Photos/Thoughts after Moab today

[elmystico]

I actually liked the 4Wheel part bumpers better, the ARB seemed really bulky and out of place. The ARB rock rails looked like a good option if you weren't needing a step.

EVERY vendor winked and nodded when asked about upcoming Bronco parts. Prepare to be overwhelmed...

It will be really interesting to see who has actual stock to fulfill orders and when. I don't doubt there will be a ton of options someday. But will ARB have hundreds of bumpers in 2021? Thousands? Will 4WP have tens of thousands of fender delete kits? People are gonna swallow those up from the minute they hit shelves, I bet before they even have their Broncos.

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[chtucker]

It will be really interesting to see who has actual stock to fulfill orders and when. I don't doubt there will be a ton of options someday. But will ARB have hundreds of bumpers in 2021? Thousands? Will 4WP have tens of thousands of fender delete kits? People are gonna swallow those up from the minute they hit shelves, I bet before they even have their Broncos.

I know Warn is struggling to keep up with current demand, let alone Bronco demand.

 

[NurseA.J]

I got the call and the reservation so I went down to Moab. I got there kind of early, so I got a chance to see some of the accessories from ARB, 4WP, and RTR. Also since I was there early, they asked me if I wanted to spend an hour out driving the Bronco Sport on the trails, which was actually quite fun. I was really surprised at the "Baby Bronco" but the main course was definitely the full sized.

Some of these notes are based on driving the Sport, but should carry over to the full size, as well...

1. You can lock the front axle without locking the rear axle. This was really great for climbing, but where it really shone was when he turned on trail turn assist with the front axle locked. The Bronco was making tank turns around the rear wheel. It was much better than I expected. I was impressed.

2. As I understand it, the front sway bar locks when the hydraulic fluid is dammed off. I could be wrong, but it sounds that way to me. Disconnecting the sway bar lets the fluid flow and the pressure on the hydraulic fluid seems to make it still give some damping even when disconnected. In other words, when I'd disconnect the sway bar on my Wrangler, it would get squirrelly. The Bronco, not at all. It was still really stable side to side but didn't make my head bounce back and forth once the bar was disconnected. It was a good thing.

3. The GOAT modes make a lot of changes, it's actually pretty substantial. It's not a gimmick. I definitely felt the difference in the Sport when I switched from Normal to Sand or Normal to Sport, and Eco kind of sucked actually. I won't use that.

4. The way the lane assist worked surprised me at first and then I started really playing with it. About that time, the leader for our group called on the radio to talk about it. I called back and laughed that he must have been watching me drive all over the road like I was drunk in his rearview. It wasn't that kind of jarring sort of thing, but just a gentle nudge. I suspect you could put on the lane assist, set cruise control and play a game of cribbage while the thing drives itself.

5. Trail assist and single foot drive mode are sort of opposite. Trail assist, you set a speed you want to maintain and the Bronco does it. 1 MPH, not a problem. 15 MPH, fine. I think it is up to 20, but not sure. Single foot was cool - we turned on the wheel cameras, drove up on a rock, let off the gas and the Bronco stopped immediately on top of the rock. Then just eased down the rock again. Very cool.

6. With the top off, the trail camera was hard to see. The screen is glossy and gets quite a bit of glare, might be able to be fixed using brightness settings...

I was in a 2 door Bronco and the top was open. We didn't get dusted out or anything, even driving fast over sand. I agree with other posters, the top was rattling behind me. I felt like it was loose or something. I suspect it'll be fixed in production models or could easily be fixed with weatherstripping. Maybe I have low expectations of those things because I have had something like 5 Jeeps at various times...

Some photos:

ARB has many groovy things for the Bronco. I particularly liked the rock sliders and the front bumper. They said they are about to have a front bumper with a winch mount that doesn't cover the trail camera... I will admit to being slightly a fanboy to ARB but they have always really done me right.

I liked this rack from 4WP - that's a tent on top of it. I need a tent.

Seriously, if I have a rack with a soft top, I don't see a reason to need a hard top any time soon.

This is pretty much exactly my build except I've changed the color to cactus grey - until I changed the color, this was exactly my build. I asked if they'd just let me take it home to take work off the factory, but they told me no.

This is the one I rode in

And this is me, well it's a Bronco, I just photobombed it.

Found this guy sitting around lonely in Moab so figured I'd stop and visit:

Wow. These pics are fantastic!!! Thank you!!!

 

[Elmosaurus]

Thank you so much for sharing!

That sounded like an awesome experience!

