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Rust never sleeps here in New England, and I'm fighting a losing battle with a stable of bad decisions. Now that summer is here and I've made some progress on my vehicles, mostly thanks to the wonderful kastein and the other guys from NEAI. I decided it's time to document my failures and successes in resurrecting a hillbilly-hosed Bronco, bringing up to par an F-150 my dad brought new and my outdoorsman brother thrashed into bits, keeping a WJ Jeep from falling apart while under the heavy abuse of my horse-obsessed wife-elect, and watching a now-new Focus slowly succumb to salt, dirt roads, and idiots in parking lots. The Vehicles 1988 Bronco XLT, 351ci V8 with a 3-spd AT  This is the current project and the vehicle I'm going to be working on the most in this thread. The body is dented, rusty as hell, and the PO had used some "creative" methods to repair it. 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Special Edition 4.0  My fiance is an equestrian. Along with this hobby comes late nights at the barn in the middle of nowhere, trips down torn up farm roads, and an inexplicable lust for the destruction of vehicles. She was for many years a Volkswagen fan, killing many Jettas and eventually a brand new Rabbit that barely outlasted the car loan. This culminated in a VR6 Jetta which puked the coolant system all over the driveway after a particularly nasty rural trip in a snowstorm. I pleaded with her to get something that was actually built for the abuse she was putting vehicles through and tried to sell her on the merits of an XJ. She insisted on a WJ because of the looks. I relented and now live with the fear that the transmission is going to nuke itself at any given moment. At least it's a TUPY 4.0. 2014 Focus SE, 2.0 with a 5 spd MT  After daily driving an E30 and then a turbo Subaru I blew up, I decided to be automotively sane and pick something up that was going to last and get me back and forth to work. This was within a couple months of buying it with less than 100 miles on the odo. The fiance got it stuck in the mud in our own driveway.   So we'll see how long that lasts. 1999 Ford F-150 Supercab, 4.6 V8 with the tow package No picture yet. My father bought this thing off the lot brand new. It was dealer maintained until the end of 2013 when he had the transmission and rear end rebuilt, and he let my brother use it until he could afford another truck. It's been over a year now and in that year the bed has been dented in by trees, the rockers are nearly gone, the motor is leaking oil like the oil pan is made out of a colander. The frame is still mint and rust free and the transmission and rear are still nearly new, however.. My brother has enough money to buy his dream truck and I'm inheriting this thing for the grand cost of $0 because we need to find a way to transport this doofus around:  His name is Orbit, by the way. Next: Wherein I spectacularly grenade an 8.8
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May 24, 2015 18:24
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 11:39 |
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God I love that piece of poo poo Bronco.
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May 24, 2015 18:34
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I picked the Bronco up last summer after I sold my E30 to a fellow NEAIer. I was looking for a fun 4x4 and this one kind of fell into my lap. Often my summer afternoons and evenings consist of killing time and sitting on a tailgate in a place like this:  I couldn't think of a better vehicle for what I wanted at the time. It was dirt cheap. The front hubs were done for, the rear tailgate wiring was toast and the PO's "fix" was a spare battery in the back you could touch the window motor wires to so you could take the top off, it had no exhaust from the cat back, and the rust was munching away at most of the body. The frame was solid, however, the truck only had 100k miles on it, the 351w ran very well, and, well, you can take the top off. Not to mention the wonderful 80's blue interior complete with captains chairs. The Bronco when I picked it up.    For most of the summer life was pretty grand. I wasn't really motivated to fix the tailgate wiring as the top was off whenever I drove it. It was mostly on back roads and trails as the farthest it went was to our friend's farm which was a couple miles through the woods via an old unmaintained roadway.  This all changed when in early October I decided to take it out after some rain and splash through some mud. I went through a pit, still with no 4WD, and it felt like I hit a concrete block. I didn't know it at the time, but I had grenaded the rear end. It was getting dark, I was in the woods, and though it was a legal roadway, nobody really goes down there, especially at night, so I started the long walk to my friend's place and called for a ride back home. I left the truck in the woods overnight and the next morning was dragged back out and about 1/2 a mile down the road by a John Deere tractor where I could call AAA.   
