New exhaust

I removed the top of the Bronco when I was at the house this weekend. Its not a real complicated process but you can see it here. I did not have my camera with me to show you a step by step process. In the pictures below you can see the damage that has been done by years of abuse to the exhaust manifolds on my truck. The cracks that started the complete split of the exhaust manifolds was actually caused by traveling through deep water on the trails. 

When the exhaust manifolds crack the motor will have what a lot of people refer to as the tick-tick noise. 

Below is all of the exhaust parts removed from the truck this took about 3 hours worth of work and I have some new parts coming in to replace them. I have purchased some headers and a new y-pipe with catalytic converter. I should have a video of the new exhaust on my next post.

Testing Articulation

I didn't have time to work on anything this week so I thought I would share some testing pictures with you. Articulation also known as flex is very important when it comes to taking a truck offroad and on the trails. Articulation is the ability of the front and rear axles to twist in the opposite direction of each other while maintaining all wheels on the ground for maximum traction. The TTB or twin-traction beam front end on the Bronco is not known for its ability to articulate. You can see in the pictures below that the solid-axle rear end moves a lot more than the TTB front end. You can also see more TTB Flex pictures at Fullsizebronco.com. For a stock suspension with oversized tires I was impressed with the flex but you can see that in the pictures the tires had began to spin loosing traction.

The front passenger side wheel is tucked and the rear is at full extension.

Front View

Driver Side View

Driver side rear tire is completely tucked in fender well.

Rear View

Better View of Full Extension

To get an idea the front tire is sitting on a ledge that is nearly as tall as the
rear tire which measures 34 inches in height.

Front Disc Brakes

This was not the planned post for this week but after the addition of larger tires my brakes were dangerous and not stopping the truck very well. I purchased some new brake pads and a special tool and installed them in a little over 30 minutes a side in the parking lot in front of my dorm building.