My 'Un-wheelable' Bronco (35"s, 3.73's, no lockers)

[BlueWaffle]

After waaaayyyy tooooo longgggg I finally got the unwheelable bronco back out wheelin' and had one hell of a good time.

(Obligatory poser shots)

Armor Ditch off-road park in Ossipee NH if anyone's familiar.. place is awesome. Can't speak of it highly enough... Will be back with more cameras for more footage and stuff soon!

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[BlueWaffle]

Been a while eh..

I did end up going back to Armor ditch a few times before we all got buried in snow.. didn't end up taking too much more footage though.. was having too much fun

The funnest obstacle I found so far though is a boulder called "muff rock".. the trees surrounding the thing are filled with tailpipes and mufflers that have been torn off thanks to poor break over/departure angles lol.. not an obstacle for a moar-door even I whacked my diff on the way up and dragged tow hook on the way down. Video really doesn't do the rock justice.



Also just recently installed an eBay special center console molle panel, passengers side. Things made by a company called wangdoyou.. I'm sure there's a Soviet Russia joke in there somewhere.. anyhow.. it's pretty nice for 25$ shipped to my door. I wasn't about to pay any more for a slightly bent piece of steel with some holes punched in it came with hardware and has foam applied to anywhere it touches the console as to not add any additional NVH.

(Ignore the filthy floor, it's been a long cold winter lol)

Currently just rocking a 1L bottle bag and a holster for my (freshly modernized) surefire g2 nitrolon.

Something to keep in mind with these console panels is you pretty much need to mount your molle crap to them BEFORE you install the panel.. as there isn't much room between the panel and the console to weave your straps through and get them snapped once it's bolted in place.

 

[michelle227]

All of the 'flaws' are clearly overcome by the choice of a 2dr in Velocity Blue...

 

[crzyhawk]

All of the 'flaws' are clearly overcome by the choice of a 2dr in Velocity Blue...

That's not true; you're slipping. 3.73 gears indicates the wrong transmission, and 2 doors and velocity blue cannot fix that.

 

[Brian_B]

That's not true; you're slipping. 3.73 gears indicates the wrong transmission, and 2 doors and velocity blue cannot fix that.

Pretty sure it does, and whatever non-transmission related shortcomings may pop up can be fixed via performance stickers

 

[Brian_B]

Been a while eh..

I did end up going back to Armor ditch a few times before we all got buried in snow.. didn't end up taking too much more footage though.. was having too much fun

The funnest obstacle I found so far though is a boulder called "muff rock".. the trees surrounding the thing are filled with tailpipes and mufflers that have been torn off thanks to poor break over/departure angles lol.. not an obstacle for a moar-door even I whacked my diff on the way up and dragged tow hook on the way down. Video really doesn't do the rock justice.



Also just recently installed an eBay special center console molle panel, passengers side. Things made by a company called wangdoyou.. I'm sure there's a Soviet Russia joke in there somewhere.. anyhow.. it's pretty nice for 25$ shipped to my door. I wasn't about to pay any more for a slightly bent piece of steel with some holes punched in it came with hardware and has foam applied to anywhere it touches the console as to not add any additional NVH.

(Ignore the filthy floor, it's been a long cold winter lol)

Currently just rocking a 1L bottle bag and a holster for my (freshly modernized) surefire g2 nitrolon.

Something to keep in mind with these console panels is you pretty much need to mount your molle crap to them BEFORE you install the panel.. as there isn't much room between the panel and the console to weave your straps through and get them snapped once it's bolted in place.

I spent way too much on almost identical panel from M2M. I guess I can feel good about my lighter wallet and supporting a company with Mountain in their name though. It is a nice molle panel.

 

[BlueWaffle]

I spent way too much on almost identical panel from M2M. I guess I can feel good about my lighter wallet and supporting a company with Mountain in their name though. It is a nice molle panel.

