the trendy black wheels! Those look Really nice.

Great job on the build so far. You gonna pull all the HVAC stuff and go through it while the front end is off??

 

[DalesSpeed]

My hats off to you for staying away from the trendy black wheels! Those look Really nice.

Great job on the build so far. You gonna pull all the HVAC stuff and go through it while the front end is off??

Thank you! Yes, I will need to go through it for sure.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Making some progress….

 

[69hondo]

View attachment 1189385
Making some progress….

When did you go Ford? LOL

 

[DalesSpeed]

When did you go Ford? LOL

LOL… just ended up happening that way one car at a time.

 

[69hondo]

LOL… just ended up happening that way one car at a time.

HAHA I bet Senior loves that. Tell him HI for me.

 

[DalesSpeed]

HAHA I bet Senior loves that. Tell him HI for me.

lol… will do.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Spent some time in the garage this past weekend.

 

[69hondo]

Spent some time in the garage this past weekend. View attachment 1206789 View attachment 1206790 View attachment 1206791 View attachment 1206792 View attachment 1206793

Looking good Dale.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Looking good Dale.

Thanks Nick!

 

[DalesSpeed]

 

[DalesSpeed]

 

[DalesSpeed]

Finally making some progress again. I’m really hoping to have this back on the road by Thanksgiving. Waiting for steering parts now.

 

[wash11]

Such an awesome build! Keep the pics coming!

 

[t&y]

Finally making some progress again. I’m really hoping to have this back on the road by Thanksgiving. Waiting for steering parts now.

hahahahahahaha... I've got an early Bronco that I have been working on for..... lets just say awhile. My wording is always trying to have it back on the road by Christmas.

 

[chvynhra]

Thank gawd no conversion glass. Looks sick!

 

[DalesSpeed]

hahahahahahaha... I've got an early Bronco that I have been working on for..... lets just say awhile. My wording is always trying to have it back on the road by Christmas.

Ha! I know how that goes. November of last year is when this was torn down.

 

[dezertrider]

That’s looking good

 

[DalesSpeed]

That’s looking good

Thank you!

 

[evantwheeler]

Thank gawd no conversion glass. Looks sick!

I saw one in Temecula a few weeks back with Raptor glass front end and bed sides. I’m not a bronco lover, but gawd damn it was sexy. But, so is this one.

Thanks for sharing your build OP

 

[Cooter01]

Such a sweet build!

 

[Backlash]

Thank gawd no conversion glass. Looks sick!

I couldn't agree with you more!! Looking good!

 

[69hondo]

Finally making some progress again. I’m really hoping to have this back on the road by Thanksgiving. Waiting for steering parts now.

Looking good Dale.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Going to cruise out to KOH tomorrow.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Put 100 miles on it yesterday. Temps stayed cool no weird noises. Good oil pressure. Watched the trophy trucks for a while with the family and had a great day.

Still have small things to address, but I can finally use it again.

 

[Backlash]

Man that looks NICE!!! I'm SOOOOO thankful you kept the OG look and didn't fall for the conversion glass trap. Subtle on the outside. Nicely done!!

 

[DalesSpeed]

Man that looks NICE!!! I'm SOOOOO thankful you kept the OG look and didn't fall for the conversion glass trap. Subtle on the outside. Nicely done!!

Thank you!

 

[69hondo]

Going to cruise out to KOH tomorrow.

View attachment 1327601

We were at Mojave narrows and I wondered if that was you that went by.

 

[Oliver1421]

Looks awesome! Great work!

 

[DalesSpeed]

We were at Mojave narrows and I wondered if that was you that went by.

That was us. First mile or two of dirt were down that road.

 

[DalesSpeed]

Looks awesome! Great work!

Thank you!

 

[Riverbound]

looks great. glad to see you enjoying it.

 

[DalesSpeed]

looks great. glad to see you enjoying it.

Thank you!

 

[OC Mike]

Awesome!!! A family Heirloom being created before our very eyes.
GOOD JOB DAD!!!!

 

[Romans9]

Nice!

 

[DalesSpeed]

Awesome!!! A family Heirloom being created before our very eyes.
GOOD JOB DAD!!!!

Thank you!

 

[DalesSpeed]

Nice!

Thank you!