How should a base Bronco compare to a Humvee and 7 ton 6x6?

[Austin26]

I have tons of experience with driving HMMWVs and the large OshKosh 6x6 trucks. Pretty much all terrains except severe rock crawling and we didn't take them through many rivers or swamps. But rough terrain, sand, inclines and declines, you name it.

I'm likely getting a base manual 4 door with some 32-33" x 10.5-12" wide tires only. No Sasquatch or lockers.

On paper at least how would it compare? I don't have any off-roading experience with normal vehicles like pick up trucks and Jeeps. Kind of an odd question I know. Thank you!

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[BrianBormes]

I have tons of experience with driving HMMWVs and the large OshKosh 6x6 trucks. Pretty much all terrains except severe rock crawling and we didn't take them through many rivers or swamps. But rough terrain, sand, inclines and declines, you name it.

I'm likely getting a base manual 4 door with some 32-33" x 10.5-12" wide tires only. No Sasquatch or lockers.

On paper at least how would it compare? I don't have any off-roading experience with normal vehicles like pick up trucks and Jeeps. Kind of an odd question I know. Thank you!

Humvees suck off road honestly. The Bronco will blow your mind on how it performs compared to a Humvee. 7 tons actually do very well for their size, at least you will be able to self recover the bronco easier than a 7 ton!

 

[Philly]

I have never driven either of those trucks, but I am willing to bet it will be completely different purely because of size. I am expecting the Bronco to be similar to my Jeep Wrangler except a bit smoother because of IFS.

I would go test drive a 4 door JL and then a Ranger and I bet it will feel similar to a blend of those. Same drive train as the Ranger, but you will get a bit more wind noise like the JL. I am sure the interior will be a blend between those as well. The Ranger is probably a bit more refined, but the Jeep will probably be more utilitarian (I haven't been in a JL yet).

It's pretty hard to explain how it feels to drive a Jeep without actually driving one. They feel kind of light and empty, but in a fun way.

 

[Austin26]

Humvees suck off road honestly. The Bronco will blow your mind on how it performs compared to a Humvee. 7 tons actually do very well for their size, at least you will be able to self recover the bronco easier than a 7 ton!

While I appreciate your response, I assure you that military HMMWVs do not suck at off-roading. I've taken them some crazy places, though like I said I don't have civilian off-road experience. I can't believe that they're not good off-roaders though.

Yes I've helped recover a 7-ton, glad I chimed in to support it from the side or else it would have rolled!

I have never driven either of those trucks, but I am willing to bet it will be completely different purely because of size. I am expecting the Bronco to be similar to my Jeep Wrangler except a bit smoother because of IFS.

I would go test drive a 4 door JL and then a Ranger and I bet it will feel similar to a blend of those. Same drive train as the Ranger, but you will get a bit more wind noise like the JL. I am sure the interior will be a blend between those as well. The Ranger is probably a bit more refined, but the Jeep will probably be more utilitarian (I haven't been in a JL yet).

It's pretty hard to explain how it feels to drive a Jeep without actually driving one. They feel kind of light and empty, but in a fun way.

Thank you for the response! That's a good idea, to test drive a Jeep Unlimited. I have driven a Jeep Wrangler but never off-road.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I spent A LOT of time in 6x6 5 tons back in tha' day.
At the same time I was wheeling classic Broncos.
You'll be surprised how far 33"s on open diffs can take you.
The power to weight ratio is so much better on the Bronco, carrying momentum will no longer occupy every single moment of your time.
If the Bronco rolls, you'll likely survive. If the 5 ton rolled, you'd be flat as a pancake.
Putting a 5 ton over end for end is darn near impossible, if you did, you'd die.
Putting a Bronco over on its nose is much easier, but probably much more survivable.
If one or more lockers is an option, get it/them, Just in case you care to attack the tougher trails later on.
A few hundred is CHEEP compared to doing it later.
My opinion is the Squatch pkg at $5k is a steal.

 

[Austin26]

Thanks and yes I'm quite tempted by the Sasquatch as I'd never need any other fun parts on it besides storage stuff. I'll be lucky to get the wife on board on a base manual so I'll see... Lots of time before I need to make a decision. ?

I've seen some of the old military 5-tons though I've never driven one myself. I saw a guy fabricating an old 5-ton in his driveway into some off-roading RV. Wish I had pictures to share but it was a cool project!

