JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

From the creative minds of JB Custom Fabrication comes another innovative Bronco build out of their shop in Salem, Oregon. The Bad Pony Ford Bronco is the latest of those that come out of the shop owned by Jon and Rhonda Barricklow. This appropriately named 1974 half-cab Bronco was built to be completely capable off-road, and easy to drive on road.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

JB Custom Fabrication

The Barricklows were the couple that built two previous Broncos with Cummins Diesel engines implanted into the engine bay. The Grey Goose and the Heavy Horse have been extensively featured in many other off-road publications. At the urging of his wife Rhonda, Jon even built a Bronco Trail-er from the rear half of an original half cab.

In 1995 Jon Barricklow left his job at a chemical company after 21 years and started a business concentrating on single, double, and triple transfer case cable shifters and custom shifter boots, and machined shifter knobs. Rhonda is experienced in paint and bodywork.  From those humble beginnings and concentrating on quality products instead of a cornucopia of different parts Jon and Rhonda have built a great business.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

The One Bad Pony Ford Bronco Build

Each of Barricklow’s previous builds was designed to turn heads at a distance with some outrageous customizing. This time they went for stealth trying to hide the magic under a very bold coat of orange paint and a slightly massaged body. Going across the dunes on the Oregon Coast you would not take much notice until the throttle opened, or the suspension started gobbling up the dunes. Here are the customizations that make One Bad Pony… well, one bad pony.

The Bad Pony Body

Jon started with a stock factory frame which he modified. Mounted on top of the frame is a Dennis Carpenter steel replacement body, also heavily modified. Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard supplied heavy-duty front fenders.  Rhonda worked over the body and fenders to her liking before sending it off to get some color. The Go Mango and black satin finishes were applied by Todd Hollis Auto Body.

The Suspension, Steering, and Axles

The heavily modified frame was built to support a sophisticated four-link suspension. The front features parallel four links with a Panhard bar. The bumps are soaked up by an ORI 12-inch front strut and Fox four-inch nitrogen bump stops. In the rear, a double-triangulated four-link system supports a 14-inch ORI strut assembly. All the struts have oil reservoirs attached to help cool the units when the going gets rough.

Steering is handled through a Wild Horses box with a hydraulic assist to make it easier to move the 35-inch-tall Goodyear Wrangler tires wrapped around DOT-legal Hutchinson double bead lock wheels.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

As any Bronco owner will tell you the axle assemblies need a lot of upgrades if you plan on doing some extreme wheeling. Jon did not mess around and went straight to Ford nine-inch units heavily fortified by RuffStuff Specialties.

In the front, the nine-inch features a Strange Nodular center section with 35 spline Dutchman axles turned by Tru-Track 4.86 gears. Solid Axle Industries knuckles, Dana 60 outers, and Teraflex hubs take the brunt of Jon and Rhonda’s abuse at the wheel end of the housing.

The rear is much like the front except the 4.86 gear is a Wavetrack setup. The axles ride in Dana 60 full floater outers.

Bad Pony Ford Bronco Engine

One Bad Pony’s mighty power plant is based on a 427 cubic inch Dart SHP iron block. The rotating parts are supplied by Scat in the form of a forged crank and H beam rods which push the Ross 8.9:1 compression pistons.

Sitting on top of the block are Dart Pro1 aluminum heads held securely to the block with ARP head studs. The valve train glides along a Bullet custom ground camshaft via Scorpion roller rockers and studs.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

Fuel feeds through a FiTech Go EFI-8 1200hp Power Adder Plus into an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold. That is a lot of fuel system but consider that Jon and Rhonda do not like to miss out on horsepower so there is a Precision T-3 turbocharger shoving ridiculous amounts of air into the engine through a JB Custom Fabrication air charger and plenum. The fuel and air are ignited via a MSD Billet distributor and ignition system.

The exhaust is all custom built in-house at JB Custom and you will not find any mufflers on this vehicle.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

All the horsepower means a lot of heat, so cooling is important. Jon turned to an Edelbrock water pump and a Ron Davis dual-pass radiator. Engine oil cooling is handled with a Derale oil cooler. All the critical drivetrain information is relayed to the custom dashboard via Speedhut gauges.

Bad Pony Ford Bronco Transmission

The Bad Pony horsepower is routed through a Ford 4R100 transmission with a stage four upgrade. A Billet torque converter handles the transfer of power between the engine and transmission. An HGM shift controller runs the electronics that boost the hydraulic pressures. A RADesigns shifter selects the gears that they need.

An Atlas Pro Case transfer case is hooked up to a JB Custom twin-stick cable shifter. The power then is distributed and sent front and rear via Tom Woods driveshafts hooked to 1350 CVs. What it all means, in the end, is the Bad Pony Bronco has as bulletproof a drivetrain as possible. With this setup, whether they are in the Oregon Dunes or the deserts of eastern Oregon, One Bad Pony can handle whatever they throw at it.

