I own a manual 2012 Rubicon unlimited with 158K miles on it now. It's very heavily modified with a 2.5" lift, tuned suspension coils and shocks for the extra weight, 35" tires, aftermarket reinforced trackbars, drag link, tie rods to deal with the 35" tires and keep death wobble away, flat fenders for clearance, after market front and rear bumpers, Warn winch, etc, etc, etc. I must have $15K or $20K in mods overall. I love that jeep. It's great off road, but I'm not gonna lie. I'm REALLY looking forward to my Bronco Badlands/SAS with the 2.7 and the auto.
Why? First, the reliability of the Jeep is terrible. I replaced the manual trans ($5K), clutch a few times, starter twice, power steering pump, fuel pump, ball joints, etc etc etc. It's in the shop too often. Second, I'm frequently off road and it performs well, but I drive hundreds of miles on road to get to where I to go off road, and let's be clear. You don't casually drive a lifted jeep on 35's on the road. You use two hands and work pretty hard to keep it from wandering off the road where it really likes to be. The IFS on the Bronco is going to solve this problem making 95% of my trip a lot more pleasurable. And from all of the Bronco video's I've watched so far, there is no doubt that the Bronco Badlands/SAS will go everywhere I like to take my Rubicon. I especially like the hydraulic swaybar disconnect on the Bronco too. It's critical for off road traction (and in general keeping "shaken baby syndrome" at bay). Third, shifting a manual all the time gets to be old fast. Especially in traffic. I'm surprised how many people here want manual's in their Bronco's. I think many of them will be reconsidering after driving them around for a few years. The features Ford has put into the Bronco for one foot control, trail turn assist, and all of the off road modes are light years ahead of Jeep. Now I don't mind all of the Jeep manual controls and I'm quite experienced in off road driving, but the simplicity of what Ford has done will make off road driving more accessible to a broader audience. And as an old manual guy, sometimes I just want to go places off road to see beautiful sights and not f..k with the jeep controls all the time to deal with different terrain issues. Lastly, a stock vehicle with 35's under factory warranty is pretty darn amazing. Ford must have done their homework to reinforce the vehicle to deal with 110 pound wheels and the rotational inertia that comes with them from braking, acceleration, suspension action, steering, etc, etc. This stuff is not trivial, and I spent a lot of money reinforcing my Rubicon to deal with heavy ass 35" tires constantly wondering if Jeep was going to void my warranty, all the while adding a lot of weight to the Jeep requiring reinforced suspension and extra wear on the Dana 44 axles. But the only way to get real ground clearance is to go with bigger tires and 35's are terrific off road when balancing the mods to run heavy tires against the increase ground clearance. All this comes STOCK on a Bronco Badlands/SAS. I'm sure the weight problems the Badlands/SAS is having are a direct result of the reinforcement engineering required for 35" tires.
If you like your Rubicon stick with it. They're amazing vehicles. But just plan to open your wallet to modify it to get to where the Bronco is stock. The JL's require less work to go to 35" tires than the JK's so Jeep is making progress, but I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of advantages to the Bronco Badlands/SAS. I'm not selling my Rubicon when my Badlands shows up. I plan to keep Ford honest. But if the Bronco lives up to the hype, the Rubicon will gladly be going up for sale.
Here's a shot of my Jeep in it's natural habitat on the North Rim of the western Grand Canyon
Why? First, the reliability of the Jeep is terrible. I replaced the manual trans ($5K), clutch a few times, starter twice, power steering pump, fuel pump, ball joints, etc etc etc. It's in the shop too often. Second, I'm frequently off road and it performs well, but I drive hundreds of miles on road to get to where I to go off road, and let's be clear. You don't casually drive a lifted jeep on 35's on the road. You use two hands and work pretty hard to keep it from wandering off the road where it really likes to be. The IFS on the Bronco is going to solve this problem making 95% of my trip a lot more pleasurable. And from all of the Bronco video's I've watched so far, there is no doubt that the Bronco Badlands/SAS will go everywhere I like to take my Rubicon. I especially like the hydraulic swaybar disconnect on the Bronco too. It's critical for off road traction (and in general keeping "shaken baby syndrome" at bay). Third, shifting a manual all the time gets to be old fast. Especially in traffic. I'm surprised how many people here want manual's in their Bronco's. I think many of them will be reconsidering after driving them around for a few years. The features Ford has put into the Bronco for one foot control, trail turn assist, and all of the off road modes are light years ahead of Jeep. Now I don't mind all of the Jeep manual controls and I'm quite experienced in off road driving, but the simplicity of what Ford has done will make off road driving more accessible to a broader audience. And as an old manual guy, sometimes I just want to go places off road to see beautiful sights and not f..k with the jeep controls all the time to deal with different terrain issues. Lastly, a stock vehicle with 35's under factory warranty is pretty darn amazing. Ford must have done their homework to reinforce the vehicle to deal with 110 pound wheels and the rotational inertia that comes with them from braking, acceleration, suspension action, steering, etc, etc. This stuff is not trivial, and I spent a lot of money reinforcing my Rubicon to deal with heavy ass 35" tires constantly wondering if Jeep was going to void my warranty, all the while adding a lot of weight to the Jeep requiring reinforced suspension and extra wear on the Dana 44 axles. But the only way to get real ground clearance is to go with bigger tires and 35's are terrific off road when balancing the mods to run heavy tires against the increase ground clearance. All this comes STOCK on a Bronco Badlands/SAS. I'm sure the weight problems the Badlands/SAS is having are a direct result of the reinforcement engineering required for 35" tires.
If you like your Rubicon stick with it. They're amazing vehicles. But just plan to open your wallet to modify it to get to where the Bronco is stock. The JL's require less work to go to 35" tires than the JK's so Jeep is making progress, but I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of advantages to the Bronco Badlands/SAS. I'm not selling my Rubicon when my Badlands shows up. I plan to keep Ford honest. But if the Bronco lives up to the hype, the Rubicon will gladly be going up for sale.
Here's a shot of my Jeep in it's natural habitat on the North Rim of the western Grand Canyon
Sponsored
