Well the yellow LED is for the glow plugs. It stays lit when the glow plugs are active.

I haven't fully hooked up the other two LEDs yet however. I was thinking of either having the green set for when the lights are on (so I don't forget to turn them off if it's light out) or AC, or more likely saving for when I get aftermarket lights or something else that uses power and then trying to hook the red into the EGT setup.

I'd need a small microprocessor or something to determine voltage differences and activate a circuit based on the voltage reading, then tap into the egt probe wires for that. My brother is an electrical engineer so I think he'd be able to point me in the right direction for that.

I have those other LEDs hooked to a ground, they just need the power wire hooked up to what I decide to monitor!

 

Not that this is that active anymore, but Bubba went to bootcamp finally last week. So he will be gone for a few months. I am sure once he gets situated with wherever he gets stationed, he will be on here again some more. Depends on where he ends up though. If he gets stationed somewhere where the roads are salted, he is not willing to bring his Bronco up there, so he most likely won't have much to post about. But, if he gets stationed somewhere anywhere in the southwest, he most likely will have it. Not sure about the camaro, as I am sure he will be living out of barracks.
He may try to buy another cheap f250 or f350 powerstroke though and leave the Bronco back here in Phoenix.

 

Sure has been a long time! The Bronco is still doing pretty good. I still need to do some work to it (like actually secure the sway bar), but it hasn't let me down! It towed my Camaro all the way from AZ to WY with no problems!

I'm getting ready to throw my old turbo from the powerstroke into my Camaro, so that should be exciting. I almost got my hands on another Bronco up here for 400 bucks... that would have been another perfect candidate for my old 7.3 motor that needs some work!

 

Glad to see it's still on the road, alive and kicking!

 

Yeah it's doing great now! I did have an issue with the main engine wiring harness late last year. Power kept cutting out and I couldn't figure out what it was. I almost got left stranded and after a bunch of diagnostics I was doing I just started tugging on things. I found tugging on the main harness that went over the valve cover almost shut the truck off every time I pulled on it. So I swapped it with another harness I pulled and it's been perfect since then!

 

Man I need to update my pictures of my Bronco. I got new wheels a few years back before getting stationed in Cheyenne and they look WAY better on the Bronco. I also tinted the windows which made a huge difference as well!

I'm currently quarantined for the next week or so because I was in contact with someone who was positive for coronavirus... I can't leave my house, but that gives me time to work on things! I'll tell you what though, the test the base gave me was AWFUL! They shoved a q-tip like 4" up both nostrils for like 15 seconds each. I see blood coming off the q-tip when they took it out the first nostril..... and I have to get another test...........

Anyways, my oil cooler started leaking antifreeze. It's actually been leaking for about a year now, but it's gotten worse. I didn't really pay attention to what was leaking too much but recently spent more time snooping around. I'll be changing that out within the next few days with the other cooler I have laying around. I'm pretty sure I have some new oil cooler orings as well.

Here's a more current picture of what my bronco looks like:
This is me towing my camaro up when I moved from AZ to WY. The Bronco got a little dirty on the way but no big deal!

Here's when I flat towed an F-150 I bought for 200 bucks in Boudler CO. The previous owner didn't know what was wrong with it so he sold it for a great price! I replaced all the ignition stuff and timing chain, but it ended up being a clogged catalytic converter! It was so bad the exhaust manifold cracked in three pieces! After about a year, the head gasket went due to the wear put on that, but that's been swapped out. It's sure a great beater truck and keeps the Bronco out of bad weather! I'd like to fix it up on day, but my wife isn't too fond of me spending the money on this truck.

About 6 months ago, my Bronco's axle cracked...... I knew this day would come but I think the axle housing itself was already damaged from the beginning. The axle was a replacement, and was always slightly damp under the leaf spring perches. I imagine the crack just propagated over time, especially when my transmission mount bolts came loose.... But due to that, I had to find a replacement axle.

This is how I found the axle:

350 bucks delivered to my door! An 88 F-150 with no engine/seat or wiring harness though but it had a clean title! The axle innards ended up being bad on this, but the housing was good, so I put my Bronco's differential innards into this axle housing.

A few months later looking over this truck, I realized it was a keeper. So I got to doing some work:



(Edit: looks like flickr won't post videos here, I'll have to figure out how to show videos later I guess)

My wife wasn't too pleased but I sure was! Haha she does like it but she thinks having 5 vehicles for us two is a little extreme.



Anyways, I'll be replacing my oil cooler soon. I might as well take some pictures while I'm at it!

 

Still get around to checking the old FTE forums every once in a while, and still always working on getting/keeping the Bronco on the road. Yours is one of the handful of builds that always served as great inspiration and encouragement to me and I do miss the days when I was a regular here along with those aforementioned handful. Always love to see updates on my favorite builds like this one maybe someday I'll even get around to give some updates on mine aswell. Here's hoping you stumble back here with new stories too!

 

I completely forgot about this thread. I'm friends with him in real life. Bronco is still going strong. He sold the beater F150 and moved back down here to Phoenix last year. He sold the camaro to a friend and he now also has a 98 Dodge Viper GTS. Haha. Pretty wild. I'm sure he will eventually pop back onto this forum at some point.

 

Reading thru this I realized it was from 2016
Site treats it as a new post

 

I kind of Necro-ed it by commenting, but his actual last post here was 2020

 

Woah dang, been a couple years since I've been on this thread. After getting out of the Air Force, I've been so busy remodeling this house. A full remodel while working full time is pretty taxing. I have been getting around to getting some maintenance done on the Bronco. It developed some leaks which are anti-bueno. I had to replace the front timing cover since it was cracked at the oil cooler pickup when I was still stationed in Cheyenne WY. After replacing that, I got a thicker oil pan gasket which ended up making the oil pan sit just enough lower where it poked a hole in the pan off one of the fasteners that goes through the TTB setup.... I have that temporarily fixed (for the past two years now haha), but my oil cooler gaskets started leaking (since I bought non OEM I'm assuming.) Just got that replaced, as well as the LPOP oil gasket and thermostat housing. My oil dipstick tube and e-fuel sensor are leaking now, but I think I'm almost done getting all the leaks out!

One exciting project I did this year was swap in a steering wheel with cruise control buttons. I had no idea that these 7.3 trucks had the cruise control built into the PCM. All I needed was a steering wheel that worked, and to fix a ground wire that was never attached for my horns (because the cruise control circuit is on the same circuit as the horn circuit). It is pretty nice having cruise in the Bronco!

I do notice the hood and top are starting to fade a little though, so I'll be setting up here sometime this year for a partial re-spray. I'll try to keep this thread updated if I get around to doing any more exciting work here. I know it's been a couple years, but it was nice being a regular on here Thunderhorn and enjoyed talking with you and everyone here, I do kinda miss it.