Pierce Gates Bronco #BuildBlog Week One

Pierce Gates Bronco Beast Lair

 

Pierce Gates Bronco #BuildBlog Week One

Cotter Pins in Alternator Chain

Pierce Gates Bronco #BuildBlog Week One: Our first task this week was to pull the front clip and alternators from the Bronco. We expected this to go well and it did. There were only a few items that caught our attention.

When we pulled the clip we found the alternator chain was held together with cotter pins. Due to safety concerns this must go.

We will re-engineer the plate to allow enough belt-wrap for a tooth-belt design. We’re considering a hydraulic drive for the alternator belt. It was nice when the chain came right off after pulling the first alternator.

Pierce Gates Bronco Alternator Removal

Once the chain was off we started removing the rest of the alternators working from the outside-in. It didn’t take long. Thinking of new ones we have lined up from Excessive Amperage made it go even faster. It was getting hot in the lair, so we took a cold-beverage break, then finished up in good time.

Seeing the front-end and plate with the alternators fully removed was nice. We’ll be sending the plate itself and all associated brackets to Dog House Powder Coating for a fresh coat. We’re undecided on what colors we’ll be doing yet but we have some ideas.

Pierce Gates Alternator Plate

 

Pierce Gates Bronco Plate Removed

Next we had wiring to sort and measure for replacement. The battery rack on the Pierce Gates Bronco is located under the rear of the vehicle. This is where we’ll add eight NorthStar Group 31 AGM batteries. The defunct XS batteries were previously removed but the wiring and bars were still installed. Removing the wire and bars went quick. We took the measurements and put in our order what we needed. All the old 1/0 Tsunami and XS power wire is being replaced with new 2/0 GP Wire.

Pierce Gates Bronco Battery Rack

 

Pierce Gates Bronco Battery Rack Side View

 

Back to the Lair…

Pierce Audio Inc. is super-excited for our next adventure up the mountain after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a busy Winter as we prepare to release this beast by Spring 2018. Look out for the next #BuildBlog update soon. Also keep an eye on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social media channels for more.