Off-roading Experts: What did he do wrong?

That is painful to watch. How you go into an endeavor like that and then be disappointed in the vehicle is beyond me. That would be like going through a mountain pass with heavy snow in a stock Focus. Any 4x4 needs some tweaking if you are gonna play with rocks.

Maybe a day at Off-rodeo would have provided some insight… spotters perhaps need a little more work, perhaps…
Bottom line, Know your rig, know your angles

Tires are too small for a 4 door on that trail. 35s on a 2 door is equal to 37s on a 4 door. That is why he high centered. In the first part, I don't think he lowered his tire pressure. Later it appears he did.

jzweedyk

Tires are too small for a 4 door on that trail. 35s on a 2 door is equal to 37s on a 4 door. That is why he high centered. In the first part, I don't think he lowered his tire pressure. Later it appears he did.

Do you think 1” more clearance would have gotten him through that? Or was it skill? I don’t deny the Bronco is more clumsy and heavier than the Jeeps, but not sure tires alone would have solved his problem.

jzweedyk

Tires are too small for a 4 door on that trail. 35s on a 2 door is equal to 37s on a 4 door. That is why he high centered. In the first part, I don't think he lowered his tire pressure. Later it appears he did.

Doesn’t airing down hurt your attack angles? I understand improved traction, but seems double-edged…. Granted, I am NOT a serious off-reader here so am following to learn

Very cool video and beautiful scenery - nothing like that here in the NY Metro area.

To answer your question @Sulley - his high center issues could likely be avoided by taking a different line than the lifted Wrangler. The Bronco driver should understand that he needs to drive within the vehicle’s limitations not beyond it - that’s when bad things happen…

What should he have done differently? stayed home
Was it a problem with technique, or would you have added lift or other modifications? all of the above
What lessons can be learned from his misadventure? stay home

Not an offroader, but like I said in other posts, in the Army we put those Jeeps and Hummers through some tough terrain. That Bronco wasn't lifted, and had insufficient tires, unlike the Jeeps. I agree with one thing he said. Good thing he didn't have a Hummer, because he wouldn't have gotten through. Too narrow. Military bases had to widen trails after we got them. I know a lot of Bronco Nation are hardcore offroaders, but I don't think I could put my Bronco through that. I like it too much.

Title of the video "why I hate my Badlands", and watching part of the video - I quit early. Seems like he's trying to compare the capabilities of his stock Badsquatch to lifted Jeeps that appear to be on 37"+ tires. He's a tool, in my opinion.

The Story Till Now is definitely one of my favorite YouTube channels. Great content—albeit this title was super high on the “clickbait” scale.

It’s pretty obvious he favors his Jeep Gladiator over his Bronco, but as far as I know he still owns the Bronco and I believe he has since added 37s. Excited to see if he decides to build it up more.

He’s also good friends with Justin B McBride, who is one of the Bronco Ambassadors, and one of the earliest people on YouTube to put up Bronco content. Unfortunately he’s decided not to renew his Bronco Ambassador contract and seems to be getting ready to switch back to a Jeep. So he’ll have to give back his 2Dr Bronco back to Ford soon.

In general it seems like most of the Bronco Ambassadors aren’t sticking with the Bronco. Chase Gentry seems to be the only one left standing, and everyone else has either fell silent or gone back to what they were driving before. Wonder if the marketing team at Ford behind the whole ambassador program felt like was worth it. Doesn’t seem like it from my perspective.

Bluestreak57

Doesn’t airing down hurt your attack angles? I understand improved traction, but seems double-edged…. Granted, I am NOT a serious off-reader here so am following to learn

Yes airing down is a double edge sword you air down to hopefully gain traction or widen you contact patch but you lose clearance. I think his lines were a little off. Even the mighty Raptor on 37” can get high centered and need a tug if the line is wrong. Also that is why you travel with others and that is also part of the adventure/learning experience. I think Portals would have solved all his problems.

RagnarKon

The Story Till Now is definitely one of my favorite YouTube channels. Great content—albeit this title was super high on the “clickbait” scale.

It’s pretty obvious he favors his Jeep Gladiator over his Bronco, but as far as I know he still owns the Bronco and I believe he has since added 37s. Excited to see if he decides to build it up more.

He’s also good friends with Justin B McBride, who is one of the Bronco Ambassadors, and one of the earliest people on YouTube to put up Bronco content. Unfortunately he’s decided not to renew his Bronco Ambassador contract and seems to be getting ready to switch back to a Jeep. So he’ll have to give back his 2Dr Bronco back to Ford soon.

In general it seems like most of the Bronco Ambassadors aren’t sticking with the Bronco. Chase Gentry seems to be the only one left standing, and everyone else has either fell silent or gone back to what they were driving before. Wonder if the marketing team at Ford behind the whole ambassador program felt like was worth it. Doesn’t seem like it from my perspective.

Interesting.. .I had never heard of him before seeing this video and quickly got turned off by the clickbaity title, and seeing him out there in a stock sasquatch compared to a bunch of lifted Jeeps on bigger tires... as for the Ambassador program - I can see it both ways - Ford invested in these 'influencers' to get maximum visibility on YouTube for the Bronco - which clearly has a very high demand - I'm sure they have some data on clicks/views from all their 'ambassadors' - but it's all contrived as far as I'm concerned.. They probably weren't people who were going to get a Bronco in the first place, so they'll likely go back to what they preferred anyways. What I think @Ford should have done, is look at those of us who waited a LONG time to get a Bronco, and those who consistently put out images/video, to document our experiences with the Bronco. Some may not be as 'dramatic' as LiteBrite or Pickenmynose, but doesn't Ford realize that EVERYONE sees right through those folks? How about some REAL use cases of Bronco owners?
I absolutely LOVE this thing, and while my videos may not have the 'sex appeal' of LiteBrite, or the 'drama' of pickinmynose, they're real. Apparently that doesn't matter any more. I think the Ambassador program was good in concept, but in reality, it's not working as they had hoped.

