My Tacoma Replacement... 1996 Bronco

*Queue the OJ jokes!*

new to me 1996 Eddie Bauer with 167k on the clock. Paint is a bit rough, the passenger side fender and door look like someone side swiped something softish. The underside isn't perfectly rust free, but it's all surface rust that shouldn't be an issue. I was looking for a 5.8 with a relatively clean TAN interior, and a straight body.

Everything works except the overhead console, but I'm missing the tailgate window key. I guess I'll just have to order a blank and have a locksmith create a new one?

At the moment, these are the plans;

Desolate Motorsports Stage 1.5, with a Deaver Q80 low ride pack in the rear and Bilstein 5100's and some 33's. Clean up the interior a bit, maybe add Corbeau Sport Seats in Spice color to add some comfort and stability. The Eddie Bauer seats are a little blown out and wobbly, even if the pleather is in reasonably good shape. Going to drop it off for an interior deep clean and steam clean of the engine bay sometime this week.

I'll work on enjoying it camping etc, working on misc maintenance and getting everything back into good working condition. Once that's achieved, i'll start saving up for a coilover conversion and some beefy shocks out back. I'll be keeping this rig stock width, stock bodied as much as possible. Only thing i may change is the hood and front fenders to AutoFab stock glass.

Well, onto the pictures!

 

Rolling up the tailgate glass this weekend, it started going cockeyed about 75% of the way up. had my gf push the switch while i gave it a little help staying straight, and when it got all the way to the top, i heard something fall off and clatter to the bottom INSIDE of the tailgate... awesome.

Not sure what it was, but i ordered the following parts from JBG so hopefully it'll all be good to go for another decade;
- Inner and outer tailgate seals
- Latch rod isolator clips (since i will probably break the existing ones removing stuff)
- New tailgate handle (mine is tweaked, may as well while i'm in there)
- Latch rod clips (i'll probably break these too)
- Window motor gear repair kit (insurance)
- Left and right window tracks.

I also ordered new tailgate latch striker pads, mine are inexplicably missing. Also the trim ring around the OD button on the column is also missing, so i ordered a replacement for that as well.

Also heard something rattling inside the passenger side door, so i'll probably pull the panel off to find out what that is.

I forgot what a joy it is to work on and own 90's American vehicles haha.

Oh, and the trim panel below the steering wheel seems to be cracked, so i will find out what's up there and either epoxy it, or try to find a replacement on ebay.

 

02.16.2019

Stopped by GooseGear this morning, and Brian used my truck to finalize a design for a rear modular deck plate. This will be bolted to the floor, and I can secure my fridge to it, along with other tie downs or drawer modules for camping gear or tools.

Once mine is done, I believe they will be posting it up on the website. Should fit all 80-96’s. We also talked about a rear seat delete kit for a full length flat smooth floor.

Anyone that is at all interested in woodworking would love this place.

 

02.17.2019

Spent most of the day tearing my tailgate apart. My back window was going up and down crooked and binding and stalling. I could hear something had fallen off and was rattling around in the bottom.

Turns out the passenger side bottom mounting bracket that holds the regulator arm to the window glass cracked at the rivets and fell apart. Those bushings happened to be the one part I didn’t order. So I ordered that today...

Put in a new latch mechanism, new inner and outer window seals, and new window guides. Spend some time adjusting the strikers and handle mechanism, closes and opens much more easily now.

New vs old guides


New vs old latch. Looks like too many attempts to open the tailgate without rolling the window down all the way.


The gaskets at the ends of the tailgate were also completely toast. Ordered a new pair today... these tailgates are money pits.


My destroyed outer wiper seal vs the new one.

 

02.23.2019

Made it to the JY today, grabbed two overhead consoles out of 95-01 Explorers.

Took them out to the parking lot and plugged them into my overhead console pigtail, and they both worked!!

Once I got home I stripped the computer module and map lights out of the Explorer console and they snapped right into the Bronco console. All the screws fit right in. They’re different, but mount perfectly, and work almost identically. Score!

My bronco console is on the left with the Explorer guts in it. The extra Explorer console is on the right.


Bronco main console on top with garage door opener, Explorer main console on bottom with pigtail for the sunroof control. The garage door and sunroof sections snap right into the map light/compass module.

 

03.06.2019

On the table to install tomorrow;

Ford Racing spark plug wires
Motorcraft coil
Motorcraft distributor cap
Motorcraft distributor rotor
Autolite copper spark plugs

The truck runs pretty well as is, but I can replace it for piece of mind, and keep all the old stuff for trail spares. My guess is the plugs have never been changed, or not likely done within the last 100,000 miles at least. I’ll snap some pictures as I pull them out.

 

03.13.2019

My Volant/Donaldson filter came in today. It’s HUGE.



Gross old K&N filter;


K&N vs Donaldson - For reference, the ID on the K&N Mounting flange is 6".


Donaldson installed. It barely clears the hood, and I think the hood support spring nudges it when fully closed. This thing is truly massive.

