I have a deal in the works to trade somebody some carpentry work for an early bronco. I know the guy that built the bronco put alot of time and money into it before he traded it to the current owner for back rent on shop space.Many things appear to have been done right.It has a 5.5" lift(i think) because it has wide 35" boggers on it,it has an adjustable trac-bar with a drop bracket,extended pitman arm, reinforced steering box mount,what appears to be new steering linkage and a new front and rear ends.My question is about the c-bushings and radius arms,I learned from other threads on this site that there is supposed to be a 10 degree or so kickout from the frame to the axle.The bronco in question appears to have stock arms mounted to the original mounts.The problem is that the c-bushing is twisting back towards the frame and doesn't look like it fits properly,it is the same on both sides.It looks like the arms are kicked out to far. Is this due to the tall lift with stock arms and rear mounting point or is it possible the bushing mount is on the axle tube improperly? Any help would be appreciated,Thanks.

 

You said it has new front and rear ends-Is it possible that the front axle is out of a fullsize bronco or F150??? That would definitely cause some bushing alignment problems if the C-bushing tabs were left in their original place on the axle. Look at the pinion on the axle-if its a high pinion, it cant be an early bronco housing because they all had low pinion front axles

 

Thanks for the info on the front end.Does anybody know where to find what the distance should be between the c-bushing tabs. My brother works for the owner of the bronco and told me last night that the original front and rear ends may still be rotting in the weeds behind the shop, that would be a big help for sure. If the front end that came out of the bronco is still there are there any other things too look for to tell if the front end that was removed was the original? I dont't want to use it for comparison if it is not the original piece,that may be how the problem started.Thanks

 

I have never measured them for comparison but I think the axles on a full size Bronco are much wider than those of an Early Bronco. I own all three styles. A 71 and 73 EB, a 78 Big Bronco, and an 88 with the twin traction beam 44. Heck if they will interchange I think I will swap out the pieces from the 78 onto the 73, bigger better brakes, bigger better axles!

 

I don't think the axle is from a fullsize either because the tires are sitting under the truck exactly where they should be. I am concerned that maybe the guy that did the work on the truck may have built his own c-bushing mounts or welded some on himself. Would the 5-6" lift with the factory arms and rear mount cause the misalignment? There is no body lift so its all spring. I read on one of the bronco parts sites that they recommend rear drop brackets for the strut arms with lifts this tall. I really don't think that would be enough to fix it though. Thanks 74

 

I dont know exactly how much wider a fullsize is over an early bronco but I've heard somewhere that its not really a whole lot-maybe 4 inches- that much could be hidden with the right wheels. Yes, you should have drop brackets for that much lift,in my opinion. But that shouldnt have an effect on the C-bushings. Later on today I will try to remember to measure the C-bushing clamps on an early Bronco front axle and on a fullsize axle and get the info back here. (it's dark right now)

 

OK- heres the measurements early bronco-37.5 fullsize-43.5 I measured from the rib that runs down the center of C-bushing clamp on the front side of housing