Calgecko

Interesting.. .I had never heard of him before seeing this video and quickly got turned off by the clickbaity title, and seeing him out there in a stock sasquatch compared to a bunch of lifted Jeeps on bigger tires... as for the Ambassador program - I can see it both ways - Ford invested in these 'influencers' to get maximum visibility on YouTube for the Bronco - which clearly has a very high demand - I'm sure they have some data on clicks/views from all their 'ambassadors' - but it's all contrived as far as I'm concerned.. They probably weren't people who were going to get a Bronco in the first place, so they'll likely go back to what they preferred anyways. What I think @Ford should have done, is look at those of us who waited a LONG time to get a Bronco, and those who consistently put out images/video, to document our experiences with the Bronco. Some may not be as 'dramatic' as LiteBrite or Pickenmynose, but doesn't Ford realize that EVERYONE sees right through those folks? How about some REAL use cases of Bronco owners?
I absolutely LOVE this thing, and while my videos may not have the 'sex appeal' of LiteBrite, or the 'drama' of pickinmynose, they're real. Apparently that doesn't matter any more. I think the Ambassador program was good in concept, but in reality, it's not working as they had hoped.

Yeah I agree… it was a good concept just poorly executed.

I will say it was smart that Ford advertised the ambassadors at Off-Roadeo… and me—being the target “millennial” demographic for this sort of advertising—took Ford’s bait and wrote down all of their social information while at Off-Roadeo.

Where Ford failed is when I got home and looked up those ambassadors… and I came up almost empty. Only three of them actually had Bronco content beyond a photo or two on their Instagram feed. One of them had stopped posting new content sometime near the end of 2021. And the other two were Chase Gentry and Justin B McBride.

From what I understand, Justin has a Bronco on order, but his order is one of those stuck in constraint purgatory, and it is likely to get canceled. So I suspect between the frustration with his order, and the fact that many of his closest YouTube collaborators driving Jeeps have had their channel really take off in the past two years (while his has only seen moderate growth), I have a sneaking suspicion he just feels burned by the whole thing.

Just weird to have this huge ambassador program of 40+ people and only have 3-4 of those actually still engaging in the over-all Bronco community.

Hey @Ford Motor Company ... feel free to sign me up as an Ambassador. I already have my Bronco that I reserved 7/20/20 and took delivery of on 10/12/22 - you can see my videos at and my Bronco has it's own instagram at https://www.instagram.com/brooksbronco/

I'm a REAL Bronco owner. Not an 'influencer'. Not someone looking for clout. Just an enthusiast who has some camera skills and access to some great locations for off roading (I live in Northern CA). I am an admin for a large Bronco group (Gold Country Broncos) as well as an admin for the Bronco 6X Facebook page. You want an ambassador? Someone who's REAL? I'm right here.

@Calgecko For President

#GeckoForPrez

Calgecko

Interesting.. .I had never heard of him before seeing this video and quickly got turned off by the clickbaity title, and seeing him out there in a stock sasquatch compared to a bunch of lifted Jeeps on bigger tires... as for the Ambassador program - I can see it both ways - Ford invested in these 'influencers' to get maximum visibility on YouTube for the Bronco - which clearly has a very high demand - I'm sure they have some data on clicks/views from all their 'ambassadors' - but it's all contrived as far as I'm concerned.. They probably weren't people who were going to get a Bronco in the first place, so they'll likely go back to what they preferred anyways. What I think @Ford should have done, is look at those of us who waited a LONG time to get a Bronco, and those who consistently put out images/video, to document our experiences with the Bronco. Some may not be as 'dramatic' as LiteBrite or Pickenmynose, but doesn't Ford realize that EVERYONE sees right through those folks? How about some REAL use cases of Bronco owners?
I absolutely LOVE this thing, and while my videos may not have the 'sex appeal' of LiteBrite, or the 'drama' of pickinmynose, they're real. Apparently that doesn't matter any more. I think the Ambassador program was good in concept, but in reality, it's not working as they had hoped.

Like I said before, these guys do this just to make a buck, we see through the scripted bs.All they do is make themselves look bad.
If Ford is actually using YT videos to advertise, then they really have jumped the shark.But then again they failed at every aspect of bringing the Bronco to market.

I dont think you did anything wrong...you are out and about, and sometimes, you need some tugging or rock stacking. Sure, there are better lines, more lift, better tires, spotters, etc. But so what. Just because you have to get out and re assess does not mean its a failed line or drive....

Bluestreak57

Doesn’t airing down hurt your attack angles? I understand improved traction, but seems double-edged…. Granted, I am NOT a serious off-reader here so am following to learn

While airing down will lower your vehicle a little, it will dramatically increase the contact patch on the ground. That was his problem (in my opinion) in the first part of the video. As far as approach angle goes it really won't change it much, In the second part he scraped along, so bigger tires would have helped. The reality is that the 4 door is not a serious rock crawler unless you get up to about 40" tires. A 2 door on 37s are pretty much like a 4 door on 40s. Note, I said serious, the 4 door badlands Sas will do a lot, but not everything.

IMHO Ford did not design the Bronco for “serious“ rock crawling (too many low hanging bits...look at all the aftermarket skid plates). The fact is few buyers do “serious“ rock crawling...most buyers never even take them off road and most the ones that do never do much more than than a “fire” road. The Bronco easily out shines Jeep in these uses. These “influencers” are not the “buyers“ Ford is after, they are the “image” Ford wants to give the Bronco. It is no surprise they went back to jeep. It is also no surprise the 4 door badlands got hung up where Jeep’s walked through...