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May 24, 2015 18:42
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I let it sit for the rest of the fall and winter as the weather was going downhill quickly. This is what the driveway looked like for most of the winter: I picked up a replacement rear axle from a local Facebook for sale group and collected other parts for it while waiting for the spring. The replacement axle turned out to have a flange yoke vs the pinoin yoke on the original 8.8. It turned out kastein, with his perpetually useful parts-hoarding, had one sitting on his desk when I mentioned it in IRC. Fast forward to yesterday, May 23rd. After a night of hanging out at Fart Pipe's place, kastein came over to help swap the axle in the Bronco. Pinions are supposed to do this, right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyB9l-hn568 So we put the thing up on jackstands and swapped the replacement in. Both axles were 3.55 LS, though the posi in my original axle was decidedly toast.  The original leaf pack was pretty toast and the axle I had gotten came with a nearly new leaf pack attached. I also had gotten replacement KYB shocks as the ones on it were so bad you could get seasickness.  It has some kind of weird ancient load leveling air-ride kit in it from Firestone. The reservoir is shot but the on-board compressor works like a charm and the bags hold air. It could be fun to do something with that on-board compressor at some point. In the end, the new axle and leaf pack went in with surprisingly little trouble. I have to replace the rear brake lines this week and order new e-brake hardware. We also found that my slip yoke was seized, and the driveshaft, at the very least, needs a rebuilt before it can be put back in. So I'm on the lookout for a refurb. My goal is to have it back on the road to drive to the drive-in theater for the new Jurassic Park movie. The new leaf packs cured the horrible rear end sag. It sits pretty much exactly how I want it for the time being.  Here's some pictures of the carnage i wrought on that poor 8.8.       In the end I was able to salvage some drum brake parts and the axle shafts from the old 8.8 and that's about it. IOC, can you change the thread tag of this to 80's if you see this? Thanks.
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May 24, 2015 19:03
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How long before you use the horse to tow the car?
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May 25, 2015 02:00
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Seen here: Kastein calming a rear differential as it passes into the next world.
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May 25, 2015 07:50
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I'm pretty sure every picture of kastein that exists shows him swapping a rear end, destroying a jeep, or fixing his house. Plus lots of videos of him swearing and throwing tools everywhere.
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May 25, 2015 10:04
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That actually went about how I expected it to, for once. One leaf eye bolt was a bastard due to being rusted into the bushing sleeve a bit, but a few solid swings with the 4lb BFH persuaded it to move. The rest mostly came out without a fight, likely as the shackles and shackle hangars were replaced a few years prior (justfordthings.txt) so all the hardware was reasonably new. I don't really do anything that could be called soothing, in fact I think my words right before that picture were something like "yep this one is hosed, cut it up and scrap it"  Too bad we didn't get it driving but at least it is rollable and only really needs the ABS wiring fixed, a driveshaft, ebrake cables, and brake lines to be back on the road. If you are going to do any significant work on this thing, get some plywood and 6 ton HF jacks, our  jackstand contraption setup scared the poo poo out of me and I would very much like to never have that happen again.
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May 25, 2015 12:51
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8ender posted:Seen here: Kastein calming a rear differential as it passes into the next world. shhh, little axle. No grinding, only meshing now. Off to sleeeeep.
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May 25, 2015 22:47
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kastein posted:That actually went about how I expected it to, for once. One leaf eye bolt was a bastard due to being rusted into the bushing sleeve a bit, but a few solid swings with the 4lb BFH persuaded it to move. The rest mostly came out without a fight, likely as the shackles and shackle hangars were replaced a few years prior (justfordthings.txt) so all the hardware was reasonably new. I don't know if I'll ever bother with the RABS in the thing. It's pretty much useless. Going to make a HF run at the end of the week and pick up a new jack and the 6 ton stands. They're running their sale through the 31st and I still have my 20% off coupon so I'm going to refill my tool set and pick up some other disposable too. I'm unsure what I'm going to do for a DS, probably just buy a remanned one since finding a Bronco in the junkyard here is pretty rare. The next step after getting it moving under its own power is going to be repairing the clusterfuck that is the tailgate wiring harness. Right now the rear window motor takes power from the dash and travels through a number of switches. The harness runs through the driver's side taillight as well. I have a feeling I'm going to be rewiring the whole shebang. I have a number of "upgrade" options already spelled out for me thanks to the FSB forums.  Looks like a crimper is going into my HF basket this week. Looks like my brother has also joined the OBS Ford crew (sub $1k trucks are the best trucks), last year of the i6. 1996 EFI 300ci i6, 5 speed, 4x4. 
