- Thread starter
- #1
Finally home, so I'm going to write out some more details.
The Route:
Starting in Roscommon, we took the West Higgins Route to the Kalkaska Route. We took the northern loop about 3/4 of the way around before hopping off to take the Frederic Route back to Grayling.
All the Michigan DNR "routes" are 72"+ wide, so easy enough for all our vehicles to go through. There were some sections on the northeast portion of the Kalkaska loop that are very narrow cuts. I wouldn't have wanted anything wider.
The West Higgins Route has some very scenic elevated sections, and due to the late leaf drop this year there was still plenty of color.
The terrain was mostly sandy, there were the some dirt/mud sections as well. There was also some snow on the northern trails, plenty of puddles from snow melt, though about 1 foot deep at the most. These routes are groomed snowmobile trails in the winter, and we actually came across a grader in one section. So they are very well maintained.
The only two obstacles that presented any challenge were a fallen pine tree that required a bit of twist-ditch like diversion off the side of the trail, and a 2 foot boulder that would wipe out a driver's door if you slid to the left. Thank goodness the trail was dry in this section.
The Michigan DNR makes GPX files of the trails available on their website. I used Gaia GPS to import them, which works with both CarPlay and Android Auto. Despite some initial issues getting it to work with my Pixel phone, it worked great for seeing the trails. I paid for the premium subscription to get downloaded maps, and had no issues pulling them without cell service.
The Bronco
I have a 2dr Black Diamond, so it was plenty nimble for these trails. The General Grabbers were okay, but I also drove my friend's Wrangler, which had some Falkens off a Gladiator Rubicon. Those felt much better in the sand. I'm relatively new to off-roading, but I suspect the Grabbers are more for rock crawling with their much tighter tread block.
The GOAT modes are definitely noticeable, although I don't think they are strictly necessary. I started in Normal with 4H and T/C off. After a few stability interventions, I disabled that as well. The Bronco seemed to rotate better with a little throttle. If I tried to trail brake a little bit, it tended to push outside instead.
Later I switched to Mud/Ruts, which turned on 4H, locked the rear diff, T/C off, and set it to the ECO / Slippery throttle setting. I also tried Sand, which is basically the same except with the sport mode throttle setting.
Average fuel economy was about 16 mpg according to the cluster, but I didn't bother to validate that when fueling up. For comparison I've been getting about 17.9 on the highway.
We probably averaged about 25 mph over 80 trail miles.
I also used trail control on one of the descents, and it was excellent. The trail wasn't particularly slippery in that section, but it makes a controlled descent so drama-free. We also used it a bunch at Texas Off-Roadeo. Honestly one of the best trade-offs of being forced into the auto trans because I had the audacity to want heated seats in the mid-package.
When passing that boulder, I had no problem sticking my head out the window and seeing the exact position. Those thin doors make it very easy to get a feel for where your vehicle is. I can't say that I was conscious of the trail sights. I'd love to get a body color panel to delete them.
The 2.7L absolutely hauls the mail. 20-40 mph on the sand is a riotously good time.
Concerns about the Bronco:
Versus The Competition
I drove the Wrangler and the Colorado ZR2 for about 15 minutes each as well.
My friend with the ZR2 swore the Bronco rode softer, while I felt his truck was actually better. This was on the freshly graded portion of the trail however, so probably not a good benchmark. I know a little bit about the DSSV dampers, and they are supposed to be top-notch. Obviously Ford thinks pretty highly of them to put them in the Bronco DR. I would rate the interior quality of the Colorado about an 8/10, and the Bronco about 7/10. I prefer the design, but the quality of the plastics in the Bronco seems lower. The Hero switches up at eye level are definitely better than the ZR2 ones down near the shifter.
