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Happy medium? 275/70/r18 on OBX

Vigor

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So I went from wildtrak modular top to a soft top obx in an effort to get my Bronco asap. I was hooked on the marketed cgi renders and achieving that look.
Example here:
Ford Bronco Happy medium? 275/70/r18 on OBX Cg2.PNG


When I test drove the obx, I loved it but the tires appeared a bit skinny. It just didnt have the look that I was enamored with. So thanks to this forum and my own research, I found a tire size that gets me to that look but doesn't quite sasquatch it out. (Im never gonna go rock crawling so sasquatch would have been a superficial upgrade not worth the $5k or so it is for the obx). Additionally it was crucially important that my Bronco was capable "in any terrain ", especially our northeast American winters. I want to go places and have my vehicle not be my challenge.

This led me to the 275/70 size falken wildpeaks (triple peak rated)
I'm posting this here for those interested to see how these size tires came out

Ford Bronco Happy medium? 275/70/r18 on OBX IMG_20211110_175322_275


To complete the look, like the cgi render I was going after, I had my dealer powder coat the stock obx wheels black. He also added the 1 Inch level.
I'm supremely happy with how it came out. Save for not having a mod top, I like to think it came out pretty close to that cgi render above!

Some other thoughts after having this for 4 days and 400 happy miles later

  • The Bronco is slow off the jump but you can feel the power in 3rd gear and above. It feels like a heavy weight boxer trying to hold his endurance until round 10, so he takes it easy in the early rounds. That said... sport mode is a different story
  • I was joy riding and picked up speed going down hill pretty quickly. When I got to the top of the hill, there was a stop light and a long line of cars on the other side. I slammed the brakes because I had nowhere to go. Somehow the car stopped on the dime. After my heart slowed from 190 to 70, I had to metaphorically pat my Bronco on the head for stopping so well. Also promised myself I'd stick to speeds like that when there's nobody around. Lesson learned but hey even with these 61 pound each tires, the Bronco has good brakes
  • The biggest compliments I've been getting is about the wheels (or rims as the general public likes to say). Then they talk about the color. Yes carbonized grey is a winner!
  • Soft top is loud at 65 and above. The lux sound system is quite nice in town driving. But once you're on the highway, the wind noise drowns it out. I'm happy with the soft top but I can't wait for that mod top!
  • The wife approves. She says it's really road trip worthy. I agree. It's really comfy
  • How long until the new car smell goes away? I hope never
  • I installed the curt hitch by myself in 20 minutes. Dealers kept quoting me $500 to do it. That's ridiculous
  • Before my Bronco was even built, I bought the black pony and black bronco script to complete the blackout look. But the hubcaps have a silver pony, which is a great accent to the rest of the vehicle. So I left the silver pony on it and sent back the black pony and scripts

Here's a 360 video of my Bronco:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgqoBT21YPQ1y4hBQSZXdznLHc23FQ
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1975U15

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Looks great sir!!

275’s could be sweet spot. Interested to hear your mpg so far(not that we own them for that). As you know we have very similar builds. Been thinking about writing comprehensive review once we get some time on trails. Agree with your opinion across board.

Our only disappointments are instrument cluster and the not so warm $3500 steering wheel. 😂

Cheers!
 
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Looks great sir!!

275’s could be sweet spot. Interested to hear your mpg so far(not that we own them for that). As you know we have very similar builds. Been thinking about writing comprehensive review once we get some time on trails. Agree with your opinion across board.

Our only disappointments are instrument cluster and the not so warm $3500 steering wheel. 😂

Cheers!
That steering wheel is something. Hard to tell sometimes if it's even on
The seats though, they get toasty 🌡
 

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2.3 or 2.7?
 

Aurongel

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Sounds like your wife is looking forward to going on road trips in it. How worried are you about mileage? The Bronco really hits every checkbox for me but the mileage is REALLY terrible for road trips.

Has me wanting to wait for the inevitable Jeep 4xE competitor with plug in capabilities.
 

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reigny

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Your Bronco looks great! I'm getting 275/70/18 BFG KO2s and this gives me a good idea how they will look. I wasn't able to view your video.
 

805Bronco

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So I went from wildtrak modular top to a soft top obx in an effort to get my Bronco asap. I was hooked on the marketed cgi renders and achieving that look.
Example here:
Ford Bronco Happy medium? 275/70/r18 on OBX IMG_20211110_175322_275


When I test drove the obx, I loved it but the tires appeared a bit skinny. It just didnt have the look that I was enamored with. So thanks to this forum and my own research, I found a tire size that gets me to that look but doesn't quite sasquatch it out. (Im never gonna go rock crawling so sasquatch would have been a superficial upgrade not worth the $5k or so it is for the obx). Additionally it was crucially important that my Bronco was capable "in any terrain ", especially our northeast American winters. I want to go places and have my vehicle not be my crutch.