Aw don't sell yourself short.. not only is there mountain in their name but isn't there also a mountain cut into the panel itself? At least they provide some flair lol. They do make nice products though yeah, can't do anything but agree with that... I'm just cheap when it comes to some things.. for different reasons.

Reasoning here is.. well.. I pay enough involuntary taxes... Most of us do... So I sure as shit ain't gonna be going out of my way to pay any sort of overlanding/tacticool tax.. laser cut mountains and potentially better powder coat be damned.

 

[Mountains2Metal]

Aw don't sell yourself short.. not only is there mountain in their name but isn't there also a mountain cut into the panel itself? At least they provide some flair lol. They do make nice products though yeah, can't do anything but agree with that... I'm just cheap when it comes to some things.. for different reasons.

Reasoning here is.. well.. I pay enough involuntary taxes... Most of us do... So I sure as shit ain't gonna be going out of my way to pay any sort of overlanding/tacticool tax.. laser cut mountains and potentially better powder coat be damned.

Thanks for the laugh this morning. It is fun being the original designer and fabricator, getting parts catalogs from Chinese knock offs with your logo on it and then it popping up on websites exactly like what we make here in house. In the USA. If it makes me work harder, so be it. I will keep pushing the envelope.

 

[MiamiMartin]

@BlueWaffle - Does this center console molle panel interfere with the front seat when you fold/slide the seat forward for a back-seat passenger to enter?

 

[BlueWaffle]

Thanks for the laugh this morning. It is fun being the original designer and fabricator, getting parts catalogs from Chinese knock offs with your logo on it and then it popping up on websites exactly like what we make here in house. In the USA. If it makes me work harder, so be it. I will keep pushing the envelope.

I definitely sympathize with you on the aggravation of seeing something YOU have put time & money & pride into engineering & marketing getting blatantly ripped off.

I will say.. I DO plan on buying your door pockets. The price point is dead on even for a cheap ass like me.. I really like how you have cut-outs along the rear angled section.. and it IS nice knowing Ill be supporting a fellow countryman who's just trying to live the American dream rather than some communists and their affinity for child labor.

@BlueWaffle - Does this center console molle panel interfere with the front seat when you fold/slide the seat forward for a back-seat passenger to enter?

I want to say no... But I'm not positive lol. I'll be out of work soon.. I'll double check and get back to you.

 

[BlueWaffle]

@BlueWaffle - Does this center console molle panel interfere with the front seat when you fold/slide the seat forward for a back-seat passenger to enter?

Seats all the way forward here, definitely some kissing going on.. more with the accessories and less with the seat though. It's not like the seat gets fetched up on the panel or anything but yeah.. if getting passengers in and out of the back is something that needs to be done on the regular.. gotta be mindful as to where you mount your gear.

Not something I thought of before putting the stuff on and installing it I initially wanted the light holster to be where my bottle bag is.. glad I changed my mind and switched their places lol.

 

[ejpaul1]

Wasnt going to bother documenting my '"build'" initially.. as its unlikely to recieve fancy bumpers, big dollar suspension, winches, bourgeois lighting packages powerful enough to illuminate a stadium, or complete the TAT... simply put... my bronco is destined for a life of such modesty it might as well be considered mediocrity (at least until it's paid off )

"Why bother?" You say... "your shits weak, shoulda just bought a escape bro" you might be thinking.. and thats fair enough.

I'm doing this to tell the story of the underdog. To show that.. no.. you don't necessarily NEED locker(s) or an axle ratio that starts with a 5 (or even a 4) to get offroad and enjoy TF out of your experience. These are simple truths unjustly deemed as fallacy by what we'll refer to as gear-snobs.

The story of my Bronco actually begins with a broken 2021 ford ranger..

Apart from leaking water into the cab immideately after the b2b warranty ran out.. It's driveshaft center bearing took a crap at 40k miles, still under warranty, but new shafts were backordered with zero ETA. Noisy center bearing will fail a vehicle for a sticker up here (which conveniently just ran out ) and I couldn't have a vehicle that wasn't legal to drive.. indefinitely... so I took it as justification to upgrade to my 'dream' vehicle..

