2-Door Bronco Black Diamond Review After 600 Miles and 3 Weeks

[macattack]

I decided I've driven this thing enough for a decent first impressions review. It is an Iconic Silver Black Diamond with the 2.3 manual, hard top, roof rack, and tow package. It was an abandoned delivery with the green window sticker and all. I have the same trim on order in Cactus Gray minus the tow package. I am not cancelling my original order because I would like to see what the market for used vehicles is like when I actually receive it, or if I have any friends or family that want the one I ordered or the silver one at that time (7/14 res.). I will keep them both if I win the lottery or something like that. For background, I 've had 93 Toyota 4x4 small pickup, 95 Toyota 4runner, 19 Tacoma, 86 Subaru GL, 2006 and 2013 Forrester.

First, I love the look of this thing. The silver is great with the black steelies, MIC top, flares, and grill. I like the 32's. They seem well proportioned, and I will drive them until they need replaced. I may consider going with larger tires , at that point, but not set on that at all and it does not seem necessary for me. I love the looks of the two door and how it harkens back to the first gen.

Driving this thing is FUN! The manual is pretty easy, given that I have driven manuals extensively in the past. My 15 year old son has learned it pretty quickly, though he is still working on the nuances. The handling is slightly sporty on the road. There is a little bit of nose dive at quick stops, but not as bad as the Tacoma. On the trails it eats up loose dirt, mud, and rocky roads. Not to stiff or too bouncy to me. The 2.3 is plenty of power for me. I don't really race around town, but it has no problem accelerating into traffic. There is plenty of power for the trail driving that I do - forest roads and some two track. Turbo lag is not crazy, but noticeable from time to time. I like the length and width a lot. It fits into parking spaces easily, and in between trees and tight spaces off the pavement. Visibility is mostly good, and I can tell where the edges of the car are better than most cars I've driven. The visors seem too big and it is hard for me to see under them when they are down, but I do ride with the seat raised because I like the visibility that allows. I am averaging a little over 18 MPG according to the computer with mostly short trips around town, off pavement driving, and one day trip of a little over 100 miles on the interstate.

I love the vinyl interior. The plastic surfaces seem mostly appropriate, though I wouldn't mind a little more vinyl around the dash. I'd really love an old school steel dash, but you just don't seem to see that nowadays. The grab handles are ok, although the center console one does not seem 100% solid, not wiggly, but it does seems to flex more than I would like. The blue accents work pretty well, and are not obnoxious. There is not a ton of nooks and crannys for storage, but I think that can be overcome using the molle system and a cargo box in the rear cargo area. The seats are a little weird in that they don't lock in the fully tilted and slid to the front position, so I have to hold them forward for people or dogs to get in or out. I wish they would lock in that position. The dogs have been on the back seat a couple of times, and I have thrown a blanket or dog bed back there to protect the seats a little, but no real damage noticed at this point. I have not had any leaks in the hard top despite some really heavy monsoon rains. The hard top does rattle/squeak a little. I am not sure if this is just the nature of a removable hard top or poor design since I have never had a car with that feature. It is glorious to drive with the top off, and I have also driven it with the front panels off, and the back cap off with the front panels on. All seemed solid despite the little rattles and squeaks. One of the pins that guides the back cap was bumped or scraped on the roll roll cage when removing the top today and the fiberglass pretty much broke there (picture below). I am hoping the replacement hard top will be less noisy, and that these guide pins are more reinforced. It was pretty loud on my road trip, but that stretch of highway is always windy with a lot of crosswinds. The stock stereo definitely needs a sub woofer or better speakers with more bass, but it depends on the music. It seems like a lot of classic rock and punk sounds pretty alright, whereas music that relies more heavily on bass...not as much.

