2023 4dr OBX? - An unexpected photo journey.

[BVDonkey]

My wife wanted a convertible, so I ended up with a Bronco as a “compromise”.

2023 OBX - 4cyl - Iconic Silver - High Package

My odometer just clicked on 32k miles so I figured it’s probably time to write one of these up. This community has been an amazing resource for me, and hopefully my random info can be of use to someone else at some point.

——-
How it started - March 2023:

Drove it home from Iowa and immediately picked up some Badlands takeoff wheels from another 6g member.

Amazing how much better a set of wheels can make the OBX look.

I quickly learned that the KO2s are terrible in the snow, and combined with a gravel driveway will trash your fenders. No big deal on the snow as we normally run Nokians in the winter, but I quickly spent my ford points on some mud flaps.

Only put mudflaps on the front at first, and then realized that my Mountain bike would get trashed on the rack If I didn’t put them on the rear as well.

Found a set of factory sliders off a 6g member, and after a little work with a grinder they fit perfectly with the OEM mudflaps. I think I took off 3/4” off from the front side of each. (cant remember exactly)

That was all for the first round of changes.
——-

Spring 2023 - Road tripped the Bronco to Key West. It’s no F-150, but was much nicer to drive than my 2017 Frontier.

My Kuat bike rack does not fit with the spare tire, so rather than buy an extender I bought a kuat swing arm. Crazy expensive for what it is, the but the swing arm is an absolute must. If you get one make sure it swings to passenger, same as the rear door.

I have a Meraki Hammock that works great for sleeping in rest stops when i‘m feeling cheap. im 6’3” and i fit just fine, even with a paco pad underneath.

The roof and doors are almost always off, so I purchased some door sill protectors off amazon.

Back in CO, I learned that the trail sights are the perfect for carrying a Phatcat around.

Also excellent for carrying surf boards around

Fall 2023 - Road trip to the Upper Peninsula to ride bikes. Too cloudy and cold up there for my taste, but stellar riding.

I first thought the heated seats were dangerously hot. I was wrong, they’re perfect. Really nice for driving around without doors.

Not many places you can ski and surf the same day with the roof off.

———
Spring 2024 - The Incident

Another uneventful road trip to key west, followed by:

Squall came through while car was parked under the house. Rainwater was forced into places it didn’t belong and fried my BCM, my parking brake, and a handful of connectors. It took 2 dealerships and 3 months To figure out what was wrong with it and finally get it fixed. Ford was remarkably unhelpful though the process, but USAA was phenomenal and got me taken care of. I had to abandon the Bronco in Miami for the summer. So that sucked.

Flew to Miami in August to retrieve it.

For my wife, something about the rain incident seemed to rub off what remained of the ”new car feeling” and she encouraged making some more changes to the Bronco. I didn’t ask twice.

Started by adding a JCR Crusader bumper. Took about 2 hours to install, a 15mm ratcheting wrench was a must. Thew some amazon fogs and light bar in it.

Spent far too long trying to remove the welded nuts from the crash bar mounts….. so that was fun. Turns out it is much easier to remove the non welded nuts…..

Added Badlands suspension takeoffs that I got from another 6g member. Took me two half days in my “Driveway” to get the coil overs swapped. These were supposedly from a 4cyl 4 door, however i’m fairly certain they are were from a 6cyl 4dr. No matter, I already had them so I threw them on hoping the added bumper weight Would help even it out.

Also added sasquatch wheel takeoffs found on the Colorado bronco facebook group.

and lastly a full set of JCR Skids, which i still haven’t finished installing.

I bought the BRONCOVER almost immediately after purchasing the car and It is by far the best accessory I own. The Bronco doesn’t fit in the garage and has no roof/doors a vast majority of the time so a good cover is a must. HIGHLY recommend. It takes about 4 minutes to put on and even less to take off.

