First Videos of 2021 Ford Bronco on Rubicon Trail (+ More Pics)

[Outbound Exploration]

I'm okay seeing videos of the Bronco failing.

Like many have said before, the Rubicon Trail is no joke and really any trail can be challenging for those who haven't gone 4x4ing before. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, as it's about your tools (the vehicle is it modded or not, certain terrain tools etc.), the driver (how much rock crawling/tough trails have you done, the knowledge/skills you've built up from prior trails), and a spotter (even with all the tech, you really shouldn't be rock crawling by yourself- just a known offroad fact, plus they might see a better line for you to take especially on a tough obstacle). You can find countless videos where even modified jeeps have to use a winch to get through some of these obstacles on the trail...

Also depending on your "tools" I mentioned above, you can expect some body bashing to happen.. ????

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[elmystico]

That level of trail rash is about what you'd expect from running through the Con in anything with 33-35" tires.
It's a moderately hard trail and you can expect some light damage even on rigs with 37's and 40's.

Agreed. And I say that from the experience of both being a rookie and being more experienced. If you aren't ready to take some body abuse on a trail, especially a trail like that, then you need to hit the Big Red Kill Switch on your dash before you even leave home:

 

[FireSquatch]

Coming from a Kansas City man who grew up near KSU. Its cute that Texas thinks they have a team. EMAW, CHIEFS get on our level.

 

[Toccoa]

Here are a few along the trail.

Looks like you can just leave the front panels in with the back removed. Nice.

 

[Toccoa]

Is this Jeep requesting backup? ?

 

[tokyo]

Cool to see them out getting tested!

For me though, any trail I can walk through faster than drive is a pass.

Too much of the country I still haven't seen to spend all day driving 1 mile.

But to each his own and I am sure glad that people like to rock crawl because it gives me lots to watch on YouTube when I am bored.

 

[zaki]

Whether the beautiful Bronco could have made it up that set of rocks in different hands or with different tires or lower tire pressure etc is to me of just academic interest. I will limit my off road excursions to “Easy” trails and have little experience or desire to punish my horse with any serious rock climbing.

It is more than enough for me that the Bronco is capable enough off road and that it looks as totally handsome and adorable as it does.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

I thought the same, but also what you gotta take into consideration is that when you usually see wranglers crawl up rocks as big as those, they almost always have 37s on with lift kits. Even if you put 35s on a stock wrangler and try to crawl up the same rocks, you’ll fail. My point is, if you wanna take any off roading vehicle past challenging trails, you gotta have a good set up. Get a lift kit, put big tires on it, and go right ahead. The independent front suspension may not help out very much but I’m sure it’ll be capable.

There’s a lot of Stock Rubicon on the Rubicon trail videos. They don’t do the most extreme obstacles, but the Jeep with the external ABS fenders is a little better protected. With experienced spotters the Fords would have done better.

Definitely need some slider bars that provide a little more standoff protection on the sides. As far as the unpainted flares many hate - that is what they are for. Those scuffs’ll be fine.

I think they did fine, and definitely have some feedback for the engineers.

 

[Flourman]

The line up the boulder did show the nice flex out of the IFS. I was impressed.

In stock from, I am extremely impressed. Again, how many bone stock Jeeps are going to do this? While the bash plates and bumpers are scratched up, it shows the durability or them. Granite chews things up extremely easily.

 

[Nickp]

I would have really liked to see the Jeep on this same obstacle for a fair comparison, but the lines the driver was trying weren't the issue and the tires weren't the issue. The thing is on 35" M/Ts. That is what all the hardcore guys (who weren't building full custom buggies) used to run before JKs showed up on the scene.

Look at some of the earlier pictures, and you can see the tires are aired down pretty far, so that isn't the issue here either. It looks like the Broncos had to struggle pretty hard to get through the trail.

Also, the stock 35" tires are rubbing. That is unacceptable in my mind for a ~$50K vehicle as delivered from the factory. It seems Ford was too anxious to one-up Jeep and didn't fully test the 35" tires before making them available.

I agree with seeing the Jeep crawling up there as a comparison.

As far as the tires/capability, I do think it was a combination of the bronco having less flex along with driver skill. At the end of the day when you’re locked and have 3 tires on the surface, your limiting factor truly is the tires. I don’t know if that obstacle is just way slicker than it looks, they aren’t aired down enough, they just didn’t try hard enough etc. But I can guarantee with the right driver that Bronco was more than capable of getting up that obstacle.

 

[Administrator]

Some more.

 

[Indominus49er]

No M4 ever looked this good tho My old M3...

Yeah not a fan of the m4, never have been. E46 m3 in Phoenix Yellow is my ticket.
And yes that looks good ?

 

[BroncoBoy22]

Looks like they completed it ?

 

[zer0]

To give you guys some more perspective this video shows the line they are trying to drive up.
It is to the right of the tree line that the Yota is climbing

 

[killaz05]

Some more.

I wonder if this is before or after it tried in that video. It was the hard top 4 door in that video and if this is after then it came out great. I thought for sure the side would have been scraped up or worse but if it is just the fender flares that got a little damage then that is pretty sweet.

Also that soft top on the 4 door looks interesting

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