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Will the base bronco be enough for me?

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If I could get just a rear locker, I would not squatch it...
This is the one thing I would add to the base if it was available, just a rear locker. But I’m not willing to spend 5K more just for the option to get one in the big bend trim, and I know I’ll never get close to letting a Sasquatch stretch it’s legs the way it should, so I don’t want that either. Hopefully that traction control gets the job done.
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This is the one thing I would add to the base if it was available, just a rear locker. But I’m not willing to spend 5K more just for the option to get one in the big bend trim, and I know I’ll never get close to letting a Sasquatch stretch it’s legs the way it should, so I don’t want that either. Hopefully that traction control gets the job done.
Yeah, I'm in snow country, buried an F250 with posi rear, not wanting that mile and 1/2 walk again...
 

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Are we pretty confident that Base will run 33" tires without any suspension mods required?
 
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Are we pretty confident that Base will run 33" tires without any suspension mods required?
This is something else I can’t wrap my head around. From what I’ve seen on this forum, numerically higher gear ratios = ability to put on larger tires. I just don’t know the “scale”. But the M/T has 4.46 gears, and plenty of space in the wheel Wells by the looks of it. Maybe someone with more knowledge will know for sure
 

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Wellllll...... I see your point, especially for those that will BASH them, but the Ranger bumpers I saw tonight were $1k to $2k+ or so ... for just the bumper. Bash plates were extra.
I can't help but think that even factory steels will hold up a lot better than plastic given anything beyond a slight rub ....for 895 bucks.

I'll re-phrase that as the factory steelies will work for about 98% or more of the buyers whose hardest rub will be pushing the errant shopping cart into the curb at the Shady Oaks Mega-Shopping Plaza.

Fucking lazy ass Karens can't even be bothered to return their own carts.....???
 

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Are we pretty confident that Base will run 33" tires without any suspension mods required?
I am pretty confident that they will fit. Just a guess, but as far as I can tell, zero difference between Base, BB & BD suspensions ....Big Bend factory tires will only be about 1/2" smaller than the 285 Badlands "33's" .... 32.1" vs 32.7" ....that's 1/4" per side.

This is something else I can’t wrap my head around. From what I’ve seen on this forum, numerically higher gear ratios = ability to put on larger tires. I just don’t know the “scale”. But the M/T has 4.46 gears, and plenty of space in the wheel Wells by the looks of it. Maybe someone with more knowledge will know for sure
Here's a gear calculator that will compare the RPM's.
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

MY greatest concern would be the speedo correction. Used to be the speedo was fed tire rotation info from the antilock brake system, all they had to do was enter the new "rotations per mile" stat from the given tire size ...and presto!!! Corrected speedo.
I've heard rumors it is no longer that easy...or at least Ford will not do it.
 

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You’ll be fine as long as you don’t try to follow a set of 35’s through a mud bog (AZ?). We wheeled with much less back in the day. It will help to have larger ground clearances in some cases. Just keep the limitations in mind and you’ll be find. Plus, the base comes with recovery points as the rest do!
What are recovery points ??
 

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Base.... 255/70-16 = 30.1 x 10
Bg Bnd 255/75-17 = 32.1 x 10
Blk Dmd 265/70-17 = 31.6 x 10.4
Bad Lnds 285/70-17= 32.7 x 11.2
Squantch 315/70-17 = 34.4 x 12.4

Yes, Big Bend tires are actually taller than the offroad Jr's (Blk Dmnd) tires. A whopping half inch, but BD tires are a bit wider.

Me : Looking at extremly limited tires in 16" wheels .... https://tiresize.com/chart/
255/85-16 .... 33.1 x 10
295/75-16 .... 33.4 x 11.6
285/75-16 .... 32.8 x 11.2.... lot of choices here
305/70-16 .... 32.8 x 12 .... ok selection
 

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Dick_Castlesmurff

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Now that I think about it, its worth mentioning that a big part of what made the 88 Bronco II so capable for me was the fact that I didn't care if I bashed it up. That will be the limiting factor to any trim of new Bronco -- how willing the driver is to attempt obstacles.


I took a stock 1988 Bronco II through hell and back, and the Base is 100% more capable than that. With that said if you want to do any serious off-roading you'll need better tires pretty much off the bat. If you really get into off-roading the next step would probably be a lift and even better tires yet, and then adding lockers... and a winch somewhere in there....

On the 2d I think the 2.3L will do great.

If you go Base I'd recommend adding the aux switches, that way you could cleanly wire in any aftermarket items.

If base/mt/sas wasn't 22MY I'd go that route, because the value is awesome (currently) but since it is I'm just going BL.
 

69351windsor

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Skid plates is a good point, I may add that even for road driving out here in AZ. Our freeways are good but rural roads are absolutely shit.

What do you guys make of the rear shocks being mounted so low? I guess they are so close to the tire they might not hit on anything, but is there any protection for that? Ripping a shock off on a rock and snapping everything connected to it would ruin anyone’s day!
You got that right! :LOL: with the wash-outs & flash flooding especially during monsoon present a fairly challenging 4WD experience in itself (rural White Mountains, Payson etc) , we daily drive 2WD Chevy work trucks up into some really rough areas & we haven't got stuck yet. I'm confident the Base will tackle any of it.
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