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[Tor148]

Did the drivers side today and there is a wire conduit in the way. Not positive it would get hit but don't want to take the risk

Took it a part and it was PACKED with dirt!!! And a crap load of wires.

Wrapped twice with cloth tape and once with electrical tape

Was able to tuck it away, and I don't think it will get touched.

Then cut away!!

Still kind of crazy to me cutting up the vehicle

Think it came out ok

Going to run it for a little to see how it goes. Still need to figure out what needs to be done to use the sway bar disconnect.

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[5GENIDN]

So someone reported they went up Wilson creek last week and it was dry.... I guess they did not do up as far as I did. I kept telling my wife it is alright see there are tracks. someone else is up here. Turned out to be 3 UTVs...

 

[Lcubed]

So someone reported they went up Wilson creek last week and it was dry.... I guess they did not do up as far as I did. I kept telling my wife it is alright see there are tracks. someone else is up here. Turned out to be 3 UTVs...

is the mud on the hood self-deposited or where you tailgating the UTV's?

i now see why FORD thought that load sensing windshield wipers might be a good idea. (it's not!)

 

[5GENIDN]

is the mud on the hood self-deposited or where you tailgating the UTV's?

i now see why FORD thought that load sensing windshield wipers might be a good idea. (it's not!)

That is self deposits... Actually the UTVs were kinda "built" and as we got up in the snow one of them was "stuck on the side of the road. The other two were getting him out. We went up another couple miles found a good spot to lett the dogs out and eat lunch than headed back down. UTVs were gone by then.

I tried hard to tread lightly... kept my foot out of the gas, no spinning tires except very slowly while sliding back and forth... Those deposts were happening at about 6 to 10 MPH.... driving along... no spinning, the tires were just grabbing snowball size clumps and throwing them. It was thick heavy clay and very very slick.

 

[userdude]

is the mud on the hood self-deposited or where you tailgating the UTV's?

i now see why FORD thought that load sensing windshield wipers might be a good idea. (it's not!)

I've done this a few times (even though I hate mud, mud happens...) out by myself. Saw one clod fly up and magic-like land right in the middle of my hood. Was just hoping there weren't rocks embedded.

 

[Merc4x4]

Re: Bilstein vs aftermarket 2.5 coil overs on stock sasquatch (@Bmadda )
My thoughts on street driving b/c I haven't done enough off pavement miles.

The stock Sasquatch shocks were very dramatic. Small fast hits, like potholes, felt jarring and stiff while slower motions, like cornering and braking were soft and a bit wallow-y creating noticeable break dive and body lean. (Body lean still wasn't as bad as my mercedes with spring spacers.)
Lower tire pressure helps, but didn't eliminate the jarring sensation. I felt that if the shocks were going to be that stiff initially, they should perform better when driving fast (lean and dive).
I guess they were tuned for low speed. The stock Wildtrak Fox shocks sound like a better fit for me.

When my 2.5's (Icon CDEV) were new, the first thing I noticed was the lack of break dive and lean. I could see a difference in height, but it felt as if I gained track width; even on the soft settings.
As the Icon's wore in, they have softened. I get a bit more dive and lean now on the soft settings, but the small fast hits are still buttery smooth.
I'm still getting a lot of motion from the rear. Driving faster and/or stiffening up the shocks settles it down, but decreases ride quality by introducing the jarring of the small fast hits. It does cut down or eliminate dive and lean so the tradeoff is acceptable to me. Unfortunately I've been fighting *bolts that won't stay tight, so I've been avoiding setting the shocks to stiff and driving fast.
I'm going to try a track bar bracket extension as I've read on here that makes a big difference. My '21 does not have a rear sway bar which I think would cut down a lot of the motion I'm feeling. Hopefully getting the tack bar more parallel will provide a noticeable reduction in what I'm feeling. I hear adding the factory sway bar to the early frames might not be possible.

The separate low/fast speed adjustments on the Fox is a step up from the single compression adjustment on the competitors. If they had a live valve sku, I would have purchased Fox.
If I wasn't stubbornly stuck on electronic shocks, I would go with a set from one of the tuners (e.g., Carli, AccuTune, the one Tor mentioned). They appear to be more refined than the factory tunes.

*Bolts.
Don't forget to replace the nuts and bolts with new hardware. I forgot to do this and I've been dealing with the upper rear forward mount bolts coming loose. Also 1 of the front upper arm bolts, but not as frequent.
Ford parts says the rear (I haven't checked the front) are 1 time use bolts and should be replaced. My theory is a couple of my bolts were over tightened at the factory, stretched, and now won't hold torque well. It could have been from the shop where I had them installed, but they've been around for decades and have done many suspension upgrades on all models of vehicles. The probability of the factory over tightening vs the shop getting it wrong twice is greater in my mind.
I have an appointment this week to replace the 8 nuts and bolts of the 4 rear trailing arms and I'll deal with the rest later. This will be the 3rd time they have to drop the tank, then I guess 1 more time to check/re-torque.

Future (major) mods have been put on hold for a few months (hopefully!) until my second vehicle arrives. It's been a while and I forgot the joys/maintenance/down-time that goes along with modifications. With a second truck I'll be able to go more hard core on the Bronco mods, too.

