Minty, 2dr Badlands on 37's, My "Heritage" Build Thread!

[Mirage]

That bushing bracket unbolts from the frame too, so you could remove it entirely which may make it a bit easier to inspect the back of the diff and try a tap there.

But otherwise yea, I considered what you said with just running an M10 through the whole thing.

So, I actually found a Class 10.9 M10x70mm bolt and nylon lock nut at Lowe's this morning! I was shocked they had any in stock! Was a little PITA to get tightened, but I did get it!

I decided to keep my LoD Front Bash Plate and Metalcloak Undercloak skid plates. I had to modify the LoD lower bash plate mounting bracket to accommodate for the new diff drop bracket, but it was a minor mod!

My next question to you @TeocaliMG is did you ever make a new little diff skid plate yet? My Metalcloak diff skid plate will not mount, not like I expected it too, but I have an idea on getting it to work I just wanted to ask you if you had deigned anything for it yet?

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[Mirage]

So, still no LED under-hood light kit installed, LOL! Putting the LoD & MC skid plates back on took most of the day for me to do!

I decided against the ARB skid plates for a couple of reasons... One was how much was I going to have to modify on them to get them to work with the diff drop? And was the width of the ARB bash plate going to interfere with my 37's? Lastly, I thought I had my MC skid plates sold, but the guy backed out on them, so I said screw it, I'll just reinstall them! I had to remove them to do the diff drop anyway, so no harm done!

Here's a decent pic of the old MC skids (minus the front diff one) back on. I also plan on putting my MC LCA skids back on, but I need to find some longer lower shock bolts to do so. Rocks everywhere in Alabama, whether you want to hit them or not, so I'm a firm believer in underside protection! If anyone wants to know, just the MC Undercloak weighs 226lbs! I'm not sure about the weight of the other skids, but I assume I can find out?

Here's the LoD front skid back on, since I forgot to post it in my last post....

Also, my very nice DV8 Grey Tow Hooks on the rear bumper were driving me crazy! DV8 doesn't have any black ones in stock, so I put my old HD RC ones on instead! Also, those little perforated fill plates they give you in these bumpers is awful... I'm probably going to make some solid fill pieces and install them instead...

 

[Mirage]

So, my 3 dogs decided to wake me up at 4:15am, so I just decided to stay up... I waited until daylight, then went out and raised the Bronco up some, not too much and definitely not even close to the max settings on the coilovers!

About 8am, I took a 10 mile drive this morning and the suspension settled a bit, but I'll definitely need to do some more adjustments! On the way back home, I got out and took a quick pic and it settled down quite nicely and it rides so much better/tighter than before!

I finally installed the LED under-hood lights! These were pricey for what they are, but I'm seeing a similar trend with F150LED's products....

I also got tired of Rough Country never answering my messages about a rear brake line bracket, so I made my own out of steel stock and painted it. This one pictured was actually too long...

This one is about 2" tall, unlike the one above. It's not perfect, but at least it'll give me some play, if things get sketchy now!

 

[TeocaliMG]

My next question to you @TeocaliMG is did you ever make a new little diff skid plate yet? My Metalcloak diff skid plate will not mount, not like I expected it too, but I have an idea on getting it to work I just wanted to ask you if you had deigned anything for it yet?

I have not! Thats been a back burner project for a bit, been super busy in 2025. I made one prototype where I tried to make a full one piece design that I bend into place and it needed probably a couple more iterations to get right and I never got around to it. At this point I think i'd stick with a 3 piece design and weld it up.

I'll give it some time this week/weekend and take another crack at it.

 

[KRAKEN]

Looking good... you are a beast with your non-stop work. Glad you weighed your cargo box, I meant to weigh mine before it got installed.

 

[Mirage]

I have not! That's been a back burner project for a bit, been super busy in 2025. I made one prototype where I tried to make a full one piece design that I bend into place and it needed probably a couple more iterations to get right and I never got around to it. At this point I think I'd stick with a 3 piece design and weld it up.

I'll give it some time this week/weekend and take another crack at it.

No problem, I wasn't sure if you have finished something or not yet, no biggie!

I do have an idea on how to keep my Metalcloak diff skid, but it'll be the weekend before I can work on it or maybe Friday afternoon? I think my plan "should" work though. I'll definitely post pics of my findings!

