86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

Hey guys, i have an 85 XLT as most of you know. It has a 351 windsor high output and a holley 4 brl carb. It also has 32 11.50's on it stock. What should be my firts modification in yalls opinions? A lift and tires or a winch. The lift is going to cost me around 590 bucks for a 6 in suspention but i can get 35'12.50's no problem with a 3 inch body lift. So a winch?? And do i need a special bumper for this?

Mooseykat

Re: 86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

well...it really depends on what kind of offroading you do. Build your truck to suit your needs. If you find that you can manage to do pretty well offroad in your stock bronco, then hold off on the lift. If you dont get stuck much...hold off on the winch. It all depends on the terrain, how you drive, how often you go offroading, etc etc. It also depends on how you want the truck to look. We all know a lifted truck looks cool. Why not lift the truck 4 inches? Remember that the higher you go the more expensive it is. I wouldnt put in a body lift.

Re: 86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

Please tell me why in detail why i shouldnt go with a body lift. As far as i know they are great as they dont change your ride adnleave your stock suspension alone while gaining the same ground clearance with large tires a suspension lift would give?

Mooseykat

Re: 86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

I would go with the Rancho 4" lift, your bronco is old an so are the springs and shocks, after installing the lift you will love it, you can run 33's with no
problem. If you go with the 35's you will need 2-3" body but you will have to regear it also lots of $$. You need to find out what your going to be using it for
play, looks,ect. I have had my 86 for 11 years and could tell you more then you need to know.

Re: 86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

Pleasse tell me all ya know

Mooseykat

Re: 86 bronco xlt, what to do first??
 

You just got yourself a new Bronco... and you have a lot of questions. But before you spend all this money on all sorts of toys.... consider what you really need vs. what you just want to make it look cool. If you go off-roading a lot and expect to (or have been) getting really stuck then maybe a winch (or locker perhaps?) sounds good... then of couse there are a lot of things to consider on winches alone (hydraulic vs. electric). And as for the suspension there are many types for the Ford TTB depending on how much of a lift you want (heavier coils, drop brackes, longer radius arms, etc). Maybe the links below can help. If you need the lift just for the larger tires, don't forget that you will also need to get new gears front and rear to compensate for those 35's...

Try http://www.Off-Road.com/ford/bigbroncos/bbfaq.html ... there is some basic suspension info there along with some other Bronco questions.

Also try http://lava.net/~davies1/bigbroncolinks.html ... it has lots of links for Bronco parts including suspension and winches.