Black Diamond Daily Driver

[ejkre]

I'm an off road novice. That being said, I'd like a Bronco to be my foot in the door to more outdoor adventures. That being said again, the main purpose of my Bronco will be a daily driver - ~20 miles each day. Right now, I'm pretty set on the BD. To those of you who have more experience in off road vehicles, would this be a bad choice as a daily driver considering I'm going around town and on the highway? I was considering the OBX as a good choice, but I really want to have the manual. The rubber floors and vinyl seats are also big for me. I like the steel bumpers and bash plates, but they're probably, generally unnecessary. Aux switches are good as well. Since it'd be a daily, I do want to have the mid package; otherwise, I'd just throw some options on the base. I don't want to upgrade to BB just so I can pay for the mid package, as the BB doesn't offer anything more as standard than the base that I really care about. That leads me to the BD, seems to get everything I want but more than I need, and it may be not great around town? (Some guidance from you more experienced off roaders than I would be helpful). Additionally, I'm not interested in the sport even though the situation I described is basically what it's for. I'd like to hear from some of you who plan on having the Bronco as a daily as well. Also, why am I crazy/not crazy for deciding on the BD? Anyone else trying to cope with this as well?

EDIT: the other struggle is a real dichotomy. Most of my off road stuff wouldn't be rock crawling, which I understand is what the BD is for. Rock crawling aside, it still seems very capable of the off road stuff I would be doing. It still makes the most sense to me, but maybe it shouldn't...

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[XTurtle]

Same boat. I’m interested in BD and it will be my daily driver.

 

[ejkre]

Same boat. I’m interested in BD and it will be my daily driver.

How are you expecting it to be on the road? Are you concerned with that aspect at all? With my lack of experience, I have no ballpark even. People who know what they're talking about may say, yeah, why wouldn't it be fine? Or the total opposite.

 

[MrJoe]

I've been eyeing the BD. Looks like the perfect daily driver with most of the abilities of an off-roader. Looks like an excellent choice to me.

 

[Laminar]

That leads me to the BD, seems to get everything I want but more than I need, and it may be not great around town? (Some guidance from you more experienced off roaders than I would be helpful).
...
I'd like to hear from some of you who plan on having the Bronco as a daily as well.

BD is the budget DD + mild offroad capability sweet spot. The 32" tires are a simple All Terrain that's no more aggressive than what's on the BB. The rear locker, metal bumpers, and skid plate are perfect for mild offroad work.

The smaller front diff is just fine - less weight is an easy win there since you're not crawling over giant obstacles with huge tires necessitating the bigger cast iron diff. The rear locker will get you out of anything you plan to get into.

It'd be just as good around town as a base or BB, with a little more capability, a little more room to expand in the future with the modular front bumper and aux switches, and I'm betting the marine grade interior will be nice.

 

[XTurtle]

How are you expecting it to be on the road? Are you concerned with that aspect at all? With my lack of experience, I have no ballpark even. People who know what they're talking about may say, yeah, why wouldn't it be fine? Or the total opposite.

I expect it to be fine on the road. I’m going to go 2.7l Auto, but there really isn’t much on the drive aspect that would be different than what we expect to be the main highway version (outer banks). Where OBX gets better is the creature comforts (technology, slightly larger tires).

I foresee myself very very happy with BD as my daily driver, and 99.99% of it will be on road, highway, etc...

 

[centra28]

It will be just fine as a daily driver, especially since you are only driving around 20 miles a day.

 

[Dr.Z]

In a similar boat ... will see when BandP goes live but really...
Vinyl would be no w but I’m in AZ.. so cloth I’m ok with, my current ford cloth seats hold up great and cloth won’t burn w 100 temps.

price dependent I’m more leaning towards BB+ Sasquatch + mid + v6 (maybe?)= daily driver (swap out ATs for the MTs, still 35)

I feel this would give a good Mix of things and I don’t know where that price will be at but hopefully something reasonable.

Can upgrade cosmetic stuff (headlights, grill, etc after market)

 

[ejkre]

BD is the budget DD + mild offroad capability sweet spot. The 32" tires are a simple All Terrain that's no more aggressive than what's on the BB. The rear locker, metal bumpers, and skid plate are perfect for mild offroad work.

