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3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience

Johnnymo

Badlands
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There are 3 of us local to the North side of Indianapolis that have taken delivery of our Bronco's: Black Diamond SAS, Badlands SAS/Lux and First Edition. This is my first experience off-roading as a driver, ever! We headed out Sunday morning from Fishers, IN in order to get to the Badlands park in Attica, IN around Noon. The BD and BL had soft tops all the way down and the First Edition had the two rows of panels removed, back section still on and back window open.

On the way
We hit the highway like a true caravan. Except for a few construction slowdowns, we ran mostly about 70 to 85 miles per hour. The park is about 90 miles away. I filled up before heading out and got to the park with slightly over 3/4 of a tank left. Fuel use seemed reasonable considering we were running balls to the wall the whole way. I had my windows up with top down. I could talk with my wife using a slightly louder than normal voice. Wind was not really bad at all. My stereo (B&O) sounded good the whole time. At a stop sign, I could here the First Edition stereo loud and clear cranking some classic rock. The road felt butter smooth at 80 with no shaking from the vehicle or movement in the steering wheel. Road noise was less than the wind blowing over my head. Weaving in and out of traffic was a breeze.

At the park
We aired down to about 30 - 32 PSI on our stock tires from the 40+ psi delivered originally. Got our flags mounted and hit the trails. Path entering was bumpy and sandy. I put my Badlands into Baja, which I ran in most of the day except for rock crawl on a few spots. Vehicle was still fairly smooth running the ruts, etc. We headed up a steep incline of sand to get to the top of a dune, probably about 80' up or so. The First Edition in front was still in normal drive and spun a little on the way up. In baja mode, I quickly without a single slip. Honestly it was as easy as a normal drive up a highway slope. My wife was a little freaked out as we started flying around the sand course section. Steeps hills up and down. Big banked circle parts. Rolling sandy hills. Again, it was fun but the Badlands ate it up so well it kind of felt "easy".

From there we took a quick lunch break and then headed to the muddy areas. This part of the park is pretty rough. I think we were the only ones down there in full size vehicles, only smaller ATV's and side by sides. Our buddy (my Ford salesman) got his BD stuck and a deep, deep mudhole and had to get pulled out a bit. Steep decline into the hole with a steep incline with rocks to get out. The hardcore off-road folks watching all agreed that with mud tires his Bronco would have chewed right through. Their unanimous opinion was A) they wanted to get one now as soon as they could, B) they could not believe we had our new Bronco's down in this area of the park. They thought we were nuts. After our buddy got stuck in his second mud hole (Ha!), he decided no more deep mud slop and headed out into less mud bog like conditions. Unfortunately I took a wrong turn on the path following them and my wife had her eyes closed so was no help in tracking them. This is a deep, woodsy area with deep cavern like ruts all over, some filled to the brim with mud. Ruts 2 to 3 feet deep and tight trees as well. Needless to say I somehow ended up away from the group and all by myself with the wife freaking out at the conditions. All last night she kept sating it was too scary. Being a novice and a little lost, my wife says to follow the red arrow as that might be the way out of this nightmare. I unknowingly laughed and headed down the path. About 20 seconds in we hit all the rough conditions (no deep mud) that I could have asked for and more. Lots of dirt, tree's and rock. Incredibly steep inclines and declines. Paths cut into the side of the hill that were a couple inches wider than the Bronco and the banks on each side higher than the roof. For you experienced folks I am sure you can see it in your mind. Again, I am a rookie. My butthole tightened a couple of times. Definitely had to use the trail turn assist a couple places. Pretty sure some of these paths were ATV and side-by-side territory and not really meant for a bigger vehicle. Having said that, the Bronco chewed its way up, down and around with ease. Using the GOAT modes and the downhill speed control of the auto transmission made it feel almost "too easy". I finally found my way out of the rough, thankfully before my wife pissed herself.

We caught up with the others a bit later and laughed about what happened (my wife did not laugh). We headed back to the dunes area and I took the lead for a bit. We ran the dunes area in Baja at very high speed. I really couldn't loose control. I saw a very steep sandy, rocky, narrow cutout and shot up that in about less than 5 seconds. Unbelievable!!!!! With all of that for 3 hours my wife decided enough was enough and raised her white flag. We aired back up and hot the highway back home. Once the gravel and mud flew off the tires the Bronco drove just like before. Smooth, unwavering and no new shakes, pops, anything.

This vehicle is well worth the wait. Do not give up. Time to start planning for the next trip to somewhere new. Definitely need a GoPro mounted for next time since my co-pilot couldn't take pictures or video with her eyes closed!


Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_122003
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_133231
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_122024
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_122037
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_122101
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_125304
Ford Bronco 3 Bronco's off-roading: My rookie experience IMG_20210815_133224
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Gr8Hortoni

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Sounds like you guys had a blast! I’ve wanted to hit up the badlands for a few years but never got the chance. The water tube always looked like an awesome obstacle.
If you guys feel adventurous in the future, once mine arrives I’ll be putting together some trail runs like I used to do with the local jeep clubs. I’m up in West Michigan, probably an overnighter for you guys but you’ll be more than welcome!

Here’s to many more great rides, enjoy!! 🍻
 

Drex

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sounds great! you might want to incorporate cleaning off the rocks and mud from the tires before hitting public roads. Surprised the park didn't insist upon it. An unnecessary busted windshield for someone who just had the bad luck to get behind you on the road gives the entire sport a bad name.
 
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Johnnymo

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sounds great! you might want to incorporate cleaning off the rocks and mud from the tires before hitting public roads. Surprised the park didn't insist upon it. An unnecessary busted windshield for someone who just had the bad luck to get behind you on the road gives the entire sport a bad name.
It was mostly good except for stuff really stuck in the tread. They didn't have a wash station or anything that I saw.
 

broncomorrow

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Sounds like an awesome day! Can’t wait to get my ride out to Badlands…if I ever get it. Pretty sure I saw the cyber orange Black Diamond pass me on 465 going the other way that morning….first one I’ve seen out driving around and the first my wife has seen in person. She definitely showed some excitement after seeing it in person….I usually just get eye rolls whenever I start talking about the Bronco.
 

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broncomorrow

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Why was the wife freaking out so much?
She’d only seen pictures of it prior so this was her first time actually seeing it in person - she’s always liked it but is definitely experiencing Bronco Fatigue after hearing me talk about it constantly over the past 12+ months. She was blown away by it though after seeing it in person…even if it was just for a few seconds as it zipped past us going the other way.
 

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Johnnymo

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swooshdave

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She was convinced we were going to lose control and flip or something.
Were you trying to freak her out more or were you trying to calm her down. I'm not sure if either answer is acceptable but I know which one I want to hear. :p
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