Off-roading Experts: What did he do wrong?

I think at this point we are all ambassadors and the Bronco Nation is a great place (not the only) to find these ambassadors for the Bronco. I will be waiting for my test Bronco now I just need to figure out how to make a video and post it.

Eninty

I bought mine for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.

That’s what the Aux switches are there for.

RagnarKon

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.

I kinda laugh at all this, not your breakdown specifically but rather this greater notion of the "social media" world we live in. I laugh at people caring who "IS" and "ISN'T" an "ambassador" and the whole program/YouTube/tweetiebird/instawhatever nonsense......yeah, I know, call me grandpa!

I guess what I find unbelievable is that there is no authenticity with 90% of the crap out there! If you gotta care who is staying with a vehicle, let along a particular carrot in the ground, you might want to reconsider why youre doing something. I guess my frustrations isn't so much about this "what did he do wrong", (I'm not harping on you for posting this Sulley), but rather all the people who are caring why a particular "ambassador" or the "ambassador program" is the way that it is!! (insert facepalm emoji here). I laugh and find it ironic at how companies have to give people their products so that they can make money doing whatever they do......and how we know its "working" is by their greater public appeal, and their "clicks". On top of that, people care about their opinions and what other products they're using?! Isn't this the same as the kids caring about a Kardashian??

I know, I know......grandpa has gone off the rails again. I'm just trying to learn something new each day and trying to figure out whats real and whats not......because it seems that there's a lot of not real out there.

Okay.....now I'll play...... I learned (from the video above) that if you load down (with a rooftop tent, camping gear and the kitchen sink) any STOCK 4x4 (Jeep, Bronco, a pickup, whatever), it reduces its ground clearance, adds to rolling resistance, and makes you look like a stick in the mud when you're surrounded by other high lifted application specific vehicles. Duhhhh...... (where's my facepalm emoji)

Broncofly

I kinda laugh at all this, not your breakdown specifically but rather this greater notion of the "social media" world we live in. I laugh at people caring who "IS" and "ISN'T" an "ambassador" and the whole program/YouTube/tweetiebird/instawhatever nonsense......yeah, I know, call me grandpa!

I guess what I find unbelievable is that there is no authenticity with 90% of the crap out there! If you gotta care who is staying with a vehicle, let along a particular carrot in the ground, you might want to reconsider why youre doing something. I guess my frustrations isn't so much about this "what did he do wrong", (I'm not harping on you for posting this Sulley), but rather all the people who are caring why a particular "ambassador" or the "ambassador program" is the way that it is!! (insert facepalm emoji here). I laugh and find it ironic at how companies have to give people their products so that they can make money doing whatever they do......and how we know its "working" is by their greater public appeal, and their "clicks". On top of that, people care about their opinions and what other products they're using?! Isn't this the same as the kids caring about a Kardashian??

I know, I know......grandpa has gone off the rails again. I'm just trying to learn something new each day and trying to figure out whats real and whats not......because it seems that there's a lot of not real out there.

Okay.....now I'll play...... I learned (from the video above) that if you load down (with a rooftop tent, camping gear and the kitchen sink) any STOCK 4x4 (Jeep, Bronco, a pickup, whatever), it reduces its ground clearance, adds to rolling resistance, and makes you look like a stick in the mud when you're surrounded by other high lifted application specific vehicles. Duhhhh...... (where's my facepalm emoji)

In my opinion social media can be—not always, but can be—more authentic than more traditional advertising.

Granted sticking the words "authentic" and "advertising" in the same sentence is basically an oxymoron. But it is often much harder for a creator to hide the flaws of a product. I think you can get a better sense about a product by how a content creator uses it rather than simply going to a trade show listening to a bunch of sales people giving you their rehearsed product spiel.

If Ford goes and hand-picks 40 people to advertise their Bronco through their ambassador program and only a handful of them are still producing content with the Bronco in it... well... that tells me something about the Bronco that if I was a prospective buyer I would want to know. (It also tells me that Ford still hasn't figured out social media advertising, but that's nothing new... the automotive industry is behind the curve when it comes to online advertising in general.)

Granted a lot of people don't care about advertising in the slightest, so none of this social media stuff (or traditional advertising) is interesting to them in any way, which I can totally understand. I used to be the same way. But I was corrupted by my time in the broadcast engineering industry—spent too much time around producers looking to attract eyeballs and agonizing when people watched social media "stars" over their stars that they've paid millions to employ.

RagnarKon

In my opinion social media can be—not always, but can be—more authentic than more traditional advertising.

Granted sticking the words "authentic" and "advertising" in the same sentence is basically an oxymoron. But it is often much harder for a creator to hide the flaws of a product. I think you can get a better sense about a product by how a content creator uses it rather than simply going to a trade show listening to a bunch of sales people giving you their rehearsed product spiel.