I have added a Yakima roof basket for camping and other trips, and am buying a drop hitch extension so that my hitch bike rack will clear the tailgate and tire a little better. It is an adjustment as far as cargo space going from the Tacoma to this, but I am certain I can make it work. Taking the top off is not too bad, and I did notice that there are some threaded holes in the roll cage where the roof rack would fit (picture below), so I am wondering if there is an accessory coming out thot would allow for the rack to be on when the top is removed. I would like that.

I did test drive a Wrangler unlimited sport and a four door Badlands recently. I think the Bronco was more well mannered than the Wrangler, not loose and unpredictable on turns and during breaking. I thought the Badlands drove pretty similar to the Black Diamond, and did not feel too big, but I did have only about 20 minutes in it.

Overall I give the Black Diamond about a 4.3 out of 5. It is the most fun to drive 4x4 I have ever had and the overall performance, styling, and functionality have made it my favorite car to date. I might be a little biased because I have always wanted a Bronco with a removable top, and this is the first one I have had.

So fun little side story here. I thought this Bronco and the location looked a little too familiar. So this was originally my "order." The problem with it, and the reason that I don't have it, was that my order was for a Bronco in Race Red. I had ordered a Bronco in Race Red. When I saw all the emails showing a Iconic Silver Bronco, I was worried and talked to the dealership, who were admit that mine was red.... at least until they got the window sticker and it showed silver. When it finally showed up at the dealer, it was indeed an Iconic Silver Bronco and not a Race Red. So, somewhere along the line, there was an issue with the order the dealership put in or Ford's system that changed the color from Race Red to Iconic Silver. It kind of sucks, because I would have had the second Bronco in Flagstaff, but if I'm going to pay almost $40k for a custom ordered truck, I'm going to at least get it in the color I want. I'm just not a fan of silver cars. Plus, one of the main reason for going with Race Red is that it really reminded me of my Dad's red 95 Mustang GT that he he had when I was growing up. That Mustang was what got me into cars. Apparently after my mishap, there were a couple of other orders that had the wrong color that the dealership was able to fix before it became an issue like mine. It really sucks that I have to wait longer for my Bronco, but at least it'll be in the right color. Since I'm planning on keeping it for the long haul, I guess a waiting a little more time will be worth it. I just hope that it's sooner rather than later. I've been super excited to get my Bronco as it's going to be my first real 4x4 and waiting for it has been a pain, but I keep telling myself that it is going to be worth it. Glad to see that someone is able to enjoy the Bronco.

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[RBF 1401]

151, and some of the spurs off of that, 300 (Rim) road and spurs, and the road that cuts between 180 and Snowbowl road (9164?), and spurs off of that. Thinking Schnebly hill is in my near future.

Most of that is on the far side of Flag from me, gorgeous area, just not where we go often.

FR300 on the other hand is one of my regular hang outs... well, the spurs anyway.

 

[KingWillard]

So fun little side story here. I thought this Bronco and the location looked a little too familiar. So this was originally my "order." The problem with it, and the reason that I don't have it, was that my order was for a Bronco in Race Red. I had ordered a Bronco in Race Red. When I saw all the emails showing a Iconic Silver Bronco, I was worried and talked to the dealership, who were admit that mine was red.... at least until they got the window sticker and it showed silver. When it finally showed up at the dealer, it was indeed an Iconic Silver Bronco and not a Race Red. So, somewhere along the line, there was an issue with the order the dealership put in or Ford's system that changed the color from Race Red to Iconic Silver. It kind of sucks, because I would have had the second Bronco in Flagstaff, but if I'm going to pay almost $40k for a custom ordered truck, I'm going to at least get it in the color I want. I'm just not a fan of silver cars. Plus, one of the main reason for going with Race Red is that it really reminded me of my Dad's red 95 Mustang GT that he he had when I was growing up. That Mustang was what got me into cars. Apparently after my mishap, there were a couple of other orders that had the wrong color that the dealership was able to fix before it became an issue like mine. It really sucks that I have to wait longer for my Bronco, but at least it'll be in the right color. Since I'm planning on keeping it for the long haul, I guess a waiting a little more time will be worth it. I just hope that it's sooner rather than later. I've been super excited to get my Bronco as it's going to be my first real 4x4 and waiting for it has been a pain, but I keep telling myself that it is going to be worth it. Glad to see that someone is able to enjoy the Bronco.

