Whether the crossroads take you through the six-point rollcage-required trails or up and over the rocky road, this is the Bronco that can get you home. The well-equipped bed/covered cargo area includes tools, an air compressor, tools, in-cab onboard air, and more tools.
It takes a rare breed of person to delve into the depths of becoming an equine activist. Bronco aficionados stake claim to their independence, unfenced freedom, and individuality with their trusted steeds. And like many other early Bronco owners, Lee Novikoff dreamt of one day heading West to experience the unwritten legacy of Western rockcrawling.
From Texas, Lee traversed the trail to Johnson Valley, California, were he and his Bronco buff buddies hit some of the area's premier trails like Wrecking Ball and Outer Limits and several serious play areas sometimes used in competitive rockcrawling circuits.
With Ford's historic values and modern modifications, watching the '72 in action was like watching a fusion of old and new. You'll find fun facts in the mix of photos and text here.
The rear axle is a 35-spline 9-inch with a shaved housing from Bronco Alley, 5.13 gears, a Detroit Locker, and Wilwood four-piston disc brakes. The rig has rear cutting brakes, four-wheel line locks, and a Bronco Alley custom stainless steel gas tank. The homebuilt three-link suspension uses a modified radius arm design, Sway-A-Way coilover shocks, and Eibach and Coleman springs. That bucking bronco feeling is reduced by moving the front axle forward 2 inches and the rear back 4 inches, to give the rig 98 inches of stance. | 
Here's a little secret: If you're gonna play, you're gonna pay. That's the rationale behind the Zolatone Granite Grey skin. Zolatone is the king of sheetmetal camo. It's a flecked-on paint that is durable, and gives old sheetmetal a protective coating--and camouflages all sorts of scratches and flaws. Lee Novikoff painted the truck himself but gives most of the credit to his wife, Carie, who he says "is understanding" of his hobbyhorse. Other exterior tack includes custom front and rear bumpers, trimmed fenders with Duraflex flares, tubed rear fenderwells, front and rear Warn winches, and Summit off-road lights. | 
A front Dana 60 from a '94 F-350 was built by Sun Ray Engineering and is filled with 5.13 gears and an ARB Air Locker. Whoa power comes in the form of Chevy 1/2-ton disc brakes. An NV4500 is attached behind a Centerforce dual-friction clutch. The mighty steed has three different gear-reducing appliances: an Atlas at 3.8:1, a Klune Goliath at 2.72:1, and an NV4500 at 5.6:1. Twenty forward gears and a 297:1 crawl ratio. Ooh! |
With sure-footed action from the right pedal, the '98 70mm throttle body 351 Windsor V-8 moves the power through the NV4500 and out the Atlas and Goliath crawler boxes to the wheels and onto the trail terrain. The GT-40 heads are fully ported and polished and suck in power from the intake. JBA headers and a Flowmaster exhaust system assist in the exhale. | | |