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May 26, 2015 14:56
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your poor vehicles 
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May 26, 2015 15:29
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Noise Complaint posted:Looks like my brother has also joined the OBS Ford crew (sub $1k trucks are the best trucks), last year of the i6. 1996 EFI 300ci i6, 5 speed, 4x4. Arrival by tow truck is the sure sign of an excellent vehicle purchase.
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May 26, 2015 15:39
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Mooseykins posted:Arrival by tow truck is the sure sign of an excellent vehicle purchase. No temp plates in MA so unless you're transferring plates, that's going to be how you get pretty much anything home legally.
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May 26, 2015 15:41
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Noise Complaint posted:No temp plates in MA so unless you're transferring plates, that's going to be how you get pretty much anything home legally. I'm actually a little disappointed now.
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May 26, 2015 15:54
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Noise Complaint posted:No temp plates in MA so unless you're transferring plates, that's going to be how you get pretty much anything home legally. Well that sounds like a pain in the rear end. Here in FL I can get a car home with just a title and bill of sale. Tried that poo poo in NY and was pulled over instantly, and forced to leave the car on the side of the highway till I got it registered 
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May 26, 2015 16:42
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leica posted:Well that sounds like a pain in the rear end. Here in FL I can get a car home with just a title and bill of sale. If you're transferring plates you can swap the plates on, carry the filled out title, bill of sale, and a completed RMV-1 form as proof of insurance and you're good for 7 days. Other than that, you can toss some plates on and burn a AAA tow and hope the tow truck driver isn't having a bad day. My brother is a tow truck driver so he just borrows a truck. Here's an off the tow truck picture, pretty rare to find an OBS in this shape out here (minus the bed, however, he has a flat bed obsession I'll never understand.) 
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May 26, 2015 17:46
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leica posted:Well that sounds like a pain in the rear end. Here in FL I can get a car home with just a title and bill of sale. Hey at least it didn't get impounded and you didn't end up with 3 criminal charges, two of them felonies. All because you didn't have your paperwork filled out properly. (Yes, I got all charges dismissed.) </derail> You order those ebrake cables, drum parts, and driveshaft yet?  (Full list: rear right/left ebrake cables, at least one wheel cylinder, brake hw kit, rear frame to axle hydraulic hose, preflared hardlines of the right lengths, rear driveshaft)
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May 26, 2015 23:59
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Beater Bronco buddies   Wish mine was a 351
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May 27, 2015 00:38
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Propaganda Bob posted:Beater Bronco buddies Hell yeah, Bullnose trucks are awesome! Replaced the starter solenoid today as the old one was hosed. The terminals just pulled right out of it. Managed to gently caress up some ring terminals while I was at it, so it looks like a new crimper is in order.  Placed an order for all the rear brake stuff including new e-brake hardware. Going to hit the yard Saturday morning to try to find a driveshaft. My lofty goal for this summer is to get the Bronco to pass MA state inspection as that's where it's registered.
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May 29, 2015 02:12
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Noise Complaint posted:the rear tailgate wiring was toast and the PO's "fix" was a spare battery in the back you could touch the window motor wires to so you could take the top off Missed this when I first read your post, can't stop laughing. Must be a Bronco Rite of Passage because mine had the exact same setup until I finally got around to fixing it. Turned out the dash switch was garbage- one cheapo autozone switch later and my back window works!
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May 31, 2015 23:25
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Had to bump this, been stalled out after finding the puppy ive talked about in the chat thread. Today I took the time to rewire the stuff running to the starter solenoid and got the thing going for the first time in about a year. Love that SBF sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk2-j1OVTI8
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Jul 5, 2015 22:27
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Ford power steering pump noise 
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Jul 5, 2015 22:43
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I have Stockholm Syndrome. You mean happy whine.
