The story
In the summer of 1998 with the help of my older brother Bruce, my dream came true when we rescued/purchased the 'Lil Mule from a Chevy dealership in North Bend, WA. You see I've wanted a Bronco ever since 1984 when I first saw the movie "Romancing the Stone", hence the nickname 'Lil Mule. Coming from die hard Ford lineage and always being in awe of the places a real 4WD can take you, the big Bronco just seemed like a natural fit.
The 'Lil Mule is a '95 full size Ford Bronco XLT with 351W. All black with grey leather interior, handling package, tow package, and about every other option available in '95. She had 78,000 miles on the clock and was in pristine condition. The 'Lil Mule has been my daily driver all this time and now has over 150,000 miles on the clock. She's seen alot of towing duty over the years, pulling our 14 ft. enclosed motorcycle trailer stuffed full of dirt bikes two weekends a month.
My goal for the 'Lil Mule has always been to keep her in perfect mechanical condition which has been half the fun or ownership. I've done some minor bolt on mod's to the motor including a K&N intake, shorty headers and a 3" exhaust to help the power output and gas mileage. Installed some Warn Premium Manual Hubs up front and an Eaton Limited Slip out back which has helped immensly on the trail.
Future service/mods include:
Flush brake fluid (EDIT - complete)
Complete front brake job inlcuding new Power Stop Extreme rotors and pads (EDIT - complete 11/07/04)
Complete rear brake job (EDIT - complete 12/03/04)
New front wheel bearings (EDIT - complete 11/07/04)
Inspect/service the spindle bearings
Installation of front recovery hooks (EDIT - complete 02/07/04)
Install Smitty Built grill guard (EDIT - complete 11/27/04)
Install dual Hella 500 aux. lights on Smitty built grill guard
MSD6A ignition
4ft. Fire Stick C.B. antenna mounted to spare tire carrier
Replace worn out steerning colum parts including auto shifter, turn signal assy., and ignition switch & actuator assy.
Flush power steering system
Change oil in trx. case
Change fluid and filter in E4OD
Flush cooling system, prx. test
Install new upper & lower radiator hoses and heater hoses
Install new spark plugs gapped at .050" (in conjunction with MSD 6A)
Change rear diff fluid with AmsOil series 2000
E4OD to ZF 5 speed manual tranny swap when the auto decides to retire... — 95LilMule
Photos
The peanut gallery
Spotted in the wild
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