And thats that, for now…

Thanks for making it this far! I’ll try and organize this better and add details at some point. If anyone has any questions ask away!
---

9.28.24 Update - Tincup & Hancock Lake

Sponsored

 

[BVDonkey]

Photos are mess, not sure how to fix on my iPad. Will fix at some point.

 

[adam1991]

My wife wanted a convertible, so I ended up with a Bronco

I had to laugh. My wife wanted something WAY different, we found our Hot Pepper Red OBX, and only then did she discover that she loved having a convertible.

The pictures look great, btw.

 

[BVDonkey]

I had to laugh. My wife wanted something WAY different, we found our Hot Pepper Red OBX, and only then did she discover that she loved having a convertible.

The pictures look great, btw.

Ha, glad she came around!

 

[userdude]

Warranty? I don need no steenkin' WARRANTY!!!

That's the way to enjoy your ride.

 

[BVDonkey]

Got the remainder of the JCR Skids installed this AM.

 

[Lucas]

Really enjoyed your write up! Thanks for sharing.

 

[UNBROKN]

Looks great! where do you ski and surf on the same day... in CO? That sounds like a great day!

 

[BVDonkey]

Looks great! where do you ski and surf on the same day... in CO? That sounds like a great day!

Thanks!

Primarily ski at small local mountain called Monarch Mountain, and then both Salida and Buena Vista have standing waves built in the river for surfing.

It's rough out here, but we survive.

Photos of the wife in Salida.

 

[GEN6BRONCO21]

Thanks!

Primarily ski at small local mountain called Monarch Mountain, and then both Salida and Buena Vista have standing waves built in the river for surfing.

It's rough out here, but we survive.

Photos of the wife in Salida.

This is very cool

 

[nolimits]

Looks like a fun journey so far. Great photography skills. Hope you frame those for your wife.

 

[BVDonkey]

Looks like a fun journey so far. Great photography skills. Hope you frame those for your wife.

Those photos were taken by a kind stranger. I can't take credit unfortunately.

 

[BVDonkey]

9.28.24 - Tincup Pass and Hancock lake

Finally got to try out the new additions. A few thoughts at the end of this post.

Met some friends who were camped a few miles up Hancock pass.

Decided to go check out Hancock lake

Obligatory leaf shot headed back down to St. Elmo

Starting up Tincup

Tincup pass summit

Mirror lake

Solid outing all around.

It's been 1,000 miles since I installed the new suspension and wheels. Here are my unsolicited thoughts:

35's feel like cheating, so much more comfortable on rough roads. My avg mpg has gone from 21.8mpg to 20.1mpg. They are definitely a little slower off the line than the 33's, but it's such a small difference that after a week you don't even notice anymore.

I have the small engine and even with the bigger tires I have never once needed/wanted more power. If I was towing with the bronco I'd probably feel different, but I don't use it to tow.

The badlands suspension is a massive upgrade over the hitachis. Wasn't sure it would be all that noticeable and was afraid I would regret not going "higher" with the suspension, but no, I am extremely happy with it. On road it is substantially more stable and has completely eliminated the "wobble" I used to get when I hit a bump. The badlands suspension is far stiffer on road than the hitachis, so I can feel far more small bumps now. I'm not certain if that's the because of the suspension just being different or if its because of the 6cyl springs on the 4cyl. Off road is hard for me to make a direct comparison unfortunately as I never drove trails such as Tincup on the hitachis. On forest service roads and washboards though, the badlands suspension is a noticeably more stable and a comfortable experience.

All in all, extremely happy with the swap and will be sticking with the badlands suspension for the forseeable future.

Looking forward to more adventures.

 

[UNBROKN]

Thanks!

Primarily ski at small local mountain called Monarch Mountain, and then both Salida and Buena Vista have standing waves built in the river for surfing.

It's rough out here, but we survive.

Photos of the wife in Salida.

Super cool! Beautiful shots!!!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

My wife wanted a convertible, so I ended up with a Bronco as a “compromise”.