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Jul 5, 2015 22:45
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Sudo Echo posted:Ford power steering pump noise Right up there with the buzzing solenoids of a Chrysler A604 coming to a stop in the sounds of my youth
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Jul 6, 2015 06:59
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Its always nice to see other people who had the ford power steering whine as a part of there childhood. My dad had a 95 f-150 and a 02 ranger and both whined the same. The F-150 my dad babied and replaced anything that went wrong. And no matter what that power steering pump just had to sing its heart out. He got the ranger and once it started it never stopped. By then he just gave up on trying to fix the noise and drove that ranger into the ground.
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Jul 6, 2015 17:58
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Dad had an '85 F-150. I shall forever love the whine.
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Jul 6, 2015 20:03
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8ender posted:Right up there with the buzzing solenoids of a Chrysler A604 coming to a stop in the sounds of my youth *twitch* *twitch* memories of that drat Grand Caravan... *twitch* Also, I bought a 4x4 97 Ranger about 6 weeks ago - which is why I'm following this thread - and I'm wondering if I should be dreading that sound in anticipation.
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Jul 7, 2015 02:28
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SouthsideSaint posted:Its always nice to see other people who had the ford power steering whine as a part of there childhood. My dad had a 95 f-150 and a 02 ranger and both whined the same. The F-150 my dad babied and replaced anything that went wrong. And no matter what that power steering pump just had to sing its heart out. He got the ranger and once it started it never stopped. By then he just gave up on trying to fix the noise and drove that ranger into the ground. My first vehicle was a 1980 F-150, and my stepdad had a 92 F-150 at the same time. Both whined like mad. He also once owned a carpet cleaning company, and every Ford van in their fleet (4 Fords, 3 Chevys when he sold the company, if I remember right) whined, ranging from the rusted out 1977 that only got rolled out when another van was broken, to the (at the time) one year old 1992. The power steering never gave any issues on any of the mentioned Fords, just got loud. He has an 01 F-150 now, and it's starting to whine. About drat time. Never change, Ford. ExecuDork posted:Also, I bought a 4x4 97 Ranger about 6 weeks ago - which is why I'm following this thread - and I'm wondering if I should be dreading that sound in anticipation. It's not if it'll make that sound... it's when. Something with Ford power steering pumps just makes them whine like crazy. They've changed them enough in the past decade that it's rare to hear anything newer than about 02 or 03 whining, but it's a very distinct sound that you associate with Ford. Even if it's whining away, the pump will be one of the last things you have to replace on it.
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Jul 7, 2015 02:47
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Everyone in my family owned Ford trucks, and they all made that whine. I feel slightly out of place that my 06 doesn't do it.
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Jul 7, 2015 18:09
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We had an 87 and an 89 Taurus when I was a kid and both made the whine. The mechanic said "if the whine ever stops, come see me, something's broken" We got 300k out of the 89 (with 0 transmission work too)
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Jul 7, 2015 18:38
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So, I'm having a rough time finding a rear driveshaft for the thing. Kastein was awesome enough to find me replacement front hubs for a song, but the driveshaft is the last part I need to make it driveable. F-150 shafts won't work because they don't have the double cardan t-case end and different year Broncos all had slightly different lengths, with the later ones connecting to a flange type output on the t-case while mine has a yoke. I swapped in a rear from a later 150, so it has the flange end on that side, but I have a companion flange to adapt the earlier driveshaft. Looking at Bronco graveyard shows different lengths for Broncos with the C6, E4OD, AOD, M5OD, and the 4 speed. Does anyone know if these are close enough to be swapped in? Noise Complaint fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Jul 7, 2015 |
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Jul 7, 2015 19:14
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I know a driveshaft guy if it comes down to it. Hes over in South Windsor and does awesome work. He shortened the one for the C10 for $100 so itd probably be about the same to get the right flange welded on.
