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McMuffin's Bronco Logbook

wbrainbow

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Finals Specs: Badlands 4-Door Soft-Top, Area51 Blue, 2.7L, High Package, Sasquatch Package

10/6/2021 8Mi: After 449 days (and an 8 mile test drive) I took ownership of the vehicle from Gosch Ford in Escondido,CA. They honored their commitment to sell at MSRP, and were really great throughout the whole process. I probably changed my order drastically at least 8 times, at reservation time (June 2020) I had gone extremely conservative and picked out a Big Bend trim. I placed an order the first day the order banks were open in January 2021, a 4-Door Outer Banks with the MIC top, 2.3L, and mid package, and towing. Over the next 3 or so months I would option up to the 2.7L, add leather, add the high package. At some point in there (just prior to MIC top fiascos) I had moved up to a Wildtrak mostly because it came with the 2.7L and Sasquatch gear. As rollout of Bronco stuttered I was lucky enough to read the tea leaves and change my order to the Badlands with a soft top around June 2021. I had one issue at delivery which was a crack in the drivers side mirror. They are taking care of that this morning as I write this.

For perspective: some years ago I owned a 99 Jeep TJ with a hard-top and half doors with sliding windows. I traded that Wrangler away because it was a brick in the wind and so noisy I couldnā€™t hear myself think. I replaced it with a VW GTI, which towed my motorcycle to the racetrack much better. Iā€™ve had two other VWs since then, a 2006 Jetta, and a 2013 GTI. I had my GTI almost 10 years, so coming into Bronco Iā€™d not really bought for myself in a long while. I sold the VW in September.

Initial observations:

Exterior:
The soft top surprised me with tinted windows in the rear, I will likely match that tint level on the driver and passenger windows. Removal of the panels isnā€™t too bad, but Iā€™m also realizing that being only 5ā€™7ā€ tall with a Sasquatch package means I donā€™t have a prayer to flip the top back or retract it fully without standing on the door sill. I have GoRhino D6 steps coming from Panda Motorworks soon, so that should make the difference. It appears to me that the rock rails also bolt to the body in some way, I had thought those were frame mounted but perhaps Iā€™m mistaken. Iā€™ll have to pick up some of those harbor freight moving blankets to wrap the windows in when they are off. This will also be my first endeavor into the world of off-roading, so if those D6ā€™s have to come off later for something more serious, thats fine. Iā€™m sure another local Bronco owner will need steps.

Interior: Sync 4 with wireless CarPlay is awesome, and having the 12ā€ screen allow for CarPlay side by side with Sync is really a dramatic improvement over CarPlay on Sync3 I had gotten used to in my wifeā€™s 2017 Explorer. The automatic start/stop is a little annoying at first but the weather has been cool and I can reach that button from the gear shifter in park. I would expect that will be more of an issue when it's hot and you need that AC compressor to stay turning. I prefer the volume knobs on the left side of the steering wheel in case my right hand is busy with a drink or something. Marine grave vinyl is really nice, Iā€™m very happy with it. The soft top is noisy like youā€™d expect but pretty well mannered below 70mph. Once you cross up to 80mph, then the noise is a bit intrusive. The 6-speaker audio is exactly what other folks described, clear but flat, and with very little mid to low. I MOSTLY use my speakers for listening to Podcasts, so Iā€™m not sure it bothers me all that much.

Driving: The 2.7L engine is taking some getting used to. We had traded my wifes 2017 Explorer towards a 2021 which has the 2.3L, and Iā€™ve gotten pretty used to that. The Bronco seems to aggressively short shift, but when youā€™re in a good zone that 2.7L pulls like a freight train and youā€™re moving faster than you realize. Road manners the Bronco is everything I expected, smooth ride from the IFS, and a little squishy with the Sasquatch wheels and HOSS suspension. I do find myself using the gear selector on the shifter to preemptively downshift. Iā€™m still on the first tank of gas, which I will keep a log of along the way as I refuel.


271.4Mi: First fart in the Bronco, it was a doozie.

274Mi: Installed BroncoDepotUSAā€™s matte black badges, and relocated my Badlands sticker to the tailgate, centered above the handle. Not sure Iā€™ll keep that sticker there. Also swapped the FM antenna with a shorty, and glad I did so since the factory one wobbles like crazy. Also installed the Bimini top from BesTop. Mostly happy with it but i do want to drop them a message on exactly what state it should be in to close the soft top over top of it. Bronco is at the dealer this morning to swap my driverā€™s side BLISS mirror with the one from their mannequin. Apparently this part is simply not available so theyā€™re doing me a solid on the swap.