I will also have to lift it up some more, the front is barely rubbing on the new metal inner fender liners at full lock in reverse, not a big deal, but I was planning on raising it up some more anyway!

 

[Mirage]

Looking good... you are a beast with your non-stop work. Glad you weighed your cargo box, I meant to weigh mine before it got installed.

Thanks man! I drove my old F150 to work all last week and worked on the Bronco every night/afternoon, LOL!

I knew the box was going to have to come back out to install the trailer package, but I was dreading it, haha! I should've weighed the box when I built it, but I was too excited to get it installed, LOL!

You wanna go on an offroad trip with us in mid-May?

 

[KRAKEN]

No trips for me in the near future... wife & I both are having knee surgery... ya'll have fun and take care of your knees... ha

 

[Spyder625]

Next up, I finally decided to install my OEM tow package harness/module thingy, that I've had for months, but it meant I had to remove all of this....

Just to get to be able to get here... to install this module...

But, it had to be done :/ I installed the hitch and starting running the new harness, where I had to plug it into the existing harness in the front left wheel well. It wasn't too difficult

This video was very helpful, I would say the best one I've seen of the few I found!

where did you get the teak looking rubber for the trunk area? very cool

 

[Mirage]

where did you get the teak looking rubber for the trunk area? very cool

It's boat decking! Water/weatherproof, super sticky and easy to cut/trim! I stole the idea from @KRAKEN but here's what I ordered and I definitely ordered way too much, LOL!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVR4W9F4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[Mirage]

So, I pondered around the idea of reinstalling my KBD flares for the last couple of weeks or so and I think Wednesday afternoon/night, I removed all of the old clear double sided tape they used and used 3M doubled sided tape to reinstall on the Bronco. This time, I also use some adhesion promoter on both the Bronco and the flares. Also, the Hooke metal front inner fenders don't fit in the wells as high/deep as the stock felt inner fenders, so everytime I flexed or turned full lock, the tires/UCA's hit them, so I removed those and reinstalled the stock ones... The rear Hooke inners seem to be fine? I honestly was hesitant in buying them...

I also used some black silicone adhesive in the tiny gaps between the flares and the body. The faulty adhesion beforehand resulted in the flares loosing most of their "stickiness" to the body, which looked awful... I wanted them to be a little more "stuck" on the Bronco this time! I also tried some Adam's Polishes Trim Black Restorer that actually made this flare look much better than it did above! I will have to use it on the others!

I also got my MetalCloak LCA skid plates reinstalled yesterday!

Also, I cranked the rear coilovers up to the recommended max setting @ 2.75" of threads showing and the from is slightly under max recommendations setting @ 2" of threads showing. With a full tank of fuel, it is sitting just slightly higher in the rear, exactly what I was going for! I carried it to the Rocket City 45th Annually Mustang and All Ford Car Show today and surprisingly won 2nd place in the Bronco category!

I have a 3/4" body lift kit ordered and on the way here! I also have an idea/parts ordered for using my MetalCloak front diff skid plate, since I dropped the front diff

 

[KRAKEN]

Congratulations on the trophy. I almost went to the show to see the Mustangs. Didn't know there would be Broncos too.

 

[Mirage]

Congratulations on the trophy. I almost went to the show to see the Mustangs. Didn't know there would be Broncos too.

It's an all Ford show I guess the scared everyone away There might've been 3 rows of Mustangs, mostly new stuff, which I don't really care for... I did take pics of all Fox and older ones though.

 

[Mirage]

So, MetalCloak is taking care of me with their newly redesigned rear diff skid plate. Their initial ones fit very loosely and rattled constantly. Mine was also not built correctly as in, it didn't have any welded nuts on it and I had to make it work with a bunch of long bolts...

I also have to use a ton of black RTV on mine, "gluing" it to the axle, but as soon as I went offroading, it would break loose and start rattling again, so they're sending me a new replacement, that should be here tomorrow?

After work today, I removed it and it was a total PITA to remove! Almost as bad as it was to install last year... I also repainted my MC diff cover, as I didn't really like the mall crawler Green/White I had originally painted it in, LOL! I sprayed it Matte Black.

You can actually see the old diff skid, on the ground, in front of the Bronco, LOL! I'll hopefully get my new one installed tomorrow, as well as the modified front diff skid plate too. I'll update when I finish them

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