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Jul 7, 2015 19:24
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I'm gonna throw out a stereotypically massive tome of words about that driveshaft just to avoid any confusion, or create more, I'm not sure which. It's a double cardan - single cardan type with a slip yoke at the single cardan end. It uses 1330 size ujoints. The double cardan end, rather than having a flat round flange with four bolt holes in it (like some vehicles use) has what us rednecks call a CV style yoke, i.e. it bolts to a yoke, but not like one you put a single ujoint into. Think the transfer case end of a stock Cherokee front driveshaft, but bigger, since it uses 1330 joints not 1310s. Parts, from transfer case end to pinion end, are: ujoint CV socket yoke (either CV yoke style, or flange style) CV center yoke ("H-block") centering ball assembly ujoint ball stud tube yoke, which is welded to the tube, which is welded to the male spline. slip yoke (this is fine, except that the grease retention cap has gone missing, and it's staked/welded in place. Theoretically, you could just tack weld a round piece of sheetmetal of the right diameter in and it'd be fine.) ujoint pinion companion flange I've bolded all known destroyed parts, and italicized all parts I fear are destroyed. I've never seen a double cardan that blown up that DIDN'T have a damaged ball stud tube yoke, but only disassembling it will tell for sure. The H-block is recoverable, but when the driveshaft flailed around it hammered the corners enough that it peened the G-clip retention bosses in until they were oval shaped not round, so a little work with a die grinder will be required to even get the ujoints out. Now, where things get painful is - if the ball stud tube yoke is smoked, you have to cut it off the driveshaft tube, weld a new one in, and rebalance it. That is where things add up fast. I found a whole, allegedly serviceable driveshaft on car-part for $125 yesterday. By the time you replace all the things that are definitely hosed, you will probably be pushing that much as it is, and we don't even know if the ball stud tube yoke is damaged. It was really stupid on the part of dana/spicer to design that tube yoke so that the little stud isn't serviceable, but oh well, they did and now it's the way that is done. Pics, for reference: "CV yoke" style CV socket yoke:  flange style CV socket yoke:  Either of these may be installed in a given double cardan assembly assuming the ujoint series is the same and the driveshaft tube length is adjusted if/as necessary to accomodate the change. H block:  ball stud tube yoke:  The centering ball assembly goes between the little white nib on the CV socket yoke and the goofy pin-in-socket thing on the ball stud tube yoke. If you chooch the CV socket yoke, whatever, replace it for 50 bucks, but if you ruin the ball stud tube yoke, you gotta have a new one welded in and the shaft rebalanced.
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Jul 7, 2015 19:55
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QuarkMartial posted:Everyone in my family owned Ford trucks, and they all made that whine. I feel slightly out of place that my 06 doesn't do it. When I moved cross-country in '06, we got a fresh U-Haul box truck on the Ford E-350 frame. It had 106 on the odometer when we picked it up in Virginia. We head down south for the good weather. In North Carolina, I was pretty impressed that Ford had cleaned up their steering. By Atlanta, it was getting a bit sloppy. In Houston, it was whining. We gave the thing back with 2060 miles, and it drove just like the '92s in the lot. Never change, Ford.
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Jul 7, 2015 20:37
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Noise Complaint posted:Looking at Bronco graveyard shows different lengths for Broncos with the C6, E4OD, AOD, M5OD, and the 4 speed. Does anyone know if these are close enough to be swapped in? An 88 351 will have a C6, unless some chucklefuck swapped an AOD into it. The AOD is a 4 speed automatic though, so you'd probably have noticed that. It's impossible to swap the E4OD in without the 1990+ ECU/TCM.
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Jul 7, 2015 23:54
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I know it's a C6, STR. I've driven it to tims place on the highway. :-P I'm ordering a new shaft. Screw it. And no, that's not innuendo.
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Jul 8, 2015 01:33
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just put the tcase in 4 and drive in FWD mode.
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Jul 8, 2015 02:15
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I have an '89 F-150 and I honestly couldn't tell you for sure if it has the PS whine, I've been around enough Fords I don't even notice it. My truck:  
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Jul 8, 2015 04:46
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Noise Complaint posted:I know it's a C6, STR. I've driven it to tims place on the highway. :-P But I have a perfectly good shaft ri... oh. Seriously though, wasn't sure if you didn't know what trans was in it or not. I honestly thought it'd be an AOD until I looked it up, but apparently they never put one behind the 351 (in trucks, anyway?). The E4OD did wind up behind them, but was basically an AOD with wires. SFH1989 posted:I have an '89 F-150 and I honestly couldn't tell you for sure if it has the PS whine, I've been around enough Fords I don't even notice it. I can hear it whining from here. 
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Jul 8, 2015 04:53
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 11:39 |
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The e4OD is actually more like a c6 with an extra gear and wires. Decent transmission for sure
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Jul 8, 2015 12:41
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