I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your bronco if you don't mind, i was just looking at your site and you've done some pretty cool mods that i'd like to do.

first of the guages how hard were they to swap especially the speedo with the electronic odometer and what year is it from?

what brand is the winch and what load rating does it have?, as it must be strong to lift the front like that.

also how much are the compass mirrors and how accurate have you found it?

Finally how strong have you found the independant front diff/suspension?, i've been told they're not as strong as the solid front ends in the earlier trucks. the reason for asking is that i'm starting to convert my 85 f100 2x4 to 4x4 with the running gear i've got out of a 78 bronco and i'm wondering if i should go the hard yards and custom fit the solid front end or if a IFS system is going to be more than strong enough.

Thanks steve and i totaly agree with those other guys about how helpful you've been to everyone both from the answers you've given me and the answers i've seen you give other people.

Aaron.

p.s. the step by step mirror swap is really helpful and it's now on my shortlist of things to do, it relly showed how easy it is.

 

1) The speedo swap was inspired by an 18-year-old speedo cable that was so worn & loose in the sheath that the needle was bouncing. Even after replacing the cable, it had put so much extra load on the plastic gears that the driven gear stripped. So I replaced it, and the drive gear (on the t-case shaft) stripped, too. So I got fed up with the whole "mechanical speedo" situation and started looking into the PSOM. Since my axle was pretty old & abused anyway, I swapped in an '87 (which is how I got the ABS sensor needed to drive the PSOM) and the just carved out the back of the instrument cluster so the PSOM would fit. After a LOT of research, I finally found instructions on calibrating it, and now I love it. It also makes the swap to the electronic cruise servo possible.

2) That pic is slightly deceiving. Its placement in the photo album leads you to believe that it was done with the Warn XD9000i that's currently on the front of the truck, but the pic is actually from when I lived in Louisiana. At that time, the only winch I had was a POS 2,000 lb play winch (the kind that hooks around your bumper ball, with alligator clips to put on the battery) that was given to me because it didn't work right. I used a 10,000 lb ****** block in the tree to get more pull out of it, but it still stalled when the receiver under the back bumper hit the ground or I would have pulled the truck higher.

If this link works, it shows me "testing out" the Warn right after I installed it.

3) You'll have to check your local junkyards for prices on the mirrors - I've bought several & put them in several people's vehicles. They only show 8 points, but if you program it for your region & calibrate it, it's pretty useful & accurate. (I've posted the instructions, and you can probably dl them from BroncoData. If not, e-mail me.)

4) I've never had anything break on the front, so I'd say it's plenty strong. I know there are guys running 44s on a D44IFS in mud with no trouble, but I also know there are guys breaking axle stubs running 36s on them in rocks, so it depends on what you're doing and how you drive. If you want a smooth ride and easy parts-availability, stick with IFS. If you're gonna crawl, maybe a solid would be more reliable for you.

5) I have some more tech procedures to put up there, as soon as I have the time to ul all the pics & type captions for them.