 

03.16.2019

Replaced my plugs, wires, cap, rotor and coil today. Seems to run a smidge smoother, otherwise I don’t notice much of a difference, almost surprising how bad the old cap and rotor look.

Since everything worked fine, I threw it all in the spares box.

 

03.17.2019

Installed the fridge slide today. Took GooseGear’s lead and drilled new holes and hammered in T-nuts from the back side. With the slide bolted down tight, the fridge should stay put pretty well.

 

03.23.2019

Well... I guess snowballing has commenced. Came across a pair of 2.5x12 Fox triple bypasses + Q80’s for $1000. Too good of a deal to pass up.

 

04.12.2019

Well... I can't even spend money upgrading this truck because it keeps reminding me it's 23 years old. Walked out to the warehouse this morning to my truck having it's lady business all over my floor.

 

04.16.2019

While I’m waiting on transmission parts, I went ahead and installed the ARB diff cover and LubeLocker gasket.

 

05.03.2019

Got off my butt and dealt with the trans pan since my Punisher valve body came in. Didn't feel like dealing with the mess of dropping the full pan to drain it, so i just drilled a hole and let it sit for a few hours. Then it was just a matter of brapping all the bolts out and pulling the filter out. I'll be installing a Moroso pan, Lubelocker gasket, Punisher valve body, and a new filter.

I can't wait to finish up all the boring maintenance items and actually start with upgrades.

 

05.06.2019

Went to install new pan gasket etc after putting in my Punisher Valve Body, and well.... looks like the 4wd filter pickup is too long, and results in the pan not fitting up all the way. 2wd filter ordered.

Anyways, the inside of the transmission looks brand new, no shavings or mystery parts down in the pan. Hopefully lots of life left.

 

05.28.2019

Worked on wiring up my trans temp gauge Saturday. I think i may have to re-think some of the wiring as i used temporary fuse-taps to pull switched 12v power and illumination. I may keep the power feed as is, but i want to move the lighting power to the illumination input for the stereo so i can utilize the dimming function. Also, the spade terminals really don't fit in the autometer housing. Go figure.

I built a small pigtail harness from the gauge going into the dash. I always find that down the road if things need to get removed or fixed, its far easier to just unplug them than have to chase wires or cut things out only to re-do them on reinstall.


This is the other end. comes out near the interior fuse panel. Easy convenient access. I color coded things because i hate wiring and it helps make stuff easier. Red is gauge power, black ground, white is illumination power, and green is gauge signal.





Crammed in wiring. the spade terminals are too long, might trim them down or solder the pigtail directly to the gauge leads. Not sure yet.

 

07.08.2019

Took the Bronco up to Big Bear this weekend. Discovered that spending the day on street pressure 31's and whatever awful shocks are on it was a bad idea. I need to order the stage 1.5 kit from Desolate asap. My steering is pretty bad, and although it could simply just be bad caster angles, I'm going to opt for the RedHead steering box and Borgeson steering shaft to eliminate those possibilities. I think 33's and some Bilstein 5100's should cure a lot of the drivability issues.

The Punisher valve body was REALLY nice on the drive up. Downshifts easily, and upshifts are a firm blip, but nothing harsh ever.

 

07.16.2019

Interior is half out. Need to work on removing the shell trim and rear side panels. The carpet in these trucks has a LOT of padding and different materials under it. Now it's time to clean and de-grossify the floor boards and start laying down butyl sheets and ccf.

What is considered the best brand of aftermarket carpet? I don't think mine is salvageable.



'

 

07.23.2019

The interior is fully gutted. I'm planning out my stereo upgrades and running some wiring while it's all apart.

In addition to two antenna cables and the fridge wiring, is there anything else i should run while it's apart that can live under the carpet?

 

07.30.2019

Something weird must have been spilled in the back of my truck at some point. The underside of all the carpet has had a weird schmoo all over it, and it caused some rust on the drivers rear fender. Took a wire wheel to it, some self etching primer, and a surprisingly good color matched can of Duplicolor Pacific green.

 

07.30.2019

Laid down aluminum backed butyl, similar to fatmat, dynamat etc. It stops panel vibrations, but isn't really for sound. The theory is you lay that on 25% of the surface, then cover on closed cell foam to decouple the body from your sound deadener. I am using mass vinyl, about 1/8" thick. This foam is about 1/4" thick, and i'll be using 3/8" foam for the passenger area. Will be filling in to try and get as close to 100% coverage on the cargo area and side panels as possible. This will also be replicated on the outer door skin and inner door skin where i can squeeze it under the door panel.


The front area has some factory NVH damper, so i just added butyl around it. Coverage is probably better than 30% i think.



Coverage on the side panels is identical left and right. No need for it on the cargo floor as the corrugations supposedly do a good job of eliminating panel vibration.


Planning out the closed cell foam coverage.


Starting to lay it down. I'll go to where the floor drops into the rear seat footwell, then switch to the thicker 3/8's foam. I'm planning to eliminate the jute backing on the carpet, so this foam will be both sound insulation and padding.