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Had the Bronco for a few weeks now, little more than a 1,000 commuter miles on it. Zero off-road, ain't even pushed a hero button yet. To be completely honest that is why I bought it. Run around vehicle and an overlander. The plan is to put on some heavier bumpers, winches, air compressor, and stop! To try and deny the urge to go higher and 37's. For those that may get the reference, an adventure motorcycle version of the four wheeled world. I got trucks, off-road machines, but I needed an any-road machine that was comfortable for highway travel that would fit in my trailer. To this end the Bronco is the sweet spot, IMO.
The factory 315/70 Goodyear territory reminds me of golf cart tires, or turf tamer tractor tires, I knew since I first saw them, way back when, that they would not be on the vehicle long. The extremely soft side wall is their bane, just like the BF Goodwrench KM2's. Everyone says "they run small", "they run small", no they don't. Fully inflated, with no load they are 34.4" just like every other nominal 35" tire on the market. The problem comes in when you put a load on them, meaning the vehicle, the soft sidewalls are just marshmallows and squish down, so the standing height seem more like 33's. This also comes into play when you reduce tire pressure and try to conquer the off-road; side wall damage is coming in hot!
I remember when the KM2 came out and it was the hot thing all the cool kids had. I was tire shopping at the time, bought a set of 35" for the JK and trailer. Hated, truly hated them. Everyone on the forums were trying to defend their tire choice but the sidewalls really ruin this class of tire for actual 4x4 use. Of course, that vehicle was designed, bought, and used for a different purpose than the Bronco.
Now fast forward a few years and Ford really is trying to give the consumer what they want but at the same time the vast majority of buyers use their ride as a grocery getter and parking lot crawler. Most buyers consider the ride quality and milage, two things a soft sidewall gives you. A marshmallow added to the suspension softens the ride and the reduced mass (rolling mass) allows for less energy to be spent....result is a soft ride and better milage. The territory weighs an extremely light 52lbs. Viola, you have the "look" without they penalties of an actually useful 4x4 tire. That is what I mean by rolling on marshmallows.
Now to my preference in tires for a vehicle such as the Bronco
Toyo has recently released a new tire. The open country R/T Trail. A beautiful example of a mild all-terrain tread in a carcass that can be used for more than rolling down the highway. The sidewall is stiffer, so you get the proper look for the nominal size, you can reduce the air pressure and let the sidewall do its thing without excess worry of damage however, it costs you 13lbs which results in more fuel being used to get groceries and during times of highway speed travel.
But kids don't worry! This is the 21st century! We got your fix, drum roll please....... adjustable suspension. An electronically variable ride from a touch of a button. One could either spring for Raptor with its variable suspension Ford has aptly named HOSS 4.0 or for those of us that are mere mortal men ICON has you covered with their stage 8 kit 21-UP BRONCO SASQUATCH 2-3" LIFT STAGE 8 SUSPENSION SYSTEM TUBULAR 21-UP BRONCO SASQUATCH 2-3" LIFT STAGE 8 SUSPENSION SYSTEM TUBULAR - Icon Vehicle Dynamics I'm sure other manufacturers will follow soon. This tech has recently come about in the off-road world, you can even get a SxS with this type of adjustable-on-the-fly system from the factory, and I'm positive it will soon filter down to be relatively common modification for this segment. No more do we have to stop, get out our spanner wrenches and count clicks, we can push a button or slide our finger on a touchpad.
While I mull over how far down the rabbit hole to take this ride (translation: figure out how much money to waste and how to justify it to myself) I'll be rolling on the factory marshmallows; got a road trip planned down to tejas next weekend.
The factory 315/70 Goodyear territory reminds me of golf cart tires, or turf tamer tractor tires, I knew since I first saw them, way back when, that they would not be on the vehicle long. The extremely soft side wall is their bane, just like the BF Goodwrench KM2's. Everyone says "they run small", "they run small", no they don't. Fully inflated, with no load they are 34.4" just like every other nominal 35" tire on the market. The problem comes in when you put a load on them, meaning the vehicle, the soft sidewalls are just marshmallows and squish down, so the standing height seem more like 33's. This also comes into play when you reduce tire pressure and try to conquer the off-road; side wall damage is coming in hot!
I remember when the KM2 came out and it was the hot thing all the cool kids had. I was tire shopping at the time, bought a set of 35" for the JK and trailer. Hated, truly hated them. Everyone on the forums were trying to defend their tire choice but the sidewalls really ruin this class of tire for actual 4x4 use. Of course, that vehicle was designed, bought, and used for a different purpose than the Bronco.
Now fast forward a few years and Ford really is trying to give the consumer what they want but at the same time the vast majority of buyers use their ride as a grocery getter and parking lot crawler. Most buyers consider the ride quality and milage, two things a soft sidewall gives you. A marshmallow added to the suspension softens the ride and the reduced mass (rolling mass) allows for less energy to be spent....result is a soft ride and better milage. The territory weighs an extremely light 52lbs. Viola, you have the "look" without they penalties of an actually useful 4x4 tire. That is what I mean by rolling on marshmallows.
Now to my preference in tires for a vehicle such as the Bronco
Toyo has recently released a new tire. The open country R/T Trail. A beautiful example of a mild all-terrain tread in a carcass that can be used for more than rolling down the highway. The sidewall is stiffer, so you get the proper look for the nominal size, you can reduce the air pressure and let the sidewall do its thing without excess worry of damage however, it costs you 13lbs which results in more fuel being used to get groceries and during times of highway speed travel.
But kids don't worry! This is the 21st century! We got your fix, drum roll please....... adjustable suspension. An electronically variable ride from a touch of a button. One could either spring for Raptor with its variable suspension Ford has aptly named HOSS 4.0 or for those of us that are mere mortal men ICON has you covered with their stage 8 kit 21-UP BRONCO SASQUATCH 2-3" LIFT STAGE 8 SUSPENSION SYSTEM TUBULAR 21-UP BRONCO SASQUATCH 2-3" LIFT STAGE 8 SUSPENSION SYSTEM TUBULAR - Icon Vehicle Dynamics I'm sure other manufacturers will follow soon. This tech has recently come about in the off-road world, you can even get a SxS with this type of adjustable-on-the-fly system from the factory, and I'm positive it will soon filter down to be relatively common modification for this segment. No more do we have to stop, get out our spanner wrenches and count clicks, we can push a button or slide our finger on a touchpad.
While I mull over how far down the rabbit hole to take this ride (translation: figure out how much money to waste and how to justify it to myself) I'll be rolling on the factory marshmallows; got a road trip planned down to tejas next weekend.
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