Lowered Bronco 4x4

Ok Ladies and gentilemen, I know alot of you are gonna say "WHAT!!!", but I want to lower my 96 Bronco 4x4. I can't find anything in a kit to do this. I'm only looking about 2-3" front and back. I know I may have to make some parts myself.

Any sugestions?

Normally I always have something to say but on this one I am stumped???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Maybe buy something else.. Why lower if you dont mind me asking?

Wow, now there's a question that I just have no answer for. I didn't think it would happen but here it is in blk & white. Wow. I just have absolutely NO idea where you'd start with something like this. Wow.

Maybe find a set of 2wd F100 front springs & pull a leaf or two from the rear spring pack ? See how it sits & go from there. I really just never occured to me that someone would slam a Bronco. You hear the occasional rumor about 2wd Broncos out there so maybe that would be a better platform.

What are you planning to run ? some kinda trailer tire or something ? You can only drop that thing so far before you have to swap *down* to something like a 13" or 14" tire and I would think you'd have trouble finding a rim to make that work.

Maybe check w/SEMA ? I suspect there's some sort of company that makes parts to drop one but well, they just don't run in our social circle.

Wish ya the best

I know it sounds stupid, but the thing is more comfortable than my Lincoln LS on the highway, and can carry and haul alot more. (I do alot of highway driving).

The other reason is ...well everyone has theirs lifted, and I gotta be me.

the Lincoln LS prob gets better gas millage.... iwould stick with that lol

I hate to say it but... I don't know what to say. Don't they make a lowering kit for the 150 in that year range? It's probably just for the 2wd but you may be able to come up with something. Sounds... well... neat, I wanna see this...

I had a buddy of mine do this with a Jeep Cherokee for fuel consumption, towing and styling reasons but he started with a 4x4 and ended up with a 2x4. If I were to copy this idea on a Bronco I would probably start with finding a complete front end out of a 2wd truck and yank out the 44ifs out. Then find a set of springs from an F150 Lightning (front and rear) and you should be set. Leave in the t-case as you might need the torque from low range to tow your boat out of the lake on a steep launch ramp (just a thought) and look into getting a limited slip or locker for the rear as you will probably need this for the before mentioned 28' Bayliner you are pulling out of the water without having a one wheel peel all the way up the ramp...

Now if you are wanting to keep the 4x4, talk to some of these guys with their sagging front springs and see if you can get them from them. I would give you my worn out springs but I already recycled them. Then to lose a couple of inches in the back, pull out the spacer block (usually 1-2"). That in whole should lower your ride a couple of inches, then go with smaller tires, its amazing how much lift or lack there of you can get by going with a different size tire...

I think the Lightning idea is the best aproach, if you are willing to give up 4 wheel drive. By using the front suspension parts from a Lightning truck you will eliminate a lot of potential problems with steering geometry. Since nobody makes a "lowering" bracket for your radius arms or axle pivot brackets, you will run into potential alignment problems by just using shorter springs and not addressing the other parts of the suspension. (the same principle that applies to lifting) There is a guy who took the drivetrain and running gear from a '96 Lightning and turned his '96 Bronco into a 2WD "Lightning Bronco" I did some searching, but I can no longer find his "build writeup" but I did find these pictures. I wish I could find that write-up, the guy did a pretty good job on his project.

Lowering a Bronco definately goes against my nature, but it can be done in good taste.

2NDTOUR89 said:

Leave in the t-case as you might need the torque from low range to tow your boat out of the lake on a steep launch ramp (just a thought)

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Bad idea, REAL bad idea. Sending all the torque from the transfer case in 4-lo to a single axle breaks things REALLY fast. Did this with one of my 78's. I put $3K into a bulletproof Currie 9" (one of the ones with that cool weld on rear truss), 31 splines & a Detroit Locker w/4.56's. Could have done both for what I spent on the rear but you know how this stuff can make you get a little crazy. I ran out of cash and had to wait on doing the front. Ran it like that for a couple months and it was freaking unstopable even in 2WD but then came the inevitable day when I got a little too deep in the mud and didn't have a wingman. I didn't have any come-alongs and wasn't patient enuf to use the hi-lift jack as a winch so I figured, "Hey, 4-lo ought to give me some more torque". LOTS more torque. It was a very expensive lesson. I wouldn't advise using 4-lo with only a single axle to absorb the power. Bad idea.

Roadkill said:

I think the Lightning idea is the best aproach, if you are willing to give up 4 wheel drive. By using the front suspension parts from a Lightning truck you will eliminate a lot of potential problems with steering geometry. Since nobody makes a "lowering" bracket for your radius arms or axle pivot brackets, you will run into potential alignment problems by just using shorter springs and not addressing the other parts of the suspension. (the same principle that applies to lifting) There is a guy who took the drivetrain and running gear from a '96 Lightning and turned his '96 Bronco into a 2WD "Lightning Bronco" I did some searching, but I can no longer find his "build writeup" but I did find these pictures. I wish I could find that write-up, the guy did a pretty good job on his project.
Lowering a Bronco definately goes against my nature, but it can be done in good taste.

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Geez, for all the work this will entail I honestly think it would be a WHOLE lot easier to find a totaled F150 (plenty of Katrina trucks in the salvage pool) & swap bodies. While you've got just the rolling 2WD chassis it'll be the easiest thing in the world to setup the suspension and make everything look all nice & trick. Lord knows it can't be any MORE work than finding, removing & then installing the parts to convert a Bronco to 2WD. On top of that if it IS a flood truck you should be able to resell the sheetmetal & stripped cab.