If Ford goes and hand-picks 40 people to advertise their Bronco through their ambassador program and only a handful of them are still producing content with the Bronco in it... well... that tells me something about the Bronco that if I was a prospective buyer I would want to know. (It also tells me that Ford still hasn't figured out social media advertising, but that's nothing new... the automotive industry is behind the curve when it comes to online advertising in general.)

Granted a lot of people don't care about advertising in the slightest, so none of this social media stuff (or traditional advertising) is interesting to them in any way, which I can totally understand. I used to be the same way. But I was corrupted by my time in the broadcast engineering industry—spent too much time around producers looking to attract eyeballs and agonizing when people watched social media "stars" over their stars that they've paid millions to employ.

.....at some point, you realize, its not about you anymore. It's a bit like being in a bar and realizing the ladies don't glance in your direction anymore. Time marches on......so you either do something really dumb to get noticed........or you grease the wheels on the rocking chair. 😂

Soooo...... What did he do wrong??

Oldhippie

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...

Then Jeep didn't design the Rubicon for "serious" rock crawling either. You can't take a stock Rubicon and do a tough rock crawling trail and make it through without rubbing and scraping. My Jeep on 40"s did fine, but it was not stock. If you are doing even semi serious rock crawling with a Jeep or Bronco, you will have to modify it. If/when I get my 2 door Bronco and finish the mods including 37" tires, it will as serious of a rock crawler as any Jeep, but it still won't do buggy trails. It will be able to do any trails in the Moab 4x4 book by Wells, which is what I want.

I will say this, without watching the video and just seeing the post, you should never under any circumstances hang off a vehicle trying to give it traction or trying to counterbalance a sketchy situation. It is damn good way to get seriously injured or worst case die. Just watched an IG post a couple of days ago with a guy trying to pull down a side by side that was tipping over and guess what he got flipped off of it like a rag doll and landed very awkwardly on the rocks he did not move very good affterwards. BIG mistake. If you can't get traction, back up a bit, stack some rocks under the tires to to gain an advantage over the obstacle you are trying to get over, or better yet, change your line. Like I have told my son many times while riding ATV's ......keep your tires on top of the rocks NOT straddle them you will get hung up every time.

As far as the "ambassadors" Ford's first mistake was to choose people who were "popular" on utube. What they should have done is put the Bronc in the hands of those who bleed Ford blue then they would not have the defectors they have now. Hell, when I made my reservation back in Aug of 2020 the money was in the bank and I was purchasing the Bronc for just that, to wheel the shit out of it. but of course I was not at a big cry baby dealer and not a "popular" utuber so of course here I sit still waiting for my Bronc. Just watched a local utuber that does "off road consulting" and he gets non-lifted Jeeps on street tires trough situations that even Jeeps on 40's get "stuck" or "hung up". He always manages to get them through, it is all about the proper line.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, not intended to be that just my opinion.😁

Bronco V-8

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

In Moab and the surrounding area, there are tons of trails accessible to a non-Sasquatch Badlands. I would say he could have picked any of about 50 other options and had a fun outing with zero damage to the Bronco.

Oldhippie

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...

All of what you said except it should be clearly noted those Jeeps were far from stock. The Rubicon has smaller tires than his Badlands. At least one of those Jeeps looked like it was running 40s, but none smaller than 37". Likely there were some 4" lifts to go with.

timhood

All of what you said except it should be clearly noted those Jeeps were far from stock. The Rubicon has smaller tires than his Badlands. At least one of those Jeeps looked like it was running 40s, but none smaller than 37". Likely there were some 4" lifts to go with.

It would be a fair criticism to say that a Jeep, even with the XR package, wouldn't be much more capable than the Bronco Sasquatch stock. XR gets you an extra inch or so of clearance, but you're still talking about the same wheel base, similar angles, and possibly just as heavy a vehicle if it's a 392.

timhood

In Moab and the surrounding area, there are tons of trails accessible to a non-Sasquatch Badlands. I would say he could have picked any of about 50 other options and had a fun outing with zero damage to the Bronco.

Every time I've been stuck, I've always said "I should have stayed home" 😎

Baus67

I will say this, without watching the video and just seeing the post, you should never under any circumstances hang off a vehicle trying to give it traction or trying to counterbalance a sketchy situation. It is damn good way to get seriously injured or worst case die. Just watched an IG post a couple of days ago with a guy trying to pull down a side by side that was tipping over and guess what he got flipped off of it like a rag doll and landed very awkwardly on the rocks he did not move very good affterwards. BIG mistake. If you can't get traction, back up a bit, stack some rocks under the tires to to gain an advantage over the obstacle you are trying to get over, or better yet, change your line. Like I have told my son many times while riding ATV's ......keep your tires on top of the rocks NOT straddle them you will get hung up every time.

