I'm sick of the body and frame flex on this bronco, I can hear it in my dash, feel popping and creaking.. it got a lot worse since I retorqued my tranny mount bolts.

Anyways, thinking about tackling that TSB where you replace engine crossmember and maybe front coil bucket rivets with bolts, was wondering if anyone here has done it and if the job is as impossibly difficult as it sounds?

Also found out that nonswaybar trucks has a crossmember at the front of the frame where your swaybar mounts. I'm thinking that the swaybar acts as reinforcement or as a crossmember at the front of the frame and losing that definitely didn't help matters.

I know Broncos, all of them, even new had a lot of frame flex.. but it's getting rediculous. I have pivot bracket drops and jump the truck a lot, the rivet replacement is probably critical at this point. I just hate rivets.. it was hard removing the ones at my leaf springs, let alone the engine crossmember where there is absolutely no room to work.

 

I have replaced some of the rivets. it is alwasys a pain, but if you cant get a grinder in there then try an air hammer. Shouldn't be too hard with that. The Bolts will help alot with chassis stifness, but you have to check on them periodically.

 

My sister just bought an aged but low mile durango, almost all of it is bolted instead of riveted.. just about every single one was loose.

I saw on the TSB for the rivets that you can tell if they're loose by tapping on them, the loose ones make a different sound, I'm going to try that later and see. I can feel the flex at the front-end of the vehicle and in the center, so at least I know where to start.

Going to do that little trick with unbolting the center crossmember and letting the frame settle, I did that once and it made a world of difference.

 

I tapped the rivets with hammers, they all sound different.. that was definitely not helpful.
Grr, I wonder if I put an ad on CL, $25 a rivet removed and replaced with bolts if someone would do it for me.
All of my drop pivot bracket bolts were loose again, maybe tightening them will solve it. I definitely have to invest in some longer axle housings.

Gets expensive when you're not just playing in mud, argh.

 

The difference in the sound is-

Loose-A floppy sounds, can hear the metal touch, release and touch...More of a tingtingting....

Tight-A simple, metallic thud....

Also, if doing so, I'd replace the rivets with Grade 10.5 bolts...Just to be safe.....

 

Replacing the rivets is just a pain IMO, although I did some years back on an 89' F150 my son and I built from the frame up. It was a bit easier cause I had absolutely nothing in my way such as a body or motor.Just grind the one side of the head off and use a air hammer or drift and beat them out. I replaced all mine with grade 8 bolts, lock washers and Nylock nuts. On the cross members that I thought Id need to remove later such as the T case/tranny member I used anti-seize on all the hardware so I didnt have to fight with them later on