 

[slacker4wheel]

HAVE TO OMIT THE MORE I SEE AREA 51 IN REAL TIME PHOTOS I"M GLAD THAT I DID NOT ORDER THAT COLOR. BUT THATS MY OPINION. TO EACH HIS OWN. HOPE ALL HAVE FUN WITH THEIR NEW RIDES

 

[Ryuk]

 

[DenverBronc]

Does anyone know if you can still check out the vehicles tomorrow (Saturday, 4/3) in Moab even if I am not currently scheduled for a ride along? I've got an email out to Bronco Ride Concierge about this but if anyone knows offhand I'd appreciate it. I know Bronco Nation is still out there through tomorrow night but the original Dixie Offroad Expo which is hosting them ended on Wednesday so I am a little confused about the access that "walk-up" folks will have to the vehicles. Just to make sure I'll be able to see some parked Broncos if I make the drive out there tomorrow morning from Denver. Based on the pics in this thread I should at least be able to see the Filson edition!

 

[ChrisD]

They said they would be there "until Saturday," which I think means through today. Hopefully, you're already on the road, though - I just saw this... Good luck!

 

[DenverBronc]

They said they would be there "until Saturday," which I think means through today. Hopefully, you're already on the road, though - I just saw this... Good luck!

Haha thanks! And yep, they were still out behind Dixie 4x4 until 4pm today. I rolled up about 3:30pm and not only got to see the Filson and the Ford Performance customized rapid red Outer Banks with the matte black hood, but I also got to go on a last minute ride along in a lightning blue First Edition two door, driven by the inimitable Jason Hutter. It was incredible. I can honestly say that these vehicles live up to the hype. The stoke is real my friends, the stoke is real.

Fun little anecdote, we momentarily got stuck in the ultra fine sand south of Moab during the trail turn assist demonstration. We were all having a banging ride thanks to Jason's driving, and then there was this brief moment of haha oh shoot, we're buried up to the frame in this sand and we're actually gonna need to get pulled out. Bunch of Jeeps and other vehicles around. Kind of embarrassing right? But no! Before anyone from the Bronco team could get to our rig to assist, Jason expertly popped the First Edition out of Baja mode and into Rock mode, locked both diffs, slowly reversed, and barely turned the steering wheel (which had previously been in the straight position) to the right to get increasingly more register with the sand. Slowly, slowly, then bam, we were back in business! I learned that it doesn't count as getting stuck if no one assists with the extraction and no one exits the vehicle before it gets unstuck...which in our case no one did. Anyway, an amazing display of technology and just a really fun off road experience altogether. I'm a skeptic by nature and I must say Ford truly appears to have knocked it out of the park with these things from a technology and design standpoint. And Jeep is already answering the call. The 392 is sick and we're entering an exciting time for off road enthusiasts. I was elated to see the Broncos in Moab but as you can imagine there was a TON of Jeep eye candy in town today as well.

FWIW, I'm 5'10" and the Sasquatch height wasn't off-putting at all. It's as big as people say in terms of having a presence and an aggressive stance, but not like a full size truck. More like if you made a rectangular solid outline around a 4runner and then filled up a little more of the volume. It's just such a unique shape compared to other vehicles. I also stood next to a Badlands on 33s and it felt and looked equally tall in person compared with the Squatch. 33s on a four door look svelte and capable as heck, and based on what I heard from the drivers, there is no discernible difference in capability. The biggest difference is that those Goodyear 35s are thicc!

 

[swooshdave]

The first person who combines a Cap Lock button with a spell check will make billion dollars.

 

[11Bronco1776]

Haha thanks! And yep, they were still out behind Dixie 4x4 until 4pm today. I rolled up about 3:30pm and not only got to see the Filson and the Ford Performance customized rapid red Outer Banks with the matte black hood, but I also got to go on a last minute ride along in a lightning blue First Edition two door, driven by the inimitable Jason Hutter. It was incredible. I can honestly say that these vehicles live up to the hype. The stoke is real my friends, the stoke is real.

Fun little anecdote, we momentarily got stuck in the ultra fine sand south of Moab during the trail turn assist demonstration. We were all having a banging ride thanks to Jason's driving, and then there was this brief moment of haha oh shoot, we're buried up to the frame in this sand and we're actually gonna need to get pulled out. Bunch of Jeeps and other vehicles around. Kind of embarrassing right? But no! Before anyone from the Bronco team could get to our rig to assist, Jason expertly popped the First Edition out of Baja mode and into Rock mode, locked both diffs, slowly reversed, and barely turned the steering wheel (which had previously been in the straight position) to the right to get increasingly more register with the sand. Slowly, slowly, then bam, we were back in business! I learned that it doesn't count as getting stuck if no one assists with the extraction and no one exits the vehicle before it gets unstuck...which in our case no one did. Anyway, an amazing display of technology and just a really fun off road experience altogether. I'm a skeptic by nature and I must say Ford truly appears to have knocked it out of the park with these things from a technology and design standpoint. And Jeep is already answering the call. The 392 is sick and we're entering an exciting time for off road enthusiasts. I was elated to see the Broncos in Moab but as you can imagine there was a TON of Jeep eye candy in town today as well.

