50,000 mile Review - Why the Bronco Sucks

[7sKnuckledragger]

Good thread OP, thanks for the info. I personally can’t wait for mine. It’s 100% going to be a pavement princess, mall crawling dad wagon. Glad to hear after 50k it’s still a good daily.

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[mpeugeot]

Sometimes this site is beyond crazy. The Bronco sucks but you love it after doing tons of mods. For starters some of the things you mentioned like huge tires you can get on any Bronco, its called the Sasquatch package. Not everyone is interested in hard core rock climbing, and smaller tires are better for everything else. I have just the 2.3L, and it has plenty of pep without hacking the software. You get on here and reiterate problems you dig up on this site some of which are not even problems but the result of hard core off roading which can break things on any vehicle. If you can't hear the base stereo your ears are blown out. Some of us prefer quality over boomy base and rattling everyones windows for miles around.

I didn't want clown-shoe sized tires, I wanted 33's. It's called not the sasquatch package.

With regard to the stereo, I didn't add any amplifiers, I only changed the speakers. Which improved the sound quality dramatically, it can't even rattle it's own windows, but it gets loud enough.

Nothing wrong with the power that the 2.3 brings to the table... stopping might be a different story.

 

[mpeugeot]

I have the Rough Country Hidden winch on mine. It’s a decent kit but the welding and powder coat finish on the skid plate was pretty bad. I sent it back and the next one they sent wasn’t much better so I just dealt with it. Had it stripped, welds dressed and re powder coated.

This is the first skid plate they sent

If I had the 2.7 I wouldn’t do the hidden winch because you have to cut oil cooler lines and a bunch of other stuff. Not something I wanted to do on a brand new vehicle.

You actually don't cut any oil cooler lines, you do need to certainly trim a radiator line, but that's trivial. The 2.3 is a much easier installation.

 

[Shesadragon]

Like I said... the Sasquatch package had ugly rims, shitty tires, and less articulation. Is it really that hard to understand?

Completely agree with this. Would love the SAS if it weren't for the rims and I actually can't stand the black plastic fenders. Way too jeep IMO.

 

[Shesadragon]

Completely agree with this. Would love the SAS if it weren't for the ugly rims and I actually can't stand the black plastic fenders. Way too jeep IMO.

That being said, I also have a Wildtrak on order...so I'll compare both when I have them.

 

[Biz]

Worst part of the 2 door is the small gas tank.
Stopping every 4 hours on our way south got old real quick.
That and the 18mpg on the highway didn't help.
But I still love it. Was a dream to drive on our 2500 mile road trip.

 

[mpeugeot]

Finally fixed the lack of OTA updates, it took 12 hours to program everything, plus FDRS and a J2534 adapter.

Had I known that it was going to be that long, I might have just let the dealer do it... Unfortunately, I think that it would have languished for weeks at the dealership and wouldn't have been fully updated either.

It's more up to date than it ever has been before!

 

[mcinfantry]

Finally fixed the lack of OTA updates, it took 12 hours to program everything, plus FDRS and a J2534 adapter.

Had I known that it was going to be that long, I might have just let the dealer do it... Unfortunately, I think that it would have languished for weeks at the dealership and wouldn't have been fully updated either.

It's more up to date than it ever has been before!

So you think plugging it in a trickle charger, setting the parking brake and OTA updates is even worth it

 

[mpeugeot]

So you think plugging it in a trickle charger, setting the parking brake and OTA updates is even worth it

That strategy never worked for me, my Bronco was stuck in some kind of OTA Purgatory, never to be heard from again without FDRS.

 

[Codyalwayswins]

Change journal.

So the very first day... I knew that changes needed to be made. Yes, I was well aware that I "started with the wrong trim" sorta... They were all wrong for me. I went through the configurations over and over again... Only to be frustrated.

So the first thing that happened was removing the OBX refrigerator magnets (which coincidentally now reside on my refrigerator). Those were replaced by the classic Bronco scripts.

I immediately added the air struts for the hood, an aeroskin II deflector, stubby antenna, and the RTR Tech 6 rims with Patagonia M/T's (17x9 +30 offset and 295/70R17 - 33.5").

Then came all the FORSCAN mods, these made all the difference with respect to day to day enjoyment of the vehicle. This happened before the end of the 1st month of ownership.

It was about this time that I was frustrated with the lack of sound from the B&O system... I replaced all the speakers except the sub-woofer at this point. Huge difference - now on par with the stock Honda CR-V EX-L sound system... lol.

Next modification was the Flowmaster High Clearance Axle Back exhaust. Depending on the road trip, I run either the stock muffler or the Flowmaster. I like the Flowmaster, but the girlfriend doesn't. Around that time, I also installed the RC reinforced tailgate bracket.

After that, I installed the hidden winch mount from RC and the front tow hooks. I installed the actual winch later.

Shortly after that, I installed the Badlands shocks and springs. Less comfy on the highway (by a marginal amount) but better off-road and offers more articulation than the sasquatch package.

I have installed a bunch of tech gadgets. GMRS radio, radar detector, ditch lights, and a tablet for entertainment purposes that's easily viewable from the front passenger seat and both rear seats.

Currently, installing the HOSS 3.0 steering rack.

Naturally, there's a bunch of other things that I have forgotten (example - oil drain plug with adjustable flow) but will add as I go along.

Do you have a specific stubby antenna?
I ordered one on amazon and liked it, but it came off in a car wash. LoL

 

[vzqhsg]

These threads get old. Sounds like you made a lot of bad decisions and then complain. Oh well...

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