The Wrangler felt lighter, like smaller 90's cars. The cabin was much smaller and closer; less room vertically and horizontally, though not cramped by any means. The Bronco feels much more like an F150 in terms of cab size. Didn't get to drive the wrangler on-road, but my friend says it's pretty floaty in comparison. I did think the Wrangler felt better over the sand whoops though. It did get a pretty rough side-to-side roll thing going on for a second that I never had happen in the Bronco. It felt a lot closer to my dad's old CJ Wrangler; not that it's a bad thing. In a weird way it seemed more connected to trail, where as the Bronco was more composed and isolated. Considering the Bronco is my daily driver, I'm okay with that trade off.
The Wrangler has the same crappy rear shock mounting point, but it wasn't an issue on this trail.
Apologies for the lack of photos and videos. I was intending to get a time-lapse off a GoPro, but didn't find a good mounting point and just decided to wheel instead.
The "Accessory Ready" Mounting point looks like it might 1/4-20 thread, so I might be able to just get a piece of threaded rod directly attach it.
EDIT 11/8: Added some more comments about the Wrangler.
The Route:
Starting in Roscommon, we took the West Higgins Route to the Kalkaska Route. We took the northern loop about 3/4 of the way around before hopping off to take the Frederic Route back to Grayling.
All the Michigan DNR "routes" are 72"+ wide, so easy enough for all our vehicles to go through. There were some sections on the northeast portion of the Kalkaska loop that are very narrow cuts. I wouldn't have wanted anything wider.
The West Higgins Route has some very scenic elevated sections, and due to the late leaf drop this year there was still plenty of color.
The terrain was mostly sandy, there were the some dirt/mud sections as well. There was also some snow on the northern trails, plenty of puddles from snow melt, though about 1 foot deep at the most. These routes are groomed snowmobile trails in the winter, and we actually came across a grader in one section. So they are very well maintained.
The only two obstacles that presented any challenge were a fallen pine tree that required a bit of twist-ditch like diversion off the side of the trail, and a 2 foot boulder that would wipe out a driver's door if you slid to the left. Thank goodness the trail was dry in this section.
The Michigan DNR makes GPX files of the trails available on their website. I used Gaia GPS to import them, which works with both CarPlay and Android Auto. Despite some initial issues getting it to work with my Pixel phone, it worked great for seeing the trails. I paid for the premium subscription to get downloaded maps, and had no issues pulling them without cell service.
The Bronco
I have a 2dr Black Diamond, so it was plenty nimble for these trails. The General Grabbers were okay, but I also drove my friend's Wrangler, which had some Falkens off a Gladiator Rubicon. Those felt much better in the sand. I'm relatively new to off-roading, but I suspect the Grabbers are more for rock crawling with their much tighter tread block.
The GOAT modes are definitely noticeable, although I don't think they are strictly necessary. I started in Normal with 4H and T/C off. After a few stability interventions, I disabled that as well. The Bronco seemed to rotate better with a little throttle. If I tried to trail brake a little bit, it tended to push outside instead.
Later I switched to Mud/Ruts, which turned on 4H, locked the rear diff, T/C off, and set it to the ECO / Slippery throttle setting. I also tried Sand, which is basically the same except with the sport mode throttle setting.
Average fuel economy was about 16 mpg according to the cluster, but I didn't bother to validate that when fueling up. For comparison I've been getting about 17.9 on the highway.
We probably averaged about 25 mph over 80 trail miles.
I also used trail control on one of the descents, and it was excellent. The trail wasn't particularly slippery in that section, but it makes a controlled descent so drama-free. We also used it a bunch at Texas Off-Roadeo. Honestly one of the best trade-offs of being forced into the auto trans because I had the audacity to want heated seats in the mid-package.
When passing that boulder, I had no problem sticking my head out the window and seeing the exact position. Those thin doors make it very easy to get a feel for where your vehicle is. I can't say that I was conscious of the trail sights. I'd love to get a body color panel to delete them.
The 2.7L absolutely hauls the mail. 20-40 mph on the sand is a riotously good time.
