The buildup finished off with a color transformation via the talents of George Reiss. Reiss used ultra-tough white and silver hues of Endura epoxy paint. DuPont Kevlar graphics run along the border between the Endura white and silver.
This truck gets driven - hard. "Each year, I go prerunning with Curt for the Baja 1000. We do three preruns. The first is to travel the route and familiarize ourselves with the course in general. The second time, we check out the course and decide which lines are the best. The third and final time, we run the course using the lines we've settled on for race day," Hayes reports.
Between Baja trips, the Bronco does frequent weekend duty at the Ocotillo Wells OHV area and as a chase truck for Fabtech's 1450-class Toyota built and driven by Shawn Giordano.
Lee Hayes works as hard as he plays. He owns A&L Litho, a printing business based in Escondido, California. The company offers prepress services, printing presses for any-size job, and binding and finishing services once the printing is done. Owning a business is not a "spare time" hobby. Business ownership typically requires beyond-overtime hours, cash flow for paying bills, and skilled customer service. What's the reward? "I own my own business so that I can make enough money to go play in the desert."
After crawling under, over, and riding in this off-road multitool, the Bronco's popularity rang loud and clear in our craniums. We gobbled up nasty whoops, sliced through the sand, and generally did our best to defy friction and gravity, and we did it all while the audio system pelted our ears and the air conditioner kept us cool. If you need one truck that can do it all, check out a Bronco. It's one of the most versatile off-road trucks ever made.
 The high-pinion Dana 44 front...  The high-pinion Dana 44 front differential was used on the front of Ford 1/2-ton 4x4s from '62 all the way to '96. The high-pinion design offers increased strength in a front- axle application and has better ground clearance. The front end spins on a 4.88 ring-and-pinion set wrapped around a limited-slip differential. |  The leaf-spring rear suspension...  The leaf-spring rear suspension was deleted to make way for a Cal Pre-Fun three-link. The upper and lower links pivot on a combination of Delrin bushings and Heim joints for smooth action and off-road durability... |  The Ford 8.8 rearend was also...  The Ford 8.8 rearend was also ditched and replaced with a trussed and tabbed Ford 9-inch rearend by Sandy Cone. Richmond Gear supplied the 4.88 ring-and-pinion set as well as the spool it's bolted to... |
 A pair of 3-inch-diameter,...  A pair of 3-inch-diameter, 16-inch-stroke King shocks suspends and damps the tail section's range of motion. |  A quartet of Hella HIDs. ...  A quartet of Hella HIDs. All the better to see you (and everything else) with. |  This brace ties the front...  This brace ties the front and rear suspensions together. Curt LeDuc used 4130 tube and plate throughout. |
 Ford's stock steering leaves...  Ford's stock steering leaves quite a bit to be desired. In stock trim, the driver-side Traction Beam is much longer than its corresponding tie rod. This causes bumpsteer. The stock tie rods are also pretty skinny. Curt took care of both OEM problems by building this swing-set steering kit. The passenger-side tie rod is driven directly by the pitman arm and also drives a relay rod. The relay rod pushes and pulls on a swing-set arm that in turn drives the driver-side tie rod. The whole system is assisted by a hydraulic ram that pushes and pulls in sync with the power steering box. The ram is partially hidden behind the relay rod. |  The radius arms are welded...  The radius arms are welded to the Traction Beam housings for strength and simplicity. Check out the bumpstop pad built into the arm-to-beam gusset. The driver-side beam was extensively gusseted and plated. Three-inch-diameter, fourteen-inch-stroke King coilovers net 16 inches of front travel with fully functioning four-wheel drive. To maintain the suspension, the front end gets new bushings and Heims about once a year, and the rear end gets the same treatment twice a year. Since these suspensions endure thousands of miles of severe use, regular replacement intervals are the best way to ensure being able to drive home after each Baja prerun. |  |
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