Bronco Capabilities Sans Rock Crawl

[njAK84]

I have a 2.7 Outer Banks w/Sasquatch on order. It’s fully loaded with basically everything I’ll being paying for until Christ comes back and offers me a slot in heaven as trade, because this rig is that sick. I decided to go with the OB over BL because I wanted the nicer interior, and knew I wouldn’t be doing enough crazy off-roading to need the sway bar disconnect. In any case, here’s my question:

The only features I’ll potentially miss on this build are the Rock Crawl and Baja GOAT modes. That being said, how much will this actually restrict my off-road capabilities? I live in Alaska, so there are some pretty off-the-beaten-path trails I’ll find my way to, as well as several rocky beaches and sandy river flats, but not much in the way of Moab style rock courses. The most I’ll see of rocks on trails or beaches here will resemble the brief rock section we all saw in the most recent Tennessee Super Celebration videos—i.e. not over the top level intense (albeit, Alaska does offer very long sections of said rocky terrain). I think the 5 GOAT modes I’ll have will be more than enough for the degree of off-roading I’ll be doing, but I’m looking for feedback.

What do you think? Will the lack of Rock Crawl make that big of a difference?

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[Jr87mustang]

No big difference, you can turn off and on all the features manually. Probably all you would miss is the different shift points that the mode gives you for the transmission but that won't affect anything detrimental. If you added some manual sway bar disconnects and some armor you would be just as set as the BL. For what you are doing its a good trade off, the BL interior is a snooze fest.

 

[Old Guy]

Make no difference. Doesn't sound like your activities take advantage of those two modes, or the disconnect.

 

[njAK84]

For what you are doing its a good trade off, the BL interior is a snooze fest.

Yeah, I was all about BL until I saw the interior limitations. I know the OB carpeted floors seems to be a big drawback for some people, but I’m not exactly planning on hosing out my interior. Even if I had MGV seats, I’m not gonna risk water getting all over all those electronics. I just ordered the custom mats Ford posted for carpeted Bronco flooring.

 

[530Squatch]

@njAK84 I think you're fine either way. I'd built up a fully-loaded OBX (with Sas) and realized that if I was ok with the interior color difference, it was essentially a wash price-wise with moving to the WT. Plus you gain Baja. I personally will use Baja because I enjoy that type of driving/ romping vice rock crawling. It's all up to your personal choice, and as @Jr87mustang mentioned, this rig seems pretty configurable to the situation you need.
PS I'd love to see some pics and some AK Bronco adventures posted when you get yours- I've always wanted to get up to that part of the States.

 

[Daktari]

What do you think? Will the lack of Rock Crawl make that big of a difference?

No. I'm by far not an expert, but you can crawl rocks with this thing w/o using any of the goat modes and from what you say you'll be driving, you won't ever even miss it not being there.

I'm getting it in my BL, and I'll probably never get anywhere close to actually "needing" it to get back home.

Have fun on the trails!

 

[PSUTE]

We are all building for our needs/wants/gotta haves. Not gonna be rock crawling either. Go for it....

 

[Cali Gaucho]

The only reason those models have "Rock Crawl" GOAT Mode (i.e. PRESET) is because they came standard with Rock Rails and Steel Bumpers/Plates. You don't need the PRESET to use the functionality if you added Lockers etc...
Ford should never have attached GOAT Modes (PRESETS) to Models but should have them based on the Hardware Options on Build. SAS should have them all.

 

[njAK84]

PS I'd love to see some pics and some AK Bronco adventures posted when you get yours- I've always wanted to get up to that part of the States.

Oh I will have pics aPLENTY to share once Seabiscuit finally trots onto that car lot. Pretty sure I’ll be taking her straight from the dealership down to the mouth of the Kenai River (greeaat beach).

 

[PSUTE]

Ford should never have attached GOAT Modes (PRESETS) to Models but should have them based on the Hardware Options on Build. SAS should have them all.

This plus 10.

 

[Mattwings]

Good to go! I think the sway bar disconnect will be very useful for times other than rocks (think lower speed trail driving in lumpy terrain and rocks) from a ride and comfort perspective, but you won’t miss it. Because it’s normally a PITA to use manual disconnect and Jeep has issues engaging/disengaging at different times, I don’t think many people use it in a trail riding application. The Bronco may change that. Baja mode? I don’t think we know enough yet, but the testers seem to like it and use it. More of a fun extra than necessary probably.

 

[flip]

IMO, after seeing in person on terrain and using other "modes", I would say maybe, maybe not. All depends on the terrain and if you expect to put yourself in specific situations. We went through the Austin course in 4L and 4H, with and without front and rear lockers on and got through pretty much everything without effort or needing either of those specific options.

 

[Erock]

We rode in a Big Bend at the Tennessee Super Cel... it had absolutely no issues with the rock section, or any part of the course. There was a large rock they were using to show the disconnect feature in a different area, but we just skipped it. I’m not sure any of them were using it through the regular section of rocks though.

 

[OX1]

Rock crawl requirements. Lockers and sticky tires are the two most important.
Not sure any mode is going to get you much of anything for crawling.

 

[KDAber64]

Ford should never have attached GOAT Modes (PRESETS) to Models but should have them based on the Hardware Options on Build. SAS should have them all.

I agree 1000% After paying over $7k for SAS on a BB I think it should come with all the modes.

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