Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives What to look for on older Bronco

Local guy has a 1989 Ford Bronco for sale. 5.0 Automatic 4x4 fresh tune up and other small repairs with receipts. Everything works including AC fresh seals on the top and newly upholstered seats front and back. Carpet removed and Bed liner stuff applied to interior surfaces. Body in good shape with slight paint fading on hood. He's asking $2850 I plan on driving it this Friday. What areas should I pay attention to when looking it over?

What's hidden under the bed liner.

It's an Alabama truck so I'm not too worried about rust but will try and keep an eye out for it.

check the fluid in the differentials
and (especially) the transfer case.
check for grinding in the transfer
case when shifting modes.

check for the intake manifold leaking at the corners the bolts rust and break off when trying to replace the intake gaskets and can be very difficult to remove due to being at a 45 degree angle to the Head

I was going to say look out if it was used as a plow truck. The front ends don't hold up to that weight. But in AL, I think you're good to go there.

They're pretty nice vehicles depending on what you're going to do with it. The rear window stops working on everyone I've ever seen, so check that.

Flood damage.

+1

Might find a pair of Aris gloves back there

ball joints , tie rods, radius arms and bushings, rear spring shackles, pull dip stick for transmission and see if its brown/smells bad.

This and the odometer. I'd have a good mechanic check it out.

If the trans is the 3spd C6 you're good to go, the OD autos have some issues from time to time.
The front end as another poster mentioned, the Dana 50 was a step down from the solid front axles the first two generations of broncos came with. The wishbone style front ends are basically a Dana 44 center section, which is good, but with an extra bunch of bushings to go bad. They aren't horrible, but they aren't as low maintenance or as tough as a solid axle. I've owned or own the first two and the last generation of broncos and Dad and Mom had a 3rd gen and I noticed zero enhanced ride quality or other benefits to the independent front.

The 5.0 is a good setup, parts abound and there's a gazillion of them in junkyards if you need one. They make decent power for a half ton rig and usually get pretty decent mileage.

If the fuel pump goes out don't bother trying to drop the tank, pull the trim strip inside the tailgate and roll the carpet back. Sawsall a 8"x8" square out of the floor and swap the pump. When you're done have someone weld a tab on two sides of the piece you cut out so it will set in it's hole. Roll the carpet back down and reinstall the trim strip. Turns a PITA job fighting with rusty bolts and skid plate into a half hour deal.

If the window doesn't work in the rear the motor isn't too hard to swap and IME it's normally a fuse or the dash switch. If you don't want the tailgate to rust out it's imperative to keep the window weatherstripping in good shape and make sure the drain holes in the bottom of the tailgate are not blocked or painted shut. Everyone hates the electric rear windows but you'll almost never find a Chevy Blazer with a manual window that doesn't have a stripped crank. When it gets icy the Bronco window just won't open and that's it, but people had a tendency to really crank on the handle on the Blazers and they break.

Good luck