Concerns about the Bronco:
- Open crash bars: I had a ton of sand in these. When I shot the hose into them, the water seems to find some drain holes over the skid plate. Hoping most of the sand is gone. Might need to get some caps for the winter. Salt in there sounds like a losing combination.
- Grunting during turns: I'm not sure if this was just the bushings loading up and squeaking, or the stability control going off. More investigation needed here
- Nooks and crannies everywhere: Despite visiting two self-washes and a wash in the driveway, I'm certain there are still a couple pounds of sand on the frame, in the rear bumper, and above the wheel wells. The quick release fenders also love to trap dirt.
- The rear wiper is small and cute, and not in a good way. I'd guess only about 1/3 of the rear glass gets wiped. Not going to be fun in the winter. Hopefully the defrost is kickass.
- The single light stalk: About half the time I would active the turn signal while spraying the windshield. Not that bad, I just look like an idiot on the trails lol.
- Black Diamond steel wheels: Although I prefer the look and also the strength of steel wheels over the alloys, they are almost impossible to clean from the exterior. The first spray wash I just hit them externally, not even thinking (or seeing) there might be mud trapped in there. After noticing they were unbalanced, I looked closer and saw the mud. So at the next spray wash I put the nozzle through the holes and also tried to get low and spray from underneath. I saw a lot of sand coming out, so I thought i would be okay, but they were still unbalanced. Finally I pulled over at a rest stop and just had to scoop it out by hand in the parking lot.
- Hard top clunk: Not horrible, but there is a little clunk / rattle coming from just above and behind my left ear which will probably drive me to insanity over time.
- 2dr storage space. I knew going in it was going to be a downgrade from my 4dr Mazda3 hatch, but it's a little worse than I thought. I wish the front seats slid forward about an extra 6 inches. I'll probably fold the seats flat when carrying a lot of stuff, but see the next point...
- Rear glass requires tailgate to be fully open. You need about 4 feet of clear space behind the vehicle to get to most of the cargo area.
- The bump for the rear seats. My focus and Mazda both had completely flat cargo areas. Might have to get a cargo drawer to level it out.
Versus The Competition
I drove the Wrangler and the Colorado ZR2 for about 15 minutes each as well.
My friend with the ZR2 swore the Bronco rode softer, while I felt his truck was actually better. This was on the freshly graded portion of the trail however, so probably not a good benchmark. I know a little bit about the DSSV dampers, and they are supposed to be top-notch. Obviously Ford thinks pretty highly of them to put them in the Bronco DR. I would rate the interior quality of the Colorado about an 8/10, and the Bronco about 7/10. I prefer the design, but the quality of the plastics in the Bronco seems lower. The Hero switches up at eye level are definitely better than the ZR2 ones down near the shifter.
The Wrangler felt lighter, like smaller 90's cars. The cabin was much smaller and closer; less room vertically and horizontally, though not cramped by any means. The Bronco feels much more like an F150 in terms of cab size. Didn't get to drive the wrangler on-road, but my friend says it's pretty floaty in comparison. I did think the Wrangler felt better over the sand whoops though. It did get a pretty rough side-to-side roll thing going on for a second that I never had happen in the Bronco. It felt a lot closer to my dad's old CJ Wrangler; not that it's a bad thing. In a weird way it seemed more connected to trail, where as the Bronco was more composed and isolated. Considering the Bronco is my daily driver, I'm okay with that trade off.
The Wrangler has the same crappy rear shock mounting point, but it wasn't an issue on this trail.
Apologies for the lack of photos and videos. I was intending to get a time-lapse off a GoPro, but didn't find a good mounting point and just decided to wheel instead.
The "Accessory Ready" Mounting point looks like it might 1/4-20 thread, so I might be able to just get a piece of threaded rod directly attach it.
EDIT 11/8: Added some more comments about the Wrangler.
Sponsored
Last edited:
