- First Name
- David
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2024
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 24
- Reaction score
- 66
- Location
- Rhode island
- Vehicle(s)
- Bronco ranger
- Your Bronco Model
- Big Bend
- Thread starter
- #1
I haven't found any resources on getting more travel out of the rear of the bronco. So I decided to share what I've come up with. I'm getting around 20" or so of articulation.
To accomplish this I used Icon shocks. They were already installed on my bronco but it is mounted upside down and has a tapering coil which I believe are key to my set up, although it might work with other shocks. Conveniently icon has the longest extended and shortest compressed length of all oe replacement shocks. You're supposed to mount the top hat on top of the frame but I instead mounted it on the bottom side. This increased the down travel but more importantly allowed the shock more room to swing forwards, away from the axle.
To combat the loss of up travel I removed the foam bump stops which I can do because I instead have pneumatic bump cans. With 37s and ADV fenders the tires can still contact the fenders.
Next I welded extra material to the axle shock mounts and drilled new holes about 2" forwards for the shocks. The tolerance between the coil and frame were very tight but it doesn't rub or rattle. This increased the motion ratio by a surprising amount.
With a rear sway bar installed and my front sway bar disconnected (worse case scenario for testing rear articulation) I maxed out my ramps sitting on top of 6x6s without coming close to lifting a tire. It achieved 19" like this but can certainly do more.
I didn't take many pictures while I was doing it. This is before I trimmed it up to make it smaller.
To accomplish this I used Icon shocks. They were already installed on my bronco but it is mounted upside down and has a tapering coil which I believe are key to my set up, although it might work with other shocks. Conveniently icon has the longest extended and shortest compressed length of all oe replacement shocks. You're supposed to mount the top hat on top of the frame but I instead mounted it on the bottom side. This increased the down travel but more importantly allowed the shock more room to swing forwards, away from the axle.
To combat the loss of up travel I removed the foam bump stops which I can do because I instead have pneumatic bump cans. With 37s and ADV fenders the tires can still contact the fenders.
Next I welded extra material to the axle shock mounts and drilled new holes about 2" forwards for the shocks. The tolerance between the coil and frame were very tight but it doesn't rub or rattle. This increased the motion ratio by a surprising amount.
With a rear sway bar installed and my front sway bar disconnected (worse case scenario for testing rear articulation) I maxed out my ramps sitting on top of 6x6s without coming close to lifting a tire. It achieved 19" like this but can certainly do more.
I didn't take many pictures while I was doing it. This is before I trimmed it up to make it smaller.
The only thing of note is that there's a 12 point bolt that i had to shave down to get the tophat through the frame.I'd like to see the tophat bolted under the frame if you get a chance. I think I get what you are talking about with the mods, but I'm more of a visual guy vs. printed words.
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