87 Bronco II mods. in question.

I have a 1987 Bronco II with a 2.9 v6 engine, A4LD trans, Borg Warner 13-50 Tcase, warn locking hubs, and I think it has 4.11 gears.
I was wondering how far i can take this truck in the mod department. What works without having to repower it.However I think I will at least rebuild the engine. What budget would i need if known. Any ideas or input would be helpful.

Thank you.  
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I have made my decision to lift the bronco II to fit 31 s  the largest lift i have found is 4 inches. Is that enough to fit 31s or do i need to think bigger. I would like to go to 6 inches but have not found that yet. Point me in the right direction for that please. After the lift and tires are on I will want to address the acceleration loss i will have. I will want to regain the performance it now has with 4.11 gears and 215/75r15 tires. So what gears will i need? Any advice will be greatly appreciated thank you.  
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Ime not too awful certain, but i think the ranger lifts will work on your warpony.
as for other mods there are tractionadders for the dana 30-35 you have in front and 7.5-8.8 in the rear. Look in the four wheel parts wholesalers cataloge and see. Ive seen some 2.5 inch shocks that fit a broncoII. V8 kits are out there, gearing, and i think you can go up to 35" tires, but with the itty bitty axles...
did a 4 liter motator come in that model? swap?
there might be flares too, coz the higher ya go ya better go wider too or else it gits tippy!
good luck to ya and happy wheelin!  

I think it has the 8.8 and I know it has a limited slip. What I want to do for now is lift 4 inches and put 31x10.50r15's on. I will need to address gear ratio to account for the larger tires. I am sure this setup has been used by many others. What i need to know is how well this setup on the stock axles and drive train in general has worked. the places I go are old logging roads in upstate Pa. So if anything I need to plan for mud and tight areas. The later is why I don't want to lose its turning radius. And I know I will need a winch. I was thinking around the 8000lb range.  
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I drove the Bronco II up a stone pile yesterday. The rear bumper was almost on the ground for reference. When I did this I lost all drive from the trans fluid going to the back of the pan. How can I keep this from happening again as for this could be a problem on the trail should I encounter a situation like that.

Note I do need to check the trans fluid level to be sure it is filled. But i did check it not long ago and it was fine. And before anyone asks yes it was at operating temp before i did this. ( Go onto the pile.)  
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31 x .12 = 3.72 thats the formula, .12 x tire size as for the departure angle ide say it was decent. the fluid geting out of the pan? maybe a baffle or a deeper fabbed pan like the off-road oil pans have, so that way the pickup is always in the fluid. ime prety sure a locker will fit in the rear pumpkin. as for the durability of the axles? hmmm...i think if you use reasonable care and not too much rompin, but then again? good luck to ya. by the way, there are 31/12.50's on the market  

Are you saying to use 3.72 gears in the axles? keep in mind I already have 4.11 gears now. Don't I need to go with lower gears (IE 4.55 or lower) with larger tires. Or am I going the wrong direction? Who would have a trans pan I need? And I really do not plan to beat the piss out of this truck. I just want to know if it will get down the trail. Do I need to worry about breakage if i encounter deep mud or should I be ok as long as i do not thrash the gas pedal in 4lo. I have not seen the 31x12.50's I would worry about rubbing with that wide of a tire. Not to mention the extra forces that would be applied to the axles.

ND04 thank you for your input this is helping a lot.  
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By all means keep the 4.11's you have most times in the outback its great to have enough gear to finesse your way over or through things. 31's and 4.11 gears seem great! there are many sage heads here in four wheeler whove gone native in the bush and could probably give you an ideal set up idea! as for the trans pan i think you may have to find a used pan and do some research to see where the pickup/filter? is and decide/ask a ford tech on if a longer pickup will affect the performance. trading lightly is always the best way!!! bfg and super swamper had some 31.12/50s but a regular m/t 31 may be the trail medicin ya need.
I looked last night on the four wheel parts wholesaler site and it showed a detroit locker-arb locker and various other traction adding devices.
the most important part of your 4x4 system is gonna be the ground/truck interface, building from that point of view may be productive.
look at the trails your gonna run and decide what tires you may need, be realistic though, if you run street mostly a agressive A/T may be more to your liking. of its a trail toy then the M/T would be right, then,
whats in the axles is next, having "real" 4 wheel drive is better than somewhat 3 wheel drive when there is a limited slip in the rear and open in the front.
imagine all four tires pulling or pushing for ya!WHAT UUUPP!
then there is the 2 wheel drive four wheeler that open on both ends, its still better than a 1 tire fire as you toodle on down the trail.

is your tranny an a.o.d or a.o.d.e?(spelling)
mudb8 where ya at brother, your the guru of all thing tranny!  