Yeah, it's not a project that I would ever attempt. Either way you tackle it, LOTS and LOTS of work. That guy didn't stop at the front suspension. He did the whole drivetrain; engine, tranny, everything (even the front facia). I can't remember what he did for a driveshaft, but it would have to have been special built.

Roadkill said:

Yeah, it's not a project that I would ever attempt. Either way you tackle it, LOTS and LOTS of work. That guy didn't stop at the front suspension. He did the whole drivetrain; engine, tranny, everything (even the front facia). I can't remember what he did for a driveshaft, but it would have to have been special built.

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ROFLOL, I would think the driveshaft would be the *least* of his worries <grin>

I'm not sure I like the idea but to each his own...

1st he said he likes the ride of the Bronco better than his Lincoln. If he uses the suspension out of a Lightening wouldn't that change the ride?

2nd. Why not just get a Lightening and take the frame out from under it leaving the motor and drive line on it then mount your Bronco body on it? Might be easier than trying to swap the parts individually.

Just an idea or two.

Shadow_D said:

I'm not sure I like the idea but to each his own...
1st he said he likes the ride of the Bronco better than his Lincoln. If he uses the suspension out of a Lightening wouldn't that change the ride?

2nd. Why not just get a Lightening and take the frame out from under it leaving the motor and drive line on it then mount your Bronco body on it? Might be easier than trying to swap the parts individually.

Just an idea or two.

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That would be tricky too because the shortest step side F-150 is still longer than a Bronco wheel base, that is why they were talking drive shaft modification.

This project would be daunting from any approach. I still would like to see someone create a Bronco from a new F-250 if I had money that is where I would lay it out.

Well, much as it pains me to contribute to a project like this. After kicking it around a bit I have to think that: 1) you can really only drop a 4x4 so far, you *have* to be able to run at LEAST a 14" tire and the damn thing has to go *somewhere* when the suspension travels. Now I suppose you could go with a solid suspension & low pressure tires but that would still be a punishing ride.

2) Too bad it's not a Chevy, you could just unload the torsion bars & pull a leaf or two from the pack and Voila' you have your drop. 3) Since it's NOT a Chevy (and if you're going to do this to a 4x4 maybe it *should* be a Chevy) the only reasonable approach I can see that doesn't involve converting to 2WD & swapping chassis's would be to just do a shackle drop (or lift if you want to look at it that way), pull a leaf from the pack & then cut the front coils (or buy a set of dropped F-truck coils, same diameter so they'll work too). THAT will probably give you maybe a 5" drop. Anything more than tha & you're talking about cutting the inner fenders to give your tire somewhere to tuck up into when the suspension flexes. How to ALIGN the damn thing is your problem, not mine but that should get you where you want to be.

I suppose you could also just rip out the suspension entirely and replace it with an airbag setup or something hydraulic. Sure does seem like a lot of work.

Tennessee Jed said:

That would be tricky too because the shortest step side F-150 is still longer than a Bronco wheel base, that is why they were talking drive shaft modification.
This project would be daunting from any approach. I still would like to see someone create a Bronco from a new F-250 if I had money that is where I would lay it out.

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My bad, I forgot the wheelbase was longer on an F-150 than on a Bronco. You could still pull this off if you trim the frame on the Lightening or do the suspension swap with the frames out from under the trucks.

I just thought about it. How would you "correct" the front TTB for lowering it? wouldn't that cause your axle pivots to slam anything bigger than a fruity peble? I would concider the front off of a "newer" f series or something. Sounds like a grinder and welder thing to me? Maybe just the front "clip" off of a lightening or something? Man, this is hard!

bidibronco said:

I just thought about it. How would you "correct" the front TTB for lowering it? wouldn't that cause your axle pivots to slam anything bigger than a fruity peble? I would concider the front off of a "newer" f series or something. Sounds like a grinder and welder thing to me? Maybe just the front "clip" off of a lightening or something? Man, this is hard!

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Whoa, Help me out here bidi what is TTB?

Thanks for all the input, all you guys. You really know your stuff. However remember the original question, I don't want to slam this thing just lower it 2 or 3 inches. I spent afew hours last weekend relaxing under the "Beast" and think I can make a longer rear shackle and remove the axle spacer to get about 3" there. The front is the problem. The current bump stops are only about 2" from the top of the front diff shield. If I cut the springs to get a couple inches do you think I will always be banging the frame? I don't off road this just tow my boat and carry alot of ***** (nothng heavy). Your thoughts are appreciated.

PS: I didn't say I liked the ride better than my LS, just the comfort. ( the roominess)

Thanks to all

Ron's beast, TTB stands for "Twin Traction Beam", which is the frontend design on the fullsize Bronco. As Roadkill stated, lowering it affects the steering geometry in the same way as lifting it does. If you just install taller or shorter coil springs alone, the geometry is thrown out of whack more than the factory adjustment will allow. you'll get increased tire wear as well as have steering/ hsndling problems. While you can use "Drop brackets" to lower the radius arms and TTB axle beam mounting points when installing a lift kit, it's more of a problem to shorten the stock brackets. You might get an inch or so by re-drilling the bolt holes in those brackets closer to the frame and front crossmember, cut down the stock coil springs, and find shorter shocks. You'd need to modify or remove the factory bumpstops, too. A better option would surely be to remove the entire front 4WD TTB and replace it with a 2WD TIB (Twin I Beam) from an F-150. You will lose four wheel drive, but gain some clearance from the 2WD axle beams. There are a couple of old threads on 2WD Bronco conversions that you might also search for, if they haven't been erased, from the early days of this forum. Good luck, JSM84

Here's an article from FSB linked to in Miesk5's Homepage (see tech articles forum here at BZ) of the Lightning conversion done in 2004 to a fullsize Bronco:

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68794