Need Info on Ford Bronco (5th gen) aftermarket bumpers=Mfg.?

[FrANkNstEin]

There she is:

sorry, the "crapton" of pics turned out to be 4 pics in the end, was too busy driving it for two hours to make more pics.



The beacon is mounted on the sunvisor, so it´s less of a deal if i´d like to get rid of it.
Cool plates are cool btw:


33"x12.5 Yoko Geolandars:


Rust on the tailgate:



Almost T-boned a guy who came from a sidestreet without really looking: well, the brakes work very well at 50mph. He would´ve been toast if i´d hit him in his little Suzuki. Had to do a full on emergency stop to spare his life.

The steering seems a bit loose to me (1/2" unresponsive/dead point when turning the steering wheel from side to side) , although the dealer claims they´ve put a lot of new parts into the whole steering system... could it be the tires that make it all feel a bit unresponsive? I don´t think so, but it´s the first time i´ve had 33"x12.5´s under me....

Talking about unresponsive: the 5.0l engine really has a hard time with the 2.2 tons of that rig! I would´ve thought it´d be a bit sportier then it was. The 2.0l Diesel in my 1ton + DD has way more punch and i would´ve thought: twice as heavy, but two and a half time as much CUI... should be at least equal in response/acceleration. It´s not that bad, just not my expectations. I should´ve known though: it´s a truck and it drives/accelerates like one.

Really loved the little triangle windows, these really work like a charm and a lot better then every AC i ever knew. (the Bronc has an AC too of course)


All in all i´m more nay then yay right now, but i´ll give myself a night or two to sleep about it, process it all and talk to the dealer again. If he can fix the steering for good while at the same time standing by his latest offer (another 1500$ off of the asking prize) i may still get it but as it is right now i´m still in the market and consider a 4.0l XJ again.

decisions, decisions...

[grand94jeep]

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Talking about unresponsive: the 5.0l engine really has a hard time with the 2.2 tons of that rig! I would´ve thought it´d be a bit sportier then it was. The 2.0l Diesel in my 1ton + DD has way more punch and i would´ve thought: twice as heavy, but two and a half time as much CUI... should be at least equal in response/acceleration. It´s not that bad, just not my expectations. I should´ve known though: it´s a truck and it drives/accelerates like one.

The Ford Bronco used to come from the factory with either LT235/75r15, 30x9.50r15, or in some unique cases 31x10.50r15 tires. In your case I'm betting the original owners never did a proper gear swap. Your engine is simply operating outside of it's nominal powerband. Also, this can cause premature wear and tear on the Automatic tranny. IIRC this model used a E4OD unit that wasn't well known for it's strength.

Just a heads up... Because the tires are so large, and the gears are probably factory gearing, be warned that your speed-odometer will read slower than your actual speed. This will also throw any gas mileage calculations off as well.

I used to love Broncos, but I'm more partial to the '78-'79 variety.

[dukman]

Just a heads up... Because the tires are so large, and the gears are probably factory gearing, be warned that your speed-odometer will read slower than your actual speed. This will also throw any gas mileage calculations off as well.

If you do find the speedo is wrong, many tire shops should be able to help order a new gear for you. It really isn't that hard to change it out.

The 302 is known for great gas mileage and is good for normal driving in larger rigs (I had a 302 in one of my vans), but I can see how they may be underpowered for certain driving styles or conditions. Both of my former Broncos had larger motors, so the power was fine for me. Also remember with a rig this heavy it does take a little more distance to stop than a smaller SUV.

With Ford Trucks, it is usually the rag joint failing that causes the play in steering. This is a pretty simple fix, although a spendy little part at at least $50, if not $100 or more depending on where you get parts from. That is better than some of their cars where you have to replace a lot more to replace the joint, and at a lot higher cost. The rag joint is located along the steering shaft between the firewall and steering box. It consists of two yokes (One connects to the steering wheel side and the other connects to the steering box side of the shaft) held together by a rubber-like disc. That disc hardens and breaks over time, causing the slop. You should be able to inspect the joint by looking under the hood.

[FrANkNstEin]

In your case I'm betting the original owners never did a proper gear swap. Your engine is simply operating outside of it's nominal powerband. Also, this can cause premature wear and tear on the Automatic transmission. IIRC this model used a E4OD unit that wasn't well known for it's strength.

Now this is very important information!! I bet it´s just like you say since the original mods have been made while the rig was still in Canada. That´d explain why the Auto tranny already crapped out once in only 56k miles.

If it was a 2500$ Bronco or less, i´d live with that and try to find a replacement soon. But on a truck where the asking price is right around 10k, that is a deal breaker. If at least the engine/tranny/suspension would be in good working order and work well together, combined with only very minor rust and good overall condition, i would´ve fetched it. (considering a premium of course because it´s somewhat scarce in Austria. You can´t judge it by US prices, unfortuneately. )

The 302 is known for great gas mileage and is good for normal driving in larger rigs (I had a 302 in one of my vans), but I can see how they may be underpowered for certain driving styles or conditions.

The engine itself ran like a sewing machine right from firing it up, with a wrong gearbox for this tire size though it´s no wonder that it can´t play it´s cards right.

It seemed like: when the tranny shifted, the engine had to fight a bit and didn´t bring it´s power onto the pavement. Once it reached a certain point (speed/rpm´s?) after shifting, you could tell that all of the sudden the acceleration got a lot better. It´s that dead unresponsive time after shifting up that made it seem unresponsive to me, i guess with the right gears it´d be totally ok, because it was totally ok once it reached that certain point after shifting.

It wasn´t that bad and the rig was still driveable like that, but it was noticeable and my thought was "that´s less then average" . I know it´s no race car (neither is my other car) and wouldn´t expect it to behave like one, but i like my power/torque in all situations.

A 302 still seems like a very nice engine to me, i really want to take one for a spin with proper gearing. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside....

[grand94jeep]

It seemed like: when the transmission shifted, the engine had to fight a bit and didn´t bring it´s power onto the pavement. Once it reached a certain point (speed/rpm´s?) after shifting, you could tell that all of the sudden the acceleration got a lot better. It´s that dead unresponsive time after shifting up that made it seem unresponsive to me, i guess with the right gears it´d be totally ok, because it was totally ok once it reached that certain point after shifting.

I promised ya I wasn't trying to talk you out of it, I was just giving a heads up.

From the way you're describing the transmission shifting, I'd say that the rebuilt transmission is already on its way to failing. Good call to pass on it. Sounds like someone was trying to sell you their headache.