Living with 2-doors

[yippeekiyay]

I'm coming from a 1998 Land Cruiser built for overlanding, so pretty good sized rig, very mechanical, and 24 years old. I bought the 2 door Badsquatch 2.7 because my kids are in/about to be in college and wanted something more fun for me, so totally expected to have less space. I thought I'd share thoughts and a couple pics to help anyone on the fence about whether 2 or 4 doors is for them.

Some basic recovery gear for a quick blast up Coyote Butte (pronounced bYOUt, a volcanic cinder cone, I live in Central Oregon)

I knew it would be less storage, but had hoped the maxtrax would at least lay flat... nope! That's fine, will figure out a rack strategy for them and other stuff.

The back seats - very comfy for adults, very happy there. Getting into the back, not so much. Seat doesn't come very far forward so it is awkward to do. Oh, and at least on mine the front seats are tough to slide forward so it is a bit of shoving match to get them forward - going to grease the rails and see if it helps.

What makes it worse to get in are the lack of good grab handles up top. I get why that's tough with the Air Cushion but hoping an aftermarket solution comes out.

Turning radius - damn good! Best in the household fleet except maybe the daughter's Element.

2.7L & Sasquatch - *plenty* quick and torquey, but I REALLY want the Sport mode to help shift points and lag off the line (not offered on Badlands). Hoping/waiting for a Forscan remap of the Eco mode (which I can accomplish by just not using the go pedal : ) I've engaged traction control punching it on dry pavement while turning and can be up to freeway speed in nothing flat, so I'm not complaining and can live with as-is, just annoyed since I know it's just some different settings.

Any other pics/questions I can answer just holler!

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[Wide Open Roads]

Thank you for the write up. I ordered a 2-door also since I prefer the look. My daily driver for 4 years was a '98 M3, with two young teenagers at the time. We learned to manage with getting in the back seat.

Something that always worried me, and maybe the Bronco is better at this, was one of the kids getting their foot tangled with the seat belt and tripping as they stepped out. It never happened, but I had to remind them constantly. I'm sure they enjoyed it.

Have you done any long trips with yours? I'm curious about fitting bags and gear (over an above what you have in that first photo).

 

[Rick Astley]

Serious question: Cooler possibilities in cargo area

Could you put this cooler longitudinally behind the passenger rear seat or would there be interference and you would have to have the rear seat folded down?

The cargo depth measurements i've seen are all at the floor and not 15 7/8" above the floor.... Will 26 1/2" fit in the cargo area with the seat up? In only 1 of the recline positions or possibly fit in either back-rest position?

Still don't have a VIN, so i'm a ways away, but I absolutely want to have the cooler sorted out before she arrives so I can head out for the first weekend of camping without having to take the beastly-large Yeti 160.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Thanks for Posting, I'll also be a member of the 2 Dr Cartel in the coming months (hopes and prayers).

Think you mentioned, but you really do need to quickly come up with a storage solution for that gear if you go wheeling; looks like you do (proud of you! Not like your dad, but sorta).

Concern is that a few of those things will likely become projectiles. the extinguisher in particular need to be someplace stable and reachable from the front seat, or at least not rolling around in back.

Maybe some boxes for now to store the recovery gear? I'm getting a roof rack, so my MaxTrax are going up top as well as my large hub tent. Not sure if you have a rack or are against adding, but it can certainly help with storage in the 2 Dr.

Other than the above opinions, thanks for posting, thanks for purchasing the 2 Dr, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Bronco Bax]

Thank you for the write up. I ordered a 2-door also since I prefer the look. My daily driver for 4 years was a '98 M3, with two young teenagers at the time. We learned to manage with getting in the back seat.

Something that always worried me, and maybe the Bronco is better at this, was one of the kids getting their foot tangled with the seat belt and tripping as they stepped out. It never happened, but I had to remind them constantly. I'm sure they enjoyed it.

Have you done any long trips with yours? I'm curious about fitting bags and gear (over an above what you have in that first photo).

98 M3

 

[LT. DAN ICE CREAM!!!]

You can unlock sport mode on the Badlands with Forscan. I did it to my Non-SAS Badlands with ease.

 

[Heffe66413]

I'm coming from a 1998 Land Cruiser built for overlanding, so pretty good sized rig, very mechanical, and 24 years old. I bought the 2 door Badsquatch 2.7 because my kids are in/about to be in college and wanted something more fun for me, so totally expected to have less space. I thought I'd share thoughts and a couple pics to help anyone on the fence about whether 2 or 4 doors is for them.

Some basic recovery gear for a quick blast up Coyote Butte (pronounced bYOUt, a volcanic cinder cone, I live in Central Oregon)

I knew it would be less storage, but had hoped the maxtrax would at least lay flat... nope! That's fine, will figure out a rack strategy for them and other stuff.

The back seats - very comfy for adults, very happy there. Getting into the back, not so much. Seat doesn't come very far forward so it is awkward to do. Oh, and at least on mine the front seats are tough to slide forward so it is a bit of shoving match to get them forward - going to grease the rails and see if it helps.

