Buying my first Bronco this weekend!

[Bucky Bronco]

Hey there Bronco enthusiasts, I am new to this forum as you can probably tell, and I am buying my first Bronco this weekend. I actually found this forum while searching for parts, I want to put a protector plate on the tailgate and I need a new part for the rear window because it doesn't function correctly.

But anyways, I found this forum and been looking around it for about an hour now and reading a lot of the posts and there is a lot of really great information here, I'm so glad that this exists and that I found it.

So, a little bit of back story about myself. Before this Bronco I only owned one vehicle since I've been driving (I'm 22, only been driving for 6 years.) I had a 2000 GMC Sonoma that my father left to me when he passed away, but I was involved in a head on collision about a month ago and that truck is totaled now. But it's in storage until I can save the money to get it fixed.

But I decided it was time for something new anyways, living in Syracuse New York right off Lake Ontario the winters here are sometime rough, so I decided to go with a Ford 4x4. At first I definitely thought I wanted a Ford F150 XLT, and looked around a lot for the right one. In the midst of searching I came across a lot of Bronco's, wasn't too impressed with them at first. But I see a lot of them around here in Syracuse, Broncos and Jeeps are very popular around here. So anyways, I ditched my idea of getting a F150 and started looking for Bronco's, and had a lot better results. With the F150's there are so many variables and I couldn't find one I particularly liked. But after researching and checking out Bronco after Bronco I fell in love with them. I think the thing that I love the most about them is the removable hard top, I'm a huge summer weather fan and mountain biker and I can't wait to take the hard top off and go cruising and hit up some trails with the Bronco and the bike.

I guess I'm not an official Bronco owner just yet, but I definitely seal the deal this Saturday.

I'm buying a 1994 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Edition, with 104,000 Original Miles, everything on it is still stock.

Guy was asking $3,000 for it, but was able to talk him down to $2,000 because of a few minor things that are wrong with it and it has some bad rust spots.

Now, I'm not very good mechanically yet. I'm a landscape foreman and never paid too much attention to fixing cars/trucks. My step father is a diesel mechanic and very good mechanically, but isn't into Bronco's too much, he's a dodge man.

But anyways, the rear window doesn't move up or down, I'm assuming the motor is burnt out? Exactly what part would I have to replace for the window to work again? And what am I looking to spend on that part and to replace it?

Also, I saw in another thread about the tailgate protectors. The link that the one person posted, will those work for the Bronco I have? It says 66-67, but I just want to run a strip on the bottom of the tailgate like this:

this is what my bronco's tailgate looks like now:

I'm going to have someone repair the rust problem, and put the protective plate over that part of the tailgate to reduce further

There's also a little rust around the rear wheel:

But that's all the rust on it.

It's a pretty nice/clean truck other than those few rust spots. I think it's a pretty damn good deal on my end. Everything else works really well, the guy put in a lot of new parts himself and has all the receipts to back it up.

I simply can't wait till this Saturday when I get it and can't wait till Monday when I put it on the road and get to cruise around in it.

I feel this is going to be the start of very long, expensive headache filled love affair with Bronco's.

I gotta pretty nice check from my insurance company, since the accident wasn't my fault. So with the rest of the money I'm going to make a few improvements.

Immediate upgrades when I get it:

Complete engine tune up/oil change/all that jazz

Fixing all the visible rust issues

Putting the protective plate on the tailgate

Fixing the rear window

Buying a new set of nice rims/wheels (might buy new tires too, but the guy said the tires on it are almost brand new and are 31's)

I'd like to put 33's on it, with some nice shiny chrome rims

Improving the audio inside, new speakers all around and new CD player

New "Built Ford Tough" Seat covers and floor mats, haha

Nerf Bar/Step

Eventually:

going to lift it maybe 3" and put either 33's or 35's on it

Redo the gears

Going to put a new exhaust on it, thinking dual exhaust

Maybe a brush gaurd, winch

Sorry, like I said I still don't know a whole lot about Bronco's. But hopefully looking through this forum will change that. I don't know a lot of the correct terminology and parts. I have to get to know the different things to keep up on and learn how to maintain and add onto my Bronco.

