Bronco vs. Wrangler

[1o1proof]

Went and looked at a bronco this morning, it was a lower end model and plan, but I think I like it. In its defense, stock low end Jeep’s are boring as well.
I did like the many different options you can get on it. It will be very customizable it seems. I liked the grab handles, the many aux switches, the electronics seemed cool. But my favorite, and was unknown to me until today is that the fender flares come right off. 4 cam locks and there ya go, I could see that being handy?

It was a soft top, and possibly even more goofy looking than 4 door Jeep with a soft top. I can’t stand the look, sorry. The front bumper, though modular and pretty well thought out seems…awkward to me. The engine bay is fugly.

But the worst problem I have is the back seat. I am 6’6” and yea, I can get in, as long as the front seat isn’t back all the way. That isn’t a huge deal, most all cars are that way for me. The problem is head clearance, I was at or above the bar. The seats seemed very high to me, they might adjust, I did not ask.

They are going to let us drive it for 4 days, but it don’t know when that will start. After that we should have a better feel for these.

 

[downthepines]

 

[DrDmoney]

Ok expensive coil overs, new A-arms, lift, skids, 37” Nitto’s, and a professional driver.

 

[Apparition]

Ok expensive coil overs, new A-arms, lift, skids, 37” Nitto’s, and a professional driver.

Watching it now. Looks pretty capable. Lockers make a huge difference.

Be interesting to see the Raptor version on 37’s.

What’s it cost to really run 37’s on a JL?

It’s interesting they have the Ranger because they said that design was also meant for the Bronco, I assume that’s stage 3.

 

[kmas0n]

You can throw a 2" budget boost on a rubicon and run 37's. The factory springs are long and soft and even with 11-11.5" travel fox shocks you cannot unseat the factory coils at full flex. Remember, Rubicons JLs already have a 1.5" lift, so a 2.5" puck means you have 4" lift over saharas and sports. Past that, a new front driveshaft will be needed. The factory one wont handle the extended length of the shocks long and it'l tear the boot. There will be minor rubbing on the flares with 37s. Oh, and you will need a stubby bumper.

 

[Apparition]

You can throw a 2" budget boost on a rubicon and run 37's. The factory springs are long and soft and even with 11-11.5" travel fox shocks you cannot unseat the factory coils at full flex. Remember, Rubicons JLs already have a 1.5" lift, so a 2.5" puck means you have 4" lift over saharas and sports. Past that, a new front driveshaft will be needed. The factory one wont handle the extended length of the shocks long and it'l tear the boot. There will be minor rubbing on the flares with 37s. Oh, and you will need a stubby bumper.

did they beef up the ball joints?

 

[kmas0n]

The ones on the M210 and M220 are upgraded and pretty stout. I haven't lost one yet. Yes yes, jeep owners can break anything, but for normal trail use, it'll handle 37s fine.

 

[rubicube]

I just watched the unveiling of it and I was pretty much "meh" at the end of it.

There were a few things that I liked about it like the mirrors on the body, ability to store 4 doors in the rear, fitting 35s tires and the trail map was cool. But I'm not crazy about the look.

I really don't get the deal with the Sport model. Are they going after the Cherokee or something? Lol

If anything comes of this I hope it gets FCA to step their game up!

plus the wrangler after market,,,,,,,,,huge

 

[1o1proof]

Some thoughts after having driven the Bronco around for a few days. It is a 4 door, big bend, 2.7l, auto, electronic package...pretty basic but it gave us a good idea of what the thing was all about. The wife loves it, to me it is OK, maybe the right model with the sasquatch package would be more to my taste.

It drives very well, and to me the power/pickup was surprising. It has plenty of front seat room, though the back seats weren't great, I fit (6'6") but they were not comfortable after a short time. Gauges/dash/layout all very nice and easy to understand. A nice surprise we found was the zone lighting, which turns on lights (mirror lights/backup/front daytime etc) around your ride lighting up the trail. As it was just loaned to us for a few days, we did not do any off roading other than easy dirt roads, don't break what you don't want to buy.

Some things we did not like. The view from the front seats with the top down was bad IMO, the A pillars and cross piece on top of the wind shield is freaking HUGE. Yes, I am used to TJs and JKs but this thing was annoying to me, it almost felt like the top wasn't down, And the top looks terrible when down IMO, it's just a huge pile of canvas and rods piled up on the back of your ride. Appearance is about what you see in the pictures however, the consensus with the females in our circle do not like the looks of the front end.


