Let's get real on maintenance

[Rick Astley]

Is it easier if you remove the wheel vs just turning it to the side?

Just curious

If

"Lift truck, supporting it safely, then removing a wheel. Change oil. Replace wheel, torque to spec, lift truck, remove jacks, lower to ground. Check torque. Re-check torque in 100 miles."

Is easier than:

"Turn steering wheel hard right"

To you then go nuts and have fun in your garage!

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[Rick Astley]

You doing okay? Seems like a minor thing to get so worked up over....

Repeating incorrect information on a forum that is a year out from even having deliveries of the vehicle has lasting, long-term impact on the validity of the information and what users will be finding via the search function now and many years into the future. I specifically used large font and colors so that future users of the forum would have greater chance of seeing the correct answer. I mean, you didn't bother to search for the correct answer, it's hardly likely that in modern society somebody would copiously read the entire thread to know what you posted was incorrect and they didn't have to potentially spend money or risk injury to change their oil (I assume if a person can't change their own oil they don't have the safety equipment or environment to ensure the job is done safely)

I do appreciate you redacting your comment, and appreciate you stating you did so.

I will stand by the need for using large letters for future users. Especially as I went through this the first time around with Ranger forum, it was months of frustration for many users who were out buying truck jacks, not having jack stands, wondering why Ford would design such a terrible system and dozens of threads of misinformation when occam's razor was the engineers friend.

 

[acetdeucy]

So, the Bronco looks amazing and it appears the designers emphasized ease of adding/removing accessories. However, I want to know what really matters....

1. Is the oil filter in easy accessible location for replacement?
2. Do I have to take the whole top end apart to replace the spark plugs?
3. Are the brake pads easy to replace or do I need some stupid special metric tool?
4. How about changing that serpentine belt? Is the tensioner easy to get at?
5. Is the waterpump easy to get at?
6. Can I access the battery terminals to jump start a friend?

1. Is the oil filter in easy accessible location for replacement? The 2.3 is difficult. The 2.7 is easy.
2. Do I have to take the whole top end apart to replace the spark plugs? Yes.
3. Are the brake pads easy to replace or do I need some stupid special metric tool? They are easy, if you have metric tools.
4. How about changing that serpentine belt? Is the tensioner easy to get at? No.
5. Is the waterpump easy to get at? No.
6. Can I access the battery terminals to jump start a friend? Yes, but why would you have a friend that needs you to jump start him/her, from your new Bronco?

 

[Imissmy1996bronco]

1. Is the oil filter in easy accessible location for replacement? The 2.3 is difficult. The 2.7 is easy.
2. Do I have to take the whole top end apart to replace the spark plugs? Yes.
3. Are the brake pads easy to replace or do I need some stupid special metric tool? They are easy, if you have metric tools.
4. How about changing that serpentine belt? Is the tensioner easy to get at? No.
5. Is the waterpump easy to get at? No.
6. Can I access the battery terminals to jump start a friend? Yes, but why would you have a friend that needs you to jump start him/her, from your new Bronco?

Does taking the top end apart mean the plastic covers? I was always under the impression it meant valve covers/manifolds/etc. and none of that has to come off to do plugs and coils on either engine.

I thought OP was asking if they needed to pull off the intake to do plugs (like you do on the Jeep 3.6 IIRC, don’t quote me on that)

 

[acetdeucy]

Does taking the top end apart mean the plastic covers? I was always under the impression it meant valve covers/manifolds/etc. and none of that has to come off to do plugs and coils on either engine.

I thought OP was asking if they needed to pull off the intake to do plugs (like you do on the Jeep 3.6 IIRC, don’t quote me on that)

Huh? Yeah. I think it's just the plastic covers.

Sorry, I thought the OP was joking with this list of questions, especially when he got to the last one about "is the battery accessable to use for a jump start" or something like that!

 

[Imissmy1996bronco]

Huh? Yeah. I think it's just the plastic covers.

Sorry, I thought the OP was joking with this list of questions, especially when he got to the last one about "is the battery accessable to use for a jump start" or something like that!

I said don’t quote me on that ? (sorry, couldn’t resist the bad joke...)

in other news, yes on the Jeep JK 3.6 you have to pull the upper half of the intake manifold in order to reach 3 of the plugs, this is what I was thinking when OP asked about taking the top end apart.

https://www.jk-forum.com/how-tos/a/jeep-wrangler-jk-how-to-replace-spark-plugs-408136

 

[EvlNvrDys]

Does taking the top end apart mean the plastic covers? I was always under the impression it meant valve covers/manifolds/etc. and none of that has to come off to do plugs and coils on either engine.