Can you guys suggest some other sites to me that will be of help?

Other forums, part sites, some sweet galleries?

thanks a bunch guys, look forward to being apart of the Bronco world haha.

 

[Broncobill78]

Well, ok man, hang on for the ride. Most of the regulars here will realize that it's close-to or after midnight here so there's a reasonable chance that whatever I post includes the benefit of more lubrication than necessary. But hey, what the ****. It's still close enuf to New Years and my freaking Patriots DID embarass the entire NFL this season so why the **** not ???

Onto your truck.

It seems like a nice euf rig but it DOES show signs of needing some work. Here's a litle background info for you to mull on. 80-96 Broncos are considered one big happy family but there *are* some diffrences between them. The 80-86 trucks are one subgroup, the next is 87-91 and finally you have 92-96. The main diffrence between groups if the nose. There are also tailgate diffrences but those are usually subcritical. The only real differences in the tailgates were cosmetic and applied over the years. The tailgates changed from year to year but the basic tailgate always swapped between any year Bronco (execpt 78/79) You can change noses between years but between subgroups they have to be swapped as complete clips. If you're still jumping in with both feet then drop us a line and let us know how you're doing.

 

[ms329]

Any where near Mexico NY?. Man you guys got some serious snow last year!. I used to fly into Cuse airport to do business all the time in Utica..another snow mecca. Lived in Oneonta for 4 years also

How is the upper ball joints on her?. If your going to replac'em do the 4x4 bearing as well. I just got mine a few weeks ago 95 XL with 67,000 miles super clean. I love it!

5.8 or 302? auto 4x4 shift or the big lever on the floor? keep tabs on ebay for parts. I saw a like new tail gate w/ window for $300.

 

[Justshootme84]

Howdy & Welcome to Bronco Zone!!! good luck with your first Bronco, looks like you got a fair deal. You can find many repair parts at the local auto parts store, and a couple of good online sites are Jeff's Bronco Graveyard and LMC Truck. Your local salvage yards might have a good used part for a fraction of what a new one costs. Also, keep an eye on the classified ads for guys parting out a Bronco, as you can often get a hard-to-find part locally. there's some good info and links in the How-To & Tech Articles forum. Miesk5's Homepage has tons of links to Bronco repair topics, such as the rear glass motor and troubleshooting. There's a link to his site in that forum. Alot of the members here, including myself, have a photo gallery posted at superford.org, now called supermotors.net. Hosting images is free there. you can also upload pics to our own image gallery here at Bronco Zone. JSM84

 

[captsb890]

Hey there Bronco enthusiasts, I am new to this forum as you can probably tell, and I am buying my first Bronco this weekend. I actually found this forum while searching for parts, I want to put a protector plate on the tailgate and I need a new part for the rear window because it doesn't function correctly.

But anyways, I found this forum and been looking around it for about an hour now and reading a lot of the posts and there is a lot of really great information here, I'm so glad that this exists and that I found it.

So, a little bit of back story about myself. Before this Bronco I only owned one vehicle since I've been driving (I'm 22, only been driving for 6 years.) I had a 2000 GMC Sonoma that my father left to me when he passed away, but I was involved in a head on collision about a month ago and that truck is totaled now. But it's in storage until I can save the money to get it fixed.

But I decided it was time for something new anyways, living in Syracuse New York right off Lake Ontario the winters here are sometime rough, so I decided to go with a Ford 4x4. At first I definitely thought I wanted a Ford F150 XLT, and looked around a lot for the right one. In the midst of searching I came across a lot of Bronco's, wasn't too impressed with them at first. But I see a lot of them around here in Syracuse, Broncos and Jeeps are very popular around here. So anyways, I ditched my idea of getting a F150 and started looking for Bronco's, and had a lot better results. With the F150's there are so many variables and I couldn't find one I particularly liked. But after researching and checking out Bronco after Bronco I fell in love with them. I think the thing that I love the most about them is the removable hard top, I'm a huge summer weather fan and mountain biker and I can't wait to take the hard top off and go cruising and hit up some trails with the Bronco and the bike.

I guess I'm not an official Bronco owner just yet, but I definitely seal the deal this Saturday.

