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Vehicles - 1994 Ford Bronco

Writeups - Superlift Suspension Lift

As you can see in the photo below the 31" tires on my recently purchased 1990 Ford Bronco are shot and since I need new ones they must be bigger! Isn't that a rule? I searched the web for a couple weeks and read a lot of threads on FULLSIZEBRONCOS.COM before deciding to go with a 4" SuperLift kit from 4WHEELERSUPPLY.COM. It arrived in about a week with no tax and free shipping. 

Tools used:
Safety Glasses
Ear Protection
3 ton Jack
2 Ton Jack
3 ton Jack Stands
2 Ton Jack Stands
Large Hammer
Metric & SAE socket set and wrenches
Needle Nose pliers Long straight and 90 degree bent
4 1/2" Grinder with cut off wheel
Dremel tool with cut off wheel and other bits
Air Chisel with various bits
Pitman Arm Puller
18V Cordless Drill
90 Degree Drill
8" Level
Crowbar
Tie down (mini come-along)

Stuff to have on hand:
Rust Remover
Carb or Brake Cleaner
Grinder cut off wheels
Dremel cut off wheels

 

The Kit included the brackets for a 4" or 6" lift, coils, shocks, shock boots, pitman arm, extended brake lines and blocks with U-bolts for the rear axle. Before starting a lift on a Full Size Bronco it is a good Idea to have at least two sets of jacks and jack-stands. I will get into more details later, but you might want to borrow a set from a friend / neighbor if you only have one. 

Drivers Side Radius Arm Bracket Stock Vs. Lift

Once you have the frame on jack-stands and the front tires removed you need to loosen the 1 1/8" nut on the end of the drivers side radius arm. Place a jack under the drivers side of the axle close to the outside to relieve the pressure on the radius bracket. There is one bolt to remove and three rivets (shown by the arrows in the picture below). I used a combination of a 4 1/2" grinder with a cutoff wheel, a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel and an air chisel to remove the rivets.  Once the rivets are removed take the radius arm nut and bushings off and set them aside.  

 

Now is a good time to remove the drivers side shock and coil. The shock has a 12mm nut on top and a 18mm nut 18mm and bolt on the bottom. The coil has a 15mm bolt on top and a 1 1/8" nut with a retaining washer on the bottom. 

Drivers Side Axle Pivot bracket Stock Vs. Lift

Now move over to the drivers side axle pivot bracket. First remove the axle pivot bolt. Then remove the others. It had two 18 mm nuts toward the front of the cross-member and two 15mm nuts with 18mm bolts on the passenger side. You will need to remove the 14mm nut holding the gas line at the front of the cross-member. Replace the bracket that holds the two bolts as in the picture above into the lift bracket. You need to reuse the front facing 18mm nuts and the 18mm bolts and 15mm nuts from the stock bracket. You will also need to drill two holes and install additional nuts and bolts that are included with the kit.

When replacing the axle pivot bolt it is best to have two jacks, one at the differential and one behind it where the drive-shaft is with a jack-stand on the axle as close to the hub as possible to pivot it into place. This will enable you to control the X-Y-Z axis and get it into place.  

Now it's time to move onto the most fun part of the lift. Removing the stock passenger side axle pivot bracket. It has 6 rivets to remove. They are located high up in the cross-member and won't come out easily. My brother came over for the weekend and helped me to remove the rivets. We went back and forth with the grinders and air chisel to remove them. It wasn't easy.

My brother grinding away.

Installing the passenger side axle pivot bracket not only included replacing the bolt but included drilling two new holes in the cross-member for two additional bolts. With the Bronco in a level position make sure it is exactly 90 degrees to the ground. Just make sure you move the brake lines out of the way before doing this. Luckily my neighbor Russ had a 90 degree drill to drill these holes out. Now install the passenger side axle pivot bolt. use the same method as the drivers side. 

Once the lifted axle pivot brackets are in place it is time to install the lifted radius arm brackets. They might need a little help to get them into place. I first placed the bracket on the ends of the radius arms then used the jack dance to get them as close as possible. Then I used a come-along type strap to pull them into place to get the bolts lined up. 

Now that all the brackets are back in place install the new coils and shocks. Install the coil first. Lower the end of the axle, insert the lower coil bolt and retainer. Jack the axle up until the coil just touches the top of the tower and turn it until it is in the right place to install the top clip and bolt it up. Then install the shock. I found it easier to bolt the bottom first then pull the top up and bolt it down.  

Back to the steering linkage. I spent way too much time with my brother trying to remove the stock pitman arm with various pulley removers, breaking two of them before we drove around town checking various auto part stores trying to find a proper pitman arm puller that wasn't too expensive. After 4 other places we ended up at AutoZone that has FREE tool rentals (ok you pretty much buy it but get your $$ back when you return it). Still it beat out any other place. I was afraid I was going to break it also since it took the pressure of both my legs and my brothers hands with a 3' breaker to make it finally cry uncle. It took an amazing amount of force to get the new one fully seated also. Reinstalling the rest of the linkage was a piece of cake. 

Next day: rear end lift. With jack stands securely on the frame raise the rear axle until the suspension is at a neutral position.  Since the stock U-Bolts required a 21mm deep socket, which I did not have, I got out the trusty 4 1/2" angle grinder with a new cut-off wheel and made quick work of them. Make sure you have the rear axle as close to equal pressure as possible and be vary careful doing this since they will want to pop when you cut thru them and I don't want to see anyone hurt doing this.  

the Superlift kit comes with blocks to raise the rear end. I would prefer to do a shackle flip but $$ prevents me for now from doing that so I will install the blocks. I have heard that others had removed the stock wedge when adding the block but that would have left my axle at the wrong angle to the drive shaft. With both the block and wedge it looks to be at the right angle. 

After removing or cutting the U-Bolts you need to remove the 4 12 point 12mm bolts that hold the drive shaft to the axle. Next remove the stock shocks. They have a bolt and nut on the bottom and a nut on top. I had a problem with the blocks that seems to be very common. the hole that is supposed to fit in the wedge pin / leaf pin was too small to fit. I used a dremel with various bits to widen and deepen the hole. Once they fit I installed the rear axle with the wedges and lift blocks along with the new U-Bolts. I tightened the nuts down until just before they were snug and spent a few minutes making sure all the U-Bolts and the axle were aligned before torquing them down. Re-install the rear drive shaft and the new shocks. 

Bronco After Lift

Another View

Side View

Later On - 33" Super Swamper Tires Installed