What have you done to/with your Bronco today?

[BroncoBlair]

Parker i also found you a spare rim

[lonesouth]

I'm only now seeing this, THANKS!

Also, i'll be putting the hardtop back on tomorrow after church.  If anyone is around, I certainly would appreciate a couple extra hands.

[lonesouth]

scratch that.  I got the top on this morning.  went a lot easier than I expected.  Now to bolt it up.

[BroncoBlair]

Making Progress on the rebuild.

[JustaFordGuy]

Get er done!

[lonesouth]

kids were sleeping, wife was sleeping, some clerical nonsense had been taken care of, so I had a little time.

I have not changed the oil in a LONG time, so I started it warming up and did an oil change amongst other repairs.

First issue to address is my steering.  I've never been happy with it, always way too loose.  I rebuilt the box 2 years ago, but that didn't help.  I was about to remove it and send it off to west texas offroad, but I figured I'd check into tightening it up with the sector shaft adjusting nut on top.  I had set it when I rebuilt the box, but never verified I set it correctly.  I watched this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDLYLDBbWNw, made some adjustments, and man it is like a new box.

Second issue is that my steering wheel trim ring has always rubbed the steering column.  I had looked into this before, and was not able to find some mythical spring that should keep the shaft pushed away from the column.  I dug in some more and discovered that the snap ring which retains the bearing in the signal switch housing was not in the groove.  Easy fix.  Ground down the trim ring a little and now there is zero contact.  Which I had discovered this years ago.

I can't believe how much better it drives now.  Between the tighter steering and not rubbing, I think I removed some friction too which made the steering even easier. 

I also bought myself some Christmas gifts.  Who's up for a wrench-a-que?  Need to install the new to me 4.11s and get the tires swapped to my new 15x7 SLOTS!

[BroncoBlair]

Glad you got a lot of things fixed. I am knee deep in trying to get mine rebuilt but I can try to help. Why do you want 4.11 gears. on trails it would be nice but driving daily may be too low.

[lonesouth]

most of the gear threads I read on classic suggest that 3.50 are too high for 33's.  A lot of them recommend 4.56, but I know that is low for anything I am likely to do.  4.11's should be about the sweet spot and get me closer to the original drive ratio with stock tires.

[JustaFordGuy]

Glad to hear you got the steering sorted out. I'll be working on my steering in the next few weeks too.

3.50 gears with 33" tires are just about perfect for a mostly street driven Bronco. If you are planning to be off road more than on the 4.11 gears will be better. The only place the 4.11s will hurt you is on the highway.

[lonesouth]

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239013

I haven't seen anyone suggest 3.50s after trying 4.11s.  However, I will do the rear first and give it a shot to see how I like it.  I suspect for what I use it for, I'll prefer it, as I don't spend much time on the highway.  If I want MPG, I'll drive the minivan.

[JustaFordGuy]

It's not really an MPG thing (broncos aren't made for that) it's more of an RPM thing. I turn 2500+ at 70mph with 3.50s. With 4.11s you will be over 3000. I don't know about yours but mine is loud over 3000.

That being said, I'm sure you will like 4.11s just fine but I like 3.50s just fine too. Just not sure if it's worth all the work.

[JustaFordGuy]

I got my 1 ton steering kit installed. The install went smooth but I will need to fab a new steering stabilizer mount. The new links are 1.5" in diameter so the old mount won't fit around them.

I think I have my steering gear centered now but it was a little trickier than I expected. Hopefully I have it close enough.

I'll post some pictures soon.

[lonesouth]

Drove all over the northside saturday morning.  Pic was taken at the new Bull Run development Ox Bottom/Thomasville.

[JustaFordGuy]

Wow, awesome picture.

[FloridaBronco]

i put 4:11 in my CJ5 with 35"x15:50 x15". with the 258 I-6 and T18 its about best for both on road (not hwy top speed is 45) and offroad. if I did it again id go 4:56. better crawl speed up in N Ga mountain trials.
that said I got 35" KM2's on the FJ and regardless of what all the forum dummys say it drives perfect on hwy and even better off. ratio is 3:73 and 4.0 v6 and 5 sp auto. its plenty punchy off the line. but its a modern fuel injected engine and not a good compare. Just saying changing gear ratios one size or so is not a game changer. But I think since you got them and a locker (right?) you will be happy with it around town and on the trail. One benefit you may have is better cooling by revving little higher when offroad slow trial riding. Also if your running the stock FORD pos alternator it will help keep volts up on those long trail rides.