Mounting a '98 Granby on/in a '94 Bronco

[EYEMLOST]

I've been carrying my FWC on a HMMWV generator trailer.

I started doing some experiments with weight to see if putting the Granby on the Bronco could be doable.

I filled the bed of the Bronco with approx. 850lbs and drove around town.

Surprisingly; the Bronco barely knew the weight was back there.

After deciding it was doable; I bought 2"X12"X8' lumber for platform.

Here's a pic of said lumber showing Granby's footprint:

About the Bronco:
I'm a life-long off roader; as such, I modified said Bronco to handle the stress and abuse of off-roading.

In regards to the topic of this thread, the main mod that can handle a 900lb camper was the swap-in of an '87 Sterling 10.25" dually rear axle.

I swapped out the factory 4.10 gear and replaced it with 5.13 and a Detroit locker.

In addition; I used '99.5 front leaf springs from my old F-350 for rear suspension, along with Sky ORD 6" lift kit.

I also swapped in HMMWV tires.

 

[EYEMLOST]

Waterproofed the boards today:

 

[EYEMLOST]

Removed the FWC from the trailer:

 

[EYEMLOST]

Tomorrow I put the camper on/in the Bronco:

 

[Wildcat]

Looks like an interesting project! I'm not sure where the Granby center of gravity will be in relation to your rear axle. Looking forward to pics of the mounted camper. Will you be bolting it down tomorrow, or is this just a test fit? I hope you can get a chance to test out the vehicle handling characteristics after it's mounted.

 

[EYEMLOST]

1) Looks like an interesting project!

Thanks!

2) I'm not sure where the Granby center of gravity will be in relation to your rear axle.

Doing measurements; the Granby centerline/CoG will be approx. 1.75' behind rear axle

3) Looking forward to pics of the mounted camper.

Will do!

4) Will you be bolting it down tomorrow, or is this just a test fit?

Tomorrow will be D-Day, there is no Plan-B!

Because I have the '90s two-point lift that's sketchy even when brand new; I'll be mounting AND tie-downing it today.

Hopefully getting at least a couple through-floor bolts fastened as well.

5) I hope you can get a chance to test out the vehicle handling characteristics after it's mounted.

When 4-corner tie-downs are completed I'll test-drive it around the neighborhood.

When the through-floors bolts are mounted/completed, I'll start testing the set up on the nearby fire roads.

During my weight-carrying experiment; I placed approx. 850+lbs 2ft in front, and 4ft behind the rear axle to simulate the camper's weight/weight distribution.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Bronco's handling of said weight; I barely knew it was back there.


The HMMWV tires; having VERY stiff sidewalls, contributed greatly to the weight-handling stability.

That was one factor I had not taken into consideration/calculated in said experiment.

I knew they were stiff; but didn't realize just how stiff they were; which was/is a huge benefit!

 

[EYEMLOST]

Got the camper mounted:

 

[EYEMLOST]

A few more pics:

 

[EYEMLOST]

The red dot represents where the Granby's CoG is, while the blue dot represents where the rear axle is.

Said Granby's CoG is 12" behind said rear axle.

 

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

I can see why you want to try this but how about a purple dot for where the Broncos center of gravity is ?

What was wrong with having it on the trailer ?

Good luck with it.

David Graves

 

[fuzzymarindave]

Good project but to me it doesn’t look like a good fit. Did they make campers for the Bronco? I recall seeing them for the Blazer. That would look very clean and fit well as far as I can tell. With the axle change are you having to carry two different size spare wheels or perhaps you have the tools and skills to R&R tire in the field.

 

[Wallowa]

Hey Idahodian!

Heck of a project and an intrepid one. You list 900lbs; I thought Grandby was almost double that? A question, you show WD-40 and caption water-proofing; that is a puzzle to me. Will tie downs be an issue?

Keep posting with you drive testing...the adventure continues and Molon Labe to you also....

Phil

Ps...I dig your trailer....

 

[Zoomad]

Good project but to me it doesn’t look like a good fit. Did they make campers for the Bronco? I recall seeing them for the Blazer. That would look very clean and fit well as far as I can tell. With the axle change are you having to carry two different size spare wheels or perhaps you have the tools and skills to R&R tire in the field.