I thought OP was asking if they needed to pull off the intake to do plugs (like you do on the Jeep 3.6 IIRC, don’t quote me on that)

Not sure about the 2.3 or 2.7, but on my 3.7 Mustang, intake manifold comes off to get the plugs on passenger side of engine. Not fun, but also not that difficult.

And as for all the 'anger' over the oil change deal... personally if I need to remove the liner in the wheel well, that sounds like a pain in the ass to me. Life was so much easier to just reach down in front of the engine and remove the filter.. albeit a lot messier (oil everywhere), but at least I could get to it without having to remove shit.

 

[Imissmy1996bronco]

Not sure about the 2.3 or 2.7, but on my 3.7 Mustang, intake manifold comes off to get the plugs on passenger side of engine. Not fun, but also not that difficult.

And as for all the 'anger' over the oil change deal... personally if I need to remove the liner in the wheel well, that sounds like a pin in the ass to me. Life was so much easier to just reach down in front of the engine and remove the filter.. albeit a lot messier (oil everywhere), but at least I could get to it without having to remove shit.

The intake manifold on the 2.7 is a centerline, instead of wrapping to the side, so you can reach the plugs on both banks without pulling it.

yeah, I like how the 2.7 is set up (though I wish it used a traditional filter instead of the new cartridge and o rings). The filter is front and center on the engine. Also, even though it’s messy, the plug on the oil pan doesn’t need tools, and can’t be overtightened or cross-threaded, not to mention drains pretty fast (though again, it is messy as all get out if you aren’t prepped for it).

 

[lobbs611]

Meh, I still do all my own. The only thing my cars go in for is if the job requires a tool or piece of equipment that's more expensive to rent or buy than the shop would charge. Things are different, yes, but not impossible.

 

[Straight 6]

If

"Lift truck, supporting it safely, then removing a wheel. Change oil. Replace wheel, torque to spec, lift truck, remove jacks, lower to ground. Check torque. Re-check torque in 100 miles."

Is easier than:

"Turn steering wheel hard right"

To you then go nuts and have fun in your garage!

You didn't really answer what I was looking for

Does removing the wheel give you better access than turning the wheels to the side? It's not hard to pull a wheel and if it gives you better access maybe some would prefer to pull the wheel even if they don't have to because it makes the job easier


If a dealer was servicing the truck on a lift do they remove the wheel? Even if just to rotate tires at the same time


Just breathe a bit dude, the trucks got a minor serviceability issue, it's not a fatal flaw

 

[King Luis]

i guess i have to learn about inches and all the fractions that make up in an inch. always had european cars. so millimetres are very nice to work with. no 5/16ths BS to deal with. it's a 8mm, 9mm, 10mm. all nice round numbers to work with. they're double digits even. no fractions to remember like some made up measurement.

 

[King Luis]

from what i researched, it's easily accessible. the drain bolt and skid plate bolts. pretty quick to remove as well.

see link for oil change how to. keep in mind the guy was rotating his tires so they were removed.

https://www.therangerstation.com/ranger-tech/2019-ford-ranger-oil-change/

 

[JT58Bronc]

Hmmm, for those of you that bring your car to the dealers or expensive mechanics, I am one who still looks at these things when I buy a new vehicle. I was so excited about the new Bronco I had not even considered these things...yet.

I am a hard core do it your selfer. Car work is super expensive these days and i like doing my own work. I will continue to do my own work until I can't. I have a life time of tools and so far still can do the work.

I just bought a new truck- a 2019 Silverado Double Cab 4 X 4- same as the last Gen outgoing style. I choose it over the Ford F150 for 2 reasons- #1- price. I got it for 28K brand new. The closest I could get an F150 was with the 2.7L, 2WD Extended Cab- not even limited slip for 34K. #2 easy to work on the 5.3. Same basic design as my GF's 2013 Silverado 4.8 where I had to do some pretty decent work on- replace the spark plugs, alternator, belt tensioner, belt idler, PS pump and water pump. I did everything and it was not hard and did not take a lot of time. Total parts were like 400 or so (Thank goodness for Rock Auto). I can only imagine how many thousand dollars it would have been at a shop to do all of this........

So now I will need to look at the 2.3L in the Ranger and the 2.7 more closely in the F150's for maintenance.

 

[Rick Astley]

You don't have to for Ranger (with FX4 package that includes the bash plates). I would assume wider/longer/better bash plates on Bronco would facilitate the need for removal or access panels.

On Ranger the drain plug points towards the passenger rear tire and the bash plate stops at the front axle. Betting that on Bronco there was consideration for impact while operating in reverse (such as getting down from high-center, or backing down rocks to take a better/different line up), and that would be what necessitates having to remove bash plates to access the oil drain plug.

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