FWIW, I'm 5'10" and the Sasquatch height wasn't off-putting at all. It's as big as people say in terms of having a presence and an aggressive stance, but not like a full size truck. More like if you made a rectangular solid outline around a 4runner and then filled up a little more of the volume. It's just such a unique shape compared to other vehicles. I also stood next to a Badlands on 33s and it felt and looked equally tall in person compared with the Squatch. 33s on a four door look svelte and capable as heck, and based on what I heard from the drivers, there is no discernible difference in capability. The biggest difference is that those Goodyear 35s are thicc!

Thanks for sharing. Glad you made it out there. Sounds like some great last minute experiences.

 

[swooshdave]

I got the call and the reservation so I went down to Moab. I got there kind of early, so I got a chance to see some of the accessories from ARB, 4WP, and RTR. Also since I was there early, they asked me if I wanted to spend an hour out driving the Bronco Sport on the trails, which was actually quite fun. I was really surprised at the "Baby Bronco" but the main course was definitely the full sized.

Some of these notes are based on driving the Sport, but should carry over to the full size, as well...

1. You can lock the front axle without locking the rear axle. This was really great for climbing, but where it really shone was when he turned on trail turn assist with the front axle locked. The Bronco was making tank turns around the rear wheel. It was much better than I expected. I was impressed.

2. As I understand it, the front sway bar locks when the hydraulic fluid is dammed off. I could be wrong, but it sounds that way to me. Disconnecting the sway bar lets the fluid flow and the pressure on the hydraulic fluid seems to make it still give some damping even when disconnected. In other words, when I'd disconnect the sway bar on my Wrangler, it would get squirrelly. The Bronco, not at all. It was still really stable side to side but didn't make my head bounce back and forth once the bar was disconnected. It was a good thing.

3. The GOAT modes make a lot of changes, it's actually pretty substantial. It's not a gimmick. I definitely felt the difference in the Sport when I switched from Normal to Sand or Normal to Sport, and Eco kind of sucked actually. I won't use that.

4. The way the lane assist worked surprised me at first and then I started really playing with it. About that time, the leader for our group called on the radio to talk about it. I called back and laughed that he must have been watching me drive all over the road like I was drunk in his rearview. It wasn't that kind of jarring sort of thing, but just a gentle nudge. I suspect you could put on the lane assist, set cruise control and play a game of cribbage while the thing drives itself.

5. Trail assist and single foot drive mode are sort of opposite. Trail assist, you set a speed you want to maintain and the Bronco does it. 1 MPH, not a problem. 15 MPH, fine. I think it is up to 20, but not sure. Single foot was cool - we turned on the wheel cameras, drove up on a rock, let off the gas and the Bronco stopped immediately on top of the rock. Then just eased down the rock again. Very cool.

6. With the top off, the trail camera was hard to see. The screen is glossy and gets quite a bit of glare, might be able to be fixed using brightness settings...

I was in a 2 door Bronco and the top was open. We didn't get dusted out or anything, even driving fast over sand. I agree with other posters, the top was rattling behind me. I felt like it was loose or something. I suspect it'll be fixed in production models or could easily be fixed with weatherstripping. Maybe I have low expectations of those things because I have had something like 5 Jeeps at various times...

Some photos:

ARB has many groovy things for the Bronco. I particularly liked the rock sliders and the front bumper. They said they are about to have a front bumper with a winch mount that doesn't cover the trail camera... I will admit to being slightly a fanboy to ARB but they have always really done me right.

I liked this rack from 4WP - that's a tent on top of it. I need a tent.

Seriously, if I have a rack with a soft top, I don't see a reason to need a hard top any time soon.

This is pretty much exactly my build except I've changed the color to cactus grey - until I changed the color, this was exactly my build. I asked if they'd just let me take it home to take work off the factory, but they told me no.

This is the one I rode in

And this is me, well it's a Bronco, I just photobombed it.

Found this guy sitting around lonely in Moab so figured I'd stop and visit:

Please make more stuff. I loved the genuine feeling you got during the test ride. You embodied the excitement we're all feeling! Thank you!

 

[JesseS]

Awesome write up and photo's thanks! As far as the glare on the screen goes there will be plenty of matt finish anti-glare screen protectors available to fix that. I could just cut down a spare laptop one to fit.

 

[Cased]

Thanks for the write up's to both of you

Any feeling towards the shorter wheelbase 2 dr. bucking more in the whoop section's than a 4 dr. ?

I know it would be better to ride in both

 

[DenverBronc]

Thanks for the write up's to both of you

Any feeling towards the shorter wheelbase 2 dr. bucking more in the whoop section's than a 4 dr. ?

I know it would be better to ride in both

I don't have a ton of experience riding in two door Wranglers, so I can't compare the Bronco two door feel to a Wrangler two door feel or even to a Bronco four door feel, but yes, compared to my four door Cherokee there was definitely a heightened "hold on to your butts" factor going over the whoops. The vehicle handled them beautifully though and the compression in the shocks was never jarring or anything like that. If anything the shorter frame probably just upped the fun factor in that circumstance.

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