As far as the "ambassadors" Ford's first mistake was to choose people who were "popular" on utube. What they should have done is put the Bronc in the hands of those who bleed Ford blue then they would not have the defectors they have now. Hell, when I made my reservation back in Aug of 2020 the money was in the bank and I was purchasing the Bronc for just that, to wheel the shit out of it. but of course I was not at a big cry baby dealer and not a "popular" utuber so of course here I sit still waiting for my Bronc. Just watched a local utuber that does "off road consulting" and he gets non-lifted Jeeps on street tires trough situations that even Jeeps on 40's get "stuck" or "hung up". He always manages to get them through, it is all about the proper line.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, not intended to be that just my opinion.😁

I don't know why they couldn't just run tv commercials like they used to. The general public has no idea about the Bronco, I'm bombarded with all kinds of comments from people who thought the sport was the Bronco. Others are saying the Bronco is a reskinned Ranger.

Bronco V-8

I don't know why they couldn't just run tv commercials like they used to. The general public has no idea about the Bronco, I'm bombarded with all kinds of comments from people who thought the sport was the Bronco. Others are saying the Bronco is a reskinned Ranger.

It’s like an Escape but with bigger wheels.

Oldhippie

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...

I couldn’t agree with you more. I took my stock 4 dr badlands with 33s(285) to Rauch creek in pa. I also took my 2018 jku with 2” lift and 33x12.50. My son in the jeep ahead of me . Both aired down. I took the same lines my son took. Any rocks he cleared I hit. The front has the most clearance but I hate the y brace it hits everything the front end clears. The skid plates really aren’t. There soft and the mounts bend. The plastic transmission pan is unprotected.
Gas tank is low and rear link mounts are a catch all. I did a lot of rock stacking noting I needed another 2”. Opinion: I love the bronco but it’s no jeep off road. But the jeep is no bronco on road.

J.bell

I couldn’t agree with you more. I took my stock 4 dr badlands with 33s(285) to Rauch creek in pa. I also took my 2018 jku with 2” lift and 33x12.50. My son in the jeep ahead of me . Both aired down. I took the same lines my son took. Any rocks he cleared I hit. The front has the most clearance but I hate the y brace it hits everything the front end clears. The skid plates really aren’t. There soft and the mounts bend. The plastic transmission pan is unprotected.
Gas tank is low and rear link mounts are a catch all. I did a lot of rock stacking noting I needed another 2”. Opinion: I love the bronco but it’s no jeep off road. But the jeep is no bronco on road.

I agree about those crossmembers. The rockstar that said "Hey, we need to brace that crossmember because of all that power from the V-6" was NOT an off road kind of guy. If he was those crossmembers would have been on the inside of the frame and on the inside of the crossmember. Then you could put a belly pan on the frame itself to protect that "high tech" composite trans pan. Or even made those braces flat on the bottom NOT a lip that catches every freaking rock that it comes close too.



Just like the rear lower control arm mounts, inside the frame. both are easy "fixes" with a torch and a welder.

On another note if you do get "hung up" you should have a hero switch that engages the front locker to pull you off.

Not judging anyone here but I did attend a "Bronco Ride and Drive" at AOAA. They put me in an OBX with what, something like 32's on it. I was so preoccupied with talking to the guide that we were over halfway through before I finally got "hung up" and realized I was still in Normal mode and 2WD. Granted we were not on black trails but still with the Bronco it is all about the line. As I was traversing the trails the guide kept saying to me, "Boy, it looks like you have done this before?" We we got hung up she said "Oh shit we don't even have the locker on yet" 😂 "Locker" I said, "Hell I'm still in 2WD!"

I also forget that many people have not seen the "testing" of the Bronco, before its release, in Moab and the Rubicon. They traversed those trails on 33's and I can remember hearing Brad Lovell always saying "Turn on your front locker". Lots of sheet metal screeching but not stuck. 😁

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.

@Ford Motor Company should start recruiting us Bronco Nation folks as Ambassadors.

RagnarKon

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.

None of the things @Ford Motor Company pushed really had much content nor connection including this program, Wild Fund, Sons of Smokey ect ect.

Found the video of him up-fitting his Bronco a bit... which will probably would have solved most of the problems he encountered in Utah.

Since this video, all of his videos have been with his 426 Hemi swapped Gladiator... which is awesome, yes... but obviously being a self-confessed Bronco fanboy is somewhat disappointing. (Although I will say he is making me want to move to Canada.)