May 22, 2023.

Drove across the border and purchased it from londonderry ford in NH, where it had been sitting on their showroom floor for 90+ days. I thought it was odd they kept this one in their showroom... when they had 2 or 3 much fancier models sitting on the lot that would make a much better showcase... but I DID relatively quickly find out why...

...it's because it ALSO leaks water into the cab . Lazy assed MF'rs. Oh well, at least I have a one piece driveshaft now .

Apart from the water ingress.. the factory also forgot to install a grommet/plug in the drivers side firewall..

... and put the drivers side big bend sticker on pretty crooked..

.. way more obvious in person.


Other than these few little niggles.. everything was all wavy gravy with the new rig. No mismatched seats, mismatched flares, unpainted interior of the swing gate or any other ridiculous f-ups only ford could manage to do lol.

2.5 minutes after I got it home I had the stock wheels/tires off to switch em for the set I had on the ranger...

275/65/18 grabbers on 9" wide method 316s.


..the end of that week I installed a Flowmaster muffler delete..

.. and ford's rubber mats..

... few weeks after that I had a RC 2" lift installed along with a set of 285/75/r18 Kenda Klever R/Ts.. awesome tire..

.. and shortly after that I had its underside bathed in NHOU love this damn thing.. want it to last!

Obligatory side-of-driveway poser shot:

..even had it out in the woods on its first wheelin adventure while I was still rocking temp plates

Belittle and degrade me on my mismatched spare all you want.. theres just no GD way Im gonna spend 360$ on a matching method lol.. especially when I originally bought all 4 wrapped in brand new tires for 450$ (still excited about that) eventually I'll get around to ordering a spare tire cover so I'm not getting mercilessly ridiculed.. eventually

Video from its first wheeling trip at Jericho Mt. State park in Berlin NH:



It pains me to have to go to NH to get some solid wheeling in... Maine is great at a lot... but it sucks serious ass for legal wheeling oppurtunities.

.. and some quickie donuts.. or as I HILARIOUSLY refer to as BROnuts.. during what I seriously hope was our last snowstorm of the year last weekend..



The sound of the muffler delete comes through relatively decently in the donut video... should anyone have pre-purchase curiosity.



Next order of business is installing a partial set of skids and a half rack I bought with some tax returns, followed by a pair of ditchlights whenever I feel like torturing myself (I hate wiring. My understanding of electricity and all its assorted spaghetti is that it's WITCHCRAFT)

id like to get the trans skid and the tcase skid this year too of course.. depends on finances though. Need to buy a house!


Super excited to go wheeling again. I'll be headed back to Jericho Mt as soon as I can.. and I'd like to give Armor Ditch off road park a try this year too.. if anyone is local
-ish and wants to come along LMK! I promise I'm a much more regular and enjoyable person in real life

I was actually going to go this route but my wife urged me to get the Badlands. Ive been frugal soo long that I needed a nudge to spend a bit more. Now Aornarch who commented below on his build really did it right IMHO. I think some sort of autolocker in front and rear, looks like 33's,,, etc. Frankly, you can save a bunch of dough doing this if you get the BB cheap enough to start with. Honestly, a rear auto locker of sorts is the biggest difference maker along with the RIGHT tires so if you just did that, You'd likley never notice the difference or look back. Looks cool man, love to see the builds.

IN retrospect,,,,, Id likley be well served by a black diamond edition

 

[michelle227]

That's not true; you're slipping. 3.73 gears indicates the wrong transmission, and 2 doors and velocity blue cannot fix that.

True...but aside from that, it was an excellent decision to buy a proper color with a proper number of doors LOL!

Now if we can get people to quit saying they like our blue jeeps...yes, that happened to me earlier today in Amarillo. Didn't have the heart to correct the guy...at least he tried.

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