LMAO, I wouldn’t hold your breath!!! Now, if you needed a central line started, or your ticker re-ticked, 2ndxrnd is your man!
I refuse to respond to such childishness tmh. I beat you fair and square. Dont make me hold my breath…
Uh-Oh, tmh… he’s pulling out the BIG GUNS!!! 
The only people better than doctors at holding their breath are NURSES!!!
(Usually the nurses are holding their breath while talking to over-pompous Doc’s)! 
And when a member of either group finally let’s go; all H3LL generally WILL ensue! Trust me, I know whereof I speak… I’ve been known to shoot cans and paper with a couple-three Doc’s; and I’ve been known to be married to the most dangerous class of nurses (Recovery/PACU) for over 28 years!
It’s d@mned scary, I tell ya!
Oh, 2NDXRD isn’t a doctor, but he plays one on TV… or is it that he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night…?
Hmm… So of course I signed up on the fullsizebronco forum to bug them with all my noob questions. Something that’s come up in my question about the best tires for snow/rain is the suggestion that having a Posi front end and Trac-Loc rear end is bad for driving on snow and ice. I would have thought they’d be better for snow than an open diff for sure, but I’m known to not know jack, so I figure I’d ask here since I already know y’all know what you’re talking about and I’m not sure who’s who over there. I realize the trac-loc is a “Posi” unit and having a “Posi” front end doesn’t tell me what specifically is up there, but I’m just going on what I was told by the seller at this point. They could both be open for all I know. Oh and the front hubs have Warn manual lockers. So… The “Posi” front and trac-loc rear, are they working in my favor or working against me, when it comes to snow and ice driving? If so, how badly, and, what would be the better alternative?
power on all 4 wheels is great, for snow and ice.
But… if you lose control, you will end up deeper off the track than other guys.
You just need to practice, and adjust your driving accordingly.
I had my Jimmy on 4 wheel drive all winter, every winter, including 800 to 1000 mile trips.
What the guys are talking about is a lockers tendency to “push” through cornering. While locking diffs are the shizznitz in off road driving, they can get you into trouble in a hurry in icy conditions.
Is this just for lockers or does it apply to limited slip clutch-based diffs too? I tried looking online to find what kind of diff setup my '00 4runner has, since it has the same general transfer case setup 2H, N, 4H, 4L) and I know for a fact it kicks ass in winter in 4H. But I didn’t have the best of luck with finding good info. I’ll keep looking when I get more time.
The thing for me is, is it worth going through the work of pulling out what’s in there and replacing it (on the Bronco, I mean) to go back to an open diff? I’m assuming I could come out ahead money wise, or at least break even, right? I’d just rather not do it unless it’s a noteworthy improvement in performance on snowy/icy/wet roads. Off-road, I really don’t care, as I don’t plan to do any unless there’s a zombie apocalypse or something.
tmh, this should help a little:
http://www.offroaders.com/tech/limited-slip-lockers-differentials.htm
Before I worried too much about swapping diff’s in the Bronco THAT APPEARS IN MY SIG. 
I’d take a long look at what you hope to use the truck for, and how long you plan to keep it.
Me? I wouldnt want a truck with lockers on the interstate… I WOULD however want one if my mother needed to get to the hospital and we just got 30 inches of snow.
Another thought, what are the gear ratios? If theyre 4:11’s or higher and I was driving a couple hundred miles a week? I’d swap to a 3:25/3:30ish open diff’s. Why? Cuz 4:11 (or higher) lockers, this time next year? You’ll be cringing everytime you drive over 45 MPH. The gubment and the media are promising us $5.00 and up per gallon gas prices over the next year. Sadly, this is one of the FEW times I believe 'em.
Man I hope that does not happen! It will be 
Steven
They’re purported to be limited slip diffs (Posi, Trac-Loc, whatever) rather than full-on locking diffs like a Detroit Locker or anything.
I don’t expect to drive over 45mph very much at all. In fact it’ll mostly be 25-30mph tops. The whole point of the Bronco is to have something I can drive around town on rainy days or during winter, times I wouldn’t take the Cougar out. Sometimes there will be snow, sometimes rain, probably rarely ice, and mostly it’ll be dry pavement during the winter months. I expect to do little if any highway driving, and since I work from home there will not be much driving at all for that matter. Just to go drive to the DMV or FedEx or to buy lunch or things like that, during the day when I wouldn’t take the Cougar out. For any longer trips during those months we’d just take the 4runner (which now is 100% my wife’s 
) which I already know does fine under pretty much any conditions.
I wouldnt worry then. I’d put some decent tires on it, get it sorted out and enjoy it for a while. See how it goes down the road for a while.
Great looking truck, but I would get rid of the glass fuel filter. The look good, but are a problem if the glass brakes and…Poof! you up in smoke!!!
