Apr 22, 2024
The vehicle: A stock 2 door badlands with sasquatch package, V6, Auto, Lux and capable bumper. While I have done cosmetics, I have not done any modifications to the chassis. Owned since December 23. I sought out the badlands because I wanted an out of the box capable vehicle for the Arizona desert.
The driver: Never been to Moab, and started 4 wheeling in 1975. My go to vehicle has always been my 1947 Jeep, carbureted, V8, lockers front and rear, 32 inch tires, and manual everything. Still learning the bronco.
The road trip: 700 miles one way. very comfortable. 21 mpg. Wind noise was definitely there and it was made worse by the stuff I had on the factory roof rack. The small fuel tank never was the concern I thought it would be.
Off road on the more difficult trails of Top of the World, Fin's N Things and Hells revenge. And, yes there are more difficult trails there. First off, These trails have lots of ledges and lots of traction. Some were so steep that the forward warning sensor would sound off as you approached and at times you just slid down, or as my spotter said, time to ski.
I used both lockers and the stay bar disconnect. Aired down to 20 PSI. Some places the 2 door had an advantage and some the 4 door had the advantage. Mostly when both the front and rear tires each meet a ledge at the same time.
I did hit the underside and the bash plates all got a new scratch. The worst hit was driver error when I let both front wheels drop of a ledge at the same time, that's a no no. Your supposed to do one corner at a time. That hit my cross member hard.
Traction and some amazing ledges were not a problem at all.
If I had any doubt of what I was about to climb, I engaged the rear locker, before it slipped. I only used the front a couple times.
The front camera. Because it is 2D, you can not use it to judge drop offs and such. However it works great to see where the trail goes when the huge hood blocks your view. So I never looked at it while doing top of the world, but I dam sure did on Fins and Hells.
The off road screen on the dash that shows if your locked also shows where your tires are turned and a reading that makes centering the wheel, when being spotted, super easy. I glanced at it frequently.
Stay bar disconnect got used a lot. even when on dirt roads going to the trail. You want a smoother ride, put it in 4 high and disconnect.
A problem I found was that when I was in 4L just as I came to a stop, the vehicle accelerated and I had to jab the brakes. I thought I was hitting the gas with my boot. Then I found that using 4L and manual gear selection, no problem. I also found that to maintain momentum and not pickup speed, 4L in M 1 or 2 gave good control (like my ol jeep). Some of the steep descents, the M1, really holds you back.
I hit the rear track bar points and the rear shock brackets. Scratched the bumper on all 4 corners and my wheel rings got some rash, all of which you need to be laying on the ground to see.
Do I want to add bigger tires or a lift? NO
Was I satisfied with its performance on these difficult trails? YES
You want to race over these trails, get a side x side. You want to do every trail no matter how extreme, build a rock buggy. Every thing in between stock and a rock buggy has a compromise. And pulling off the trail and using voice command to find Milts for a burger and shake, well, that's just plain nice.
I'm here to tell you, in stock form, this thing is amazing. I would hope that others with a stock vehicle would add to this post. On the trails with me was @SAVEUP with his 2 door badlands, non sasquatch, 4 cyl and standard transmission. We did all the same stuff.
The driver: Never been to Moab, and started 4 wheeling in 1975. My go to vehicle has always been my 1947 Jeep, carbureted, V8, lockers front and rear, 32 inch tires, and manual everything. Still learning the bronco.
The road trip: 700 miles one way. very comfortable. 21 mpg. Wind noise was definitely there and it was made worse by the stuff I had on the factory roof rack. The small fuel tank never was the concern I thought it would be.
Off road on the more difficult trails of Top of the World, Fin's N Things and Hells revenge. And, yes there are more difficult trails there. First off, These trails have lots of ledges and lots of traction. Some were so steep that the forward warning sensor would sound off as you approached and at times you just slid down, or as my spotter said, time to ski.
I used both lockers and the stay bar disconnect. Aired down to 20 PSI. Some places the 2 door had an advantage and some the 4 door had the advantage. Mostly when both the front and rear tires each meet a ledge at the same time.
I did hit the underside and the bash plates all got a new scratch. The worst hit was driver error when I let both front wheels drop of a ledge at the same time, that's a no no. Your supposed to do one corner at a time. That hit my cross member hard.
Traction and some amazing ledges were not a problem at all.
If I had any doubt of what I was about to climb, I engaged the rear locker, before it slipped. I only used the front a couple times.
The front camera. Because it is 2D, you can not use it to judge drop offs and such. However it works great to see where the trail goes when the huge hood blocks your view. So I never looked at it while doing top of the world, but I dam sure did on Fins and Hells.
The off road screen on the dash that shows if your locked also shows where your tires are turned and a reading that makes centering the wheel, when being spotted, super easy. I glanced at it frequently.
Stay bar disconnect got used a lot. even when on dirt roads going to the trail. You want a smoother ride, put it in 4 high and disconnect.
A problem I found was that when I was in 4L just as I came to a stop, the vehicle accelerated and I had to jab the brakes. I thought I was hitting the gas with my boot. Then I found that using 4L and manual gear selection, no problem. I also found that to maintain momentum and not pickup speed, 4L in M 1 or 2 gave good control (like my ol jeep). Some of the steep descents, the M1, really holds you back.
I hit the rear track bar points and the rear shock brackets. Scratched the bumper on all 4 corners and my wheel rings got some rash, all of which you need to be laying on the ground to see.
Do I want to add bigger tires or a lift? NO
Was I satisfied with its performance on these difficult trails? YES
You want to race over these trails, get a side x side. You want to do every trail no matter how extreme, build a rock buggy. Every thing in between stock and a rock buggy has a compromise. And pulling off the trail and using voice command to find Milts for a burger and shake, well, that's just plain nice.
I'm here to tell you, in stock form, this thing is amazing. I would hope that others with a stock vehicle would add to this post. On the trails with me was @SAVEUP with his 2 door badlands, non sasquatch, 4 cyl and standard transmission. We did all the same stuff.
SAVEUP, UserError