What makes it worse to get in are the lack of good grab handles up top. I get why that's tough with the Air Cushion but hoping an aftermarket solution comes out.

Turning radius - damn good! Best in the household fleet except maybe the daughter's Element.

2.7L & Sasquatch - *plenty* quick and torquey, but I REALLY want the Sport mode to help shift points and lag off the line (not offered on Badlands). Hoping/waiting for a Forscan remap of the Eco mode (which I can accomplish by just not using the go pedal : ) I've engaged traction control punching it on dry pavement while turning and can be up to freeway speed in nothing flat, so I'm not complaining and can live with as-is, just annoyed since I know it's just some different settings.

Any other pics/questions I can answer just holler!

The paracord grab handles look like an easy solution using original bolts .

 

[yippeekiyay]

Have you done any long trips with yours? I'm curious about fitting bags and gear (over an above what you have in that first photo).

Had it for (checks watch) 5 days now, so not yet but looking forward to it!

I have no illusions about overlanding a family of 4 in it, keeping the LC for that, but 2 should be no problem.

 

[yippeekiyay]

Thanks for Posting, I'll also be a member of the 2 Dr Cartel in the coming months (hopes and prayers).

Think you mentioned, but you really do need to quickly come up with a storage solution for that gear if you go wheeling; looks like you do (proud of you! Not like your dad, but sorta).

Concern is that a few of those things will likely become projectiles. the extinguisher in particular need to be someplace stable and reachable from the front seat, or at least not rolling around in back.

Maybe some boxes for now to store the recovery gear? I'm getting a roof rack, so my MaxTrax are going up top as well as my large hub tent. Not sure if you have a rack or are against adding, but it can certainly help with storage in the 2 Dr.

Other than the above opinions, thanks for posting, thanks for purchasing the 2 Dr, and welcome to the forum.

I appreciate your concern and gently worded advice, you are 100% correct. I can reassure you that this was a very gentle <1 hr outing only to get the tires wet, as I am waiting on my ceramic/x-pel before having any real fun. (yes the tires spit gravel as bad as everyone says!)

I actually build drawer systems on the side so can't help myself already designing a setup in my head - no clue when I'll be able to build one so next trip it will be in a large duffel strapped to the d-rings, sucks to have to move gear back and forth between rigs and thinking of ways to make that easier (wallet still stinging from the purchase so not doubling up on stuff just yet)

 

[yippeekiyay]

The paracord grab handles look like an easy so,Union using original bolts .

have a link where I can find some? I'm looking at the airbag locations and not sure how to attach anything without either a) risk drilling somewhere bad, or b) getting int he way of a deployment...?

 

[yippeekiyay]

You can unlock sport mode on the Badlands with Forscan. I did it to my Non-SAS Badlands with ease.

Ug, just found the thread, THANK YOU for the nudge that it was out there! Cable ordered express, can't wait

 

[HoosierDaddy]

have a link where I can find some? I'm looking at the airbag locations and not sure how to attach anything without either a) risk drilling somewhere bad, or b) getting int he way of a deployment...?

The only ones I have seen here were self made from watching youtube videos. He said it took a few attempts to get the length right.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...nco-badlands-build-journal.33835/post-1126461

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Oh, and at least on mine the front seats are tough to slide forward

The issue with mine that I had to school the wife and kid on is,
A. pull the upper handle on the shoulder part of the seat.
B. you have to push the seat back firmly forward & down to get the slider to unlock and slide.

I have noticed that things like, a jacket on the front seat or my little gear basket, will be enough obstruction that the seat will not lean forward enough to release the slider locks.

After that is all said and done, you have to be sure to slide the seat BACK on the sliders BEFORE you raise the seatback to upright, otherwise it locks in place whereever the seatback engaged the locks.

It's a very finicky mechanism.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

My take on the 2dr.

The area behind the front seats is useless for storage with the rear seats up. Whatever you manage to get back there is tough to access.

For two people, just a trip to the cabin requires the seats down and the cargo area will be mostly full with 1 cooler , 2 duffels, 2 sleeping bags, 1 dry goods rubbermaid tote, minimal other extra gear.

The key thing here is, we were going to the cabin, so no tent/ living area storage required.
I cant imagine tent camping without a roof top or tons of crap stored on the roof.
Ideally, I'd get a small utility trailer to load all kinds of stuff, tent, firewood etc.
I'll get one just to haul extra gear with.

 

[TheShark]

The issue with mine that I had to school the wife and kid on is,
A. pull the upper handle on the shoulder part of the seat.
B. you have to push the seat back firmly forward & down to get the slider to unlock and slide.

I have noticed that things like, a jacket on the front seat or my little gear basket, will be enough obstruction that the seat will not lean forward enough to release the slider locks.

After that is all said and done, you have to be sure to slide the seat BACK on the sliders BEFORE you raise the seatback to upright, otherwise it locks in place whereever the seatback engaged the locks.

It's a very finicky mechanism.

It really is a finicky but you are right, you really need to firmly and forcefully push the seat forward and down.

I'm actually going to delete the rear seats with the Goose Gear Stealth Sleep Package, I've got one on order with my local dealer. If we need more seats we can just use my wife's Bronco Sport.

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