This led me to the 275/70 size falken wildpeaks (triple peak rated)
I'm posting this here for those interested to see how these size tires came out

Ford Bronco Happy medium? 275/70/r18 on OBX IMG_20211110_175322_275


To complete the look, like the cgi render I was going after, I had my dealer powder coat the stock obx wheels black. He also added the 1 Inch level.
I'm supremely happy with how it came out. Save for not having a mod top, I like to think it came out pretty close to that cgi render above!

Some other thoughts after having this for 4 days and 400 happy miles later

  • The Bronco is slow off the jump but you can feel the power in 3rd gear and above. It feels like a heavy weight boxer trying to hold his endurance until round 10, so he takes it easy in the early rounds. That said... sport mode is a different story
  • I was joy riding and picked up speed going down hill pretty quickly. When I got to the top of the hill, there was a stop light and a long line of cars on the other side. I slammed the brakes because I had nowhere to go. Somehow the car stopped on the dime. After my heart slowed from 190 to 70, I had to metaphorically pat my Bronco on the head for stopping so well. Also promised myself I'd stick to speeds like that when there's nobody around. Lesson learned but hey even with these 61 pound each tires, the Bronco has good brakes
  • The biggest compliments I've been getting is about the wheels (or rims as the general public likes to say). Then they talk about the color. Yes carbonized grey is a winner!
  • Soft top is loud at 65 and above. The lux sound system is quite nice in town driving. But once you're on the highway, the wind noise drowns it out. I'm happy with the soft top but I can't wait for that mod top!
  • The wife approves. She says it's really road trip worthy. I agree. It's really comfy
  • How long until the new car smell goes away? I hope never
  • I installed the curt hitch by myself in 20 minutes. Dealers kept quoting me $500 to do it. That's ridiculous
  • Before my Bronco was even built, I bought the black pony and black bronco script to complete the blackout look. But the hubcaps have a silver pony, which is a great accent to the rest of the vehicle. So I left the silver pony on it and sent back the black pony and scripts

Here's a 360 video of my Bronco: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgqoBT21YPQ1y4geSETNvvdRvky2tw
I've got largely the same build, albeit an OBX 2-door hard-top in Carbonized Grey (non-SAS). My wife really wanted the SAS for purely aesthetic reasons (the wheels and the more aggressive stance), but when we found our OBX in Carbonized Grey and had the opportunity to have it now, rather than wait 20 months or more - we snapped it up. The fact is, our ride will rarely hit the dirt, so the SAS would have been a big waste for us.

I'm guessing the new tires give you about an inch increase in height, and perhaps a 1/2 inch gain in width? I'm curious why you didn't go larger...

Although I've driven a few soft-tops and was somewhat surprised by the lack of wind noise I expected to hear (being north of 60 years of age may play into my hearing abilities) - I can tell you the hard-top still has ample wind noise. I'm a little disappointed Ford didn't incorporate some sort of mechanical latching device to anchor the back window to the tailgate. IMO that would have greatly reduced the wind noise. I do have roof rails, and I've read that some people believe they also effect wind noise, but I'm not sold on that notion. I think it's largely coming from the area of the tailgate.

Putting all that aside, it's a blast to drive, and gets a bunch of attention in every parking lot. It's kind of a toss-up as to if it gets more attention than my '92 Eddie Bauer Bronco, but the new Bronco is a lot more fun to drive.
 
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Vigor

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Sounds like your wife is looking forward to going on road trips in it. How worried are you about mileage? The Bronco really hits every checkbox for me but the mileage is REALLY terrible for road trips.

Has me wanting to wait for the inevitable Jeep 4xE competitor with plug in capabilities.
right now it sucks but I've also been pushing the engine. I need more time with it to really see
I've got largely the same build, albeit an OBX 2-door hard-top in Carbonized Grey (non-SAS). My wife really wanted the SAS for purely aesthetic reasons (the wheels and the more aggressive stance), but when we found our OBX in Carbonized Grey and had the opportunity to have it now, rather than wait 20 months or more - we snapped it up. The fact is, our ride will rarely hit the dirt, so the SAS would have been a big waste for us.

I'm guessing the new tires give you about an inch increase in height, and perhaps a 1/2 inch gain in width? I'm curious why you didn't go larger...

Although I've driven a few soft-tops and was somewhat surprised by the lack of wind noise I expected to hear (being north of 60 years of age may play into my hearing abilities) - I can tell you the hard-top still has ample wind noise. I'm a little disappointed Ford didn't incorporate some sort of mechanical latching device to anchor the back window to the tailgate. IMO that would have greatly reduced the wind noise. I do have roof rails, and I've read that some people believe they also effect wind noise, but I'm not sold on that notion. I think it's largely coming from the area of the tailgate.

Putting all that aside, it's a blast to drive, and gets a bunch of attention in every parking lot. It's kind of a toss-up as to if it gets more attention than my '92 Eddie Bauer Bronco, but the new Bronco is a lot more fun to drive.
Agreed on all points
Being that there were so few examples of my tire size to reference, I was worried the size wouldn't be enough. But the 285s I originally ordered were back ordered into TBD November, and I wanted my dealership to do the mods upon receiving my vehicle. So I settled for the in stock 275s and I couldn't be happier
 
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Vigor

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