Ground Clearance Difference 2.3L and 2.7L Chassis

[North7]

Here is me crawling under a Badlands non sas 2.7, looking at the stabilizer bar disconnect.

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[North7]

And the raw chassis.

 

[North7]

And...

2021 Bronco Suspension, Chassis, Undercarriage Deep Dive

 

[De Brus]

There are only 2 chassis, regardless of engine.

FWIW, the development cost, per chassis, these days is about $4-9 billion dollars depending on who you ask. https://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/27/why-does-it-cost-so-much-for-automakers-to-develop-new-models/

The Bronco is built on the 2019 ranger chassis, slightly modified, so the cost is moot point.

 

[goatman]

Pardon the dirt! I didn't spray underneath it!

1. From the front
2. From the center looking toward the front
3. From the center looking toward the rear
4. From the rear (the blue must be a reflection from the flash - there's nothing blue under there)

Cool! Thanks! So, it looks like a skid over the t-case, and one coming back from the front bash plate to protect the sway bar mechanism and trans. The front bash plate comes with the bumper, and they all have the gas tank skid. Anything else?

 

[ChrisD]

Cool! Thanks! So, it looks like a skid over the t-case, and one coming back from the front bash plate to protect the sway bar mechanism and trans. The front bash plate comes with the bumper, and they all have the gas tank skid. Anything else?

That's pretty much it!

 

[rdass623]

looks like you may want to consider some more fabrication of skid plates to save the frame members. i guess maybe a little more recon of these trails may have been in order. some straightening, welding and maybe the application of something like a spray on bed liner might be a good idea...

 

[ChrisD]

looks like you may want to consider some more fabrication of skid plates to save the frame members. i guess maybe a little more recon of these trails may have been in order. some straightening, welding and maybe the application of something like a spray on bed liner might be a good idea...

Those are actually braces for the transmission crossmember between the frame rails. I wasn't aware earlier that they hung 1-1.5" lower than the skid plates, which seems a weird engineering decision.

For now, they'll be fine since they're not load bearing, just providing tortional stability to the transmission mount, which never impacted anything since it sits much higher. In the future, when I do decide to make a change, I'll probably be going to the aftermarket since I've already seen designs that address this issue.

I'm also going to show them to the team at the Off Roadeo next Saturday to let them know about it. It may be something Ford didn't even consider/isn't aware of.

 

[Rick Astley]

The Bronco is built on the 2019 ranger chassis, slightly modified, so the cost is moot point.

That has to be great news to Ford that there were no development costs for the chassis!

 

[De Brus]

That has to be great news to Ford that there were no development costs for the chassis!

I know! Especially when you're trying to tell us they spent 4-9 billion dollars developing it!

 

[portland_lol]

i had a running joke with my son for weeks.

i asked him what do you do with a honda civic with a broken or bent skid plate?.

obv punchline was "take it for a drag" much like the punchline to the joke what to you do with a dog with no legs.

everytime i hit a bump or there was very uneven pavement heads would turn it was so loud and sparks would fly.

i lol'd for a couple of weeks until i fixed it.

using the car for flattening the snow, driving back and forth on a gravel driveway has it's pitfalls

 

[BaseSquatch]

Hey, so I got under the Bronco this morning with a tape measure. Those K braces sit at about 10". The skid plates sit up about 11".

My skid plates look almost new. Those brackets took a beating. What a difference 1 inch makes.

Wow! So the 2.3L has at least an inch more ground clearance than the 2.7L? Nice!!

 

[Felix808]

After seeing these pics of @ChrisD taking his Bronco on a rock crawling trail, and having another conversation about the four different basic Bronco chassis, I thought I'd post and see if we can get some undercarriage pics of 2.3L and 2.7L chassis. My understanding is there are 4 chassis, 2.3 2dr and 4dr, and 2.7 2dr and 4dr. The 2.7 has a K element in the chassis. Can some of you lucky folks who already have your Broncos show some undercarriage pics and tell us what you have?

Here is a pic of the undercarriage after a trail run. This really shouldn't be hard to modify in advance to improve the design, and to protect, but it sure appears that it's something to pay attention to. I think the 2.3's don't have these pieces.

Those pictures looks like it is some kind of composite material molded over the metal braces verse strictly stamped steel. It has that over hanging lip that is at least an inch hanging down. As a rule in sheet metal working bends introduce strength, but I wonder if there is any structural gains with the overhanging edges, if there would be any strength lost in trimming it flush via angle grinder and thus expediting the self clearing nature of this overhang ? At least it would be flat & look cleaner than that mess. Thoughts?

 

[goatman]

Those pictures looks like it is some kind of composite material molded over the metal braces verse strictly stamped steel. It has that over hanging lip that is at least an inch hanging down. As a rule in sheet metal working bends introduce strength, but I wonder if there is any structural gains with the overhanging edges, if there would be any strength lost in trimming it flush via angle grinder and thus expediting the self clearing nature of this overhang ? At least it would be flat & look cleaner than that mess. Thoughts?

It would be stronger and safer to fold it over. It would be a welded seam, either fully welded or spot welded, and you wouldn't want to trim back to the weld or it will break. Or, like someone said, lay a piece of metal in the recess and weld it in.

 

[Lakelife36]

I know! Especially when you're trying to tell us they spent 4-9 billion dollars developing it!

I was under the impression that the Bronco platform is the same as the next generation Ranger (2022? 2023?), not the current one. Between the Bronco and Ranger that'll include (at least) three wheelbases.

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