MO_Bronco's Overland / Do-It-All Build (157" 2023)

[MO_Bronco]

Hey all, wanted to actually start a build thread and dip my toe back into the forum life as a flashback to the better day's of Al Gore's World Wide Web...

Over the past 6ish years I had built up many pre-97 Ford; started with a 96 Bronco, then a 68 F100 which I traded for an 89 Bronco which I quickly turned into a supercharged garage ornament and most recently, my 96 Crew Cab 7.3 F250 that I bought from the original owner and built into a full on Overland rig.

On whim about a month ago I got the crazy idea to list the F250 for sale... next thing I knew someone was flying in from NC to drive it back home. The thought behind selling the F250 was a bit half-baked but basically, I wanted something more comfortable for the commute downtown and that would not become a full on "build".

The requirements I had for the new platform was as follows, 157", 5.0, Sport, 4x4.... not overpriced lol. Somehow this was exceptionally difficult to find; I thought I found the perfect truck up in Chicago but after a one-way flight and a 90-minute Uber ride to the dealership I was promptly looking for an Amtrak ticket back to STL... The next weekend I ended up finding exactly what I was looking for not but 12 minutes from my house.

Behold, my 2023 302A Sport in Atlas Blue. I am not a lover of blue vehicles but this one was everything I was looking for aside from color and I've absolutely fallen in love with Atlas.

So, if I'm planning to keep it stock, why am I making a build thread? Well by the time my head hit the pillow that night I had already decided it was going to be a rough copy of my F250 but obviously much more refined.

So here's the rough plans for the 23:
*Level (Something high quality, 2.5" body shocks/coilovers)
*35's
*17" Racelines
*Exhaust (Need to let that 5.0 sing)
*Camping Setup (I still have my Kuat IBEX and NaturNest Tent that will swap on perfectly....not sure if that'll be the direction or not though)
*Brakes (Thinking upgraded slotted rotors and maybe calipers)
*AMP Steps
*Lighting (I have an allegiance to KC Hilites... maybe upgraded heads/tails)
*Storage
*Audio

So, that's the rough idea here, if everything goes as planned I'll have the "bones" of the truck done in the next 2-3 weeks with little stuff happening after the fact.

I'll definitely update the thread as we go and stuff is done, also if you want to tag along for more nonsense feel free to keep tabs with me on IG or YT.

Instagram

YouTube

Here's some pics of my F250 and Bronco that I talked about earlier to give you an idea of direction.

Feel free to hit me with any pointers, wisdom or questions!

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[MO_Bronco]

Well The parts have started to roll in and late nights in the garage are staring me in the face.

First mod was to ditch the factory sport running boards and throw on a set of AMP Smart Series Steps. Funny thing is I somehow was sent the wrong boards and I received boards for a PowerBooost/Lightning. Everything bolted up just fine, only difference on install is that the motors are on the back hinge instead of the front hinge. I didn't think twice about it when reading through the directions that they didn't talk about the 5.0 but when I got everything installed is when I realized the issue. The driver door deployed the passenger boards and vice versa.

The cool part is, since I have the Smart Series I can swap the door command so with a quick tap of some buttons we were back in business.

These things are pricey, absolutely no two ways around it, but man are they nice!

If you want to check them out, here's the links to both of them from Real Truck.



Coyote/Ecoboost:

Amp Smart Series Steps

Powerboost/Lightning:

Amp Smart Series Steps

After that I did the absolutely MASSIVE mod of installing a stubby antenna... I know, crazy stuff here. Just a CravenSpeed one of Amazon, finish is good and fitment is fine. No complaints.

CravenSpeed Antenna

Exhaust showed up next, I went with a Flowmaster Signature Series setup. This thing is truthfully one of the most gorgeous boxed exhaust systems I've seen. Full 304 Stainless that is brushed after bending/welding for a truly flawless appearance. Install went great, the Black Chrome tip is super nice as well. This kit removes the factory resonator and runs 3" pipe the full length. Truth be told, this kit is loud and I am an old man in a 34 year old body. It sounds awesome but it's probably a hair louder than I want it to be. We will see what it's like long term, maybe I'll throw a resonator on, not sure yet.



Here's the link to Exhaust:

Flowmaster Signature Series

After that, the Timbren Active Off-Road Bump Stops showed up. I am super stoked about these, I noticed immediately out the gate when I got the truck that the bump stops out back were extremely harsh and noticeable when they would "engage". Install on these Timbren's was a breeze and they've really helped the control of the rear end when out on rougher roads/off-road.

This is the kit I used:

Timbren Active Off-Road Bumpstops

Lastly, I needed to get those mini shark fin flaps removed that were in front of the rear wheels. $15 off Amazon and we were good to go after 5 minutes of install.

These are the one's I bought, finish is an exact match to factory:

Flap Delete

Next up; suspension, brakes, wheels and tires... Still need to decide on what tires I'll be running but everything else will be delivered this week.

 

[MO_Bronco]

Yesterday I found some time, literally like 15 minutes, to install my DeeZee underseat drawer in my 23. I have 2 young kids who are in car seats so accessing stuff under the back seat was basically out of the question. I had a buddy who installed one in his truck and immediately knew I needed to grab one.

