Bronco Long Term/Travel

[JT58Bronc]

When I had my 67 IH Scout I did a lot of the work on it myself but a lot of shops wouldn't/couldn't work on it because it did not have a computer. The mechanics couldn't diagnose anything without the aid of a computer. So sad. Luckily I did find a local shop that could do work on old school motors.
The 350 motor was awesome. Don't sell that truck (my wife convinced me to sell the Scout and the buyers flipped it a year later for double what they paid for it).

I believe this. No one in town could do an alignment on it- too old and not in the computer. I had to do a manual alignment using string. And very few places will work on my 87. I have had 3 places work on it and I had to do the work over myself. It seems people don't know what they are doing- leave bolts loose, use wrong bolts, damage the parts, strip threads and think they got the bolts torqued, cracked oil pans, I could go on and on with the horror stories. I can do the work myself fortunately in my tiny garage but don't have the time as I work full time. But I might as well do the work myself is what it is coming to. Yeah these old trucks are hard to come by and I won't sell it. Going to cars and coffee and car meets and meeting new people, talking about the truck is so fun.

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[MayhemMike]

If you had never found this site, you wouldn’t have any notion of Bronco issues. This goes for any and every vehicle. Also, remember almost no one takes time to create positive posts. The vast majority are posts pointing out some negative issue.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

I have an 87 Chevy Pick up that is partially restored I am working on- it is very simple- 350 V8 (from 1974) and 4 speed manual. It leaks oil no matter what I do. Everything would need to be rebuilt on it to be completely reliable and that would cost more than a brand new truck. Labor for vehicle work these days is incredibly expensive- if you can even find someone to do it. But even then its top speed is only 55 and it gets like 13 MPG.

Reliability isn't cheap. Lose the granny gear 4sp, change the rearend gears, and your MPG will do a little better. Swap the carb for fuel injection would help a bunch, but that is bringing electronics back into the picture. Everything on the road is a compromise. You need to figure out what works best for your situation. If it were me in your situation (it will be in the near future), I would keep the Bronco and start a savings account for future potential repairs that I can't do myself. Put a little money away each month. When the time comes that you want to replace the Bronco, if you haven't needed any repairs you have a nice little chunk to put down on the new rig.

 

[SoDak1623]

Pick a brand, any brand and you will be in the same situation. Modern vehicles are increasingly more complicated. Roadside repairs are a thing of the past. Your Bronco could be trouble free for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles. It could also not start for this morning's coffee run. Same goes for every modern vehicle on the road. A Silverado with a 5.3L may not have turbos, but it has virtually the same electronics as the Bronco. You could find a vehicle from the 70's (pre-electronics) and do a complete restoration on it. That would work for roadside repairs.

Not to mention that same silverado will eat lifters and pushrods thanks to AFM. Gotta laugh at all of these reliability concerns on new vehicles just because "Oh my god, it has a turbo!!!!"

 

[2023bronco]

Not many places to do the work around here and when you can find them, it's how much $$$$ do you have.

Yes, definitely a problem. Clubs are the source. When I need work done that I can't do, I pay a guy with a solid reputation who does work out of his home shop ($50/hr). And a retired painter who does the same.

 

[SoDak1623]

Yes, definitely a problem. Clubs are the source. When I need work done that I can't do, I pay a guy with a solid reputation who does work out of his home shop ($50/hr). And a retired painter who does the same.

I take my 96 F150 to the home shop of one of the older mechanics from my local Ford since basically nobody in the shop has any experience working on the pre 1997 trucks. He charges about $50 per hour as well vs at least double at the dealer.

 

[j_marinelli]

First off, congrats on your soon to be retirement! We take the Bronco on 1 long road trip each year and have had zero problems while on the road. Now we are in a 4dr but we have 2 kids we are hauling around (with all their crap lol) so I couldn't imagine a 2dr at the moment. Fast forward to retirement age and it being just me and the better half, I'd have no problem rocking a 2dr on a long trip.

 

[Dan-O]

Just my 2 cents, I don’t think the Bronco has any more issues with reliability than any other vehicle. I do understand the financial concerns you have approaching retirement but, I feel you may be happier with a 4 door pickup. You say you want to be able to pull small trailer, kayaks etc…. I think you may find that with passengers, trailer, toys, gear, fuel, water and everything else that comes along on a trip, the Bronco can get overloaded rather quickly and make for uncomfortable white knuckled drives. Been there done that. Again just my opinion.

 

[Dral97]

If you had never found this site, you wouldn’t have any notion of Bronco issues. This goes for any and every vehicle. Also, remember almost no one takes time to create positive posts. The vast majority are posts pointing out some negative issue.

True. If I made a post about how nothing has gone wrong with my fuel filler door or my automatic locks, people here would be 'dgaf'.

 

[JT58Bronc]

First off, congrats on your soon to be retirement! We take the Bronco on 1 long road trip each year and have had zero problems while on the road. Now we are in a 4dr but we have 2 kids we are hauling around (with all their crap lol) so I couldn't imagine a 2dr at the moment. Fast forward to retirement age and it being just me and the better half, I'd have no problem rocking a 2dr on a long trip.

Thanks on the retirement. I earned it, been working since I was 17, never missed more than two weeks at a time and that was only in between jobs. Raised 2 great kids and we had a lot of family vacations camping and traveling too. Now it's just me and my wife and that's why we got a 2 door and I had (2) original Broncos as my first vehicles ever. I wish I would have planned better but when I was young, lived in the moment, LOL.