Oh, man! I was on the fence between Silver, white, and Cactus Gray, and was actually considering just going four door soft top when I got the email that my order was going to be a 22. When I texted my salesman, he told me they had the silver that was the same as my cactus gray order but with the tow package. I really just thought I was going to test drive it and be excited for the opportunity to do that, but I kinda fell in love. Luckily, I had a low mileage Tacoma that offset some of the markup, and I just went all in, maybe impatiently. I hope you get your Race red soon. I’m sure that was disappointing, but you probably will feel better getting exactly what you want.

 

[Jhoan2m]

I decided I've driven this thing enough for a decent first impressions review. It is an Iconic Silver Black Diamond with the 2.3 manual, hard top, roof rack, and tow package. It was an abandoned delivery with the green window sticker and all. I have the same trim on order in Cactus Gray minus the tow package. I am not cancelling my original order because I would like to see what the market for used vehicles is like when I actually receive it, or if I have any friends or family that want the one I ordered or the silver one at that time (7/14 res.). I will keep them both if I win the lottery or something like that. For background, I 've had 93 Toyota 4x4 small pickup, 95 Toyota 4runner, 19 Tacoma, 86 Subaru GL, 2006 and 2013 Forrester.

First, I love the look of this thing. The silver is great with the black steelies, MIC top, flares, and grill. I like the 32's. They seem well proportioned, and I will drive them until they need replaced. I may consider going with larger tires , at that point, but not set on that at all and it does not seem necessary for me. I love the looks of the two door and how it harkens back to the first gen.

Driving this thing is FUN! The manual is pretty easy, given that I have driven manuals extensively in the past. My 15 year old son has learned it pretty quickly, though he is still working on the nuances. The handling is slightly sporty on the road. There is a little bit of nose dive at quick stops, but not as bad as the Tacoma. On the trails it eats up loose dirt, mud, and rocky roads. Not to stiff or too bouncy to me. The 2.3 is plenty of power for me. I don't really race around town, but it has no problem accelerating into traffic. There is plenty of power for the trail driving that I do - forest roads and some two track. Turbo lag is not crazy, but noticeable from time to time. I like the length and width a lot. It fits into parking spaces easily, and in between trees and tight spaces off the pavement. Visibility is mostly good, and I can tell where the edges of the car are better than most cars I've driven. The visors seem too big and it is hard for me to see under them when they are down, but I do ride with the seat raised because I like the visibility that allows. I am averaging a little over 18 MPG according to the computer with mostly short trips around town, off pavement driving, and one day trip of a little over 100 miles on the interstate.

I love the vinyl interior. The plastic surfaces seem mostly appropriate, though I wouldn't mind a little more vinyl around the dash. I'd really love an old school steel dash, but you just don't seem to see that nowadays. The grab handles are ok, although the center console one does not seem 100% solid, not wiggly, but it does seems to flex more than I would like. The blue accents work pretty well, and are not obnoxious. There is not a ton of nooks and crannys for storage, but I think that can be overcome using the molle system and a cargo box in the rear cargo area. The seats are a little weird in that they don't lock in the fully tilted and slid to the front position, so I have to hold them forward for people or dogs to get in or out. I wish they would lock in that position. The dogs have been on the back seat a couple of times, and I have thrown a blanket or dog bed back there to protect the seats a little, but no real damage noticed at this point. I have not had any leaks in the hard top despite some really heavy monsoon rains. The hard top does rattle/squeak a little. I am not sure if this is just the nature of a removable hard top or poor design since I have never had a car with that feature. It is glorious to drive with the top off, and I have also driven it with the front panels off, and the back cap off with the front panels on. All seemed solid despite the little rattles and squeaks. One of the pins that guides the back cap was bumped or scraped on the roll roll cage when removing the top today and the fiberglass pretty much broke there (picture below). I am hoping the replacement hard top will be less noisy, and that these guide pins are more reinforced. It was pretty loud on my road trip, but that stretch of highway is always windy with a lot of crosswinds. The stock stereo definitely needs a sub woofer or better speakers with more bass, but it depends on the music. It seems like a lot of classic rock and punk sounds pretty alright, whereas music that relies more heavily on bass...not as much.

