Bronco Free Rolls (Falls) Off Steep Hill!!

[indio22]

Somebody needs to develop a mechanical hand parking brake. The hood latch-looking electric parking is a total joke. I can never remember to push or pull the damn thing.

I was thinking of a transfer case mounted parking brake. My old Series Land Rover and CJ-5 have those. If something like that could be fitted, then you wouldn't have to mess with the rear brakes.

Edit: in fact seems like there are some kits out there, but not sure the effort to adapt to a Bronco tcase:

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[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Yeah man, all things considered, it could have been way worse, there are larger hills we were on there, some hills were close to a lake, boy that would have sucked! I did have a 4X4 malfunction that said it was disabled, but turned the engine off, locked it, unlocked it and started back up and cleared whatever code it was and had 4X4 back. It is a manual, I have stalled before on steep grades and never had an issue. I'm still at a loss as to what caused it. Was able to drive home no problems other than having a back window open the whole time. All other systems seem fine and I have an F-150 to drive until I get it fixed, both of your other vehicles are paid for, so we can afford the payment on the Bronco, but it still sucks. But overall, I think it's a managable situation, whether Ford, insurance or I have to pay for it.

If your tank wasn’t full, think it could have been a fuel pump issue? Of course, nothing explains loss of brakes, so even if Ford stiffs you on covering it, given the off road situation, I think they should investigate.

Could have been a fluke, but also could be something more, but honestly haven’t seen any posts about that same issue.

So sorry man. Good to see you’re keeping level headed about it. Get her fixed and get back out there wheeler!

 

[swooshdave]

Unless it's an ABS failure

Not even then.

 

[JediMcMuffin]

Wow, I'm glad you're okay. This is one of the reasons I decided to stick with the automatic transmission. I still consider myself fairly green and managing a clutch while trying to pay attention to so many other things doesn't sound fun to me. I've had plenty of MTs in my years of driving.

 

[NC_Pinz]

I've had trucks roll backwards while off road and it is scary and no fun. Once it stalled and the surface was so soft that clutch out it was sliding...surprisingly the parking brake locking everything up got it stopped (full set of lockers and a driveline parking brake).

The other time no one was in it and it went for a ride. Took hours to get it righted and then off the trail. No fun at all.

 

[USSCajun]

Lucky the airbags didn’t engage with the rear crash.

 

[GlueBoy]

That was crazy!!! Keep us informed on what you find. IMO, you’re well over $4K in damages. Someone told me once a total Bronco mirror assembly is $2600. YIKES! Not sure if that’s true, but….

Really wondering whey / how you lost all power?

Rear window is 1200 so I believe it.

 

[indio22]

I've had trucks roll backwards while off road and it is scary and no fun. Once it stalled and the surface was so soft that clutch out it was sliding...surprisingly the parking brake locking everything up got it stopped (full set of lockers and a driveline parking brake).

The other time no one was in it and it went for a ride. Took hours to get it righted and then off the trail. No fun at all.

Years ago in a CJ-7 that had seen better days, I nearly rolled backwards off the cliff on Moab Rim trail down to the river valley below (red circle area on map for those familiar). Would have been a bad scene. That Jeep never stopped as easily going backward as forward, sometimes that happens with drum brakes depending on design.

 

[NJRoadkill]

Someone more knowledgeable than me please chime in.
The clutch and transmission the Bronco uses isn’t “normal.”

This video is concerning because I‘ve had this same “sensation” in the past when stalling on inclines. But I wasn’t in a situation where gravity could truly take over like that. Since day one I noticed you can’t 3 pedal, feather, pop the clutch, and/or brake boost. It either smokes it or stalls. It doesn’t let you use the clutch as an additional tool to control power.

The system really wants you to pick the “right” combination of 4L/4H and gear, engage the clutch fully, then slowly chew over the obstacle. But you can’t always do that, so you try to ramp up the torque/rpms. When it stalls while trying to pop over an obstacle, it is so wound up, it actually throws you back. I could hear it. That when I’ve felt the systems feel sketchy. Even had it throw ABS codes. Im sure I’m not explaining it well, but anybody who owns the M7 will get it.

Ive been considering installing a Southbend Stage clutch since the start. Maybe the big brake kit. But didn’t want to get into all that yet. Figured it was me and I just needed to learn the OE system. I’d cross that bridge when/If I smoked it.

I’m really glad you’re okay. This would have been deadly on so many of the trails we see broncos on. I’d really like to learn from this and hope somebody at Ford can/will just give an honest and transparent answer. Not some CYA BS.