We took the Bronco in the Ga mountains for a week long trip renting a cabin on a mountain, 4WD access on a dirt road/trail. The Bronco was fully loaded but worked out well. We do travel light. Most of the gear was fishing equipment and food LOL. The trailer I would get would be small, weigh only 600 LBS and maybe have only 150 LBS max on it. So the Bronco should be able to tow 750 LBS I would think......We don't need a lot of stuff or HUGE campers to make us happy. Small tent, hotel once in a while and we are good!

 

[JT58Bronc]

Just my 2 cents, I don’t think the Bronco has any more issues with reliability than any other vehicle. I do understand the financial concerns you have approaching retirement but, I feel you may be happier with a 4 door pickup. You say you want to be able to pull small trailer, kayaks etc…. I think you may find that with passengers, trailer, toys, gear, fuel, water and everything else that comes along on a trip, the Bronco can get overloaded rather quickly and make for uncomfortable white knuckled drives. Been there done that. Again just my opinion.

This is where we are at in the thinking stage. Yes a 4WD pick up would be better, give us more room and we most likely would not need even a trailer. But it's going to cost. Say I get 30K for the Bronco in a trade (I paid only 38K for it), we would have to shell out another 35K to get an "average" 65K pickup. I think we will give the Bronco a shot and if it's too small we can always change our minds and get a pick up. As I stated in another post we do travel light.

 

[dejones64]

50k miles on my 2-dr Black Diamond. Been out west (from MN) a few times. Love it. Built a trailer to carry camping gear and RTT’s.

 

[Wark]

I wanted to ask opinions about the Bronco long term- reliability for travel and adventures. I have a 2 door 2022 Base Sasquatch with 2.7 completely stock, no mods reserved at the reveal and have been actively reading the forum and all of the posts. I am approaching retirement after working almost 50 years and it’s time to travel the US. The Bronco is a little small but will work what my wife and I want to do- tow a small trailer with kayaks, paddle boards and our gear. A 4 door pick up would be better (Chevy Silverado with the simple 5.3 V8, no turbo 4) and I am debating whether or not to trade the Bronco. We do love the Bronco but my only worry is reliability- especially after the warranty is up. The engine and electronics are very complicated. Looking under the hood is scary. I am very good mechanically but don’t want to work on this Bronco other than oil changes. I read about fuel pump issues and people being stranded. I won’t have much money in retirement, just barely enough to have a tiny home as a base and to travel & camp mostly with a hotel here and there.

With all that being said, our Bronco has been good for 11K miles. No issues other than windshield recall, defective driveshaft and headlight switch. And it is fun to drive. I did not use it as my daily driver to keep the miles low for the purpose to travel in the future. It also gets decent gas mileage, nearly 23 MPG on cheap 87 octane. So, any recommendations? Should I be worried or just travel and not worry about it? Or bite the bullet now and get something more simple and reliable while I am still working to pay it off in another year before I retire?

Congratulations, sounds like a cool retirement plan -- tiny home and camp out and about with your Bronco. The good news is that you have a base model which has the least amount of electronics of the offered Bronco models. You also have the Sasquatch package which will get you virtually anywhere you feel comfortable driving. You also seem to be getting better gas mileage with those goodyears than most.

If space is an issue, there are a lot of 2 doors that have deleted the rear seat for more space. A small trailer makes sense for towing if you don't want to put on a roof rack. Hauling kayaks and toys over a long distance will reduce your gas mileage considerably, but that's the price of admission to your adventure. I'd suggest trying both roof rack and trailer and see which you feel more comfortable with. I'd think the trailer gives you more flexibility.

Like others have said -- other vehicles have issues too. In particular that Silverado V8 you mention has lifter issues that fail at 14,000 miles for most of those trucks. The good news is that at 11,000 mi you've probably found most of any issues and still under warranty for a little bit. It's a perfect spot to try your plan out. Also, there are a lot of Ford dealerships out there in the US (some good, neutral, and bad) if you're under warranty.

 

[Beach_Bum]

@JT58Bronc Get the extended warranty through Granger. I paid $1500 (ballpark) for 8yr/100k. Yes, Florida doesn't allow the sale of extended warranties via online/phone. When you go to Granger's site, you'll get bumped out if you select Florida as your residence. The warranty is tied to your VIN. Ford doesn't care where you live. Those obstructionist laws are the result of the Men and Women in Tallahassee. Pick any address not in Florida to get around the "digital wall". Nothing is mailed to that address and the address isn't used in any way by Ford for the extended warranty.

Now, I hope I never need the extended warranty in which case it will be a sunk cost for peace of mind.

 

[Roach011]

Pick a brand, any brand and you will be in the same situation. Modern vehicles are increasingly more complicated. Roadside repairs are a thing of the past. Your Bronco could be trouble free for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles. It could also not start for this morning's coffee run. Same goes for every modern vehicle on the road. A Silverado with a 5.3L may not have turbos, but it has virtually the same electronics as the Bronco. You could find a vehicle from the 70's (pre-electronics) and do a complete restoration on it. That would work for roadside repairs.

This is so true. If you're going to travel long distance/remote, have coms to call the cavalry if something happens. Tools and basic parts are good to have but come second to reliable communication devices. Just the way it works now-a-days.

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