 

[Bmadda]

Re: Bilstein vs aftermarket 2.5 coil overs on stock sasquatch (@Bmadda )
My thoughts on street driving b/c I haven't done enough off pavement miles.

The stock Sasquatch shocks were very dramatic. Small fast hits, like potholes, felt jarring and stiff while slower motions, like cornering and braking were soft and a bit wallow-y creating noticeable break dive and body lean. (Body lean still wasn't as bad as my mercedes with spring spacers.)
Lower tire pressure helps, but didn't eliminate the jarring sensation. I felt that if the shocks were going to be that stiff initially, they should perform better when driving fast (lean and dive).
I guess they were tuned for low speed. The stock Wildtrak Fox shocks sound like a better fit for me.

When my 2.5's (Icon CDEV) were new, the first thing I noticed was the lack of break dive and lean. I could see a difference in height, but it felt as if I gained track width; even on the soft settings.
As the Icon's wore in, they have softened. I get a bit more dive and lean now on the soft settings, but the small fast hits are still buttery smooth.
I'm still getting a lot of motion from the rear. Driving faster and/or stiffening up the shocks settles it down, but decreases ride quality by introducing the jarring of the small fast hits. It does cut down or eliminate dive and lean so the tradeoff is acceptable to me. Unfortunately I've been fighting *bolts that won't stay tight, so I've been avoiding setting the shocks to stiff and driving fast.
I'm going to try a track bar bracket extension as I've read on here that makes a big difference. My '21 does not have a rear sway bar which I think would cut down a lot of the motion I'm feeling. Hopefully getting the tack bar more parallel will provide a noticeable reduction in what I'm feeling. I hear adding the factory sway bar to the early frames might not be possible.

The separate low/fast speed adjustments on the Fox is a step up from the single compression adjustment on the competitors. If they had a live valve sku, I would have purchased Fox.
If I wasn't stubbornly stuck on electronic shocks, I would go with a set from one of the tuners (e.g., Carli, AccuTune, the one Tor mentioned). They appear to be more refined than the factory tunes.

*Bolts.
Don't forget to replace the nuts and bolts with new hardware. I forgot to do this and I've been dealing with the upper rear forward mount bolts coming loose. Also 1 of the front upper arm bolts, but not as frequent.
Ford parts says the rear (I haven't checked the front) are 1 time use bolts and should be replaced. My theory is a couple of my bolts were over tightened at the factory, stretched, and now won't hold torque well. It could have been from the shop where I had them installed, but they've been around for decades and have done many suspension upgrades on all models of vehicles. The probability of the factory over tightening vs the shop getting it wrong twice is greater in my mind.
I have an appointment this week to replace the 8 nuts and bolts of the 4 rear trailing arms and I'll deal with the rest later. This will be the 3rd time they have to drop the tank, then I guess 1 more time to check/re-torque.

Future (major) mods have been put on hold for a few months (hopefully!) until my second vehicle arrives. It's been a while and I forgot the joys/maintenance/down-time that goes along with modifications. With a second truck I'll be able to go more hard core on the Bronco mods, too.

Is yours one of the early ones that cracks the frame mount welds? could be why its loose up there. I reused all that hardware w/no problems. @popo_patty did a thread on those...don't have the link ATM

 

[Merc4x4]

Confirmation from Carli that they are not running a rear sway bar.
They are not using a trackbar relocation bracket.
Their rear upper links are offset like the factory links. My Icon links are straight.

I need some outside footage to see if what I feel inside is reflected in the body movement, and under which conditions I feel it.

Just some more data suggesting the tuned shocks are the way to go over factory specs...

 

[Merc4x4]

Is yours one of the early ones that cracks the frame mount welds? could be why its loose up there. I reused all that hardware w/no problems. @popo_patty did a thread on those...don't have the link ATM

I check my drivers side every other weekend along with the bolts, and it has no cracks. It is NOT the boxed type, but the early open type.

Ford parts specifically says single use. This is why I'm thinking the factory stretched them, or maybe the shop did during install?

I can't see the passenger side behind the fuel tank, so I will ask the shop when they replace the bolts to check for cracking.

I notice they become loose because I can hear the joint popping under flex. (Then found the loose bolt). I now hear the passenger side, so I'm assuming it is loose as well.

Icon uses FK rod ends on the forward mount (that is cracking) and rubber on the other end. I'm monitoring for cracks, but I don't push my bronco too hard.
Icon's links are also straight, not offset.

 

[popo_patty]

Confirmation from Carli that they are not running a rear sway bar.
They are not using a trackbar relocation bracket.
Their rear upper links are offset like the factory links. My Icon links are straight.

I need some outside footage to see if what I feel inside is reflected in the body movement, and under which conditions I feel it.

Just some more data suggesting the tuned shocks are the way to go over factory specs...