 

[Big Lowery]

Man that's scary! I've been on some steep inclines with steep drop offs! That is a very scary thought! I do have a 4dr Auto though so maybe that will be the difference. The picture below is a 32 degree incline with a major drop-off 40 yards behind me. That would problem kill us. Scary thought to think that could happen! Please update!

So I am no expert off roader, however, I would hardly say I'm green. This happened today and I am at a loss, possibly financially, but more importantly I don't know what actually went wrong. I have wheeled plenty of times in this Bronco since Aug 2022, I have been up this hill...successfully twice before...with plenty of witnesses. I have been up many other hills, in fact this wasn't even the steepest today, as I had done a 39 degree hill earlier, this one was likely upper 20's, lower 30's. I have stalled the Bronco before, it's always restarted before and I've never lost brakes no matter at what angle and what grade. So I really have no idea what caused this. It stalled out around a 1:00 in and I lost power to everything. I did like everyone else yelling brakes, LOL! Tailgate is shot, bumper is shot, driver mirror also shot. It appears that the quarter panels and hardtop were unharmed.

Concerning repair, yes this is posted, either Ford or my insurance will cover it or they won't. If Ford won't I will try my insurance, if this is excluded from coverage, shame on me for not having this coverage, I will not commit insurance fraud in case anyone calls me stupid for posting this. My real aim is to figure out what went wrong. Total damage best I can figure is roughly $3000-4000. Oddly the real rip off is the side mirror based on my quick research.

 

[BricknoseBronco]

As others have mentioned, this is very likely a scenario where it was stalled and because you were rolling backwards the wheel speed was preventing a restart. This is likely a safety feature from Ford to not allow a restart while in gear to prevent possible transmission damage. Those that said they tried to restart it while moving and it would not turn back on until stopped. I would be curious if the engine was off and you were rolling, if it was in neutral with the clutch pressed down if it would restart. Maybe its just because it was in gear and sensing wheel speed?

 

[redone17]

As others have mentioned, this is very likely a scenario where it was stalled and because you were rolling backwards the wheel speed was preventing a restart. This is likely a safety feature from Ford to not allow a restart while in gear to prevent possible transmission damage. Those that said they tried to restart it while moving and it would not turn back on until stopped. I would be curious if the engine was off and you were rolling, if it was in neutral with the clutch pressed down if it would restart. Maybe its just because it was in gear and sensing wheel speed?

So, would the solution have been to START IN GEAR and hitting the START/STOP button?

 

[JBlanco]

Brakes don’t all of a sudden magically stop working and then go back to normal.

The 2.7L Broncos have electronic brake boosters. Brakes can certainly stop working if the vacuum reservoir depletes or the booster pump overheats and stops working and regains vacuum after a startup.

I know OP Bronco is a 2.3 manual.

 

[nolimits]

I’m really glad you’re okay. This would have been deadly on so many of the trails we see broncos on. I’d really like to learn from this and hope somebody at Ford can/will just give an honest and transparent answer. Not some CYA BS.

Echo this sentiment. Really glad you’re okay as it could have been much, much worse.

I haven’t had an off-road loss claim but did have an ex girlfriend that experienced a flood loss. Kind of a weird random event. Normal road that experienced brief and very high levels of flooding that she drove in, stalled out and got trapped until a local helped her out (as I was 30 minutes away). By the time I got there, they managed to pull her car to a nearby parking lot. It was totally drowned and dead. She was terrified. I was certain insurance would deny the claim but to my surprise they paid with no real resistance which was amazing as the vehicle was totaled. FYI, she had State Farm and no special coverages.

I know the insurance situation is different but hoping this also works out favorably for you.

Lastly try not to beat yourself up. You were in a high stress situation with no training or muscle memory built. You are lucky to have done as well as you did.

 

[ChrisB351]

First off glad youre ok!
Secondly Ford isnt going to do anything for you unfortunately. You would have to prove something on the vehicle failed and caused it but thats slim to none after the damages it has.
Third is most insurance companies do not cover off road accidents. You typically would need special/additional coverage if they even offer it. Its the same thing as if you took a mustang down a drag strip lost control and hit the wall. They dont cover that either. Not trying to be negative but Ive seen these situations more than once between race cars, raptors, etc. Ive got a truck in my shop right now that was rolled on an off road course (ford sanctioned at that) and neither ford nor insurance is helping with repairs.

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