 

[Coldsteele]

I have tons of experience with driving HMMWVs and the large OshKosh 6x6 trucks. Pretty much all terrains except severe rock crawling and we didn't take them through many rivers or swamps. But rough terrain, sand, inclines and declines, you name it.

I'm likely getting a base manual 4 door with some 32-33" x 10.5-12" wide tires only. No Sasquatch or lockers.

On paper at least how would it compare? I don't have any off-roading experience with normal vehicles like pick up trucks and Jeeps. Kind of an odd question I know. Thank you!

As someone who also has experience in both vehicles, driving them through terrain that the Marine Corps wouldn't approve of, I think the bronco will excel in some areas while it fails in others. I've taken up armored HMMWVs through mud pits up to the doors and had to pull them out with 7 tons. The added weight and low RPMs that the HMMVW has does it an injustice in the mud pits, while the wideness makes it a little more difficult to make it down narrow trails.

On the other hand, that weight helps out with traction and the independent suspension gives it some beautiful clearance. It also has decent torque.


The 7 ton on the other hand is just a beast and is pretty difficult to get stuck if you know what you're doing. I don't think the bronco can be compared to that.

That being said, you have to actually know how to drive the 7 ton. Check out these Cali Marines that had never driven in the snow before. I had to teach them how to get it unstuck while I did 4 wheel burnouts pulling it with my 6.2L f150. The snow doesn't look bad, but there's about a 6 foot drop in that ditch lol

 

[Ricepuddin]

Humvees suck!

Fixed it for you

While I appreciate your response, I assure you that military HMMWVs do not suck at off-roading. I've taken them some crazy places, though like I said I don't have civilian off-road experience. I can't believe that they're not good off-roaders though.

Yes I've helped recover a 7-ton, glad I chimed in to support it from the side or else it would have rolled!


Thank you for the response! That's a good idea, to test drive a Jeep Unlimited. I have driven a Jeep Wrangler but never off-road.

I have to ask, did you drive these vehicles as a civilian driving civilian owned and maintained HMMWVS? Or Army or Marines ?

My experience with HMMWVs, even brand new 1151s with 100m on the clock have been pretty shit. Not 577/113 bad but close

 

[Austin26]

As someone who also has experience in both vehicles, driving them through terrain that the Marine Corps wouldn't approve of, I think the bronco will excel in some areas while it fails in others. I've taken up armored HMMWVs through mud pits up to the doors and had to pull them out with 7 tons. The added weight and low RPMs that the HMMVW has does it an injustice in the mud pits, while the wideness makes it a little more difficult to make it down narrow trails.

Hahaha, I was one of those Marines in Bridgeport or wherever that was taken. Though I've never gotten a 7-ton stuck. I take it back I have, my VC told me to go up a sand berm road so I did and it damn near got to 35-40 degrees. I can find the picture if you want.

I have to ask, did you drive these vehicles as a civilian driving civilian owned and maintained HMMWVS? Or Army or Marines ?

My experience with HMMWVs, even brand new 1151s with 100m on the clock have been pretty shit. Not 577/113 bad but close

They were mostly up armored Marine vehicles. I also think the G-wagon I drove a couple times was awesome despite it not looking as big and bad as the others.

I'm not familiar with the model or designations that you're referring to as I was infantry and only drove them or up gunned on them sometimes, sorry. They were old, hand me down vehicles though and only had a sort of new one for part of a deployment in 2007. It felt much more lively and had better armor.

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

My experience with HMMWVs, even brand new 1151s with 100m on the clock have been pretty shit. Not 577/113 bad but close

Add me to the not a fan of HMMWVS. They're ok off road but still pretty easy to get stuck. Everything else about them sucks.

This picture sucks but it's from NTC around 2012ish and that HMMWV is stuck. The wrecker just got there to pull it out. It happened to be the BCs vehicle that was "borrowed" for driver's training. He wasn't amused.

Aside from a high center of gravity MTVs do pretty good off road, CTIS is the shit.

 

[Austin26]

Interesting. I didn't think there would be negative comments about HMMWVs. Hmm.

I really like and respect the Mercedes Benz G-wagon military vehicle. Maybe I should be asking a comparison to that instead as it is closer to the same size as the Bronco. Even though it rode rather low it could go about anywhere and I'm glad I got to drive it. It wasn't armored. In fact it didn't even have sides on it I don't think.

