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Looks Like Ford Bronco is Serious About Taking on the Wrangler

Will you consider the new Bronco?


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PavementWarrior

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Do you own a JL? Your profile says JK. If not, then you don't know what you're talking about. It's not a myth. I could have cleared 35s on the wife's JLUR with no mods, provided I picked the proper offset.
yes, it can pop on 35s stock for sure. However, stock Wranglers with 32s are having death shimmy. For some buyers having 35s from the factory with no "oh its your tires fault" bs will be appealing. Heck, alot of Wrangler buyers can weld their steering back on with nothing but a 9v battery and a stick of gum, but there is an even larger market that would love to do some adventuring and not have all the Fiat quality issues.


IFS with 35s is nice, alot of Toyota guys are turning their heads... if you have a Rubicon, loaded up and have gotten rid of all the mopar steering parts, axles, and suspension you are probably not needing to look at Bronco (thats not likely to reach the point you got to)

Funny part on the Bronco was people used to blast the 70s version's steering, and I remember reading a 4wheel magazine stating the coil springs on the Bronco were why the steering sucked and coil springs should only be on pogo sticks... lol driving a Wrangler, I think he was on to something.

My solid axle full size trucks had leaf springs up front and drive like a dream compared to the wrangler.

In any event, Root the Bronco on, I would love to see an American 4x4 vs this Italian/French Wrangler, its time for competition, its good for all. Its pretty clear Wrangler is going to maintain alot of its places in a very wide market its grown into, but there is alot of room.
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ThirtyOne

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I have a good friend who does it and he wheels pretty hard. So I guess my anecdotal evidence doesn't match your anecdotal evidence. He does not have stock wheels but his tires don't protrude much. But we don't have those laws in NC either.
 

jeepingib

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PavementWarrior said:
Funny part on the Bronco was people used to blast the 70s version's steering, and I remember reading a 4wheel magazine stating the coil springs on the Bronco were why the steering sucked and coil springs should only be on pogo sticks... lol driving a Wrangler, I think he was on to something.
The issue with the old solid axle Broncos as I recall was bump steer due to the drag link angle. But that was a long time ago, and I could be mistaken.
 

OnlyOne

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I have a good friend who does it and he wheels pretty hard. So I guess my anecdotal evidence doesn't match your anecdotal evidence. He does not have stock wheels but his tires don't protrude much. But we don't have those laws in NC either.
Well I run 37's on 2" of lift with factory wheels and no spacers and don't rub anywhere. Hows that for anecdotal evidence. Are you a mentor too? I'm a Senior mentor.;):CWL:
 

jeepingib

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I have a good friend who does it and he wheels pretty hard. So I guess my anecdotal evidence doesn't match your anecdotal evidence. He does not have stock wheels but his tires don't protrude much. But we don't have those laws in NC either.
There are a whole lot of people on this site and others who are wheeling Rubicons on 35s with stock suspension and doing just fine. But for every dozen or more people who say that it can be done, there's always that one guy...
 

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Sean K.

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yes, it can pop on 35s stock for sure. However, stock Wranglers with 32s are having death shimmy. For some buyers having 35s from the factory with no "oh its your tires fault" bs will be appealing. Heck, alot of Wrangler buyers can weld their steering back on with nothing but a 9v battery and a stick of gum, but there is an even larger market that would love to do some adventuring and not have all the Fiat quality issues.


IFS with 35s is nice, alot of Toyota guys are turning their heads... if you have a Rubicon, loaded up and have gotten rid of all the mopar steering parts, axles, and suspension you are probably not needing to look at Bronco (thats not likely to reach the point you got to)

Funny part on the Bronco was people used to blast the 70s version's steering, and I remember reading a 4wheel magazine stating the coil springs on the Bronco were why the steering sucked and coil springs should only be on pogo sticks... lol driving a Wrangler, I think he was on to something.

My solid axle full size trucks had leaf springs up front and drive like a dream compared to the wrangler.

In any event, Root the Bronco on, I would love to see an American 4x4 vs this Italian/French Wrangler, its time for competition, its good for all. Its pretty clear Wrangler is going to maintain alot of its places in a very wide market its grown into, but there is alot of room.
Is "death shimmy" a new term? Is that like really bad shimmy or did you mean death wobble? I know a lot of guys are complaining about the steering...posting vids showing the steering wheel....and it's just shimmy, not true DW.

Not everyone has the steering issues....we're on 37s, stock height...no steering problems. I'd wager some of that is anti-dive link angle and wheel recession related.