The smaller front diff is just fine - less weight is an easy win there since you're not crawling over giant obstacles with huge tires necessitating the bigger cast iron diff. The rear locker will get you out of anything you plan to get into.

It'd be just as good around town as a base or BB, with a little more capability, a little more room to expand in the future with the modular front bumper and aux switches, and I'm betting the marine grade interior will be nice.

Awesome insight, thanks.

 

[ejkre]

In a similar boat ... will see when BandP goes live but really...
Vinyl would be no w but I’m in AZ.. so cloth I’m ok with, my current ford cloth seats hold up great and cloth won’t burn w 100 temps.

price dependent I’m more leaning towards BB+ Sasquatch + mid + v6 (maybe?)= daily driver (swap out ATs for the MTs, still 35)

I feel this would give a good Mix of things and I don’t know where that price will be at but hopefully something reasonable.

Can upgrade cosmetic stuff (headlights, grill, etc after market)

I have that same concern about heat with the vinyl. I'm in IN though, so I only get 100+ degrees a couple days out of the year. Makes me a little less concerned about that, but still could be tough. I've had black leather before in my old BMW, and it wasn't too bad, so I'm hoping for about the same.

 

[Big Boss]

I'm an off road novice. That being said, I'd like a Bronco to be my foot in the door to more outdoor adventures. That being said again, the main purpose of my Bronco will be a daily driver - ~20 miles each day. Right now, I'm pretty set on the BD. To those of you who have more experience in off road vehicles, would this be a bad choice as a daily driver considering I'm going around town and on the highway? I was considering the OBX as a good choice, but I really want to have the manual. The rubber floors and vinyl seats are also big for me. I like the steel bumpers and bash plates, but they're probably, generally unnecessary. Aux switches are good as well. Since it'd be a daily, I do want to have the mid package; otherwise, I'd just throw some options on the base. I don't want to upgrade to BB just so I can pay for the mid package, as the BB doesn't offer anything more as standard than the base that I really care about. That leads me to the BD, seems to get everything I want but more than I need, and it may be not great around town? (Some guidance from you more experienced off roaders than I would be helpful). Additionally, I'm not interested in the sport even though the situation I described is basically what it's for. I'd like to hear from some of you who plan on having the Bronco as a daily as well. Also, why am I crazy/not crazy for deciding on the BD? Anyone else trying to cope with this as well?

EDIT: the other struggle is a real dichotomy. Most of my off road stuff wouldn't be rock crawling, which I understand is what the BD is for. Rock crawling aside, it still seems very capable of the off road stuff I would be doing. It still makes the most sense to me, but maybe it shouldn't...

I am in the same boat as you, Bronco for me will be almost pure DD, lots of highway miles about 50 round trip everyday. With the hope of getting into some mild offroading and just in more outdoor activities.

However I am debating between BB and OBX. The only thing from the black diamond I would want is the vinyl seats. Like you I really want the Mid package. You have to add the the Mid to the Big Bend and Black Diamond. It isn't standard till you get to the OBX trim. Since we both seem to be novices to off roading and not into rock crawling, in my case I don't see the point in paying for the extra off road equipment of the Black Diamond.

 

[Randy92Fox]

Depends on what you seek in a Daily Driver. I've been driving my EB with the roof off a bit while it's been nice out and it's totally fine for me. Very aggressive A/T tires, 3.5" lift, 3 on the tree manual transmission, tiny inline six engine and bilstein shocks. Will cruise at 60 mph no problem.

Now if you're used to driving a Bentley or something the new Bronco may be unbearable as a DD.

It's crazy to me how many questions there have been about being able to daily drive a mass production vehicle in 2020.

 

[Chrism81]

I'm looking at the BD too and it will be my daily driver. Originally was looking at a base and see how much it will cost to add extras, but it looks like the BD might have most of what I want

 

[cursed_hemi]

Any trim/options Ford sells will make a fine DD. They aren't in the business of selling off-road exclusive vehicles that drive poorly on the street. It's based on the Ranger and it's IFS. It will be just fine. The Bronco will spend 99% of it's time on pavement and most won't ever take it offroading.

 

[ericmario]

My feeling is that if you can handle driving a Range or F150 as a DD, then you will be fine driving the Bronco as a DD.

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