Install was a total breeze and packaging was really good, however the top corner of my drawer did have a small scuff on it likely from shifting/vibrating in the packaging.

Link to the drawer from Amazon is below... by far the best price I've found anywhere.

https://amzn.to/3JZCTW8

 

[Aonarch]

Looks great!

Obviously you have a lot of experience, but Bilstein 6112s are a popular 2.65" shock body option. Kings are awesome ootb.

Bilstein 8112 ZC are available for this platform and are the top dogs just pricey.

You'll want the SPC HD alignment kit for the front lower control arms, since they aren't really adjustable and just have a flimsy bolt locking them down.

Eibach is coming out with 2.5" bodies soon. I'm on their Stage 2R kit and am patiently waiting. Their on road performance is by far the best, off-road the fronts can't keep up especially with my weight and a front winch.

 

[MO_Bronco]

Looks great!

Obviously you have a lot of experience, but Bilstein 6112s are a popular 2.65" shock body option. Kings are awesome ootb.

Bilstein 8112 ZC are available for this platform and are the top dogs just pricey.

You'll want the SPC HD alignment kit for the front lower control arms, since they aren't really adjustable and just have a flimsy bolt locking them down.

Eibach is coming out with 2.5" bodies soon. I'm on their Stage 2R kit and am patiently waiting. Their on road performance is by far the best, off-road the fronts can't keep up especially with my weight and a front winch.

Thanks for all the feedback!

I strongly considered the Eibach kit initially and I’m very familiar with Kings. I ended up going with the ADS Mesa series 2.5” body coilover and shocks. I’ve been wanting to run Arizona Dessert Shocks for years and ended up deciding to bite the bullet and make it happen.

Really optimistic that the ride quality will be great with their progressive dampening.

Baer 6T kit brake kit showed up as well so hopefully I’ll get that on in the next week or so as well!

 

[Aonarch]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I strongly considered the Eibach kit initially and I’m very familiar with Kings. I ended up going with the ADS Mesa series 2.5” body coilover and shocks. I’ve been wanting to run Arizona Dessert Shocks for years and ended up deciding to bite the bullet and make it happen.

Really optimistic that the ride quality will be great with their progressive dampening.

Baer 6T kit brake kit showed up as well so hopefully I’ll get that on in the next week or so as well!

Awesome! I've heard great things about those ADS shocks.

Nice Baers! I actually really love the stock brakes and haven't felt the need to change them. On my Wrangler I did a BBK and braided steel lines.

 

[MO_Bronco]

Mocked up the brakes and wheels today prior to ordering tires to make sure there was no interference with the 17" wheels and the Baer 6T brake kit.

All clear and man I'm thinking these are going to look, and stop, really good!

Planning on roughly a 35x11 tire and considering the following:

Kenda Klever RT (had these on my OBS and man the rode and wore great)
Falken Wildpeak AT4W
Toyo Open Country AT3
Nitto Recon Grappler

Wanting to say 6 ply/Load range C ideally, if I go Kenda's I'll have to go with D's.

Anyone have any preference on a tire? Deals out there to make my bank account stop bleeding?

 

[honda250xtitan]

which racelines didyou go with? I ran a set of their machined Defenders in the 17" flavor on 37's on my 17 6.7.

That blue is a great color.

 

[MO_Bronco]

which racelines didyou go with? I ran a set of their machined Defenders in the 17" flavor on 37's on my 17 6.7.

That blue is a great color.

These are Raceline Alphas, 17” +0 offset. Really stoked on them, I think they’ll give it a great look.

I was absolutely not a fan of the Atlas Blue when I saw it on the lot but it’s absolutely growing on me and I’m loving it now.

 

[MO_Bronco]

Spent a considerable amount of time out in the garage today working on lighting… not sure if I’m allowed to be posting these yet or not as they aren’t on their site yet but check this out.

Morimoto Offroad Fogs, dual 4Bangers on each side.

Also got in their XB headlights with the amber DRLs.

Tomorrow is 4Banger A-Pillar lights.

 

[Chris GTO TT]

Woah those foglights look cool.

 

[MO_Bronco]

Woah those foglights look cool.

Big fan of them lol

 

[MO_Bronco]

Spent the morning putting my ADS Mesa series level kit on.

Still need a little bit of an adjustment up front but really happy with the fitment and ride quality. Been in several 14 gen f150’s and this truly feels as good as I’ve been in thus far. Ride is not harsh by any means but has a very nice stable and positive dampening to it. With the progressive valving it should only get better when hitting stuff faster.

install went really well, ended up cutting the lower studs of the factory coilovers to make removal easier after I messed with it up front for far too long. Passenger side went way easier after I took that approach first thing.

35” Kenda RT’s and Raceline Alphas going on tomorrow.

now I need some Deavers for the rear…

 

[Blue22]

Great build so far and looking forward to what's to come. And Atlas Blue was a great choice.

 

[rawfuls]

RE: tires; I had Klever 35x11.5 on my 12th gen and absolutely loved them as well. They wore great, rode great (albeit a bit stiff). My only complaint was weight. They are very heavy.

Dropped my 12th gen from 16 to 13mpg.. smiles to the gallon I guess.
I'm also curious as to your MPG drops overall - I'm getting ~18mpg combined on my 5.0 stock tires.

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