Modified Bronco Wildtrak vs Jeep Banana (XJ) Off-Road Comparison Test

[MLRey]

Modestly modified Bronco vs highly modified Jeep XJ "The Banana".

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[TheKim]

Their Sunday morning uploads are my favorite -

Perfect to listen to while cooking Sunday breakfast.

This should be interesting...

 

[BigFootie]

I was wincing the whole time the Bronco was going up triple 7. Not too much carnage. Good thing that plastic rear bumper was coming off anyways!

I suppose it’s easier knowing you have a Robbie Layton at your disposal!

 

[JerryC]

I was surprised to see the "trail armor" on the fender actually work and worth having.

The Bronco did really well.

 

[Richterman]

nice to see the Bronco hold its own against it

 

[MWILD]

But, but…Wildtracks can’t rock crawl…

 

[Scott R Nelson]

It was interesting watching a Bronco go through a level 8 trail. I'm unwilling to do more than a 4 in my Bronco. You WILL scrape stuff up on a trail like that.

 

[scotman623]

Great video.

 

[P52Ranch]

The only thing that made me cringe was when Jefe said that he had been getting driving tips from Tyler of Bronc Buster.

They’ve already broken a CV with their lift mods.

 

[da_jokker]

Yeah Matt didn't score it right. Personally I think the gap in performance of the Bronco in the sand is much larger that the gap of the Banana in the Rocks.

It's not like the Bronco didn't make it. So what if it lifted a tire....I lifted tires all the time at the off Rodeo...Bronco does "the wave" really well.

 

[Broncotrax]

Matt also said that the front camera was helping Jefe' cheat, Well all things considered, The trail banana is very far from stock. I feel like the Bronco done excellent in the comparison to a purpose built unit.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Yeah Matt didn't score it right.

They've never been great at scoring things. Go watch the Wrecker Games videos for examples of that.

It doesn't bother me one bit that the Bronco didn't "win". Much more important that it did well, which it did.

 

[Dusty]

Another fun video from them. I think Jefe did great in the Bronco, but it was abundantly clear that the solid axle super-flexy XJ was far superior in the rocks (about commensurate with the Bronco being far superior in the sand chute). And when Jefe took a spot but still couldn't make the obstacle (that the XJ walked right through) and had to take the bypass, I thought they should have docked the Bronco more than just the -1 for taking a spot. That said, Jefe and the Bronco made it through WAY more than almost everybody thought an IFS, non-V8 Bronco would be able to do, back when these things were first revealed.

 

[dave91gt]

The YouTube comments on the video were surprisingly pro-Bronco last time I looked. I've followed MORR for years and love their content. The Bronco didn't get much coverage as it wasn't one of their dedicated recovery vehicles. But since the sand chute video where the Bronco basically blasted up a hill that was otherwise challenging for everything else there, it seems they NEEDED to bring it to the spotlight some. It garnered quite a bit of attention and curiosity from the viewers. So, I am not shocked he had to address it (made good content). The BANANA is a dedicated creation from his team. Its purpose built for the type of recoveries they do. To see the Bronco compared to it is a compliment, I think. Considering it is a basic bolt-on Bronco, I'd say it more than held its own. As much as I love Ford and the Bronco, the XJ was built to be abused day in and day out pulling vehicles twice its weight. Hence the stroker motor, axles, custom lift, etc. There's also another video out from Rory (?) and TrailMater recovering a Gladiator from Mickeys Hot Tub I believe it's called. It snapped a U-joint and the entire spindle ejected itself and the front tire ended up in front of the bumper. So, it goes to show even a solid axle rig can experience breakage when pushed beyond its limits. The offroad community seems to be warming up to the Bronco deserving to be in the space only Jeep occupied for so long. Slowly but surely.

 

[vrtical]

Pretty impressive with no disco and now he can put a real bumper on it.

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