 

[Ricepuddin]

Hahaha, I was one of those Marines in Bridgeport or wherever that was taken. Though I've never gotten a 7-ton stuck. I take it back I have, my VC told me to go up a sand berm road so I did and it damn near got to 35-40 degrees. I can find the picture if you want.


They were mostly up armored Marine vehicles. I also think the G-wagon I drove a couple times was awesome despite it not looking as big and bad as the others.

I'm not familiar with the model or designations that you're referring to as I was infantry and only drove them or up gunned on them sometimes, sorry. They were old, hand me down vehicles though and only had a sort of new one for part of a deployment in 2007. It felt much more lively and had better armor.

I think my issue was I didn't trust my mechanics enough to push mine that hard. I did push a borrowed 1151 pretty hard during a CASEVAC mission once, it was a butthole clincher because it was blackout , 0 lum and I had PVS7s. It was at NTC but it was a real casualty. Bad enough to drive fast , not bad enough to call in air during those conditions .

I had a lot of fun with a Hilux in Iraq, those things are slow but they can offroad .

I fucked with some LMTVs pretty hard out at NTC, probably should have gotten stuck a few times. You have to love the on the fly tire pressure adjustment

M577 and m113 are vietnam era apcs that 1st Cav still uses as ambulances, CPs and mobile mortars

1151s are the factory armored HMMWVs. I mostly had Cadillacs (MRAPs) downrange

 

[Ricepuddin]

Add me to the not a fan of HMMWVS. They're ok off road but still pretty easy to get stuck. Everything else about them sucks.

This picture sucks but it's from NTC around 2012ish and that HMMWV is stuck. The wrecker just got there to pull it out. It happened to be the BCs vehicle that was "borrowed" for driver's training. He wasn't amused.

Aside from a high center of gravity MTVs do pretty good off road, CTIS is the shit.

We had a lot of 1151s high center on those sand berms at NTC. Like 3 or 4 every convey, it was pretty funny to watch.

MTVs are sweet , I hear the new JTV are pretty decent also

 

[BrianBormes]

While I appreciate your response, I assure you that military HMMWVs do not suck at off-roading. I've taken them some crazy places, though like I said I don't have civilian off-road experience. I can't believe that they're not good off-roaders though.

Well let me rephrase, Humvees suck off-road compared to a Bronco. They get the job done, but they are a brutal ride doing it. I also drove Humvees and 7 tons all around the world and deserts. Up crazy mountains crawling on rocks as well. What I really meant to say is Humvees suck compared to a Bronco. The Bronco will make you never want to ride in a Humvee again. The Humvee has 37s and being IFS all the way around it has a ton of clearance for rocks and things, but a bronco on 35's will still outshine in most aspects.

 

[Austin26]

Well let me rephrase, Humvees suck off-road compared to a Bronco. They get the job done, but they are a brutal ride doing it. I also drove Humvees and 7 tons all around the world and deserts. Up crazy mountains crawling on rocks as well. What I really meant to say is Humvees suck compared to a Bronco. The Bronco will make you never want to ride in a Humvee again. The Humvee has 37s and being IFS all the way around it has a ton of clearance for rocks and things, but a bronco on 35's will still outshine in most aspects.

I apologize for standing up for the Humvees. It never occurred to me they might not be great at what they were designed to do, and I have off-roaded in them extensively and never got stuck myself, though someone mentioned high centering jogged my memory and yes, people in my convoys would get high centered more often than getting stuck in any other way. To avoid that kind of thing I always swung it out and attacked the hump from a side angle and that seemed to work. But then again I might have been more aware and particular about finding my line several steps ahead to overcome whatever obstacles or problems I'd have.

As far as Humvees having brutal rides, I just thought that was how it was.

I'm truly excited then about the Bronco. It didn't occur to me that it, for the most part, should actually be better at off-roading. Wow.

Question: While I don't desire to nor have the income to build or upgrade a Bronco much, I think a fair compromise of a 32-33" highway biased A/Ts (made another thread about this, I have a few I'm considering but from personal experiences it seems like Continental TerrainContacts A/T or I think it was Bridgestone "K02s") on a base model manual with standard transfer case (better gearing for street use) and 2.3T engine. If the factory offers a 2-2.5" suspension lift as a standalone option I'll get that certainly as the base is lower than the rest of the Bronco trims and as I understand, upgrading the stock 30" tires to a 32-33" tire may need more room. Plus it looks better to me. Thoughts?

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