I'm buying a 1994 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Edition, with 104,000 Original Miles, everything on it is still stock.

Guy was asking $3,000 for it, but was able to talk him down to $2,000 because of a few minor things that are wrong with it and it has some bad rust spots.

Now, I'm not very good mechanically yet. I'm a landscape foreman and never paid too much attention to fixing cars/trucks. My step father is a diesel mechanic and very good mechanically, but isn't into Bronco's too much, he's a dodge man.

But anyways, the rear window doesn't move up or down, I'm assuming the motor is burnt out? Exactly what part would I have to replace for the window to work again? And what am I looking to spend on that part and to replace it?

Also, I saw in another thread about the tailgate protectors. The link that the one person posted, will those work for the Bronco I have? It says 66-67, but I just want to run a strip on the bottom of the tailgate like this:

this is what my bronco's tailgate looks like now:

I'm going to have someone repair the rust problem, and put the protective plate over that part of the tailgate to reduce further

There's also a little rust around the rear wheel:

But that's all the rust on it.

It's a pretty nice/clean truck other than those few rust spots. I think it's a pretty **** good deal on my end. Everything else works really well, the guy put in a lot of new parts himself and has all the receipts to back it up.

I simply can't wait till this Saturday when I get it and can't wait till Monday when I put it on the road and get to cruise around in it.

I feel this is going to be the start of very long, expensive headache filled love affair with Bronco's.

I gotta pretty nice check from my insurance company, since the accident wasn't my fault. So with the rest of the money I'm going to make a few improvements.

Immediate upgrades when I get it:

Complete engine tune up/oil change/all that jazz

Fixing all the visible rust issues

Putting the protective plate on the tailgate

Fixing the rear window

Buying a new set of nice rims/wheels (might buy new tires too, but the guy said the tires on it are almost brand new and are 31's)

I'd like to put 33's on it, with some nice shiny chrome rims

Improving the audio inside, new speakers all around and new CD player

New "Built Ford Tough" Seat covers and floor mats, haha

Nerf Bar/Step

Eventually:

going to lift it maybe 3" and put either 33's or 35's on it

Redo the gears

Going to put a new exhaust on it, thinking dual exhaust

Maybe a brush gaurd, winch

Sorry, like I said I still don't know a whole lot about Bronco's. But hopefully looking through this forum will change that. I don't know a lot of the correct terminology and parts. I have to get to know the different things to keep up on and learn how to maintain and add onto my Bronco.

Can you guys suggest some other sites to me that will be of help?

Other forums, part sites, some sweet galleries?

thanks a bunch guys, look forward to being apart of the Bronco world haha.

 

[captsb890]

Welcome to the older Bronco --labor of love ! I own a 89 and still putting money in it but must say with my brand new paint job--original color, people love to look at it
OK--as far as the motor rear window goes, they break down all the time--as well as your driver and passenger window motors------but get an OBD 1 tester , you'll need it as I don't believe an OBD 2 will work on cars older than 96----have fun and treat your new "Mistress" well !!

 

[johnnyreb]

Hey there Bronco enthusiasts, I am new to this forum as you can probably tell, and I am buying my first Bronco this weekend. I actually found this forum while searching for parts, I want to put a protector plate on the tailgate and I need a new part for the rear window because it doesn't function correctly.

But anyways, I found this forum and been looking around it for about an hour now and reading a lot of the posts and there is a lot of really great information here, I'm so glad that this exists and that I found it.

So, a little bit of back story about myself. Before this Bronco I only owned one vehicle since I've been driving (I'm 22, only been driving for 6 years.) I had a 2000 GMC Sonoma that my father left to me when he passed away, but I was involved in a head on collision about a month ago and that truck is totaled now. But it's in storage until I can save the money to get it fixed.

