I thought about making an easy to remove air-dam to see if it would improve mileage.
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If you really want to change the gears and are mechanically inclined, I recommend offering to swap someone that has an automatic bronco with 3.73 gears. I'm sure you could find someone that would trade front and rear axles with you.
I would bet that your mileage will not be any better and may even be worse after the change.
I would bet that your mileage will not be any better and may even be worse after the change.
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It would take you a considerable amount of time and fuel to pay off the cost of the swap, and there's no guarantee that your milage would increase that much. Our 2D Badlands with Sasq is getting 18.7-20.4 highway in eco mode unless we're into a head wind.
I agree, most people don't realize the ass end of the Bronco is nearly 3" narrower than the front!!! This alone makes a huge aerodynamic improvement.
You'd probably break even if you're lucky. Especially if ride your motorcycles most of the time
Looking down the road it will probably lower the trade in value as well.
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It's funny how many people do not trust the Ford engineers to get the gearing right.
Even though the Bronco gets pretty good mileage for what it is, if you run the numbers, you may still be able to make a high MPG car pay for itself if you have a big commute.
I've done that in the past. I bought a used Outback , made the payment, fueled it, etc etc for less money monthly than the F250 (paid off) was using in fuel each month.
I tend to work at or travel through areas that are very rough on vehicles, so another thing I learned was how nice it was to drive a car that you did not care about at all ... no more worries about door dings , rock chips, whether it is clean enough or not ... etc etc
The one you worried about was at home in the garage.
If I worked overtime on the weekends, I'd treat myself by taking the truck to work those days.
It worked for me.
Even though the Bronco gets pretty good mileage for what it is, if you run the numbers, you may still be able to make a high MPG car pay for itself if you have a big commute.
I've done that in the past. I bought a used Outback , made the payment, fueled it, etc etc for less money monthly than the F250 (paid off) was using in fuel each month.
I tend to work at or travel through areas that are very rough on vehicles, so another thing I learned was how nice it was to drive a car that you did not care about at all ... no more worries about door dings , rock chips, whether it is clean enough or not ... etc etc
The one you worried about was at home in the garage.
If I worked overtime on the weekends, I'd treat myself by taking the truck to work those days.
It worked for me.
At the end of the day, all of the locking rear Broncos and the base have essentially the same overall gearing when you include wheels and tires. What is interesting is that the 2.3 and 2.7 have the same gearing.
Shooting for the same power band rpm wise ... one just measures higher on the charts!! LOL
Also interesting that the test drivers, even the ones not on Fords payroll, do not mark a big difference between the two, When offroad said they couldn't really tell the difference.
The rear gear swap wouldn’t be bad, if you can do it yourself or at least remove the rear axle assm and take it to someone. Odds are you would need to make changes via FORSCAN for the new ratio. $700-900 in parts. Thing is you can buy the complete rear axle assm, ready to bolt in for $2k. Or score one from a wrecked Ranger. Replacement front diff assm’s are already out there.
Thing is? I doubt you’d Really gain any appreciable difference in MPG.
For the money, you’d be better off buying lighter aftermarket wheels to go with a smaller tire with less of an AT or MT tread.
I am sure Ford engineers spent a ton of time working on the Bronco’s aerodynamics to eek out more efficiency, but it was always going to be a retro type (boxy) vehicle.
Alot of people seem totally focused with RPM when talking about fuel efficiency, but I have noticed that when running ECO or normal at highway cruising speeds, using cruise control, the engine tends to go into boost alot more than when using Sport. mode.
Thing is? I doubt you’d Really gain any appreciable difference in MPG.
For the money, you’d be better off buying lighter aftermarket wheels to go with a smaller tire with less of an AT or MT tread.
I am sure Ford engineers spent a ton of time working on the Bronco’s aerodynamics to eek out more efficiency, but it was always going to be a retro type (boxy) vehicle.
Alot of people seem totally focused with RPM when talking about fuel efficiency, but I have noticed that when running ECO or normal at highway cruising speeds, using cruise control, the engine tends to go into boost alot more than when using Sport. mode.
I have tried to game the RPM vs boost with regards to fuel economy, but without significant results so far. While sport mode tends to accelerate a little more assertively than eco or normal, I have yet to see substantial differences in highway mileage. As a result, I just run it in sport mode 4A all the time. I would be interesting to see what happened if I did 50 miles in 2H Baja mode for laughs.
I wonder how that might affect mileage. 4L in Baja on the beach is just a blast, it's just straining to be unleashed.
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Yeah, it's likely negligible either way over normal driving, but I noticed a difference on a decent highway stretch. We're heading on a 350 mile each way road trip hopefully in June. I'm going to give it a go then and see what happens.
In all honesty, Sport in 2H is so much more enjoyable in everyday driving, I personally wouldn't care if it cost me a bit in gas.
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I feel like I get the most MPG at 2-3psi of boost. I have played with manual mode on the freeway with cruse control. People tend to forget that a turbo generates increase in efficiency so you have to run some boost to see the benefit. Best way would be to monitor the duty cycle on the injectors vs boost/rpm.
I do believe the 2.3 is happier with higher cruse rpms.
I do believe the 2.3 is happier with higher cruse rpms.
4WD vehicles like Jeeps and Broncos will never get really good fuel economy. Gearing is important so that you have the right gears with the tire size of your choice or your fuel economy will suffer even more. Better to order and get the gears/tire size you want from the factory.
I hear ya on the fuel economy thing. Gas just keeps going up and there's no end in sight. I remember driving my 70's Broncos and my 79 CJ5 everywhere and anywhere. Gas was so cheap back then- never a concern for cost of gas- you just put it in- even when I worked only part time and was in college. My wife and I love our Sas Bronco and have to split the gas bill to drive it on weekends. I can't afford to drive it to work with my 90 mile round trip per day so unfortunately it just sits in the garage. I have to drive my 53 MPG Jetta. 2 months and only 600 miles on the Sas. It is what it is.....
I hear ya on the fuel economy thing. Gas just keeps going up and there's no end in sight. I remember driving my 70's Broncos and my 79 CJ5 everywhere and anywhere. Gas was so cheap back then- never a concern for cost of gas- you just put it in- even when I worked only part time and was in college. My wife and I love our Sas Bronco and have to split the gas bill to drive it on weekends. I can't afford to drive it to work with my 90 mile round trip per day so unfortunately it just sits in the garage. I have to drive my 53 MPG Jetta. 2 months and only 600 miles on the Sas. It is what it is.....
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