Tuned shocks if going with high end are the way to go. I have not been impressed with Icons quality long term but their stock tune is impressive. I’m a fan of accutune, they are good people and live and breathe shock tuning.
As far as the rear wobbly bits. Could be a number of factors, especially seeing as you’re having issues convincing the bolts to stay put. For me though it was the rear track bar not keeping the axle centered. An adjustable trackbar from Metalcloak solved that issue. I also used a relocation bracket from rock jock to put the track bar back to parallel with the axle. The adjustable bar helps to center the axle and the relocation helps keep it parallel. If you’re running a decent lift (approx 2.5” or more over SAS). Then the angle on your track bar will allow for axle shifting in its travel range more so then stock. This will cause the rear end to feel “loose”. Carli doesn’t see the need as their lift is a bit less.

 

[popo_patty]

Tuned shocks if going with high end are the way to go. I have not been impressed with Icons quality long term but their stock tune is impressive. I’m a fan of accutune, they are good people and live and breathe shock tuning.
As far as the rear wobbly bits. Could be a number of factors, especially seeing as you’re having issues convincing the bolts to stay put. For me though it was the rear track bar not keeping the axle centered. An adjustable trackbar from Metalcloak solved that issue. I also used a relocation bracket from rock jock to put the track bar back to parallel with the axle. The adjustable bar helps to center the axle and the relocation helps keep it parallel. If you’re running a decent lift (approx 2.5” or more over SAS). Then the angle on your track bar will allow for axle shifting in its travel range more so then stock. This will cause the rear end to feel “loose”. Carli doesn’t see the need as their lift is a bit less.

I’d also say my buddies bronco on Icons also had a distinct popping from the rear. Ending up replacing a bunch of parts under warranty… again, not a fan of icon

 

[Bmadda]

I check my drivers side every other weekend along with the bolts, and it has no cracks. It is NOT the boxed type, but the early open type.

Ford parts specifically says single use. This is why I'm thinking the factory stretched them, or maybe the shop did during install?

I can't see the passenger side behind the fuel tank, so I will ask the shop when they replace the bolts to check for cracking.

I notice they become loose because I can hear the joint popping under flex. (Then found the loose bolt). I now hear the passenger side, so I'm assuming it is loose as well.

Icon uses FK rod ends on the forward mount (that is cracking) and rubber on the other end. I'm monitoring for cracks, but I don't push my bronco too hard.
Icon's links are also straight, not offset.

Ya those are the type that don't work so well N of the mason/dixon. I gave up on those type of joints for that exact reason....always super noisy!

 

[Merc4x4]

Tuned shocks if going with high end are the way to go. I have not been impressed with Icons quality long term but their stock tune is impressive. I’m a fan of accutune, they are good people and live and breathe shock tuning.
As far as the rear wobbly bits. Could be a number of factors, especially seeing as you’re having issues convincing the bolts to stay put. For me though it was the rear track bar not keeping the axle centered. An adjustable trackbar from Metalcloak solved that issue. I also used a relocation bracket from rock jock to put the track bar back to parallel with the axle. The adjustable bar helps to center the axle and the relocation helps keep it parallel. If you’re running a decent lift (approx 2.5” or more over SAS). Then the angle on your track bar will allow for axle shifting in its travel range more so then stock. This will cause the rear end to feel “loose”. Carli doesn’t see the need as their lift is a bit less.

I have the adjustable track bar and will add a relocation bracket to see how that changes.

The pop from the rear only happened when the bolt was loose. I could spin it by hand! Tightening the bolt stopped the pop. I expect more NVH from the new links, but don't have any comparison.
I can also feel the motion from the rear is worse with the loose bolt. I knew it was loose before I could hear the pop.

I could be being super picky and unrealistic about the handling characteristics of a 4x4. I was able to quiet down the motion coming from the rear by stiffening the rear shocks a couple "clicks" relative to the front.
I could tell from feel that there was a loose bolt up front. I found it the other weekend, it was the drivers side upper arm, rear bolt. I was able to tighten it up a little bit with my not so calibrated anymore right arm. It was looser than the others.

So far those are the only bolts I've had issues with and I've put 6,000 miles on the suspension so far. there may have been others that were loose that the shop re-torqued during the followup visit, but I've gone over all the bolts and checked the paint marks and put a wrench on them to find the loose ones.

I'm also dealing with the Icon computer and it's active response, so the firmness of the shocks are constantly changing.
It could be I need more spring preload. I am running stock 35's still so I asked for zero preload up front and whatever the rear needed to keep factory rake. A lot of people running aftermarket coilovers are running larger tires and probably more spring preload than me.

I may replace it all with SDi eClik if they ever release it for the Bronco. Carli sells it under their e-venture brand so maybe I'd try one of their full setups.
I need seat time behind the wheel in other setups to get a good reference, but that is difficult.

I appreciate the insight I get on the forum. I feel like I've read every thread!
Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[Merc4x4]

Ya those are the type that don't work so well N of the mason/dixon. I gave up on those type of joints for that exact reason....always super noisy!

I had an idea what I was getting into with fk rod ends, Icon, and living in the NE with salted winter roads.
I don't mind trial and error or early replacement if it doesn't work out.

 

[userdude]

I had an idea what I was getting into with fk rod ends, Icon, and living in the NE with salted winter roads.
I don't mind trial and error or early replacement if it doesn't work out.

This sounds like a good idea for a new thread.

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