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Bronco vs XJ

Omwil297

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Just curious what thoughts were considering I’m looking at retiring my xj after 20 years of faithful service now that it’s hitting 200k miles will the reliability be on par?
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Dlerojo

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I had an 87 XJ. That thing was a death trap on the freeway. Something was always broken but it never left me stranded. I loved it. I would assume the Bronco will be more reliable but the XJ will beat it offroad.
 

MaverickMan

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Doubt it XJs have that AMC magic. Everything is broken but some how fixed at the same time. Kinda like those photons passing through the gold foil and stuff like that. I do imagine the motor will run forever after head gaskets and timing chains get replaced later on.
 

Fly by Nite

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I have an '01 XJ... stroked 4.6 and mild 2" lift. Been together 9 happy years now.
Wondering how the size of the 2 door Bronco compares to the XJ.
Specs indicate the Bronco is 4 inches longer, 5.4 inches wider, and has a slightly shorter wheelbase of 100" vs 101.4" for the XJ. But I'm more concerned with cargo space and interior room.
I'll speculate and guess the 2021 will last at least the 19 years my XJ has (so far). Body-on-frame should be less susceptible to rust than the unibody Jeep.
The Bronc has a significant weight penalty but much more power.
The added creature comforts of the '21 (even the base model) would be a welcome addition. One of my main beefs with the XJ is the lack of storage nooks and crannies. Ford appears to have addressed this well in the Bronc.
I would also expect better mpg from the modern Bronc.
Now if Jeep came out with a retro version of the XJ, it would be a serious Ford vs Jeep battle!
 
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Omwil297

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I would love it if they built a new lunchbox on wheels but I doubt with cafe laws anything will be reliable as that 4.0
 

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zaki

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The Bronco should be as reliable as any modern day Ford truck/SUV but it’s better looking than any retro inspired SUV I have ever seen. Heck it’s more handsome than most vehicles period.
It has a character rarely found.
 

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One of the XJ's advantage, due to the lack of frame, is that its belly sits way higher than a wrangler (and I'd wager probably a bronco as well). Not to mention the corners have rusted/been cut off/fallen off of most of them by now, so in an approach/breakover/departure angle situation, its guaranteed to be way better than either a new wrangler or bronco. There are a lot of issue with the XJ, it's far from perfect (crap cooling system, about as much power as a 1.5 ecoboost and so on), but the reliability is definitely there... The 2.3 has had its issues on the focus RS, but haven't heard of as many issues on the mustang/ranger... time will tell how they hold up. The 4.0 is a very low stress motor - essentially it doesn't make enough power to break anything - sometimes even the speed limit if you're at high elevation in Utah and you gotta hit 80...

Kinda weird to see this board talking about reliability in the XJ considering you hear on this board wranglers are the most unreliable thing since the rotary, even though in the same years as the XJ it had the same drivetrain (minus the HP D30 pre 2000).

I'm in the process of regearing mine... Top is the D30 HP 4.56 gears and bottom is the Ford 8.8 4.56 gears (it's also getting an explorer 8.8). The D30 is also one of the weak points for them... :(

Ford Bronco Bronco vs XJ 1596784150593
 

kairo

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One of the XJ's advantage, due to the lack of frame, is that its belly sits way higher than a wrangler (and I'd wager probably a bronco as well). Not to mention the corners have rusted/been cut off/fallen off of most of them by now, so in an approach/breakover/departure angle situation, its guaranteed to be way better than either a new wrangler or bronco. There are a lot of issue with the XJ, it's far from perfect (crap cooling system, about as much power as a 1.5 ecoboost and so on), but the reliability is definitely there... The 2.3 has had its issues on the focus RS, but haven't heard of as many issues on the mustang/ranger... time will tell how they hold up. The 4.0 is a very low stress motor - essentially it doesn't make enough power to break anything - sometimes even the speed limit if you're at high elevation in Utah and you gotta hit 80...

Kinda weird to see this board talking about reliability in the XJ considering you hear on this board wranglers are the most unreliable thing since the rotary, even though in the same years as the XJ it had the same drivetrain (minus the HP D30 pre 2000).

I'm in the process of regearing mine... Top is the D30 HP 4.56 gears and bottom is the Ford 8.8 4.56 gears (it's also getting an explorer 8.8). The D30 is also one of the weak points for them... :(

Ford Bronco Bronco vs XJ 1596784150593
The front D30 is stout enough. You can run chromolly shafts and beat on 35" tires without too much issue. The rear D35 was the crap axle. 8.8 is a good swap for that.

Here's a '95 two door I had on 33's (bumper was getting fabbed, so of course a perfect time to get stuck in the mud with no front recovery point.)

iowZ7lE.jpg
 

Ocnorb

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Kinda weird to see this board talking about reliability in the XJ considering you hear on this board wranglers are the most unreliable thing since the rotary, even though in the same years as the XJ it had the same drivetrain (minus the HP D30 pre 2000).