Finishing Touches

Comfort and aesthetics are maintained while roughing it out on the trails and dunes. Seats were supplied from Tom’s Off Road and Simpson Race Products safety harnesses hold Jon and Rhonda in place no matter how crazy it gets out there.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

JB Custom Fabrication built their own bumpers, front, and rear. They also built their own half-cab custom roll cage and fitted their own custom-made half-cab cover which mounts in six locations.

There is enough auxiliary lighting mounted on One Bad Pony to light up the night on any dune or trail courtesy of Rigid and Lux. From the sounds of all these amazing modifications, there is not much of anywhere that this machine cannot go.

Look for One Bad Pony at a Bronco gathering in the Pacific Northwest and other areas.

JB Custom Fabrication Unleashed The Baddest Pony In The Herd

Bad Pony Ford Bronco Image Gallery:

Photo gallery

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Chassis And Body:

  • Factory Frame, heavily modified by JB Custom Fabrication
  • Jeff’s bronco Graveyard Heavy Duty front fenders (customized)
  • Dennis Carpenter Steel replacement body wheel openings enlarged, quarter panels bowed out for 35-inch tires.
  • All bodywork by Rhonda Barricklow (JB Custom Fabrication)
  • Paint by Todd Hollis Auto Body
  • Color, Go Mango/satin black

Engine:

  • Rotating assembly by Springer Engine, Eugene Oregon
  • 427 Windsor Dart SHP iron block
  • Dart Pro 1 Aluminum heads
  • Scat crank forged crank
  • Scat H-beam rods
  • Ross pistons 8.9:1
  • Bullet custom ground camshaft
  • Scorpion roller rockers/rocker studs
  • Precision Turbo T-3 turbocharger PT5862 CEA (2X)
  • Tial wastegate and blow-off valves
  • Turbosmart dual range boost controller
  • ARP head-studs / fasteners
  • Edelbrock Performer RPM intake Manifold
  • Edlbrock Water pump
  • MSD Billet distributor
  • JB Custom Fabrication Charge-air plumbing & plenum
  • Fitech GoEFI-8 1200HP Power adder Plus
  • Derale engine oil cooler
  • Ron Davis custom-made dual-pass aluminum radiator

Transmission, Transfercase, And Driveline:

  • Gearstar Ford 4R100 Stage 4
  • Billet Torque converter
  • HGM Compushift controller
  • RADesigns custom transmission shifter with selectable bump shift
  • Derale Transmission Cooler
  • Atlas II Pro-case 3.8:1 W/ JB Custom Fabrication Cable shifters
  • Tom Woods Drive shafts W/1350 CV

Front axle:

  • RuffStuff fabricated Ford 9” W/D60 outers
  • Strange Nodular iron center section, tru-track 4.86:1 gears
  • Dutchman 35 spline USA Chromo axles
  • Solid Axle knuckles
  • Teraflex hubs

Rear axle:

  • RuffStuff fabricated Ford 9” W/D60 full float outers
  • True high 9 nodular center section W/Wavetrack 4:86: gears
  • Dutchman 35 spline USA Chromo axles

Front Suspension:

  • Parallel four-link W/panhard bar
  • Wild Horses Steering box and Hydraulic assist
  • 12” ORI struts W/remote reservoirs
  • Fox 4” Nitrogen bump-stops

Rear Suspension:

  • Double-triangulated four-link
  • 14” ORI struts W/remote reservoirs

Other Stuff:

  • Tom’s Bronco Parts deluxe seats (customized)
  • Wet sounds 10-speaker soundbar
  • Flaming river steering column (customized)
  • Custom center console W/color-matched custom switches
  • Custom Speedhut gauges/instrument clusters
  • Lux Lighting programable auxiliary lighting
  • Ridged lights front, rear
  • BC Broncos half-cab soft top
  • Simpson harnesses
  • Custom-made half-cab roll cage (bolted to frame 6-points) JB Custom Fabrication
  • Wild horses stainless steel fuel tank
  • Fitech Dual In-tank high-volume fuel pumps
  • Stainless steel fuel/brake lines
  • Wild Horses Wilwood hydroboost brake Master cylinder /booster (MOAB brake kit)
  • Wheels, Hutchinson double bead-lock DOT compliant, 8 lug, aluminum 17”
  • Tires, Goodyear Wrangler 35 X 12.5 17
  • ARB high-output twin air compressor
  • Rotopax fuel storage
  • AMP Research power steps

Bumpers:

  • One-off custom JB Custom Fabrication

Exhaust:

  • Custom stainless steel headers, oval stainless exhaust (no mufflers)

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About the author

John Elkin

John Elkin was born into an off-roading family. Most vacations were spent exploring Death Valley. Later, John found off-road racing, then rally. His competition career spanned 35 years, mostly navigating. John lives in Vancouver, WA. with his family.
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