New Member: Most Expensive Brake Job Ever

[Tomvzw]

I am new to the forum but not new to Broncos. I purchased my first Bronco in the early 90's when I was in high school. It was a 1976 that I paid $1,600 for. I owned this vehicle for about 4 years and really didn't do anything to it other than upgrade the tires and put a rebuilt 302 in it with the help of my fathers check book. When I graduated high school and got a job I found the need for more reliable transportation after an axel failure on my way to work. I kicked myself for over 10 years for selling the truck.

In 2007 I decided it was time to buy another one. I found a decent 69 and purchased it.

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The upgrades I did to this truck which were not on it when purchased were the 35" Pitbull tires, Roll cage, seats, bumpers, and winch. I took it rock crawling several times and it performed very well; however I always wanted to go through the entire truck and resto-mod it.

Now on to the brake job. I found that I had leaky rear drums and the truck was not braking very well. I was out playing golf with my best friend one Saturday morning in August of 2013. When we were done we decided to get some breakfast at Village Inn. During breakfast I asked him if he was up to helping me replace the drums on the rear axle. He said sure. By the time we made it to the house I had decided we would instead do a complete frame off restoration. By the end of the afternoon the truck looked like this.

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The following week the body and frame went out to sandblasting.

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When I received everything back I decided it was best to do the body work with it mounted to the frame to assure everything lined up in the end. As usual it had a ton of rust in the floor boards, rockers, and kick panels. So we set the frame on some saw horses and put the body back on and started cutting out the floor boards.

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I guess I should have mentioned that neither myself or my friend had any mechanical or body experience outside of replacing a water pump or starter. We had no idea what we were getting into. Due to the extensive rust and the availability of new body panels I decided to just cut the front end of the truck off and start over. This was probably a mistake but I did not know what I did not know.

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After several weekends we ended up getting all the new panels screwed into place and square so that everything would line up. New floor, new firewall, new fenders, new grill, etc. At this point I was not confident enough in my you tube learned welding skills to actually join the panels permanently so I contracted a body shop to complete the welds and paint the truck.

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At this point I really need to talk about my theme. My wife and I are huge Denver Bronco fans. To the point that our dogs are named Miles & Thunder. I always wanted to build a Bronco in old school Denver Bronco colors so that is what I did. This is also the only way she would not throw me out when she found out how much money I was spending. We have separate accounts so she will never truly know that this build when complete will probably be in the 6 figure range.

After sending the body out I started taking apart axles, tranny, and the transfer case so that I could send them off to powder coating and than rebuild them with all new internals. When I got into the 9" rear I noticed it was small bearing so I ordered a new big bearing 9" case and disk brake conversion from Wild Horses. The front Dana 44 Detroit locker was replaced with an ARB and disk brakes as well.
Here is a picture of stuff coming back from powder coating.

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Now to start putting things back together. So far I have completed putting the drivetrain and suspension in. I forgot to mention I tore the 351w down to the block. I than took it in to have machined and decided to just let the fine folks at Colorado Custom Cylinder Heads build the engine like new. The only used parts are the block and crank. I now have an approx. 440HP 351w bored 40 over with aluminum heads and fuel injection. I also changed my tire size from 35x14.5x17 to 35x12.5x17 for several reasons.
1. It is dam hard to find a nice looking rim that is over 10 inches wide and the 14.5 tire was bubbled in the middle creating a 6 inch running surface.
2. The tires would rub on the shocks and hit my fenders at full turn.
3. I am building this truck more as a show truck and wanted it to drive very well.

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[Tomvzw]

This is what the truck looks like today.

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Sitting in my parts boxes I still have New custom made gauges, hydroboost braking system, all new switches that are backlit in blue and orange, deluxe steering system, vintage air, retrosound stereo, twin stick shifters, electric fan, Sherman tank, dual battery kit, new wiring harness, JBL Speakers, 4 core radiator, Ididit column, and a bunch of other small stuff.

In case someone asks the truck has an NP435 and Dana 20.

[Gunnibronco]

That is taking the philosophy of "might as well do it while its apart" to the extreme.

Thanks for posting up. Looking forward to seeing it come together.

[Justin]

Welcome! Makes me feel better about the project creep on my rig.

[Jesus_man]

It happens to all of us!! But I like your theme and look forward to seeing it come together!

[Rox Crusher]

Wow, talk about gumption.

You don't mess around.

[sykanr0ng]

Over on CB it shows up too.

Evidently the proper fix for a bad wheel bearing is a frame off total rebuild.

[Tomvzw]

A little confused. Are you saying this post shows on CB.com also? Can you send me a link. I didn't post anything there.

[colby45]

No I think he is simply saying that the "while I'm at it" bug hits a lot of guys and that something as simple as a bad wheel bearing or leaky brake leads to full frame off restorations. Other examples can be seen on CB.com.

[Tomvzw]

Gotcha. Thanks

[phyler]

No I think he is simply saying that the "while I'm at it" bug hits a lot of guys and that something as simple as a bad wheel bearing or leaky brake leads to full frame off restorations. Other examples can be seen on CB.com.

I have no idea what you are talking about. So far a bad wheel bearing has only lead to disc brakes, 1-ton tie rods, a new engine and most of the sheetmetal from the front-seats forward.

[sykanr0ng]

No I think he is simply saying that the "while I'm at it" bug hits a lot of guys and that something as simple as a bad wheel bearing or leaky brake leads to full frame off restorations. Other examples can be seen on CB.com.

I have no idea what you are talking about. So far a bad wheel bearing has only lead to disc brakes, 1-ton tie rods, a new engine and most of the sheetmetal from the front-seats forward.

Hey what's that over there on the frame?
You really sure that's okay?

[colby45]

I have no idea what you are talking about. So far a bad wheel bearing has only lead to disc brakes, 1-ton tie rods, a new engine and most of the sheetmetal from the front-seats forward.

Oh well I'm saying for others, not mentioning any names...For me a broken intermediate housing has only led to a new transmission (I will concede it was necessary for a driving Bronco), new tires and wheels, a tune up, a complete front end overhaul and still going....

I just keep telling myself I'm in too deep to quit now

[Eck]

I just can't to see this 6 figure Bronco!! Welcome to the sickness.

[Tomvzw]

I just keep telling myself I'm in too deep to quit now

I tell myself that all the time. I also keep telling myself well I might as well replace every part with a new one since every piece I have put on so far is either new or rebuilt to new condition. Not a single used bolt on the truck. All brand new grade 8. It's frankly out of hand at this point. You could just about build a truck with the old parts I have that will not be used. If anyone needs anything I probably have one.

[colby45]

You could just about build a truck with the old parts I have that will not be used.

Yes, welcome to the sickness! I think many Bronco guys have this same problem. Hey, I mean while you're at it....why not?

[hockeydad4-22]

This is why I think it is easier to start with just a frame and tub - nothing else. At least that way you are not replacing anything - and there is no reason not to get carried away with the "while your at it" disease....

One think is for sure - this is going to be one sweet rig when it is done!

[B.O.B.]

It was great to meet you yesterday. It's always great to see new members and especially ones close. You ever need anything let me know.

[Tomvzw]

Yeah it was B.O.B. I love seeing EB's rolling around.

[Viperwolf1]

This is why I think it is easier to start with just a frame and tub - nothing else. At least that way you are not replacing anything - and there is no reason not to get carried away with the "while your at it" disease...

I don't know if I believe in that theory.