But I decided it was time for something new anyways, living in Syracuse New York right off Lake Ontario the winters here are sometime rough, so I decided to go with a Ford 4x4. At first I definitely thought I wanted a Ford F150 XLT, and looked around a lot for the right one. In the midst of searching I came across a lot of Bronco's, wasn't too impressed with them at first. But I see a lot of them around here in Syracuse, Broncos and Jeeps are very popular around here. So anyways, I ditched my idea of getting a F150 and started looking for Bronco's, and had a lot better results. With the F150's there are so many variables and I couldn't find one I particularly liked. But after researching and checking out Bronco after Bronco I fell in love with them. I think the thing that I love the most about them is the removable hard top, I'm a huge summer weather fan and mountain biker and I can't wait to take the hard top off and go cruising and hit up some trails with the Bronco and the bike.

I guess I'm not an official Bronco owner just yet, but I definitely seal the deal this Saturday.

I'm buying a 1994 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Edition, with 104,000 Original Miles, everything on it is still stock.

Guy was asking $3,000 for it, but was able to talk him down to $2,000 because of a few minor things that are wrong with it and it has some bad rust spots.

Now, I'm not very good mechanically yet. I'm a landscape foreman and never paid too much attention to fixing cars/trucks. My step father is a diesel mechanic and very good mechanically, but isn't into Bronco's too much, he's a dodge man.

But anyways, the rear window doesn't move up or down, I'm assuming the motor is burnt out? Exactly what part would I have to replace for the window to work again? And what am I looking to spend on that part and to replace it?

Also, I saw in another thread about the tailgate protectors. The link that the one person posted, will those work for the Bronco I have? It says 66-67, but I just want to run a strip on the bottom of the tailgate like this:

this is what my bronco's tailgate looks like now:

I'm going to have someone repair the rust problem, and put the protective plate over that part of the tailgate to reduce further

There's also a little rust around the rear wheel:

But that's all the rust on it.

It's a pretty nice/clean truck other than those few rust spots. I think it's a pretty **** good deal on my end. Everything else works really well, the guy put in a lot of new parts himself and has all the receipts to back it up.

I simply can't wait till this Saturday when I get it and can't wait till Monday when I put it on the road and get to cruise around in it.

I feel this is going to be the start of very long, expensive headache filled love affair with Bronco's.

I gotta pretty nice check from my insurance company, since the accident wasn't my fault. So with the rest of the money I'm going to make a few improvements.

Immediate upgrades when I get it:

Complete engine tune up/oil change/all that jazz

Fixing all the visible rust issues

Putting the protective plate on the tailgate

Fixing the rear window

Buying a new set of nice rims/wheels (might buy new tires too, but the guy said the tires on it are almost brand new and are 31's)

I'd like to put 33's on it, with some nice shiny chrome rims

Improving the audio inside, new speakers all around and new CD player

New "Built Ford Tough" Seat covers and floor mats, haha

Nerf Bar/Step

Eventually:

going to lift it maybe 3" and put either 33's or 35's on it

Redo the gears

Going to put a new exhaust on it, thinking dual exhaust

Maybe a brush gaurd, winch

Sorry, like I said I still don't know a whole lot about Bronco's. But hopefully looking through this forum will change that. I don't know a lot of the correct terminology and parts. I have to get to know the different things to keep up on and learn how to maintain and add onto my Bronco.

Can you guys suggest some other sites to me that will be of help?

Other forums, part sites, some sweet galleries?

thanks a bunch guys, look forward to being apart of the Bronco world hah Welcome to the club. Its mighty nice of you to fix the Sonoma back up. That your day had. It shows you loved,cared and respected him alot. Sorry for your loss. If you keep with one vehicle and don,t buy any other. Just think of the knowledge and money you can save. These trades and changing one everytime you turn around can cost a person alot of money in the long run. The brocon goes good in the winter and are comfortable to ride in. Over time you can find ways to improve them on gas mileage too. Good luck and have a nice day.

 

[miesk5]

Yo,

Bucky Bronco posted this on Jan 1, 2008 and last logged in here on Jan 8, 2008.

 

[lynchsg]

Hey there Bronco enthusiasts, I am new to this forum as you can probably tell, and I am buying my first Bronco this weekend. I actually found this forum while searching for parts, I want to put a protector plate on the tailgate and I need a new part for the rear window because it doesn't function correctly.

But anyways, I found this forum and been looking around it for about an hour now and reading a lot of the posts and there is a lot of really great information here, I'm so glad that this exists and that I found it.