TLDR:
It's nice, needs bigger tires, it has 2 many doors and the soft top sucks.

 

[1o1proof]

Pics of the top.

 

[Alex01]

Great review @1o1proof.

Most importantly though... how well does the built in bottle opener on the trunk roll cage work. A poor performance would instantly make it a no in my book.

Kidding aside it's great ford came out with the bronco. Competition is good and will make both jeep and Ford better. Hopefully ford figures out their top issues and starts getting them out the door.

 

[Apparition]

Go Bestop and only open the sunrider

 

[Apparition]

Pics of the top.View attachment 273182View attachment 273183

Less soft top on a 2 door

 

[Alex01]

Go Bestop and only open the sunrider

That top looked nice. Bestop, as far as I know, is the manufacturer for the oem jeep top. After watching g that video it really looks like they used a lot of the same technology for the bronco top. I'm really impressed with the JL soft top so I'm sure the bronco one is great as well.

 

[Apparition]

That top looked nice. Bestop, as far as I know, is the manufacturer for the oem jeep top. After watching g that video it really looks like they used a lot of the same technology for the bronco top. I'm really impressed with the JL soft top so I'm sure the bronco one is great as well.

Looked like a pain in the ass for the initial install. But looked good after.

 

[1o1proof]

Go Bestop and only open the sunrider

This top has the capability to do the sunrider option and is what the dealer recommended, they requested us to leave the top up a couple times. I find this odd because they mentioned taking it off road, but leave the top alone?? Anyway, IMO it looks even worse in the sunrider position than the pics I posted above. I realize I am giving this thing a lot of grief, but I do like it and haven't ruled out ordering one.

I will put the top up and post a pic of it in the mid position when I get off work.

 

[1o1proof]

Here is the top in the mid position, I'm sure to get plenty on down force with this dude. Putting the top back up wasn't to bad, if you own a jeep you can figure it out. I will say, without any doubt...I will not own a 4 door soft top. To say I am not impressed with it is a understatement.

Also here is the engine bay, I guess there are no covers because it is demo?

A lot of complaining from me, I agree. But it's a nice ride and with the right options I think they will give jeep some competition.

 

[Apparition]

Oops, found on another forum no link to article available

BRONCO FLIPS IN DESERT​

The owner of a 2021 Ford Bronco was out overlanding with his friends in the New Mexico desert one day in early June.

Upon reaching the end of one trail, night came and they decided they shouldn’t go further. When attempting to exit the area, they went over a rise on the ridgeline. The trail went slightly to the left, but the owner and his friends took the vehicle straight, causing them to roll down an embankment.

The driver and passengers of the vehicle were okay, but the Bronco was stuck.

“We were quite surprised there wasn’t a whole lot of damage to the vehicle. There was definitely damage, but we changed out the spark plugs, we checked out the fluids, and we went ahead and started it up. The first crank and it started right up. There were no flashing lights on the dashboard. As a matter of fact, the A/C even worked on this thing. We were highly, highly surprised.”

 

[Alex01]

Oops, found on another forum no link to article available

BRONCO FLIPS IN DESERT​

The owner of a 2021 Ford Bronco was out overlanding with his friends in the New Mexico desert one day in early June.

Upon reaching the end of one trail, night came and they decided they shouldn’t go further. When attempting to exit the area, they went over a rise on the ridgeline. The trail went slightly to the left, but the owner and his friends took the vehicle straight, causing them to roll down an embankment.

The driver and passengers of the vehicle were okay, but the Bronco was stuck.

“We were quite surprised there wasn’t a whole lot of damage to the vehicle. There was definitely damage, but we changed out the spark plugs, we checked out the fluids, and we went ahead and started it up. The first crank and it started right up. There were no flashing lights on the dashboard. As a matter of fact, the A/C even worked on this thing. We were highly, highly surprised.”

View attachment 275630

They must have forgot to hit the swaybar disconnect at the peak of the obstacle as the tires lifted off the ground as all the Ford Marketing tell them to.

“We were quite surprised there wasn’t a whole lot of damage to the vehicle." Are we looking at the same vehicle?

 

[Apparition]

They must have forgot to hit the swaybar disconnect at the peak of the obstacle as the tires lifted off the ground as all the Ford Marketing tell them to.

“We were quite surprised there wasn’t a whole lot of damage to the vehicle." Are we looking at the same vehicle?

See here, needed more GOAT mode

https://www.motor1.com/news/512545/ford-bronco-sport-roll-hill/