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Thoughts on upgrading?


Marty86

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Aug 1, 2008
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Location
Fort Worth, TX
Vehicle Year
1988
Vehicle
Bronco II
Suspension Style
4wd
I've owned several 80s/90s Bronco's/Bronco II/f150's, and I'm working on reviving the old BII on the family land right now. I tend to like these older vehicles but I put my $100 down for the new Bronco.

Has anyone seen one in person? Is it just a Jeep with Ford badging? Are we going to see these trucks last 20, 30, 40 years old the ones I've been driving most of my life? They certainly have sent BII and full-size Bronco prices through the roof, so I have to think some Ford owners are trying to get a good down payment for these things.

Just curious what other long-term Bronco fans think.
 


wildbill23c

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Location
Emmett, Idaho
Vehicle Year
1988
Vehicle
Ford Bronco II
Engine Size
2.9L V6
Suspension Style
4wd
My credo
19K, 19D, 92Y, 91F
As far as longevity, I doubt they'll last 20+ years, at least not with the stock drivetrain. Body might last depending on where you live and how prone you are to hitting everything you possibly can with your vehicles.

No they're not a Jeep with a Ford sticker. Front end is IFS, with a solid rear axle. 2.3L Ecoboost or 2.7L Ecoboost options. 7 speed (6 speed with crawler gear) manual transmission and the ticking time bomb 10 speed automatic. Top comes off like the Jeep, and old Broncos, a few top options of a hard top, a modular hard top, and a couple of soft top options, canvas or plastic I believe. It'll be offroadable, but may not have quite the articulation up front that the Wrangler has due to IFS vs solid axle up front. The Bronco will have a disconnectable front sway bar similar to the Jeep.

Kind of a tossup which way to go, the Jeep guys will of course go Jeep, but I've never cared for the Wranglers at all they have terrible road manners, they're built really to go offroad and stay there, not be driven as a daily driver on the highway. I'm hoping the new Bronco has better manners on the highway, and looks like it may be about the size of the original 60's & 70's Broncos, so slightly wider and longer than a Bronco 2 but smaller than the F150 based Bronco's of the 80's and 90's.

I really wish they'd offer the 3.3L V6 that's offered in the F150 for the Bronco, they'd probably get my business, but with the only 2 engine options being Ecoboost I'm not so sure. They also limit the manual transmission to that 2.3L Ecoboost so that would push me away too as I'm sure even if they did finally offer the 3.3L V6 they wouldn't allow the manual transmission with it, so that would cancel any thought of me owning one. Not a fan of turbocharged gas engines at all especially with the failures they've had an keep having and customers waiting for months for parts for their Rangers and F150's as a result. I think they need to open up the engine choices a lot more for the Ranger and Bronco, and they may get more buyers, but that Ecoboost stuff pushes me away.

Many people are going to do the lease thing so they're never going to care about engine/transmission choice because they're never going to own a vehicle long enough to find out how terrible these new engine/transmission choices really are once the vehicle is out of warranty.

As of right now I don't think anyone has the new Bronco at all, other than the testing/marketing group for Ford. The Bronco Sport is out, but not even remotely interested in a rebadged Escape LOL. The new Bronco interests me because of the removable top, and its smaller size and 2 door option. I don't go offroad to the point of needing a lift, huge tires, or lockers so the higher end options on the Bronco I'm not interested in, I'd rather have the base model and add a limited slip or locker myself for a hell of a lot cheaper than the Badlands or Sasquatch package will cost, if I find myself needing additional traction aftermarket traction aids are still going to be cheaper than the offroad stuff from Ford, that is maybe unless they finally wise up and offer a limited slip in the lower end Bronco configurations which they really should do in the first place, if you can get a locker in a base model Ranger or F150 there's no reason it shouldn't be offered in the new Bronco Base model.

I'm sure within a couple years and huge sales numbers, the aftermarket is going to be coming out with some great accessories and add-on stuff for these trucks, at least probably many of us hope so anyways LOL.
 

JerryC

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1988
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Ford
what do I think? I don't know. I bought fords my entire life both new and used. I think I've had around a dozen bought new Fords, and half dozen used Fords. My first was 83/84(?) Ranger 4wd. I miss that truck, how cool it would be to have that now. $9999.99 with limited slips front and back , manual, blue and white paint, what was I thinking back then???

The last two were stinkers, a 2015 Explorer Sport and a 2016 Focus. Both had well known and documented issues yet when I tried to get them fixed they did very little and neither was fixed. The explorer had the "fumes" problem, go full throttle and 5 seconds after you let off the gas pedal the fumes flooded the cabin. Ford did make it better, but it was never entirely fixed. The Focus was great little car wrapped around a terrible dual-clutch transmission that was undrivable in traffic.

I've had an original Bronco, Big bronco and two BII's. There is strong pull to get both the Bronco and the Sport, but then I remember how Ford treated me with the Explorer and Focus.