Next mod in queue: I have 4 x Kicker 46CSC44 with 300Hz Bass Blockers, and 2 x 46CSC654 to install. I intend to swap the right side dash and rear pod first. Iā€™ll do a listening test before moving the balance from right to left a few times to get some clear impressions of this mod before finishing the left side to match. Once I have some quiet time in December Iā€™ll go through the effort of swapping the kick panel speakers.

Future mods: GoRhino D6 Steps, perhaps something from Baja Designs.

EDIT: Formatting, mostly.

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The gas is strong in this one Obiwan!
 
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JediMcMuffin

JediMcMuffin

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~1400Mi:
added security drawer, rough country tailgate table, and redline hood struts. The tailgate table isn't quite squared up, i think i'll be relocating it 2 inches to the right, it doesn't rattle. Sure would be nice if rough country would actually provide BRONCO directions instead of Jeep JK.

Ford Bronco McMuffin's Bronco Logbook 1635145507825


Ford Bronco McMuffin's Bronco Logbook 1635145551668
 

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Mike5681

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~2300 Miles: replaced my rock rails with GoRhino D6 slider steps. Very happy with this. As I unwrapped them I was worried they stuck out too far but they do seem to perfectly match the Sasquatch tire width and Iā€™m satisfied. I also noticed the OEM rock rails do not mount into the frame!

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These look nice. I'm considering these or the DS/DSS versions. Any thoughts on if these are true sliders or just beefy steps?
 
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JediMcMuffin

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These look nice. I'm considering these or the DS/DSS versions. Any thoughts on if these are true sliders or just beefy steps?
mostly just beefy steps. They can probably take a harder hit than the factory running boards but not much past that
 

broncoSJ

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What antenna did you purchase? thanks
 
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JediMcMuffin

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What antenna did you purchase? thanks
This one: https://www.cravenspeed.com/the-original-stubby-antenna-for-2021-2022-ford-bronco/

Wow I forgot to mention that entirely! It was a day one mod. I may swap back as I do listen to AM/FM Radio in bursts.

Also to note: I've been through a car wash in the soft top twice, it was not touchless but was pretty gentle. It does not appear to have left any scratches or haze on the soft top vinyl windows, but I think I'll go find a touchless going forward anyway.
 

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CJ1064

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This one: https://www.cravenspeed.com/the-original-stubby-antenna-for-2021-2022-ford-bronco/

Wow I forgot to mention that entirely! It was a day one mod. I may swap back as I do listen to AM/FM Radio in bursts.

Also to note: I've been through a car wash in the soft top twice, it was not touchless but was pretty gentle. It does not appear to have left any scratches or haze on the soft top vinyl windows, but I think I'll go find a touchless going forward anyway.
So does this antenna not let you listen to AM/FM or is the receptions not that good ?
 

Essmith94

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So does this antenna not let you listen to AM/FM or is the receptions not that good ?
It will pick up the stronger stations but if you listen to a lot of FM then the factory antenna is better IMO.
 

Patriotic

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~1400Mi:
added security drawer, rough country tailgate table, and redline hood struts. The tailgate table isn't quite squared up, i think i'll be relocating it 2 inches to the right, it doesn't rattle. Sure would be nice if rough country would actually provide BRONCO directions instead of Jeep JK.

Ford Bronco McMuffin's Bronco Logbook 1635145551668


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Question about the security drawer - installed, can a Golden Retriever stand up on it without bumping her head?
 
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JediMcMuffin

JediMcMuffin

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Question about the security drawer - installed, can a Golden Retriever stand up on it without bumping her head?
The security drawer adds 8.25" to the bottom of the floor, and the lip of it is 8.75". With the soft top in the normal position, the space between the security drawer and the bottom of the soft top is about 12" and if you pivot it up that comes to about 24". This dashes all hop of transporting a pinball machine for me, at least while the security drawer is installed.

I don't have a hardtop to measure the distance from the top of the security drawer to the roof, but I estimate it to be about 31-32". So unless it's an exceptionally tall golden I would think you'd be good, but they'd definitely have to squeeze to get in and out of a soft top.
 
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JediMcMuffin

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Revising my participation on B6G
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