Don't worry, we haven't turned into Grassroots Offroadsports just yet–but we couldn't pass on the opportunity to drive one of the Jeep Wrangler's key competitors.
Our tester was a four-door Black Diamond model fitted with the 2.3-liter inline-four and seven-speed manual transmission.
I briefly considered the possibility of a four-door Bronco as the next family hauler, but then I realized that I wouldn't be taking it offroad nearly enough to do it justice.
I have absolutely no use for a vehicle like the Bronco but, I wish I did. There's something about them that I find really appealing.
They push buttons in the part of our brain that makes us stop every time we come across a Hot Wheels sales rack. I have to say that if I were looking for an off-roader that was new, I'd give them a good solid eyeballing. 2 door for me.
I spent a lot of time cross-shopping manual transmission 4x4s. At first when the Bronco was announced I thought, "this vehicle will be my replacement for the XJ." After reading up on specs, dimensions, capacities etc I was realizing the Bronco isn't as practical as the JLU. On top of that the Jeep can be had with a manual transfer case and manual windows. The 2door Bronco though, is a sexy thing!
Ya'll know there's one for sale, right here on GRM....right?
So here's something interesting. The girl at work who often parks near me has a 6-month-old Bronco. Like all the rest, it has the loops at the front of the hood for the branch risers (doubt 95% of Bronco owners know what those are actually for.....but that's not the point). Anyhow, the branch riser things have inserts or something held in by some screws, and on hers after 6 months the screws are rusty as hell (not sure if they're supposed to have a cap over them or what, but they don't).
One would think that exterior screws (or probably philips bolts) would be stainless on a new vehicle, but apparently not?
This thing, Can you take a look at yours and see if it has exposed screws, or a cover plate, or what? I'm curious every time I see hers.
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Stainless is not likely to happen, but they should have coatings that meet durability requirements, including corrosion. Does seem weird that they would allow something out that would be rusty in such short time.
It's part of the retro thing.
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Ford refers to them as "trail sights", they're positioned right over the centerline of the front wheels, so the driver has a point of reference where the tires are when negotiating obstacles. At least, that's the explanation given by the instructor when I went on the Bronco "Off-Roadeo" (yes, that's how they spell it). And, having driven a Bronco during that, and mine, on some trails where you really want a tire on THAT rock, yeah, they help.
As far as the rust goes, not surprised - thousands of Broncos sat out on Dirt Mountain for months, in all kinds of weather, waiting on chips until they could be shipped. Some of them are still there. At least the bolts can be easily replaced (or painted, or powdercoated, or whatever).
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
As far as close-ups, this is what I what able to find between our photography and Ford's press photography:
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Did she drive it on the beach or in the surf?
At the Detroit Auto show yesterday and saw a 2 door heritage edition, red with white accents and wheels, very tasty.
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