They did build them for the Bronco's like the Blazer's. Scouts too. The major difference between the Bronco and Blazer version is the interface to the cab. Since the full size Bronco's cab section slopes down and back versus the Blazer's near vertical cab there is an extension to seal the camper to the cab of the Bronco. Seen here on an early full size Bronco:

Pushing the camper back also forces another difference to the Bronco camper by the fact that the camper actually pushes past the end of the Bronco body. The Blazer Camper sits flush between the tail lights. '96 Bronco/camper seen here:

I've wheeled my Blazer Camper a lot between in the mountains and desert. The main factor I see with the Grandby in a Bronco in the large amount of rear overhang. It kills departure angle and would drag like mad when descending down step like obstacles. I would guess it really depends on the type of wheeling you do.

 

[EYEMLOST]

Hey Idahodian!

1) Heck of a project and an intrepid one.

2) You list 900lbs; I thought Grandby was almost double that?

3) A question, you show WD-40 and caption water-proofing; that is a puzzle to me. Will tie downs be an issue?

4) Keep posting with you drive testing...the adventure continues and Molon Labe to you also....

Phil

5) Ps...I dig your trailer....

1&5) Thank you!

2) IIRC; the base model of a '98 Granby was 900lbs.; before options were added.

3) I used WD 40 to waterproof the 2"X12"X8' board platform.

The reason I choose WD 40:
a) It's a Water Displacer
b It's approx. 30+% cheaper than other brands (relatively speaking; I'm poor) for waterproofing.
c) WD 40 is an incredibly versatile product.

4) At the moment I have just four turnbuckles, one at each corner, holding the FWC on.
As soon as I mount through-floor bolts I'm going to take a test drive on the freeway, and then the local fire roads.
And will weigh the Bronco, at a CAT scale, with the camper mounted.

So far I've been driving around the neighborhood/town.

The only characteristic that's new-to-me in driving with such weight is the feeling of top-heaviness while corning.
I'm guessing it's the camper roof weight.
But the feeling is mild enough to just let me know it's there.

Like I mentioned earlier; I attribute that to the HMMWV tires' very stiff sidewalls.

 

[Zoomad]

Are there plans to close off the cab since the camper is self contained or open the front of the camper up and create the same pass through that the Bronco camper would have?

I'm not against the idea of the Grandby in a Bronco at all. Having used mine for three years there's always a nagging idea for more space in the camper. It's a balance though. I like wheeling mine for sure. But I can think of some times where I've been that having any worse departure angle would have stopped my forward progress.

I was out on Flat Iron Mesa south of Moab climbing out of this section. I drug my bumper and can rack pretty hard. If the camper stuck out further I would have really run into trouble.

Ideally finding a Bronco Camper would be the best idea, but in my searching for the Blazer Campers, I find so many less Bronco campers. At least for every 8 Blazer campers I find for sale I might find 1 Bronco camper. I understand the idea of using what you got since the ones made for a Bronco are really rare.

There is one on Craigslist right now in Colorado. He wants a mint.
https://rockies.craigslist.org/cto/d/avon-1978-ford-bronco-with-wheel-pop-up/7350685309.html

Hallmark also made Bronco campers too. There is one of them in the Denver metro area for sale right now. Again the dude thinks it's worth a bucketload and is selling the entire package not just the camper.
https://denver.craigslist.org/for/d/littleton-1993-ford-bronco-and-1992/7349705586.html

 

[EYEMLOST]

Weighed the Bronco/camper.


On the left is the Bronco alone, and on right is Bronco/camper:

 

[EYEMLOST]

Mounted two through-floor bolts:

 

[EYEMLOST]

I'll use at least four more through-floor bolts.


I'll also get jam nuts for the turnbuckles.

 

[Vic Harder]

Only thing I see here that would worry me is the fact that the camper removes 260 pounds from the front wheels. Less traction in front for steering, more tendency to understeer initially, with perhaps some snap oversteer too.

 

[EYEMLOST]

Only thing I see here that would worry me is the fact that the camper removes 260 pounds from the front wheels. Less traction in front for steering, more tendency to understeer initially, with perhaps some snap oversteer too.

Excellent point.


I already have a front hitch:

So maybe shifting gear to said front hitch would be in order: water/fuel/grill/generator.