I have added a Yakima roof basket for camping and other trips, and am buying a drop hitch extension so that my hitch bike rack will clear the tailgate and tire a little better. It is an adjustment as far as cargo space going from the Tacoma to this, but I am certain I can make it work. Taking the top off is not too bad, and I did notice that there are some threaded holes in the roll cage where the roof rack would fit (picture below), so I am wondering if there is an accessory coming out thot would allow for the rack to be on when the top is removed. I would like that.

I did test drive a Wrangler unlimited sport and a four door Badlands recently. I think the Bronco was more well mannered than the Wrangler, not loose and unpredictable on turns and during breaking. I thought the Badlands drove pretty similar to the Black Diamond, and did not feel too big, but I did have only about 20 minutes in it.

Overall I give the Black Diamond about a 4.3 out of 5. It is the most fun to drive 4x4 I have ever had and the overall performance, styling, and functionality have made it my favorite car to date. I might be a little biased because I have always wanted a Bronco with a removable top, and this is the first one I have had.

Si you pay over mark price?

 

[KingWillard]

Si you pay over mark price?

Yes.

 

[rlondeen]

this is my exact build. I knew iconic silver was going to look great on those steelies!

 

[FATHORSE]

Sorry to see this, will it cause any functional problems or is it just cosmetic?

 

[2021badlands bronco bob]

I think that’s a fair point. We don’t have much experience doing this (only second time). I’d admit it wasn’t the smoothest removal, and we had to adjust and retry which was probably when this happened. It definitely wasn’t dropped, and I didn’t think we were forcing anything too much, but we obviously scraped it. I guess we need to be more careful. I still think it could be more reinforced and a little further from the edge.

I’m wondering if you can shed any light on squeaky and/or rattling kind of noises from your experience with the Jeep?

TFL off-road has the same squeaky top issues. It’s not just yours hopefully the new 2.0 tops are much better.

 

[2021badlands bronco bob]

But I didn't get a hammock yet.

That’s ok you can just go to your dealership and get a bottle of booze and then you’ll forget all about your Bronco. . It’s on Ford.

 

[KingWillard]

Sorry to see this, will it cause any functional problems or is it just cosmetic?

Well, I think it will be fine since they are replacing the top anyway. I would probably consider repairing it with some epoxy if this weren’t the case, and I still might. I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make functionally as it it mostly there as a guide, and there are several bolts that actually hold the top in place/ secure it. I do wonder if it would get worse without repair, but I honestly don’t know much about fiberglass.

 

[FunForAll]

But I didn't get a hammock yet.

Got the hammock, it's my first, not bad. Upgraded the straps to match the Badlands orange stitching.
Now I can really "hang in there" while waiting for my two door like most of you..

 

[KingWillard]

Wait wait wait you are allowing:
1. a teenager to learn to drive a manual with this
2. dogs in the vehicle

I feel faint.

I am totally nervous when he drives, but he’s doing pretty well. It’s also really awesome to get to spend time with him, and see his excitement in driving it and learning stick. I think I will get one of those hammock like things for the backseat for the dogs, but the blanket seemed to do ok. You would probably not like to see it right now with the Rocky Mountain racing stripes (I actually don’t think they are too bad, but really showing with all the dust on it). I guess at the end of the day I’m thinking I’m going to have this for a long time, and I’m going to use it.

