For the past few weeks I've been going back and forth on whether to install a receiver hitch on the Bronco or not. I thought it might be handy to have, because I might buy a utility trailer in a few years, and I can use it to pull stuck vehicles out of ditches and snow banks (I just bought a recovery strap and used it a few times already with my Ranger), and other random uses. I installed a receiver hitch on my Ranger a few years ago for those reasons. But since I have the Ranger for those duties, I was debating whether it would be necessary for the Bronco to have one too.
Well, last night I made up my mind and I'm definitely installing one on the Bronco. My father in law got his Nissan Pathfinder stuck in the snow behind the house, so I tried to pull him out with the Ranger, and ended up getting stuck too. I had to get the Bronco out, hooked the strap up to the bumper, and pulled the Ranger out. After some rocking, the Pathfinder got out on its own.
I know hooking a strap to the bumper is not ideal, and I've heard of people bending and damaging it doing things like that. (On the other hand, the bumper supposedly has a 3k pound towing capacity, so I thought it would probably be OK. And I was right, although I wouldn't make a habit of it). Hence why I want to get a receiver hitch.
So I just ordered a Curt Class III hitch. 6k pound capacity, 600 lb tongue weight. I'm going to install it when I eventually replace my gas tank, since I have to drop the tank to access the bolts anyway. The gas tank replacement will hopefully be coming soon, which is why I've also been thinking about the hitch lately. I knew the time to install it would be when I'm doing the tank.
My Ranger getting stuck made me really miss my limited slip rear. The Ranger originally had a Trac Lock in back, but the pinion bearings went bad, so I swapped in a junkyard axle. All the junkyards around here didn't have a limited slip axle, so I was forced to "downgrade" to an open diff. I can't help but wonder if I wouldn't have gotten stuck if I still had the limited slip. I still have my original axle, so I'm going to eventually get it rebuilt, and once again have a limited slip. And I think I might upgrade to a Detroit TrueTrac.
So, THAT got some more gears turning in my head (no pun intended) and I got to thinking about traction aides for the Bronco. As I said, the rear axle rebuild is coming soon, so now's the time to install a limited slip if I'm gonna do it. I'm thinking a Trac-Lock would be a good, cheap upgrade for it. This truck already gets great traction in snow; much better than the Ranger. So any traction aide is probably not that necessary, but you never know when you'll need it. So I don't think I can justify a more expensive limited slip like a TrueTrac, and certainly not a selectable locker like an ARB. And since this truck will not be driven off-road, mechanical lockers are out of the question. I don't want their clunky operation on the road, especially since I don't need it that bad, as I said.
It sucks that I can't take the limited slip carrier out of my old Ranger (28 spline) axle and use it for the Bronco (31 spline). I'll be selling the old carriers out of both axles when this is all done to recoup some money.
Speaking of money, I just sold another Dana 50 spindle today! I might have to scrap the rest of the Dana 50 stuff; the rest of these parts are proving to be difficult to unload...
Whew, that was a long-winded post. I wish I could do more wrenching and less typing, but this weather SUCKS for wrenching, and I have no garage to work in.
Spring cannot come fast enough.