- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
- Threads
- 41
- Messages
- 3,202
- Reaction score
- 12,118
- Location
- Northwest Arkansas
- Vehicle(s)
- Ford Bronco, BMW R1150 GS
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
Today was a beautiful day to go wheeling. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and the temperature was perfect (mid-50s). Couldn’t wait to get to the trail. 
@kodiakisland was driving the other Bronco, and @Ragtop1962 was his passenger. @kodiakisland’s Bronco was topless, and my Bronco had the soft top half open.
I didn’t take many photos today, because the trail was longer, narrower, more off-camber, and more challenging than on our last venture together. Tight, low-hanging Kamikaze branches gave their best effort to die a glorious death while taking me out at the same time. Seriously, my left arm was a virtual limb riser for half of the trail, just protecting myself from a sharp stick in the eye.
You can’t really tell from the few photos that I snapped, but at one point, the roll meter on the Off-Road menu in the Instrument Panel measured 22 degrees, and about 15 minutes later, I was halted dead in my tracks by a 1-1/2” thick bow branch that easily skimmed over the A-pillar and the windshield frame, but got caught in the soft top mechanism right at the fold point about 2 feet behind my head. Fortunately, I was only going about 3 mph, so no damage occurred, but I had to get out and delicately extricate the branch before I could move forward again.
Each of the drivers skipped a few of the more treacherous mud holes today, choosing discretion over valor and taking the optional bypasses.
@Ragtop1962 drove the 2D Bronco half way down the trail to get a taste for what he hopes to experience when his own Black Diamond 2D gets released from Ford’s inventory storage mountain du jour. He had a blast, but at the end of the day, left a little depressed wanting his own vehicle even more, having tasted the thrill personally.
I spent most of the day in 4L with the Stabilizer Bar Disconnect (SBD) and Trail Turn Assist (TTA) buttons both activated. I only engaged one of the lockers a few times, and only once did I need both lockers engaged to get out of a deeper mud hole.
One thing that I accidentally discovered was that TTA can run silently in the background and only kick in when needed (i.e., when the steering wheel approaches full lock). At one very narrow turn, @Ragtop1962 was driving the 2D and did a 3-point turn around some tight trees, but my 4D with the TTA activated just scooted through without having to stop and reverse to get a better approach angle. I don’t know who was more shocked… me or my buddies in the 2D.
Needless to say, some good natured shit-talking commenced! (“@Ragtop1962 was just being conservative, since he was driving my rig!!!” Blah blah blah…) 
Seriously, though, running in 4L with the TTA silently engaged in the background and only activating when needed felt like being strapped with a CCW — almost an unfair advantage over the manual transmission — but it definitely made the 4D almost equal in maneuverability to the shorter wheelbase of the 2D. That was a real gem of a discovery!
After we finished the trail, we headed over to beautiful Devil’s Den State Park — the origin and location for the storyline in True Detective (Season 3), where many of the scenes were filmed — to enjoy the scenery and snap some photos.
Obviously, we also took some time to look over the vehicles, examine new gear and mods, and swap war stories amongst friends after a long, fun ride.
The two Broncos were tired and muddy after being ridden hard and put up wet…
3 of my wheels suffered a little rock rash, but 1 escaped unharmed…
No biggie. Beauty rings will soon be replaced with beadlock rings, and this look will become commonplace.
A fitting christening for such a fun trail, and the end of a very good day!
@kodiakisland was driving the other Bronco, and @Ragtop1962 was his passenger. @kodiakisland’s Bronco was topless, and my Bronco had the soft top half open.
I didn’t take many photos today, because the trail was longer, narrower, more off-camber, and more challenging than on our last venture together. Tight, low-hanging Kamikaze branches gave their best effort to die a glorious death while taking me out at the same time. Seriously, my left arm was a virtual limb riser for half of the trail, just protecting myself from a sharp stick in the eye.
You can’t really tell from the few photos that I snapped, but at one point, the roll meter on the Off-Road menu in the Instrument Panel measured 22 degrees, and about 15 minutes later, I was halted dead in my tracks by a 1-1/2” thick bow branch that easily skimmed over the A-pillar and the windshield frame, but got caught in the soft top mechanism right at the fold point about 2 feet behind my head. Fortunately, I was only going about 3 mph, so no damage occurred, but I had to get out and delicately extricate the branch before I could move forward again.
Each of the drivers skipped a few of the more treacherous mud holes today, choosing discretion over valor and taking the optional bypasses.
@Ragtop1962 drove the 2D Bronco half way down the trail to get a taste for what he hopes to experience when his own Black Diamond 2D gets released from Ford’s inventory storage mountain du jour. He had a blast, but at the end of the day, left a little depressed wanting his own vehicle even more, having tasted the thrill personally.
I spent most of the day in 4L with the Stabilizer Bar Disconnect (SBD) and Trail Turn Assist (TTA) buttons both activated. I only engaged one of the lockers a few times, and only once did I need both lockers engaged to get out of a deeper mud hole.
One thing that I accidentally discovered was that TTA can run silently in the background and only kick in when needed (i.e., when the steering wheel approaches full lock). At one very narrow turn, @Ragtop1962 was driving the 2D and did a 3-point turn around some tight trees, but my 4D with the TTA activated just scooted through without having to stop and reverse to get a better approach angle. I don’t know who was more shocked… me or my buddies in the 2D.
Needless to say, some good natured shit-talking commenced! (“@Ragtop1962 was just being conservative, since he was driving my rig!!!” Blah blah blah…) Seriously, though, running in 4L with the TTA silently engaged in the background and only activating when needed felt like being strapped with a CCW — almost an unfair advantage over the manual transmission
— but it definitely made the 4D almost equal in maneuverability to the shorter wheelbase of the 2D. That was a real gem of a discovery! After we finished the trail, we headed over to beautiful Devil’s Den State Park — the origin and location for the storyline in True Detective (Season 3), where many of the scenes were filmed — to enjoy the scenery and snap some photos.
Obviously, we also took some time to look over the vehicles, examine new gear and mods, and swap war stories amongst friends after a long, fun ride.
The two Broncos were tired and muddy after being ridden hard and put up wet…
3 of my wheels suffered a little rock rash, but 1 escaped unharmed…
No biggie. Beauty rings will soon be replaced with beadlock rings, and this look will become commonplace.
A fitting christening for such a fun trail, and the end of a very good day!
Sponsored
Last edited:
