Sold my Bronco...thanks for all the collective knowledge on this forum!

[broncorik]

Nice FJ! Mine has a 351 as well, although a little more rustic. We call her Patina Turner, and she ain't perfect, but that's what I want for a rig that I can knock around in the woods. To be honest though, the FJ hasn't been out much since we got the Bronco 2 years ago. The stock badlands non-squatch just has done everything so great, the wife and baby are comfy and flat tows so nice behind the RV, (I wanted to wheel it for a season stock before I modify it), that we're really toying with the Idea of letting Patina go.

A beast! Like yours, my Bronco did really well off-road...and I was reluctant to make the move to the FJ had it not been for the upgrades that make my FJ drivable at 70 mph on the freeway I wouldn't have. The PSC steering box and the ram assist make one finger driving possible, and the steering setup with the tie rod over the springs eliminates bump steer. The prior owner also had the entire top refinished, with a complete headliner and all new window stripping around the windows (so it is less noisy than a soft top/no top...still not Bronco quiet). I may have gotten too fixated on the negatives on the forums, even though I realize that usually the people who are satisfied with what they have don't often dwell in a forum setting (like people who had something bad happen)...but I know I got nervous every time I hopped in the Bronco and wondered if I was going to drop a valve (because my build was smack in that time frame with people having grenaded engines). I think if somebody got a Bronco that wasn't in that danger zone and that has thus far been solid then they shouldn't have any issues and hopefully their Broncos will last for many tens of thousands of miles (if not hundreds). Even so, although the twin turbos gave me pretty decent fuel efficiency and smooth performance, I still lean toward naturally aspirated for longevity.

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[etmccaus86]

I think anyone can buy personal user access...but I think Ford can limit access to their employee accounts. Much like my work Microsoft 365 account...when I have it installed on a computer that leaves the building it can be not only monitored but remotely controlled. My neighbor would have been all too happy for me to pay him a fraction of what the dealership would have charged to install something but he had to pass because he can't even do his own programming at home. Or perhaps I got mixed up and it's not just the FDRS but instead it's the other thing they have to log into with an employee ID number so that if the Ford Tune was installed it logged it into the warranty database.

Ah.

Still think this was blown out of proportion. Initial tool cost ($150 or so for a generic J2534 device, which can also be used on other vehicles and for FORSCAN purposes) and $50 for a 48-hr session, which is more than sufficient for most tasks. Not horrific. But YMMV.

 

[broncorik]

Ah.

Still think this was blown out of proportion. Initial tool cost ($150 or so for a generic J2534 device) and $50 for a 48-hr session, which is more than sufficient for most tasks. Not horrific. But YMMV.g

Not my intent to blow anything out of proportion...just sharing my thoughts. For rack programming, had I have decided to use a donor VIN and install the 3.0 rack, I could have gone the self-FDRS access direction you shared but then the issue would have been that my rack would not have been covered by a warranty.

For the Ford Performance Tune, (because I'm not a Ford employee) had I have installed the Ford Performance tune it too would not have been warrantied (I had to have Galpin Ford Performance do it...my local dealer doesn't even install them).

I guess my point is that even though I'm a mechanic there were just a lot of things I was unable to do on my own purchased vehicle (because in order to maintain a warranty I would have had to have paid Ford to wrench). I'm just not used to that level of hurdles to do things that mechanically are easy to do. On the bright side the Bronco is a much more sophisticated vehicle than the primitive one I own now, and had I had simply left the Bronco primarily stock I would never have had the concerns I had. I like to upgrade certain things, but I found myself somewhat limited to do so. If I didn't care about the warranty, I would have simply installed the Ford tune on my own from the comfort of my own garage.

Even if I didn't care about the warranty stuff, some of the folks on this forum with far more experience tweaking the Ford electrical nuances than I would like get have indicated they ran into some issues that arose after they installed their 3.0 racks. I'm not complaining, however, because with a new vehicle there are always bound to be some growing pains or realizations. For me personally, I just feel slightly more comfortable with a steering setup like the PSC system...even though the Bronco setup in stock form does what it's supposed to do really well in terms of driving comfort and stability...and things like user-adjustable injection settings/etc. In hindsight, I suspect that had I have just wheeled as I had been wheeling that my 2.0 rack and the Ford performance tie rods would have probably lasted for quite some time...but then again some folks even with stock Sasquatch trim and 35s indicated there were some early wear in their racks (without even wheeling that hard) which is what concerned me. It was just a combination of things for me that led me to even consider selling my cherished Bronco. Another issue occurred when the buyer came to drive my Bronco away and she took the parking brake off and the car shut off and didn't want to start until I had to go through several minutes of fumbling with the fobs and shutting the car completely off and so forth...and another electrical issue occurred when I was wheeling and one wheel was up in the air (spinning at a different speed than the other three) and the Ford electrical nanny immediately reconnected my sway bar...and then I lost access to many of the off-road bells and whistles features so I had to drive back over some pretty wonky sections of trail with no access to any of my touted off-road features. Again, not complaining, and I imagine Ford has since then done some kind of software update that allows a driver to have one or more wheels in the air while the others are planted and to maintain all the features necessary for wheeling. It was just times like that when I wished I had a simple lever to make my transfer case do whatever I needed it to do and some locking hubs that I could manually turn instead of having the convenience of fly-by-wire controls that could easily have left me stranded. On the upside, about 15 minutes after I got back to the paved roads by features gradually returned and I had a smooth ride back to camp...so there's that. Hopefully with the upcoming innovations of software/OTA updates all the Broncos will remain ready for duty with no glitches.

 

[etmccaus86]

Not my intent to blow anything out of proportion...just sharing my thoughts. For rack programming, had I have decided to use a donor VIN and install the 3.0 rack, I could have gone the self-FDRS access direction you shared but then the issue would have been that my rack would not have been covered by a warranty.

For the Ford Performance Tune, (because I'm not a Ford employee) had I have installed the Ford Performance tune it too would not have been warrantied (I had to have Galpin Ford Performance do it...my local dealer doesn't even install them).

I guess my point is that even though I'm a mechanic there were just a lot of things I was unable to do on my own purchased vehicle (because in order to maintain a warranty I would have had to have paid Ford to wrench). I'm just not used to that level of hurdles to do things that mechanically are easy to do. On the bright side the Bronco is a much more sophisticated vehicle than the primitive one I own now, and had I had simply left the Bronco primarily stock I would never have had the concerns I had. I like to upgrade certain things, but I found myself somewhat limited to do so. If I didn't care about the warranty, I would have simply installed the Ford tune on my own from the comfort of my own garage.

Even if I didn't care about the warranty stuff, some of the folks on this forum with far more experience tweaking the Ford electrical nuances than I would like get have indicated they ran into some issues that arose after they installed their 3.0 racks. I'm not complaining, however, because with a new vehicle there are always bound to be some growing pains or realizations. For me personally, I just feel slightly more comfortable with a steering setup like the PSC system...even though the Bronco setup in stock form does what it's supposed to do really well in terms of driving comfort and stability...and things like user-adjustable injection settings/etc. In hindsight, I suspect that had I have just wheeled as I had been wheeling that my 2.0 rack and the Ford performance tie rods would have probably lasted for quite some time...but then again some folks even with stock Sasquatch trim and 35s indicated there were some early wear in their racks (without even wheeling that hard) which is what concerned me. It was just a combination of things for me that led me to even consider selling my cherished Bronco. Another issue occurred when the buyer came to drive my Bronco away and she took the parking brake off and the car shut off and didn't want to start until I had to go through several minutes of fumbling with the fobs and shutting the car completely off and so forth...and another electrical issue occurred when I was wheeling and one wheel was up in the air (spinning at a different speed than the other three) and the Ford electrical nanny immediately reconnected my sway bar...and then I lost access to many of the off-road bells and whistles features so I had to drive back over some pretty wonky sections of trail with no access to any of my touted off-road features. Again, not complaining, and I imagine Ford has since then done some kind of software update that allows a driver to have one or more wheels in the air while the others are planted and to maintain all the features necessary for wheeling. It was just times like that when I wished I had a simple lever to make my transfer case do whatever I needed it to do and some locking hubs that I could manually turn instead of having the convenience of fly-by-wire controls that could easily have left me stranded. On the upside, about 15 minutes after I got back to the paved roads by features gradually returned and I had a smooth ride back to camp...so there's that. Hopefully with the upcoming innovations of software/OTA updates all the Broncos will remain ready for duty with no glitches.