The coils have nothing to do with the steering...I have SFA coiled 3/4 and 1T 4wd trucks with no steering issues either....and many IFS rigs use a coilover or strut.
 

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My theory is the Bronco has a better chance of poaching a casual Wrangler driver then a hard core wheeler who rock climbs. I was trying to say rock crawlers who own Rubicons will probably not go for a Bronco if it has IFS. To be honest, I have no clue of how many actual JL Rubicons are used for rock crawling by their owners?
 

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Well I run 37's on 2" of lift with factory wheels and no spacers and don't rub anywhere. Hows that for anecdotal evidence. Are you a mentor too? I'm a Senior mentor.;):CWL:
I'm not a mentor. I'm a hack.
 

Rogues Gambit

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My theory is the Bronco has a better chance of poaching a casual Wrangler driver then a hard core wheeler who rock climbs. I was trying to say rock crawlers who own Rubicons will probably not go for a Bronco if it has IFS. To be honest, I have no clue of how many actual JL Rubicons are used for rock crawling by their owners?
Bingo.

Besides that, as I've stated before, the engines will force FCA to up their game as well
 

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TXRubicon

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I'd rock crawl my Rubicon more if there were any rocks to crawl short of driving 3 hours from my house to find even a semblance of them.Given the number of Rubicons I see in rock barren Houston, I'd say the percentage is very, very small.

My theory is the Bronco has a better chance of poaching a casual Wrangler driver then a hard core wheeler who rock climbs. I was trying to say rock crawlers who own Rubicons will probably not go for a Bronco if it has IFS. To be honest, I have no clue of how many actual JL Rubicons are used for rock crawling by their owners?
 

dsgrey

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My theory is the Bronco has a better chance of poaching a casual Wrangler driver then a hard core wheeler who rock climbs.
True, many people would buy one since it's the newest & coolest vehicle and then dump the Bronco when something else comes along. Same could be said if the Tesla truck (Delorian with a bed?) gets built.
 

Toycrusher

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My theory is the Bronco has a better chance of poaching a casual Wrangler driver then a hard core wheeler who rock climbs. I was trying to say rock crawlers who own Rubicons will probably not go for a Bronco if it has IFS. To be honest, I have no clue of how many actual JL Rubicons are used for rock crawling by their owners?
I've got a 7 hour drive to find anything to crawl on. Otherwise I'd do it a whole lot more. The key is, 100% of the Rubicons left the factory with the ability to do some serious crawling. Whether the end user does or doesn't, it still CAN. The Bronco won't have that same level of ability baked in. It surely will be more capable than 75%+ of owners will ask for, but it still simply won't be on Rubicon level
 

TXRubicon

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But there are things the Bronco will be better suited for than the Rubicon. Rock crawling? Maybe not. Just about everything else? It'll do absolutely fine.

I've got a 7 hour drive to find anything to crawl on. Otherwise I'd do it a whole lot more. The key is, 100% of the Rubicons left the factory with the ability to do some serious crawling. Whether the end user does or doesn't, it still CAN. The Bronco won't have that same level of ability baked in. It surely will be more capable than 75%+ of owners will ask for, but it still simply won't be on Rubicon level
 

PavementWarrior

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Is "death shimmy" a new term? Is that like really bad shimmy or did you mean death wobble? I know a lot of guys are complaining about the steering...posting vids showing the steering wheel....and it's just shimmy, not true DW.

Not everyone has the steering issues....we're on 37s, stock height...no steering problems. I'd wager some of that is anti-dive link angle and wheel recession related.

The coils have nothing to do with the steering...I have SFA coiled 3/4 and 1T 4wd trucks with no steering issues either....and many IFS rigs use a coilover or strut.
I clearly said death shimmy not wobble, word games aside stock wranglers are having all kinds of issues from full on wobble, lock ups, wandering, shimmying, the super cheapo steering components are having large scale yield issues way before a normal wear out.

With 37s its expected you will have issues earlier than normal, but thats perfectly fine to expect some upgrades going up that many tire sizes (clearly stating thats not a knock on the design, regardless of if you have seen issues or not, a sample size of 1 is just that).


Wrangler's best card is its amazing aftermarket support, even if the Bronco is all that, it will be 1-2 years before it catches up. Extreme rock crawlers rarely stay stock, and will stay on Wrangler due to axle and aftermarket alone.

Bronco has a huge window to take alot of Sahara/4runner market, but I do agree with you Rubicon Rock crawling is safely a Wrangler thing, and thats great!
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