I sold my last Ford a few years ago and haven't really had much of a reason to come around these parts much since then.

But today I bought a SUPER clean 1995 Bronco that's exactly what I was looking for:

- superb body
- needs tires, brakes, shocks
- runs good
- cheap

It's got a 5.8 with mass air and E4OD. There is a wicked howling coming from the driveline so it needs u-joints, a double cardan joint or maybe a new rear axle. I literally just got it home 5 minutes ago so I don't know what's up with the driveline yet.

I'm trying to decide between 4" of lift with 33's or 6" with 35's.

Not bad for $1900

Pics:

 

You might be able to stuff somewhere between 31s and 33s under there as stock.

I think you should do a sixlitre tune up and some f350 springs up front.

I really like how clean it looks and for $1,900! WOW! At first glance though I thought the bug deflector had some kind of wood look to it, which I thought was cool, then I looked again.

ignition upgrade and timing bump (no 56K) - FSB Forums Is the Sixlitre tune up

 

A tune-up is definitely near the top of the list of to-do's on this truck. First things first though - I need to go through the brakes and make sure it stops. Then I need to get the EGR fixed/replaced and get it smogged and tagged. The plates were stolen, so I don't quite know how that's going to work at the DMV.

I did a similar ignition upgrade on an F-150 of this era a while ago. I used all MSD parts, spent a whole afternoon on it, bumped up the timing and it pinged really bad. I couldn't advance the timing at all past 10 degrees without it pinging. And it ran exactly the same as it did before. It really wasn't worth it, but I know every motor is a little different.

I was VERY happy with the price. The interior doesn't look as good as the outside, but on the other hand, it's a lot easier to clean an interior and make it look sharp than it is to do a ton of body and paint work.

 

Did you pull the spout when you bumped the timing?

I hope you have the non California model emissions like on my 96'. My EGR is ~$80 and my tube is ~$92!

 

Hi Andy, good to see you again.

After driving the truck, slide underneath and touch the suspect components. Excess heat is a dead giveaway.

 

Yes I removed the spout.

The truck is a California native with MAF so I know it's got the California emissions package. The EGR is soaking in sea-foam right now. I'm going to try it tomorrow and see if that unclogged it enough.

Hey Bruce! Good to see you too.

That's a good tip on the heat but the driveline is really tight. It's either the t-case or the rear end. Once I put the EGR back on I'm going to carefully run it on jackstands and see if I can pinpoint it further. The noise is quite loud from inside the cab.

If it does end up being the rear axle, it's a good excuse to upgrade it to a locker and lower gears.

 

Andy,

Nice to have you back, Sir... and a very nice ride there!

Joe
(GS92)

 

Great find Andy, I'm glad you're back. It needs some love for sure but it looks amazing. Remove the rustflector!.

 

Thanks guys.

I've pretty much decided on a 4" lift with 33's. I started shopping and WOW good lift kits are expensive. Is it really worth the money to go with skyjacker? I've heard that Rough Country is a lot better than they used to be.

 

$1900? Did you pull a gun or something?

 

Haha. I do feel kinda like I stole it.

But just so you know what I'm in for, here's a list of stuff that I need to fix before I can even drive it:

- previous owner had a stereo with a sub and amp. She took all the components out leaving an empty hole in the dash and no doubt lots of fun surprises when I try to wire a stereo in. I don't even know if the speakers are still in the door. There is a rat's nest of stereo wiring in the console, under the dash, and under the carpet. I traced a 4 gauge wire directly from the battery and found that PO cut it and left it under the carpet unprotected. I'm surprised I didn't see any arcing under the carpet where I looked.

- No key for driver's side door. I have a key for the passenger side but the lock is a little messed up. It works but I don't have a lot of confidence in it. No key for the rear window switch either.

- CEL comes on after driving it for a while. So no smog cert until I get the CEL fixed and get it smogged. I'm thinking it's the EGR but I can't find my code reader and I'm for damn sure not pulling codes with a paper clip when I have a perfectly good code reader somewhere in the garage.

- Rear plate (with the reg sticker) was stolen so I guess I will need new plates and stickers for it. No idea how much that's going to cost. Note that this will require at least two trips to the DMV - one to get the temp permit so I can take it to the smog shop and another to get the plates and stickers.

Then there are the cosmetic things like the holes in the interior trim panels where previous owner installed speakers and then removed some of them. Broken driver's armrest. The carpet is dirty and stained and will at least need to be removed and cleaned. Driver's side door lock switch doesn't work. Passenger side window and lock control panel is broken. The center console has been hacked apart because that appears to be where the amp was installed. Various broken/missing interior trim pieces. PO also installed a roof rack and removed it, leaving four holes in the roof and top. They all need to be patched.

And I removed the rustflector and found that some retard used sheet metal screws that were too long so now I have four holes in the hood just above the grill.

Even after all that - I got a smokin' deal and I'm stoked!

On the plus side, the radius arm bushings were replaced at some point, so the brackets are bolted to the frame, not riveted. That will make it MUCH easier to install the lift because those rivets are a royal pain.

 

And I'm really glad that I know how to do my own work. I got complete maintenance records with it and he paid almost $500 for front pads, a bearing re-pack, machined rotors, and rear shoes cleaned/adjusted.

Insane.

 

Holy crap that sure is clean, nice find for only 1900.

 

I put the EGR valve back on it today and ran it on jackstands to isolate the noise. It's coming from the rear differential. I haven't opened it up yet but I'm willing to bet there are some fun surprises inside.

 

Well the surprise inside the differential was that there are absolute no apparent problems. The fluid was the color of chocolate milk but the hard parts all look perfectly fine. There is no broken hardware or signs of problems anywhere.

I'm planning on putting 4.11 gears in it and rebuilding the trak-loc, but in the meantime I'd like to be able to drive it until I get all the cash together for the lift, tires and gears.

Any idea on what to look for? When I ran it on jackstands, it was making a loud howling noise and it felt like there was something banging against the inside of the case. It wasn't pretty. When you drive it you can clearly hear the noise from the cab. But the inside of it looks fine.

I'm stumped.

Here's the thread I posted in the axle forum, complete with video. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14320726