Have to say that was a bit painful to watch, but you did a great job considering the challenges.Also of interest to some is the 7-speed manual transmission, and how it handles working through rock gardens like these. I'll admit I prefer an auto. I find them much easier to control, especially on slippery rocks like these where, without much traction and lack of lockers, you're often using momentum more than crawling. So it gets a bit herky-jerky at times. I suppose to some it probably looks like a continuous wreck as I crash it through those rocks. It does look that way but most of that was intentional, and for the most part it usually went where I was trying to get it to go.
Yeah that is where the 2.3 will suffer when you need the power down low (almost all situations but sand & mud). Add the manual and like you said you have to wind up the motor & feather in the clutch which always increase the chances of breakage, especially with a lot of wheel spin.The 2.3L engine has been both praised and panned in these pages. But I continue to be impressed with it, and I have other 4X4's with fire-breathing V8's. It has plenty of power, even to turn those 35's. It can pull the weight of the Bronco up any grade it can get enough traction on. But the power doesn't come right off-idle. It's a bit higher in the RPM band. Sometimes you'll see in the video as I wind it up a bit before dropping the hammer. Which also contributes a bit to the jerky-ness of working through rocks like these. But the power is there, and I'm getting better at learning how to use it. By the way, the Crawl gear of the 7-speed works well in concert with the 2.3L, as it lets you get up into that power band at lower speeds.
While I can appreciate the challenge you took on and pretty much made it out of there unscathed is pretty impressive, I think a lot of people don't understand that by having a more capable rig (lockers tires etc..) It helps preserve the both the equipment and the trail.
Great write up Dusty.
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