I'm in the process of regearing mine... Top is the D30 HP 4.56 gears and bottom is the Ford 8.8 4.56 gears (it's also getting an explorer 8.8). The D30 is also one of the weak points for them... :(

The biggest downfall in reliability in XJ's in my experience is 1.) garbage Chrysler electronics and 2.) weak cooling system. The steel mechanical bits were all quite fine, it was the electronics powering them that constantly shit out. Crank sensors, temp sensors, oil level sensors (which were also easy to break during an oil change if you weren't careful), fuel level senders, crappy instrument cluster wiring, etc. Other things of note, crappy heater/evap cores, generally cheap interior plastics overall which don't help with the electronics problem either, interior water leaks and so on. When I went out on road trips and adventures with it, I had to make sure I had a spare of every damn sensor possible and the tools to change them all.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my XJ that I built to 3" on 33s, 4.56s, front e-locker and TrueTrac LSD in the rear Ford 8.8 I put in it. It was an absolute beast, and guarantee you it'd slap any of these factory Broncos on that trail. But, the main reasons I sold it were 1.) not reliable enough to be an overlanding rig that I wanted it to be and 2.) I couldn't bear to watch it rot away here in NY's evil saltlands. I must say though, I loved how that thing drove after the 4.56's went in.

Anyways, rose tinted glasses off, I have high hopes for the Bronco and really looking forward to see how it fares on the reliability front, as that is paramount to me at this point. It's the best looking SUV to come along since the classic XJ in my eyes.
 

MaverickMan

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My comanche eliminator(racist ass name for sure) is rough but awesome. It will likely continue to be be my work truck after we get a bronco. Its got 3.73s factory limited slip rear dana 44 and i added overload springs on top of the 2"rear 3" front lift. The aw4 is screwy and takes about 10 seconds to find reverse, and i put the electric fan on a switch and replaced the freeze plugs, it has a cowl hood with lawn tractor vents glassed into it. Its got a nice heavy duty rear bumper and one day i will take the winch off my rustcj to make a front bumper around. In july i hauled 4 loads of retaining wall block 1800, 2150, 2150, and 2150 lbs each. Didnt break a sweat. It smells like oil and is covered in rust, gray primer, and blue rustoleum. But it always does what i ask it. Hell last week i picked up a lawn tractor and on the way home I thought I would go check out Jaws(legendary big wave spot, with offroad trails and junk piles from asshats) to see if there was any truck beds laying on the trail to build my overland trailer(found one but it was a s10 and i just cant live with chevys on my tail. Long story short i climbed around the trails with that big tractor hanging off the rear. Even took it up some big hill climbs no issue.

Honestly with a better payload capacity than todays mid size trucks like rangers and tacos it really shows the robustness of the XJ/MJ platform.

Would blow my mind if they made a Bronco truck with a small bed, off road capability, and that 2200lb payload capacity. Would make a hell of an overlander with that payload. Bring the whole house!
 

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The biggest downfall in reliability in XJ's in my experience is 1.) garbage Chrysler electronics and 2.) weak cooling system. The steel mechanical bits were all quite fine, it was the electronics powering them that constantly shit out. Crank sensors, temp sensors, oil level sensors (which were also easy to break during an oil change if you weren't careful), fuel level senders, crappy instrument cluster wiring, etc. Other things of note, crappy heater/evap cores, generally cheap interior plastics overall which don't help with the electronics problem either, interior water leaks and so on. When I went out on road trips and adventures with it, I had to make sure I had a spare of every damn sensor possible and the tools to change them all.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my XJ that I built to 3" on 33s, 4.56s, front e-locker and TrueTrac LSD in the rear Ford 8.8 I put in it. It was an absolute beast, and guarantee you it'd slap any of these factory Broncos on that trail. But, the main reasons I sold it were 1.) not reliable enough to be an overlanding rig that I wanted it to be and 2.) I couldn't bear to watch it rot away here in NY's evil saltlands. I must say though, I loved how that thing drove after the 4.56's went in.

Anyways, rose tinted glasses off, I have high hopes for the Bronco and really looking forward to see how it fares on the reliability front, as that is paramount to me at this point. It's the best looking SUV to come along since the classic XJ in my eyes.
It's hilarious how many people will defend the stock cooling system on those calling it adequate... and it's mostly people in places it never hits 100... meanwhile in Phoenix in 115F+ stop and go traffic those 4.0s are like the Fukushima reactor... That's one thing I've always loved about my Fords, cooling system is beefcake...
 

kairo

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It's hilarious how many people will defend the stock cooling system on those calling it adequate... and it's mostly people in places it never hits 100... meanwhile in Phoenix in 115F+ stop and go traffic those 4.0s are like the Fukushima reactor... That's one thing I've always loved about my Fords, cooling system is beefcake...
I live in Reno. It doesn't get Phoenix hot, but it gets hot enough. I put Lebaron hood vents in the hood of my XJ. It actually helped a ton.
 

da_jokker

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I bought an XJ a couple years ago to see if I was going to like off roading.. well I'm on the bronco forum so that question has been answered.

my problem is that my XJ has been well taken care of. Only 60K original miles, bought it from an older lady who got it brand new and kept it garaged..

And yet, there is always something breaking. Usually small, but always freaking something. Brake switch went out the day I bought it. One of the electric windows broke and had to replace the motor. Hell, took it to Reno last winter, did awesome in the snow, but the freaking horn stopped working on the trip.

So don't know if it is because it's a 25 year old car, or if it is a money pit, but I'm selling it and buying a Bronco so I can actually go on a trip and hopefully not have to pay for anything extra besides gas!
 
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Omwil297

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Some of it is being 25 years old and low mileage, low miles on a car that old results in cracked wires and broken plastic and lack of routine maintenance some of it is there 3 million xjs but very few great years things like cooling systems I would only take 97 and above but like on the 2000 and 01 models you have head cracking problems
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