 

[asurfer11]

So fun little side story here. I thought this Bronco and the location looked a little too familiar. So this was originally my "order." The problem with it, and the reason that I don't have it, was that my order was for a Bronco in Race Red. I had ordered a Bronco in Race Red. When I saw all the emails showing a Iconic Silver Bronco, I was worried and talked to the dealership, who were admit that mine was red.... at least until they got the window sticker and it showed silver. When it finally showed up at the dealer, it was indeed an Iconic Silver Bronco and not a Race Red. So, somewhere along the line, there was an issue with the order the dealership put in or Ford's system that changed the color from Race Red to Iconic Silver. It kind of sucks, because I would have had the second Bronco in Flagstaff, but if I'm going to pay almost $40k for a custom ordered truck, I'm going to at least get it in the color I want. I'm just not a fan of silver cars. Plus, one of the main reason for going with Race Red is that it really reminded me of my Dad's red 95 Mustang GT that he he had when I was growing up. That Mustang was what got me into cars. Apparently after my mishap, there were a couple of other orders that had the wrong color that the dealership was able to fix before it became an issue like mine. It really sucks that I have to wait longer for my Bronco, but at least it'll be in the right color. Since I'm planning on keeping it for the long haul, I guess a waiting a little more time will be worth it. I just hope that it's sooner rather than later. I've been super excited to get my Bronco as it's going to be my first real 4x4 and waiting for it has been a pain, but I keep telling myself that it is going to be worth it. Glad to see that someone is able to enjoy the Bronco.

I was at the off-rodeo in Nevada this past week. They had a rapid red 2door wild track on display. It looked fantastic. See the pics:

 

[asurfer11]

This is essentially my first Ford. I had a ‘90 Festiva , so I’m not sure if that counts. My most recent truck was a ‘19 Tacoma TRD Off-road 4 door shortbed automatic 6 cyl. The Bronco feels a little more torquey and powerful than that Tacoma, but not drastically. It’s more eager on steep hills though in that it really pulls when you downshift or have it in the right gear. It feels like it is just really grabbing. The Toyota had no problem with getting up stuff like that, it just did not feel as aggressive. The Tacoma felt bouncy and almost boat like to me. Pretty smooth, not really jarring. The Bronco feels tighter and handles generally better with less body roll and nose dive. It’s not jarring on bumpy stuff, but not as soft as the Tacoma. I am generally happy to decide when to put my truck into 4h, 4L, and when to lock the diff. I do like the placement of the lock, traction control, 4wd, modes, etc. buttons better on the Bronco. They are easier to see and more consolidated which makes them significantly easier to use to me. The GOAT modes are kinda cool. They take a little out of the guesswork and make other adjustments that are helpful. There is a noticeable difference between Sport and Normal for instance, and Sport is really fun. Hope that’s helpful, but not too long. I tend to go off about the Bronco.

Congratulations on black diamond! I have a 2DR badlands on order with a 2.3 manual. I was wondering does yours have front and rear lockers? Also does it have the Turn assist (aka donut mode) switch next to the locker button switches? Thank you!

 

[TimmH]

I think that’s a fair point. We don’t have much experience doing this (only second time). I’d admit it wasn’t the smoothest removal, and we had to adjust and retry which was probably when this happened. It definitely wasn’t dropped, and I didn’t think we were forcing anything too much, but we obviously scraped it. I guess we need to be more careful. I still think it could be more reinforced and a little further from the edge.

I’m wondering if you can shed any light on squeaky and/or rattling kind of noises from your experience with the Jeep?

I can tell you in my Jeep the top creaks and rattles a bit, especially after having just been reinstalled.

Typically I drive for a couple days to allow it to resettle into place, then back the bolts out half a turn and then retighten them and it takes care of most of the creaks. You may even have to check them every few weeks, as mine tend to loosen slightly over time. Probably expansion and contraction in the Florida sun.

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