Drive it like you stole it: PA to LA in 3.5 Days, meet the Red Bandit Bronco

[shieldsy]

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[805Bronco]

... but not before we got a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich...

Gotta ask.... Geno's or Pat's?

 

[thesocalexplorer]

Awesome trip write up & congrats! Love the color. I'll see you around socal

 

[KT_bronco]

Gotta ask.... Geno's or Pat's?

Sad to say none of those. We decided to avoid downtown to make time heading to North Carolina. The steak sandwich we did have in Springfield was underwhelming. There will be another attempt in the future and I'll have a proper sandwich.

 

[mlcinema]

@KT_bronco very cool trip. I hope to make many….when mine is built.

 

[Chrome_Pony]

How do you name it Bandit and not title this thread West Bound and Down?

 

[0ne]

Damn, he got you in the unmarked. That's illegal in some states for safety reasons, but not in Colorado. It really should be illegal everywhere, every once in a while you hear about somebody impersonating police to abduct/assault/extort people.

Off topic but related to your post, law enforcement here in CO encourage you to continue driving and call 911 to confirm you’re being pulled over by a legitimate officer/deputy/sheriff/trooper if you’re being pulled over and have a concern about the legitimacy of the vehicle.

 

[UNBROKN]

@Scape Goat I would. It did the long haul well and didn't destroy my body in the process. My rear was swampy though with vinyl seats. I'm thinking of doing a plaid cloth insert, kind of a vintage style. I'm curious if anyone has done this yet.

I did a 6 hour trip a few weeks ago and my rear and back were a little swampy too. MGV seats are awesome, but there is NO air movement at all and they get a little warm in hot weather. I want to put something on them for day to day use that can be easily removed during off-road adventures. Anything to allow a little bit of an air pocket between me and the seat. My wife did not notice because she is always cold and loved how warm the seats were.

 

[thatspecialbeat]

Maybe a dumb question but, you do get the front hardtop panels with the Sunrider, right? Guessing you just kept them in the back.

 

[Lab00Rat]

I'd do what you did if I had to do it again.

Nice drive.

 

[mikeeshim]

First, I think you're very fortunate to have friends and family all across the States, and that you had a friend that would join you on a pretty long journey.
I did a solo trip from Los Angeles to Dallas and back, and it was a rough one but extremely enjoyable. Also did a duo trip from Atlanta to Dallas and the amount of changes in scenery was mind blowing.

Second, I really enjoyed your method of storytelling. Very engaging and the added pictures made it that much more fun to follow.

Which leads me to third, very good pictures! I take so many pics of my Bronco and at the end of the day, am only happy with 1 or 2 of them.

I do have a question about the wind noise and the leaks. Were they both due to the Sunrider top? I was thinking of getting one but now I am a little worried. My hardtop doesn't make much noise and there is no leakage, so upgrading to end up with more problems probably isn't the way I want to go.

In either case, thank you for the awesome post.

 

[‘21OBX]

you say drive it like you stole it but it took you 3 and a half days that could be done in 48 hours or less nice looking ride.

With all the detours and visiting people? I don’t believe 48 hours would be an enjoyable pace lol.

 

[mikeeshim]

Awesome trip write up & congrats! Love the color. I'll see you around socal

Same, 2DR in SoCal!

 

[KT_bronco]

Maybe a dumb question but, you do get the front hardtop panels with the Sunrider, right? Guessing you just kept them in the back.

There is a bag that came with it you can put both pieces into. The bag has clips and a tie straps. They mount vertically in the back. Worked out really well. We didn't notice it the entire trip. I haven't taken them out of the bronco yet, as it's still at the dealership. I'm hoping they are still in good shape after our trip.

 

[KT_bronco]

First, I think you're very fortunate to have friends and family all across the States, and that you had a friend that would join you on a pretty long journey.
I did a solo trip from Los Angeles to Dallas and back, and it was a rough one but extremely enjoyable. Also did a duo trip from Atlanta to Dallas and the amount of changes in scenery was mind blowing.

Second, I really enjoyed your method of storytelling. Very engaging and the added pictures made it that much more fun to follow.

Which leads me to third, very good pictures! I take so many pics of my Bronco and at the end of the day, am only happy with 1 or 2 of them.

I do have a question about the wind noise and the leaks. Were they both due to the Sunrider top? I was thinking of getting one but now I am a little worried. My hardtop doesn't make much noise and there is no leakage, so upgrading to end up with more problems probably isn't the way I want to go.

In either case, thank you for the awesome post.

Thank you, I felt a lot of love on the trip. They all stayed up very late to greet us and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. One night we got put up in a hotel with these road trip essentials lmao. Two rolls of toilet paper?? we didn't use that many, regardless of what we ate.
.

To answer your question, yes, they were due to that top. My guess is that it's a tricky install, requiring adjustment etc.. but the functionality is really nice. I'll be keeping it if they can figure out how to seal it.

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