i just picked up a 78 bronco. for theprice i couldnt beat it. (50.00) has a rebuilt 5,000 miles ago 400. 2 spare transfer cases, new 33's, and a soft top on the back, and the whoel front axel has been rebuilt. bodys in good shape too. geuss soem kids tryed to steal it and wacked the ignition wires to the switch. thats an easy fix. anyways this is goign to be my trailer to the mud and go play never on the road truck. was wonderign if anyoen had any good ideas for it. knwo i wana put 35's, move the battery inside to the back, and make a snorkel set up for it, and make a big deer killign bumper for hte front like on a wrecker.also going to weld the spiders in the back.
any ideas will eb excepted.
thanks.



78 f350 supercab 4x4 400 .60 over
78 bronco

 

Upgrade your front axle to a Dana 60 and go larger than 35" on the tires, especially if it's a dedicated offroader. You'll hate yourself later if you don't. Chop your fenders and you won't need a lot of lift to fit a 38-40" tire. It probably has a 203 transfer case. If one of the ones you got with the truck is a 205 I'd switch to that. Twin stick it or for that matter use the 203 and buy a doubler kit so you'll have a killer 4:1 low gear. Those are my thoughts for now.

PS Congrats on the steal you got there. I can't find one in ANY condition for under $1000 here. Those Broncos are awesome.

 

sell it for 3000 if you can, and buy something smaller and super cheap and beat up in the 500$ range.......a scout persay......get a 1 ton doner truck for around 500. and then build that thing to death. then take your extra 1000-1500$ and buy the biggest, badess tires you can find and some bead-lock wheels.

just my thoughts, or just slap a D60 front and D70 rear, get a np435 and a np250, and some 44 boggers or 42 IROKS, and abouta 6" lift and youll be set.

Idio

 

I think you have a great start to a project. I think you'll be ok, even with 35's up front. Let's see, what to do...get a fuel cell and holley red pump to feed the motor. Those tanks are prone to leak, and the last thing you wanna do is die in the middle of the pit because your pump went out. Yea, move the battery. I'd suggest a full set of gauges (oil pressure, temp. tranny temp if auto), and an MSD soft touch rev limiter. Throw a 5k rpm chip in there and you'll never have to worry about blowing your motor to pieces. Don't lift it, as said, just do some cosmetic work to the fenders. Add a good radion, some 5 point harnesses, a roll bar, and trade out the belt driven fan for an electric fan. That way, when banzai'ing off into a pit, your fan won't throw crap all over the motor and try and pull itself thru your radiator. I might trade the snorkel idea and instead make a shrouded air cleaner lid. That can be done with a sheet of galvanized tin. That's what I did and haven't ever had any problems. Make sure your windshield wipers work well, and get an electric water pump from Grainger.com and attach that to a 5 gallon bucket of water in the back, and run the hose to the windshield for extra cleaning power. The 9
' is pretty tough, and should withcstand what you're gonna do with 35's, unless you're using boggers, then a D60/70 14-bolt should be in the works. But then you'll also want to upgrade to the D60 front, but that's 1200 bucks down the road...

 

OH! Make sure the inspection cover is in place on the tranny. Those starters don't get along very well with mass amounts of natural goo being crammed into them via flywheel.

 

forget that bumper if its off-road only. it's just unnessisary weight in the front which you don't want on that pig. just fab something small for a winch and some lights. cut the body and put it on a diet. but if you are really set on having a killer bumper, i'll sell you mine. it sure is stout, and has killed a few deer already along with some trees. pics in my gallery.

if it's just a beater off-road rig and you are staying with 35" then your drivetrain will be ok, maybe beef it some if you can, but you can still have fun with 35" off road.

 

you should definately build that deer killin bumper! i know about that from personal experience/fun . u would be good with 35s, i would go with a bogger or swamper type directional tire. good luck!

you should also sell me the 33s! if theyre mudders throw me an email!

-Tim

oya...lockers are always good...200bucks will probly do it!

 

build a cage, build up motor, transfer case doubler with np203 and np205, rockwell 2 1/2 ton axles, coilovers all the way around, 4 link front and rear,40-44inch swampers, detroit lockers, but all this is probably overdoing it a little for what you want

 

I agree with everyone with the ideas of hacking the fenders, maybe a 4'' lift. Unless you plan on hopping up the mill your drivetrain should be fine with 35s. But if i were you i would go ahead and buy some bigger tires. Once you get those 35s on you will have wanted bigger tires...i started out with 35's the next year i had 38.5's(still do) and now i am wishing i went ahead and saved up for 42's. 42'' irocs will be my next tire (hopefully last...yeah right) Take the soft top off, build a rollcage. I like ivans idea with the t-case doubler, especially if you already have a 205 and 203. If you have the money slap some 1 ton axles under it, and maybe a 460...the rest of your drivetrain should do fine. Oh and yeah i would ditch the big bumper and go for a more practical one that will hold a winch like mudder suggested. Add a set of lockers and you will have one bada$$ trail rig.

 

I like what i hear, and dang 50

Just wonder why you would move the battery inside the bronco

 

why not look at skid steer tires off a bobcat or a tractor. i used them on a pos ranger i had with a diesel. 2wd but it worked on the farm. i never got a flat and they went through the mud like nothing else. make a reciever type winch mount to use the winch in the front or rear. use 4/0 welding cable for power. if it stays off road weld the rear diff and if you want the front.

 

yea i planned on welding the front and rear. i might take the new 35s off my daily driver and slap them under the bronco. i got 35x 12.50x 16.5's on ym 78 f250 supercab 4x4 stock . i can just slap the old tires back on. the 2 1/2 ton axels is a littel much for the wheeling, i have a set to go under my 78 supercab but thats goign to end up a show rig.anyone have any snorkel ideas i got mud holes around here that are liek 4 or 5 foot deep. i wna tot move the battery inside because of the mud hoels i go through to keep it dry, same with all the boxes im moving them in under the dash. ive got a 60 and a hd44 outta my parts supercab i might put under it. im doing this all becasue my supercab goes grea tin the mud. have had mud clean up to the bottom of the window, but its a daily driver and cant afford to break sh$t. was wonderign what the use of flipping the shackel hanger does?this is probably going to be the biggest afro enginered ride in the world

 

use 3" pvc pipe for the snorkel.run it straight across the engine compartment and through the fender then follow the body line until you get over the roof. i se a reversed air scoop of a tractor so that it points backwards and doesn't get splashed into. its a butcher job but works

 

that seems kinda tacky for a snorkel idea not to eb rude. ive decided to swap out the bench for buckets so far. also goign to put a set of dec headers on it for the exhaust.

 

wheel the hell outta it and then break as much as you can....then when something breaks upgrade it to the biggest and best. we could tell you all day long how to upgrade and the supposedly best upgrade but you are the only one who will know eactly what you need.

i have a couple of buddies who rockcrawl hardcore and they chain their truck up to a tree with a 30' strap back up to the tree and floor it. they have done this until nothing breaks anymore (except for changing out the homemade D-rings 3 times, lol) I have to say that 'truck' (it's actually an EB) is the most bulletproof I have seen!

That way things are less likely to break when you are out in the middle of nowhere with one of your buddies who is already limping down the trail and it is 100 miles to the nearest gas station!

maybe overkill but that's just me...there have been some real good ideas so far!

-jason-