I remember this from before, when I was shopping for a fuel filter for my cougar. I went with a nice big metal one. Will definitely do the same with the Bronco, shortly. I’ve got a meet up set up for Saturday with a local guy (half hour away) who I met on the FullSizeBronco forum, he’s gonna take a quick look at the Bronco and give me any insight into whether it’s a sound enough vehicle that it’s worth the $800-900 I’m gonna have to drop on a new set of tires to have it be safe and functional and all that. Pending his thumbs up, new tires ASAP, proper rivnuts to mount the driver’s side mirror I mounted today with coat hanger, purchase a passenger side mirror, and then as soon as I have the time, I’ll set about figuring out if I can get the brakes working stronger. I’m sure I can. Might be my first time with bleeding, might be my first time squeeze-balling and replacing all the fluid, hopefully won’t be my first time replacing a master cylinder, and likely will be my first time adjusting rear drum brakes. It’s got brakes. It just takes about 1/2 mile to stop from 5 mph. Ok slight exaggeration but you get the idea.
I love that ridiculous truck. I wish I was driving it around town right now instead of the 4runner. Soon, if all goes well.
tmh, how goes with this beast?
I meant to talk about your braking woes, any work on the brakes yet?
Pull the wheels and check the pads. If the pads have some life left, bleed the brakes. If the pedal wont firm up, make sure you have no leaks. If you have no leaks and still cant firm up the pedal, I would put a new master cylinder on it. They’re under 40 bucks, and take so much out of the way… WELL worth the dabloons.
Another thing to remember, you’re used to driving newer stuff. The Bronco (complete with 35’s and a 4" lift) wont brake like the newer rigs.
Let us know how it goes!
I’ve got a meeting set up for about 25 hours from now, gonna drive over to the house of a local guy from the FullSizeBronco forum who’s a former professional mechanic, and he’s gonna take a look and tell me if he sees any major issues with the Bronco.
If he doesn’t see any big issues, I’ll be spending a small fortune ordering a set of tires, they’ll be about $900 total, ordered online, shipped to a local Firestone shop and balanced and installed. Something I didn’t catch when inspecting the Bronco before buying (was getting close to dusk and I wouldn’t have thought to check anyway) is that all 8 tires have dryrot on the sidewalls. From what I’ve read, that’s just plain dangerous.
The brakes, I’m gonna do all the normal tests-- check fluid level in mc, check vac components for leak, check pads and rotors, make sure calipers aren’t on backwards, check that the rear brakes are adjusted properly… If that doesn’t get them working like I think they should, then I’ll go the bleeding route. From what I’ve read (I don’t know jack) I would need to bench bleed the front brakes and master cylinder first, then connect it up and bleed the brakes in-place in a specific order that starts with the right rear if I’m remembering right…
Does 4" lift mess up the brakes? Meaning, the actual brake lines? I guess I’ll find out tomorrow maybe.
I realize the braking on a 30+ year old 5000lb truck won’t be the same as my 4runner for example. But from what I’ve read on the FSB forum, if the brakes are properly set up you can lock up the wheels. Mine are not even close. I expect the braking to improve substantially once I get in there and figure out why they’re performing as badly as they are.
So excited for tomorrow. I’m sure hoping the Bronco even starts though. Been sitting since the day I bought it. We’ll see!!
The brakes on the trucks were actually pretty good. The quality of the brake pads really make a difference. Pull the calipers off and have a look at the pads, to make sure there in good shape, not cracked or separated from the backer. Do you have safety checks in your area? Im sure your friend will help you out just fine. I would love to have one of these myself.
By safety check do you mean some kind of state inspection process? None of that here in Illinois, thankfully. All we have are emissions tests, and only in certain counties including of course the one I’m in. But from what the previous owner told me (I sure asked!) and what I’ve read online, Illinois emissions testing is only required for vehicles with OBD systems, so I should be exempt. I already got license plates and registration for it, and put em on. So I should be all set.
I think I could get a free safety inspection from my 4wd mechanic here in Chicago, and I’m certain I could get a free safety inspection from him if I bring it in to have the alignment done which I would like to, if I have the $.
I wonder if I might be able to get the Firestone shop to pull the calipers off and let me have a look when they’re swapping the tires. Worst case they’d probably do it but charge me extra. If anything I can just wait until after they swap the tires and then pull the new ones off after I get home and check the pads then, if they’re gonna charge me more than just a few bucks to do it.
On the lift… just make sure the soft lines arent “stretched”. Sometimes guys spend all that money lifting a truck and leave the stock soft lines on. Lifted rigs need longer soft lines. Plus, the lift raises your center of gravity and the larger tires take a bit more to “woah”.
tmh, just ask the guys at the Firestone shop to take a look at the pads. No need to pull the calipers to see the pads on a disk brake system. The rear drums will be a different story.