Ranger - Bronco OR build current truck, opinions or advice???

[bfdiesel]

Take/send your heads to get ported and polished and at least bigger exhaust valves by a shop that knows and loves these motors. Get a good RV cam, mechanical secondary carburetor about the 625 cfm to 650 cfm range anything bigger is a waste of money for a stock to mild built 460 as the exhaust port in the stock heads is too restrictive for much bigger. I would not swap in a smaller gas engine if you live by mountains or plan to be pulling passes a lot, not to pick on flat landers but a lot of them don't realize big blocks reigned in the mountains (before the dawn of turbo diesels) for a very good reason. I have seen many small block engines meet their doom on the passes here in Colorado.


I had an 87 F350 crew cab long bed 460 5 speed with 4.10's that was built to the above that would get 14 mpg on the highway empty and 8-12 depending on how much I towed.
You have quads or dirt bikes for the tight stuff. I would use the truck as a base camp and explore out from there.


A cummins swap would also be sweet, but as said doing it just for economy is not going to pay out very quickly if ever.

[shauniscndn]

My finances arent in the best shape now and with a looming divorce not getting any better lol. I do like my truck a lot. Im not looking at doing hardcore trails and the trailer I have could be downsized. The range of the truck is a bit of a concern as my GF and I like to go exploring a lot and dont want the worry of brutal mileage. I've had a few 4x4s before and woudl condsider the DD & Trail truck but that will be waiting for $$$

Here's a pic of my Current Truck and my old jeep


Thanks again for the advice/opinions folks

Shaun IMG_0201.JPG

[1leg]

Jayco Baja's have a gross weight rate of around 4500 to 5000. Are you sure it's really that heavy?
http://www.jayco.com/products/campin...oorplans-specs

A full size Bronco with a 351 will pull this easily.

If you are in the middle of a divorces get that taken care of and done before you start any modifications or truck swap. Trust me, Best thing you could do is just take your current rig out and have fun in the areas it will go and save your $$ until the big D is over. Been there done that..

[shauniscndn]

1leg

Ya I was thinking with the added weight of quad/dirtbike and fully loaded... maybe I'm way over estimating. I would think a Bronco would be able to manage it fairly well. As I said Its mostly just for exploring Fsr's etc and to be used as a base camp. Not gonna be hardcore wheeling it. That's what the toys are for

As for divorce... Ya no or very lil $$$ for trucks and toys for next lil while lol.. oh well. All good I'm way happier Now than I was before


Shaun

[RedF]

Jayco Baja's have a gross weight rate of around 4500 to 5000. Are you sure it's really that heavy?
http://www.jayco.com/products/campin...oorplans-specs

A full size Bronco with a 351 will pull this easily.

If you are in the middle of a divorces get that taken care of and done before you start any modifications or truck swap. Trust me, Best thing you could do is just take your current rig out and have fun in the areas it will go and save your $$ until the big D is over. Been there done that..

There is a tandem version that specs out at 7500lbs, I assume this to be the version he has. http://www.roamingtimes.com/rvreport...g-trailer.aspx Pretty heavy for a Bronco.

[1 Bored Clerk]

I have a 2003 Ranger FX4 Level II (manual trans and manual transfer case) with 4.0 engine. Towing and stopping are not its strong points. Especially stopping. (to be somewhat expected with discs and drums that fit under the factory 15" rims that mine has). Short wheelbase rigs (like a Bronco) aren't so fun either when you're towing a lot of weight. I used to tow a pop up camp trailer (4500lbs loaded) along with four people in my 2007 FJ Cruiser and it wasn't the most fun thing I've done when the roads got twisty, windy, rutted, or I needed to stop in any quick fashion. Big long trucks rule for towing.

[Scott B.]

I have a 2003 Ranger FX4 Level II (manual trans and manual transfer case) with 4.0 engine. Towing and stopping are not its strong points. Especially stopping. (to be somewhat expected with discs and drums that fit under the factory 15" rims that mine has). Short wheelbase rigs (like a Bronco) aren't so fun either when you're towing a lot of weight. I used to tow a pop up camp trailer (4500lbs loaded) along with four people in my 2007 FJ Cruiser and it wasn't the most fun thing I've done when the roads got twisty, windy, rutted, or I needed to stop in any quick fashion. Big long trucks rule for towing.

[HIJACK]

You can easily put disk brakes on the rear. Check out my build thread.

[/HIJACK]

[1leg]

There is a tandem version that specs out at 7500lbs, I assume this to be the version he has. http://www.roamingtimes.com/rvreport...g-trailer.aspx Pretty heavy for a Bronco.

Never seen that one before. thanks for the info.

[Allof75]

I suggest keeping the truck for towing, as the options you listed simply won't be able to match the towing ability of the 250. The Bronco is a decent choice, I have a friend with 2, one of which has crossed 250k miles recently, but I would not suggest them for towing. The wheelbase is what kills them, and the 351 is a decent, but not especially powerful towing motor.

Also, if you're looking at the Bronco as a wheeler, have you considered that they're roughly the same width as your truck? I'm not sure how this pertains in your area, as I've only spent a week in BC with a little time on a couple logging trails to get to my hike on the WCT (another story for another time), but at least down here, width can be a big factor in trail performance. Most of our trails are designed for jeeps so Broncos and other Full-sizers usually don't make it out without the trail leaving its mark.

As others have said, I suggest just keeping the 250 and using it for exploration in tandem with your toys. Then once the D is over, you can look into something for the smaller trails. It sounds like you're a Ford man, so maybe take a look at the Bronco II? It's basically an enclosed ranger, super cheap, decent mpg, and could be made pretty capable with the right mods. Or you can explore the thousands of other options, either domestic (jeeps, blazers, etc.) or import (pathfinders, Monteros, Troopers). This site will definitely give you some ideas, and guide you in the right direction.

[4x4junkie]

Then once the D is over, you can look into something for the smaller trails. It sounds like you're a Ford man, so maybe take a look at the Bronco II? It's basically an enclosed ranger, super cheap, decent mpg, and could be made pretty capable with the right mods.

I'll 2nd that