From Wrangler to Bronco

[Uhdinator]

After seeing the front diff frame tab cracking, Bolts loose for the diff mount or broken or missing, The cheesy sealant fix for rusting shock reservoirs falling off, weak tie rods and front end components..........Im afraid to own my badlands for a long period. The ride is great and it looks good but I have to return to Jeep I guess..........Good bye Eruption Green, Hello 1941 Green! I like them both but gotta go back to the Jeep. Im Leary of stuff breaking as soon as the Wtty Expires.

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[AZ_Craig]

After seeing the front diff frame tab cracking, Bolts loose for the diff mount or broken or missing, The cheesy sealant fix for rusting shock reservoirs falling off, weak tie rods and front end components..........Im afraid to own my badlands for a long period. The ride is great and it looks good but I have to return to Jeep I guess..........Good bye Eruption Green, Hello 1941 Green! I like them both but gotta go back to the Jeep. Im Leary of stuff breaking as soon as the Wtty Expires.

Bought a Stellantis vehicle to get away from Ford reliability?

 

[telenerd]

If Jeep was to ever make 2 door Scrambler with 35s or 37s I’d jump right on that. But I would still keep my Bronco.

Just need a bigger garage.

 

[AtomicKoalaJelly]

After seeing the front diff frame tab cracking, Bolts loose for the diff mount or broken or missing, The cheesy sealant fix for rusting shock reservoirs falling off, weak tie rods and front end components..........Im afraid to own my badlands for a long period. The ride is great and it looks good but I have to return to Jeep I guess..........Good bye Eruption Green, Hello 1941 Green! I like them both but gotta go back to the Jeep. Im Leary of stuff breaking as soon as the Wtty Expires.

Is that all stuff you've experienced yourself? I really can't Imagine bouncing to Jeep in hopes of long term reliability. If you do, make sure you check all the fuses and relays, I had some not fully seated from the factory.

Be prepared for the dealer to ignore dead misfire, blinking mil complaints as I've experienced because Stella doesn't store codes for that apparently, they ignore death wobble and noisy throw out bearing complaints too.

Then the o2 problems... trying to drive to work? Nope, it'll stumble miss and run like shit.

Ive also discovered everything rattles and creaks starting around 20,000 miles. Trim, dash, the top... I could ignore it if the vehicle didnt feel like a ticking time bomb.

uConnect sucks. Flat out. I really wish cars would go back to regular stereos.

And repairability blows. They lockout you of as much of the ODB2 connectivity as they can and the service information sucks.

Thats all mine at 20k. At the Ford dealer I'm at we regularly see them leaking oil from the adapter, hear them ticking and knocking, see leaking water pumps, have severe death wobble, and see body corossion on vehicles that shouldnt have it.

I have no Idea what they are doing but holy shit. I thought the complaints on these things were overblown, jokes on me. I can't wait to trade in it in despite how much I like how it drives. Cant wait to trade the thing in, hopefully the grass is greener.

 

[bf4445]

After seeing the front diff frame tab cracking, Bolts loose for the diff mount or broken or missing, The cheesy sealant fix for rusting shock reservoirs falling off, weak tie rods and front end components..........Im afraid to own my badlands for a long period. The ride is great and it looks good but I have to return to Jeep I guess..........Good bye Eruption Green, Hello 1941 Green! I like them both but gotta go back to the Jeep. Im Leary of stuff breaking as soon as the Wtty Expires.

Maybe i should as well. I had lots of smallissues with my last jeep but they were fixed proto without issues except for the orange screen which took twp years

 

[bf4445]

If Jeep was to ever make 2 door Scrambler with 35s or 37s I’d jump right on that. But I would still keep my Bronco.

Just need a bigger garage.

scrambler has two much over hang in the back that goes bang frequently.

 

[Uhdinator]

Had a 2018 JL sport 2.0L Turbo for 4 years without any serious issues. YJ, and TJ Rubicon as well.

 

[UncleBrad]

That there is my hang up. As odd as it is to some, I like how the Wrangler drives. Its has an early 90's truck ride with a Go Kart feel. Its the same with the power accessories, it has none and I like that. But that not to say the more modern characteristics of the Bronco is a bad thing, there times where power windows or lock would be nice.

All said and done, in the year I've had the Wrangler, I haven't off roaded it. I only two weeks ago looked up trails and was gonna hit em this weekend, but thats been side lined obviously.

I'm with you on the Jeep Wrangler ride. Though the Bronco is unarguably better for tracking straight, and keeping its composure over road surface irregularities, etc - you FEEL connected in a way the Bronco isn't (especially with the steering-by-wire). Once you understand the nature of the Wrangler, you feel practically invincible on the road. Reality: you normally are. But any configuration of the Bronco beats the PentaStar V-6 in terms of torque availability where it is needed. And the PentaStar does NOT possess a stellar reliability record.

I switched to a Bronco after around 25 years of driving Wranglers (1988-2012 model years). That's YJ through JK. I love them. But the Bronco for me is better, because I can push the seat back (I'm a big dude), the 2.3L 7MT is surprisingly fast and fun, there is more room in it, and I have dealerships nearby. And the Bronco 2-door is fairly close to the wonderful "go cart" feel of the extremely maneuverable 2-door Wrangler.

