Crawlercreations build thread finally!

[crawlercreations]

I guess it should be more of a built thread than a build thread as is it mostly, kind of doneish. My addiction to Broncos started when i was 17. My dad bought a pretty nice one and I was hooked! It had some engine problems so he parked it for a while until I bought it from him when I turned 18. I got in a tight spot when I was 22 and sold it. I sold it about 2 weeks before I met my wife. I always talked about it to her. Finally 3 years ago, I talked her into going to Moab for the easter jeep safari so she could at least see what 4-wheeling was since she had never seen it. We ended up coming back 3 days early and bought my Bronco the day we got back! It was pretty much stock besides being cut out in the rear. I bought it in south colorado springs and drove it home over 100 miles that day. I paid $1500 for it and it included a brand new 3.5" WH lift kit! Pretty good deal! I told my wife it was going to be a 4 year project.

In 2 weeks time I had installed the lift and welded the front diff. Took it wheeling for the first time after 3 weeks of owning it after installing the 4X4X2 power steering. That was an eye opener into gearing! The stock 3 speed just wasn't low enough to go anywhere! The search was on...I found a np435 with adapter ready to go for $150. Installed that next along with some 1/4 life 35" xterrains I got for free from work. It was coming around nicely! Took it wheeling again with the new gearing and it was way better! So good in fact that I was trying some dumb lines and ended up breaking a front axle.

Well my wife is wonderful....I bought some Yukon front axle shafts with super joints to replace them. And figured the front only broke because the rear was still open and not helping much! Next came the rear spool and more Yukon axle shafts for the rear! Then it was mostly unstoppable! BUT it was still stopped by a couple of things.

So the christmas of the year I bought it my wife got me some 5.5" CAGE coils for the front. Then it was ON! Started off building some custom radius arms for the front and got it where I wanted it but hadn't decided on a route for the rear yet. Battled back and forth on rear suspension until my wife said just do what you want as you will regret it later if you don't! So I 4-linked it. Took it out again and WOW! I took on A LOT of body damage on that trip because it was so capable.

Forward to a week after that and I decided it was time to put a cage in it. Well the floors were pretty rusted out so it didn't make sense to install a cage on a failing floor. So I repaired all the rust in the floors and strikers. That turned out so well I fixed the rust on the inner fenders. I was so happy with the rust repair and it was looking so good I decided it was a good idea to do some body work and paint! Amazing how these things snowball! Started on the body work with the mindset of how I was going to use it still so I didn't go crazy making it super nice. So I built a cage, repaired most of the dents and spray painted it.

Took it out wheeling again...this time into a really hard trail. So much for a lot of the body work! I broke an upgraded rear Yukon shaft(small bearing 28 spline) too. Time for more upgrades! Swapped the rear end out for a big bearing housing that I custom trussed and shaved almost 2 inches off the bottom of it. Installed another spool and 31 spline axle shafts. Kept wheeling it like that for almost a year and decided it was time for EFI! So I installed EFI and loved it..but wanted more power still. So I installed some 5.13 gears in the axle to offset my 37" tires. That is pretty much how it sits now with more plans on the way(building a new front bumper today).

Well if you made it through all of this awake still you are way more patient that I am! Everything on my Bronco was custom built or done by me. On to the Pictures!!

[crawlercreations]

These pictures are from the day I bought it....

Sorry for such a long story!! There is more I am leaving out too. I know a lot of people think I just beat on my Bronco but that is not the case. My Bronco is far more capable than I push it just to avoid TOO much body damage. I am not afraid of body damage though as I bought it to use it but I do try to avoid it if possible! I am in the process of gathering armor for the places I bend the most so it will look good again!

[Colorado75bronc]

awesome man, i was waiting for ya to put this up, your rig is my favorite on the site

[crawlercreations]

awesome man, i was waiting for ya to put this up, your rig is my favorite on the site

Wow, thanks! I would have never thought my Bronco would be ANYONE'S favorite on this site!

[71 bass boat]

hope one day my bronco is half as built as ur's is! thanks for posting it up

[Entourage]

That is one heck of an Extreme Makeover - Bronco Edition. Thanks for sharing that great story and pictures. It is definitely built for crawling. The cage is a work of art. I really want to see your suspension up close. Nice build man.

[PonyCorral]

Insane! That's all I've got to say.

[Colorado75bronc]

ya man its pretty sweet, you've done alot of mods i wanna do to mine and looking at your pics of your work i think you have built a very respectable impressive rig, pretty isn't what gets me, its a well built well rounded rig is what i like, and i like the wheeling rigs alot more than the pavement pounders

[airbur]

Very nice work!

[Jesus_man]

iI digg your rig too! Poet and didn't know it. :). Anyway, I hope I see a bumper build thread too!

J.D.

[crawlercreations]

I finally finished my new front bumper! This is the 3rd of my designs and the 4th front bumper I have had on my Bronco! As with my projects....This is more of a BUILT post than a BUILD post! One day I will take more time to take pictures of everything as I build it!

[Rox Crusher]

that is really nice styling......looks hell for stout too

[Colorado75bronc]

looks really nice man, just curious whats the price, or would you mind if i built a similar design for my own, i really like the styling but i want to build my own

[crawlercreations]

looks really nice man, just curious whats the price, or would you mind if i built a similar design for my own, i really like the styling but i want to build my own

Go for it! I will be interested to see what you come up with!

[Colorado75bronc]

thanks man, i appreciate it, oh and check out my members rigs page, i got some more things done to it, it says colorado springs eb here, lemme know whatcha think of it so far

[rtreads]

Dang that bumper looks good!!!!

[crawlercreations]

Dang that bumper looks good!!!!

Thanks!! Sorry yours is now 1 of 2 in the world like this!!

[crawlercreations]

And the new upgrades begin....

[Jesus_man]

Did I miss somewhere what those upgrades are?

[crawlercreations]

Did I miss somewhere what those upgrades are?

You didn't miss it. I haven't really told anyone what I am doing yet...going to see if I can pull it off the way I want before I tell everyone. I am sure a few people have figured out what I am trying to accomplish.

[Booger]

Did I miss somewhere what those upgrades are?

You didn't miss it. I haven't really told anyone what I am doing yet...going to see if I can pull it off the way I want before I tell everyone. I am sure a few people have figured out what I am trying to accomplish to make the ultimate rock crawling, street-able Bronco that I can use to tow the broken down tow rig with.

........... JK. Can't wait to see what you got in mind.

[crawlercreations]

The build continues...

[crawlercreations]

Looks like I will easily be able to pull off what I want so these next few pictures should give away what I am doing. Pretty awesome I think!!

[crawlercreations]

More....

[crawlercreations]

More.....

[crawlercreations]

More.......

[crawlercreations]

More.......

[crawlercreations]

Last one. Going to cut the drivers side tomorrow and try to get all the grinding and seam sealing done. Still a long ways away but this is a pretty big step!

[Entourage]

The secret is out - you are making a couch into a love seat. I cannot imagine how much work it is going to be, but if anyone can do it - you can. Going to be fun to watch this thread.

[Booger]

Wow you make it look easy. that ought to be pretty cool when you get done.