The trans is a  A4LD. There are two other automatic transmissions for the Bronco II / Ranger line and they are the C3 and C5. Would a upgrade be in order?
As the trans pan gos It seems that I possibly need to fabricate something up as a baffle. Or is there a aftermarket option open to me?  

 And a quick thought to tires. Regardless to what tire I go with Would a set of good tire chains kelp in a pinch? And if so what type of chain?
 
 If I keep the 4.11 gears I will need to beef the 2.9L V6 that's in it now to keep it in the performance bracket it is in now. Otherwise I will need a lower gear.    
   There is a web site I viewed in another topic relating to gearing a while back that I forgot about. I will share.
http://www.discountjeepparts.com/catalog/moreinfo/ratio.htm



I really think this Bronco II is a great truck. Perhaps the best one I have had. I have done a lot with it over the years. It is a stable design at speed on the road. And just as happy off road. I will make the necessary driveing adjustments that will just need to be with the higher ride and larger tires. But get up and go is of vital imporrtance to me.


Others are 98 Durango and a 97 Dakota that got hit in the left front by a drunk driver. Lets just say the damage to the drunks car was a lot worse than mine. I would expect the Durango to shred a car just the same as the Dakota did. That brings up a good point I would like to find the crash data from ( I can not remember the groups name) however it is some type of independent group associated with the insurance companies.  
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Ford racing had a developement program for the v6 a while back, maybe a few parts still around? and i just realized how far up you were if your bumper was almost touching WOW! thats some cohonies bro! that is a crazy departure angle!
ive heard and seen videos of snow chains being used in the mud, as for the pan Ime gonna pick a friends brain on that and see what he says
happy wheelin!  

The approach and departure angles on that truck are great. That is just one of the reasons I like the Bronco II so much. It is very stable at speed to as long as you are smooth with steering. It will out maneuver a 2wd S 10 on windy back roads With no problems. I had to chase one down that dumped a bunch of branches in the middle of a dangerous intersection a while back. Lets just say I can not stand that crap and will not tolerate it at all. As I stated before I know the handling will change with the mods planned. I will miss that but money dictates that this will be the off road truck. Unless I hit the powerball. Even then it probably still will be the off road truck.That is just how much I like it.  I am starting to think the engine  may be dieing though. I need to rule out a few things first. I just hope I can salvage it I do not have the money to complete a engine swap yet. If it dies I will not be able to keep it where i live right now. As far as I know the 2.9 V6 is a good engine. With proper gearing it should do.

I look forward to hearing about the pan options. Now that i think about that maybe I should also look into one for the oil to. If the trans lost prime then it is safe to say the engine lost prime to. It did not show any signs of that but it does not have a pressure gauge (yet). Either way that's not good at all. I hope Lucas did its job for the few seconds it ran before i shut it down.  
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they sell the huge 2-2.5" shocks with reservoirs for the Bronco II, I think if ya put wheel flares and put some track width on the wagon you may keep some twisty ability, look at the little Yotas with the extra gearing etc... they make do with less than a hundred horses and still need bigger axles to handle the torque production! proper gearing is good!look in Jegs.com and Four wheel Parts Wholesalers.com for ideas. still trying to get hold of my tranny buddy,  

Yea i definitely have to watch those itty bitty axles. After looking at that gearing chart i posted earlier again. I might even try the 4.11's and see how they do. I might be surprised who knows.

 Track with? Define please not sure about that term.  
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to a point the wider your wagons wheelbase is, the more stable it may get, but again to a point. the current trend is low and with cut fenders, and a flexy suspension for stability. the taller it goes the wider it should go for stability, imagin a 12" lifted blazer on p235/75/15 tires...not very stable and gonna be tippy.
my tranny buddy said theres not that could be done cept not test the departure angles so much, wish i could give you a better answer. i still think some kind of sump mods would help that problem.  

I am sure I could figure out something if I stare at it long enough. I would need to know where the fluid drains into the pan to be sure the mod would have a shot to work. For that matter it has been a while since I have had that pan off. Memory's kinda of old so I do not recall all of what the inside looks like. If that makes sense. I want that to test the departure angle. It scares the heck out of my passengers.  
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