The manual transmission in the Bronco is superior to the Wrangler's (my JK popped out of gear while parked on a hill and wrecked itself). Plus - at the time of purchasing the Bronco - Stellantis didn't look like a good long-term bet. Then there is cost. And a year ago, Wranglers could not be had for what I was willing to pay.

And then there are the ducks...

 

[AtomicKoalaJelly]

I'm with you on the Jeep Wrangler ride. Though the Bronco is unarguably better for tracking straight, and keeping its composure over road surface irregularities, etc - you FEEL connected in a way the Bronco isn't (especially with the steering-by-wire). Once you understand the nature of the Wrangler, you feel practically invincible on the road. Reality: you normally are. But any configuration of the Bronco beats the PentaStar V-6 in terms of torque availability where it is needed. And the PentaStar does NOT possess a stellar reliability record.

I switched to a Bronco after around 25 years of driving Wranglers (1988-2012 model years). That's YJ through JK. I love them. But the Bronco for me is better, because I can push the seat back (I'm a big dude), the 2.3L 7MT is surprisingly fast and fun, there is more room in it, and I have dealerships nearby. And the Bronco 2-door is fairly close to the wonderful "go cart" feel of the extremely maneuverable 2-door Wrangler.

The manual transmission in the Bronco is superior to the Wrangler's (my JK popped out of gear while parked on a hill and wrecked itself). Plus - at the time of purchasing the Bronco - Stellantis didn't look like a good long-term bet. Then there is cost. And a year ago, Wranglers could not be had for what I was willing to pay.

And then there are the ducks...

Working as a Ford Tech I've driven a few MT Broncos and all I can is that the difference between that and the JL is night and day. The Bronco MT feels so much better.

Since posting this I pretty much made up mind, next summer is my target for a Bronco. Still aiming for a MT Base Sas. I need to decide two door or four door, having a kid makes the four door appealing, but... being a giant kid myself makes the two door a big want.

 

[UncleBrad]

Working as a Ford Tech I've driven a few MT Broncos and all I can is that the difference between that and the JL is night and day. The Bronco MT feels so much better.

Since posting this I pretty much made up mind, next summer is my target for a Bronco. Still aiming for a MT Base Sas. I need to decide two door or four door, having a kid makes the four door appealing, but... being a giant kid myself makes the two door a big want.

Some of the finest people are know are three-pedal dudes! Get 'em while you can. I have a sticker in my back window: "Save the Manuals!" I understand the next 2025 Ford build period excludes manual except for perhaps the Strop. Best of luck to you.

 

[SmallCrawler]

Owned a lot of jeeps over the years but only one JL.

In case I encounter a stranded Jeep I still carry some jeep stuff in my recovery kit: a bypass module for the locking diffs (since they placed sensors inside the diffs and oil can short them out), plus instructions on how to bypass the small motorcycle battery they placed behind the front passenger fender liner (which often drains a perfectly fine main battery).

I managed to avoid these issues but still got death wobble on the highway not long after installing the Jeep lift, and Jeep performance parts wheels. That's when I traded it in for my Bronco, which has been a fantastic wheeler and long haul traveler.

 

[Nc211]

Working as a Ford Tech I've driven a few MT Broncos and all I can is that the difference between that and the JL is night and day. The Bronco MT feels so much better.

Since posting this I pretty much made up mind, next summer is my target for a Bronco. Still aiming for a MT Base Sas. I need to decide two door or four door, having a kid makes the four door appealing, but... being a giant kid myself makes the two door a big want.

Trust me, having a kid makes the four door the one you need. Want never trumps Need when it comes to kids and protecting your own sanity. I have two myself, now both in HS, one about to graduate next spring. A 2-door Bronco when they were little, would have been a royal pain in the diaper genie!

 

[crzyhawk]

I've got a 2 door and I love it. That said, I'm going to commit some blasphemy and suggest that if you are not married to the idea of a 2 door, the 4 door is a more sensible purchase. There's just enough extra space back there to make a difference. I just got home from a trip out to Illinois, and on the way out there, I left late and slept in a rest area. I'm not a super tall guy at 5"10, but I'd really like a few extra inches for sleeping in the back, and a 4 door would have been easier for me to actually get into the back to sleep. A 4 door would have just been much more comfy. With a wife and kid, it's almost a no-brainer.

While I am a die hard 2 door guy, I can admit that for MOST people, the 4 door is just a better buy.

 

[bf4445]

After seeing the front diff frame tab cracking, Bolts loose for the diff mount or broken or missing, The cheesy sealant fix for rusting shock reservoirs falling off, weak tie rods and front end components..........Im afraid to own my badlands for a long period. The ride is great and it looks good but I have to return to Jeep I guess..........Good bye Eruption Green, Hello 1941 Green! I like them both but gotta go back to the Jeep. Im Leary of stuff breaking as soon as the Wtty Expires.

Love this rub. I hgad my heart set on a phev Bronco but thats not about to happen so u may be going back to Jeep also. I would have bought a phev jeep a while back but I like 2dts not ten mile long 4drs. Maybe U will get a 2dr rub like the one in the pix of yours with lockers front back. TYhanks for posting the pix

 

[mike8675309]

53k miles on my 22 base sasquatch manual in Minnesota.
Perfectly fine. Shocks haven't even rusted off yet.
This year I've been towing a 10x6 covered trailer pretty much daily, fully loaded at 1000lbs of stuff more than half the time. working like a champ.

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