Animosity toward IFS offroader

[Razorback]

Keeping all four wheels on the ground helps when off roading but for most people it doesn't make one lick of difference. Even then, once you have lockers front and rear, lifting a tire doesn't matter much anymore.

Last sentence says it all... Jeepers often forget this or don't realize it or don't want to admit it...

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[BroncoTodd]

It's like Porsche guys telling Tesla owners (and everyone else) that theirs aren't true track cars and would get embarrassed if they tried to keep up on a race track. 100% true.... but in 99% of real world situations, they will be in the other car's rear view mirror.

Broncos are excellent off-roaders, as are many other cars that don't have 'Rubicon' in the name. But the purists will scream about articulation and geometry... and they will be right. But, in 99% of situations, including off-road, you won't need that extra articulation, and will be better off with IFS because of the ride quality advantages that it offers.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

and will be better off with IFS because of the ride quality advantages that it offers.

I can't even count how many people who have been for a ride with me in my Explorer who have been absolutely shocked at how smooth it is off road. Some of them were naysayers but they changed their tune after experiencing it.

 

[hemiblas]

Everyone hit all the main points:
SFA will keep the wheels on the ground better...better traction...less likely to tip over.
IFS: better ride on and offroad.
IFS: axles are a weak point vs SFA...
SFA: easier to lift, cheaper too
SFA: Death wobble can occur, but it is usually something that the owner did...Too much lift, something out of balance, too big a tire., tire not balanced, damage to front end. In my case I hit a wheel against a rock...didnt think anything of it, but it got bent badly and I didnt know it. It caused death wobble on my xj. Once I replaced the bad wheel it was gone and that was with 32s and a 4" lift...stock it never had any issues.

 

[Tricky Dick]

IMO I appreciate the Bronco IFS and wouldn't have it any other way, because of my intended usage. I'm not going to push it hard enough offroad to need a straight axle because it's too expensive too thrash and it's primary usage will be daily driving.

If the primary usage is a weekend toy, the straight axle starts to be more appealing. It is more durable.

That thinking is part of why I bought the Sami. With 5k put into it it will go more places than a Sasquatch Bronco without fear of wrecking a daily driver.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

So I haven't seen it here, but the big/main comparison I see between the Bronco and Wrangler is the axle setup. Lots of people saying the Bronco isn't a true offroader/as good as the Wrangler because of the IFS.

Never really understood that argument because last I checked just about every mainstream off road vehicle (quad or SxS) are IFS and IRS. Never see anyone complaining that they aren't offroad capable....

Because relative to tire size and ground clearance those vehicles have 3-10 times as much articulation as a full size vehicle like a TRD or the Bronco will.

The relative distance between the fixed points of the control arm and the end of it is less than or close to 1 with those light weight off roaders with rear or centrally mounted engines. With the Bronco there is going to be 2-3x

Comparing the Bronco to a quad or side by side is like comparing a moped to a dirtbike.

 

[Laminar]

Dirt Every Day (Motortrend) just built up a V8 4 Runner with IFS. They put it on 40" tires and then ran some of the toughest rock crawl trails in California with a couple of straight axle Toyotas. It was fascinating to see the difference between the two. The straight axle trucks had MUCH more flex and could keep both front tires on the rocks in just about every case where the IFS would lift a tire. But the IFS truck still made it up every obstacle. If you have a Motortrend subscription or a free trial, it's a very interesting episode to watch if you're curious about IFS vs. SFA.

 

[Rayder]

While I'd agree that a SFA is better when rock crawling, that is only one type of off roading. You can make an IFS good but not great at crawling, but a SFA is never going to be anything better than barely passable when speeds get above 25 MPH. Jeep enthusiasts like to keep the narrative to the types of trails 99.9% of them will never see, because that's the only thing Wranglers Excell at. They are horribly compromised otherwise.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

Nope. They know perfectly well that the vast majority of Bronco owners will never need more "off road" prowess than a Sport has.

They put just enough parts in it to create reasonable doubt, and that is all it will take to make sales.

 

[Tonka1]

IFS is superior in just about every application outside of articulation and frankly, most off roading isn't rock crawling anyway. What makes many off road vehicles better than one another is often times the aftermarket modifications that are made.

 

[Lab00Rat]

.... My jeep steers like a mob car with 10 bodies in the trunk

and how would you know what a mob car with 10 bodies drives like?

 

[rkj__]

last I checked just about every mainstream off road vehicle (quad or SxS) are IFS and IRS. Never see anyone complaining that they aren't offroad capable.

I took my RZR 4S on some rocks last weekend. It was very tippy, and made my wife very nervous. She chose to exit the vehicle on the tricky spots. On the plus side, she recorded some video clips.

She does not mind mud, or high speed trails (she's not a total chicken), but really does not like the unstable tippy feeling the machine has when you are teetering on two wheels. A straight axle Wrangler would offer a billion times more articulation than our RZR, but it would be way slower (or simply not legally permitted) on most of the trails we run.

 

[rdass623]

having driven HMMWV aka the humvee on the aremy, the independent suspension, front and rear made it more capable than any civilian produced vehicle. i would argue it is as capable as most rock climbers out there. IFS is tunable into any situation you can think of. some people just want to strut and brag about their rig, while it is tactically parked at the local applebees. 95% of the owners of jeeps and broncos will never see any more challenging course than the gravel parking lot at the local fair, but are more than willing to talk shit about the capabilities of their vehicle and the shortcomings of others...

 

[mds5917]

and how would you know what a mob car with 10 bodies drives like?

I live in Jersey.

Funny story though. My dog scared a deer in our backyard and it ran and broke its neck on our fence. It was 100 degrees, and I was not putting a dead deer in a bag to wait for garbage day and explode. Called vets, state police and anyone who might be able to dispose of the body, but no dice (except for some exterminator who wanted $300 - told him we already did the hard part and killed and bagged it).

So, I called me neighbor (as a joke) and said "hey Larry, can you help me get rid of a dead body". Told my daughter the story, and she flipped out cause she was working with Homeland Security at the time and was like "Dad, you know that probably triggered someone..."

So, like anyone who live near the Pinelands (or anyone who watched The Sopranos), I reintroduced the deer to the woods and let mother nature take her course.

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