Since then I've had a Jeep Wrangler, Ram Rebel, Prius (great car except for a lack of ground clearance) and Rav4 Hybrid. The Rebel and Rav4 look to be keepers. The Rav4 has me thinking about a 4Runner over the upcoming Bronco. Those 4Runners just don't die and they still have a roll down back window. I've two years left to pay off the Rebel, then it will be decision time. Unless I see a Bronco and have to have it. :)

For any new car/truck I worry about the electronics. 20,30,40 years from how many of the modules will still be available? OTOH, how many gas stations will there be in 40 years?
 

wildbill23c

Active member
U.S. Military - Veteran
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
911
Reaction score
28
Points
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Location
Emmett, Idaho
Vehicle Year
1988
Vehicle
Ford Bronco II
Engine Size
2.9L V6
Suspension Style
4wd
My credo
19K, 19D, 92Y, 91F
what do I think? I don't know. I bought fords my entire life both new and used. I think I've had around a dozen bought new Fords, and half dozen used Fords. My first was 83/84(?) Ranger 4wd. I miss that truck, how cool it would be to have that now. $9999.99 with limited slips front and back , manual, blue and white paint, what was I thinking back then???

The last two were stinkers, a 2015 Explorer Sport and a 2016 Focus. Both had well known and documented issues yet when I tried to get them fixed they did very little and neither was fixed. The explorer had the "fumes" problem, go full throttle and 5 seconds after you let off the gas pedal the fumes flooded the cabin. Ford did make it better, but it was never entirely fixed. The Focus was great little car wrapped around a terrible dual-clutch transmission that was undrivable in traffic.

I've had an original Bronco, Big bronco and two BII's. There is strong pull to get both the Bronco and the Sport, but then I remember how Ford treated me with the Explorer and Focus.

Since then I've had a Jeep Wrangler, Ram Rebel, Prius (great car except for a lack of ground clearance) and Rav4 Hybrid. The Rebel and Rav4 look to be keepers. The Rav4 has me thinking about a 4Runner over the upcoming Bronco. Those 4Runners just don't die and they still have a roll down back window. I've two years left to pay off the Rebel, then it will be decision time. Unless I see a Bronco and have to have it. :)

For any new car/truck I worry about the electronics. 20,30,40 years from how many of the modules will still be available? OTOH, how many gas stations will there be in 40 years?
The 4Runners are so bloated in size and weight they're very anemic with that gutless 4L V6, and they're not exactly fuel friendly but a vehicle that size typically isn't, just wasn't impressed with the 4Runner, was glad to get my tundra back after a week of it being in the shop waiting on parts. I'd buy a Sequoia over the 4Runner, at least the Sequoia has the power to get out of its own way....that and the 4Runner's seats were not very comfortable at all, and it had a horrible ride quality, far worse than my 1988 F250 4x4...you'd think that 4Runner would ride really well given how heavy it is and its built like a pickup but dang that thing just felt all sorts of weird, maybe because it was a TRD model, but my TRD Tundra rides much better though so not sure what the heck was wrong with that brand new 4Runner loaner but wasn't impressed with it. I had a Highlander for 3 days a couple years back and loved it, but not the price on the window sticker LOL.

I'd buy a mid 2000's 4Runner with the 4.7L V8, but not the turd 4L V6 models. Sadly Toyota dropped the V8 option after a couple years, dumb move on their part. I just find it funny I had a 94 4Runner with the 3L V6 and 5 speed, the only thing it had going for it was the manual transmission to be able to force it to get out of its own way...glad to know in 20 years Toyota still can't build a 4Runner with enough balls to move out of its own way on flat ground.

The Rav4, Highlander, Sequoia and of course the Land Cruiser would be the only Toyota choices in my book. My 08 Tundra was a mechanical mess after about 60k miles, wasn't impressed with it after the early failures it had rear axle bearings, front differential bearings, front end somehow couldn't manage to keep itself in alignment, all of which had repeat occurrences under 100k miles....and that truck was treated much better than my F250, 99 Ram 1500 4x4, Jeep, B2600i, D21 4x4, Bronco 2, and Ranger LOL.

Out of all the vehicles I've had over the years I'm now back in Fords (87 Ranger 4x2, 88 Bronco 2, and 08 Explorer). If I got a newer vehicle I'd probably go with the Highlander for an SUV, and an F250 base model pickup. Not too sure on the new Bronco yet LOL, too soon to tell with it. I enjoy driving my Bronco 2 and my Ranger to get rid of either of them, and if things ever get straightened out financially and go down the road I have planned, the F250 would become a very handy vehicle as it would need to be able to tow a trailer to haul a tractor and implements probably quite frequently as I'd love to be able to do some tractor work for people around town....to afford the payments on the toys LOL.
 

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