2023 OBX - 4cyl - Iconic Silver - High Package

My odometer just clicked on 32k miles so I figured it’s probably time to write one of these up. This community has been an amazing resource for me, and hopefully my random info can be of use to someone else at some point.

——-
How it started - March 2023:

Drove it home from Iowa and immediately picked up some Badlands takeoff wheels from another 6g member.

Amazing how much better a set of wheels can make the OBX look.

I quickly learned that the KO2s are terrible in the snow, and combined with a gravel driveway will trash your fenders. No big deal on the snow as we normally run Nokians in the winter, but I quickly spent my ford points on some mud flaps.

Only put mudflaps on the front at first, and then realized that my Mountain bike would get trashed on the rack If I didn’t put them on the rear as well.

Found a set of factory sliders off a 6g member, and after a little work with a grinder they fit perfectly with the OEM mudflaps. I think I took off 3/4” off from the front side of each. (cant remember exactly)

That was all for the first round of changes.
——-

Spring 2023 - Road tripped the Bronco to Key West. It’s no F-150, but was much nicer to drive than my 2017 Frontier.

My Kuat bike rack does not fit with the spare tire, so rather than buy an extender I bought a kuat swing arm. Crazy expensive for what it is, the but the swing arm is an absolute must. If you get one make sure it swings to passenger, same as the rear door.

I have a Meraki Hammock that works great for sleeping in rest stops when i‘m feeling cheap. im 6’3” and i fit just fine, even with a paco pad underneath.

The roof and doors are almost always off, so I purchased some door sill protectors off amazon.

Back in CO, I learned that the trail sights are the perfect for carrying a Phatcat around.

Also excellent for carrying surf boards around

Fall 2023 - Road trip to the Upper Peninsula to ride bikes. Too cloudy and cold up there for my taste, but stellar riding.

I first thought the heated seats were dangerously hot. I was wrong, they’re perfect. Really nice for driving around without doors.

Not many places you can ski and surf the same day with the roof off.

———
Spring 2024 - The Incident

Another uneventful road trip to key west, followed by:

Squall came through while car was parked under the house. Rainwater was forced into places it didn’t belong and fried my BCM, my parking brake, and a handful of connectors. It took 2 dealerships and 3 months To figure out what was wrong with it and finally get it fixed. Ford was remarkably unhelpful though the process, but USAA was phenomenal and got me taken care of. I had to abandon the Bronco in Miami for the summer. So that sucked.

Flew to Miami in August to retrieve it.

For my wife, something about the rain incident seemed to rub off what remained of the ”new car feeling” and she encouraged making some more changes to the Bronco. I didn’t ask twice.

Started by adding a JCR Crusader bumper. Took about 2 hours to install, a 15mm ratcheting wrench was a must. Thew some amazon fogs and light bar in it.

Spent far too long trying to remove the welded nuts from the crash bar mounts….. so that was fun. Turns out it is much easier to remove the non welded nuts…..

Added Badlands suspension takeoffs that I got from another 6g member. Took me two half days in my “Driveway” to get the coil overs swapped. These were supposedly from a 4cyl 4 door, however i’m fairly certain they are were from a 6cyl 4dr. No matter, I already had them so I threw them on hoping the added bumper weight Would help even it out.

Also added sasquatch wheel takeoffs found on the Colorado bronco facebook group.

and lastly a full set of JCR Skids, which i still haven’t finished installing.

I bought the BRONCOVER almost immediately after purchasing the car and It is by far the best accessory I own. The Bronco doesn’t fit in the garage and has no roof/doors a vast majority of the time so a good cover is a must. HIGHLY recommend. It takes about 4 minutes to put on and even less to take off.

And thats that, for now…

Thanks for making it this far! I’ll try and organize this better and add details at some point. If anyone has any questions ask away!
---

9.28.24 Update - Tincup & Hancock Lake

Glad to see you are enjoying your Bronco, JP! Thank you for showing us your journey so far. Here's to many more adventures in your ride.

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