Sure sounds like a non-new/ non-modern vehicle without a warranty is much more your speed. Enjoy.

 

[Danh63]

I loved those old Toyota's! you sure don't see many of them anymore.

 

[0ne]

@broncorik how many quarts of oil does the FJ take and what dipstick does it have?

 

[broncorik]

Ha! Interestingly enough, this one actually DOES take 7...and if anybody's interested I have two collector dipsticks available...the OEM dipstick that led me down the rabbit hole and the short-lived 3.0 dipstick that correctly read the incorrect oil amount. Free! Thanks for the memories...

 

[wanna1]

Hey folks! I just sold my Bronco last week...I really did enjoy it, and all of the knowledge I've gained from this forum help me sort out a lot of things on that Bronco.

I love your new ride & am sure you'll enjoy it for years to come !!!
Thanks for your help answering questions on the forum and on phone calls. You helped me get my BRaptor in order.

 

[broncorik]

I love your new ride & am sure you'll enjoy it for years to come !!!
Thanks for your help answering questions on the forum and on phone calls. You helped me get my BRaptor in order.

Your Raptor is an epic ride indeed! Does it fit in your garage with the rack? I thought the FJ was going to fit but then realized I had to air down to make that happen...

 

[Owl]

You'll be back.....

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

The prior owner did things right IMHO...he is an engineer, nearly 70 years young and he just wasn't using it much (it just lived in garage). He has receipts for the engine build (almost 30k), the fuel injection (8k), vintage AC/heat, PSC steering box and ram assist, on board air, ARB lockers, 29.5 gallon fuel tank with sump and fuel mat, professionally fabricated spring overs with anti-wrap rocker bar, tuned leaf packs, front and rear winches, tig welded radiator shroud with dual fans, cage, Orion t-case...he said 100k went into the build. It definitely feels a lot more primitive than the Bronco did, but when I fire it up I feel like Lane in the movie Better Off Dead (for those of us geezers who remember that movie) when he fired up his Camaro:

Nice new to you FJ, but you type about easier to fix, yet I see not 1, but 2 Range Rovers in your driveway? Well, ok.

Know you said you’re a mechanic, but parts easy to get and then fix doesn’t begin to describe a RR.

 

[broncorik]

Nice new to you FJ, but you type about easier to fix, yet I see not 1, but 2 Range Rovers in your driveway? Well, ok.

Know you said you’re a mechanic, but parts easy to get and then fix doesn’t begin to describe a RR.

That was the driveway of the guy I bought it from...I think he has a range Rover or Land Rover and a Ford something or other for his wife. I had an LR3, and yes those are a pain in the ass and even at cost parts were stupid expensive. The other car that lives in my garage is a 4Runner and then I have easy to tow Chevy Spark for my current behind the RV towed vehicle.

 

[wanna1]

It fits as long as I have the Roam boxes off.

 

[broncorik]

That was the driveway of the guy I bought it from...I think he has a range Rover or Land Rover and a Ford something or other for his wife. I had an LR3, and yes those are a pain in the ass and even at cost parts were stupid expensive. The other car that lives in my garage is a 4Runner and then I have easy to tow Chevy Spark for my current behind the RV towed vehicle.

I'm more from the other side of the tracks... I'm envious of that guy's driveway and garage because his garage door is about four inches taller than mine. I had to air down to even get the monster in my old school garage...

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