So, a little bit of back story about myself. Before this Bronco I only owned one vehicle since I've been driving (I'm 22, only been driving for 6 years.) I had a 2000 GMC Sonoma that my father left to me when he passed away, but I was involved in a head on collision about a month ago and that truck is totaled now. But it's in storage until I can save the money to get it fixed.

But I decided it was time for something new anyways, living in Syracuse New York right off Lake Ontario the winters here are sometime rough, so I decided to go with a Ford 4x4. At first I definitely thought I wanted a Ford F150 XLT, and looked around a lot for the right one. In the midst of searching I came across a lot of Bronco's, wasn't too impressed with them at first. But I see a lot of them around here in Syracuse, Broncos and Jeeps are very popular around here. So anyways, I ditched my idea of getting a F150 and started looking for Bronco's, and had a lot better results. With the F150's there are so many variables and I couldn't find one I particularly liked. But after researching and checking out Bronco after Bronco I fell in love with them. I think the thing that I love the most about them is the removable hard top, I'm a huge summer weather fan and mountain biker and I can't wait to take the hard top off and go cruising and hit up some trails with the Bronco and the bike.

I guess I'm not an official Bronco owner just yet, but I definitely seal the deal this Saturday.

I'm buying a 1994 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Edition, with 104,000 Original Miles, everything on it is still stock.

Guy was asking $3,000 for it, but was able to talk him down to $2,000 because of a few minor things that are wrong with it and it has some bad rust spots.

Now, I'm not very good mechanically yet. I'm a landscape foreman and never paid too much attention to fixing cars/trucks. My step father is a diesel mechanic and very good mechanically, but isn't into Bronco's too much, he's a dodge man.

But anyways, the rear window doesn't move up or down, I'm assuming the motor is burnt out? Exactly what part would I have to replace for the window to work again? And what am I looking to spend on that part and to replace it?

Also, I saw in another thread about the tailgate protectors. The link that the one person posted, will those work for the Bronco I have? It says 66-67, but I just want to run a strip on the bottom of the tailgate like this:

this is what my bronco's tailgate looks like now:

I'm going to have someone repair the rust problem, and put the protective plate over that part of the tailgate to reduce further

There's also a little rust around the rear wheel:

But that's all the rust on it.

It's a pretty nice/clean truck other than those few rust spots. I think it's a pretty **** good deal on my end. Everything else works really well, the guy put in a lot of new parts himself and has all the receipts to back it up.

I simply can't wait till this Saturday when I get it and can't wait till Monday when I put it on the road and get to cruise around in it.

I feel this is going to be the start of very long, expensive headache filled love affair with Bronco's.

I gotta pretty nice check from my insurance company, since the accident wasn't my fault. So with the rest of the money I'm going to make a few improvements.

Immediate upgrades when I get it:

Complete engine tune up/oil change/all that jazz

Fixing all the visible rust issues

Putting the protective plate on the tailgate

Fixing the rear window

Buying a new set of nice rims/wheels (might buy new tires too, but the guy said the tires on it are almost brand new and are 31's)

I'd like to put 33's on it, with some nice shiny chrome rims

Improving the audio inside, new speakers all around and new CD player

New "Built Ford Tough" Seat covers and floor mats, haha

Nerf Bar/Step

Eventually:

going to lift it maybe 3" and put either 33's or 35's on it

Redo the gears

Going to put a new exhaust on it, thinking dual exhaust

Maybe a brush gaurd, winch

Sorry, like I said I still don't know a whole lot about Bronco's. But hopefully looking through this forum will change that. I don't know a lot of the correct terminology and parts. I have to get to know the different things to keep up on and learn how to maintain and add onto my Bronco.

Can you guys suggest some other sites to me that will be of help?

Other forums, part sites, some sweet galleries?

thanks a bunch guys, look forward to being apart of the Bronco world haha.

Before you start throwing parts at the tailgate there are some things you should check first.
The window motor could in fact be bad, but first check the ground ***** behind the drivers side taillight lens.
If it appears good (no corrosion or a loose *****) then check to see if the motor will move with 12 volts connected directly to it.
If the window is up, crawl in the back, remove the tailgate access panel screws and panel, disconnect the wiring plug to the window motor and connect 12 volts from a battery to the terminals in the motor side plug connector blades. There will be 3, one is ground and the other 2 are up and down. Not sure which is which so you would have to try different combinations.
If the window goes down then you have a permissive switch issue. The switch (actuated by rod linkages) may not show that the tailgate is latched. The window won't move if that's it.
The rod ends are plastic and break sometimes. One or both rods from the the switch to the latching mechanism (2 ea.) could be broken. The switch is in the middle of the tailgate below the handle inside of the tailgate. If the window doesn't move with 12 volts connected to the motor connector as stated above, then it is a bad motor.
If the window is down, you should open the tailgate then try rolling to latches on the side of the tailgate to the up position and see if the window moves using the dash or key switch. If the rod ends are broken then this won't work and it becomes harder to diagnose. The rivets holding the window to the window actuating frame will have to be drilled out to access the motor and/or switch.
That may be something above your mechanical level.
After the rivets are drill out, you will need to pull the window out of the window holding bracket to access the motor/switch/window regulator and check the motor using the 12 volts as described above. After which when the window moves, new rivets will have to be installed.
I would definitely remove the rear driver side taillight lens and check your ground connection first.
Hope this makes sense and helps. Anybody, feel free to add, clarify or refute.

 

[chrlsful]

"...I'm a landscape foreman..."
to advance in that trade U will usually hafta get some mechanical skills. U must do sm engine maintainence, repair, purchase, rent, etc. The co will reward U for thses skills & often require them frm U. U save them $ by doing these things. U may need to do them on site in emergency fashion ! Or loose a job/day, etc.
Get some maunals and read. Get them fr the older equp the co uses. Use them to guide you. Locate the correct tools for these machines. U should maintain all the stuff (stay in a nice cool garage) while the 'kids' do all the wrk in the hot sun. Only thing is...this co may not do it that way & have pure mechanics on staff. U can make urself invaluable even so...
Last - on the Bronk...my advice - no cosmetics, radio, etc wrk till the thing is safe (go, stop) and reliable. Sucking in exhaust fumes (kills brain cells) is not safe either. Wrk on these things 1st. Then worry bout the others. Any new to U vehicle - ID all the prts to see if upgraded or OEM. Again C what tools are needed for maintainence'n repair. Geta Chiltons or Haynes for ur Y/M/M vehicle. Lift & bigger jobs are not 4 U. Be V E R Y safty conscious around the vehicle as well. Heavy parts, moving parts can change ur life (end it too) in ways U do not want...

 

[johnnyreb]

"...I'm a landscape foreman..."
to advance in that trade U will usually hafta get some mechanical skills. U must do sm engine maintainence, repair, purchase, rent, etc. The co will reward U for thses skills & often require them frm U. U save them $ by doing these things. U may need to do them on site in emergency fashion ! Or loose a job/day, etc.
Get some maunals and read. Get them fr the older equp the co uses. Use them to guide you. Locate the correct tools for these machines. U should maintain all the stuff (stay in a nice cool garage) while the 'kids' do all the wrk in the hot sun. Only thing is...this co may not do it that way & have pure mechanics on staff. U can make urself invaluable even so...
Last - on the Bronk...my advice - no cosmetics, radio, etc wrk till the thing is safe (go, stop) and reliable. Sucking in exhaust fumes (kills brain cells) is not safe either. Wrk on these things 1st. Then worry bout the others. Any new to U vehicle - ID all the prts to see if upgraded or OEM. Again C what tools are needed for maintainence'n repair. Geta Chiltons or Haynes for ur Y/M/M vehicle. Lift & bigger jobs are not 4 U. Be V E R Y safty conscious around the vehicle as well. Heavy parts, moving parts can change ur life (end it too) in ways U do not want...

I agree Crisful . All it takes is missing one small detail could end everything for you. I don,t know about the ones besides 78-79 but the 78-79 have a tendency to swing with you .When you jack them up. Be extra careful doing it. I put crib blocks under the frame. Pay attention when using torches or grinding wheels. Around ANYTHING GAS--THE TANK --CARBEURATOR AND GAS LINE. Good luck and enjoy learning and working on it.