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Jim Oaks

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Increase towing capacity is going to give it a stiffer ride.
 


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It also has a lighter transmission. 10R60 vs 10R80.
 

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I just think Ford could have done a LOT better.. The suspension could have been tuned easily by Ford engineers for both towing AND comfort. They could have chose ANY transmission they wanted too.

It's a sad thing when a truck with the history of the Ranger finally gets a 7500lb tow rating, and the full size Bronco, once an ABSOLUTE BEAST of a vehicle, has been turned so soft.
 

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What's up with the tow ratings of the Bronco when compared to the new Ranger? The Ranger is seriously rated at double over the Bronco? What was Ford thinking there?
Shorter wheelbase, weaker trans, bigger tires, softer “off-road” suspension... should I keep going?
 

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I just think Ford could have done a LOT better.. The suspension could have been tuned easily by Ford engineers for both towing AND comfort. They could have chose ANY transmission they wanted too.

It's a sad thing when a truck with the history of the Ranger finally gets a 7500lb tow rating, and the full size Bronco, once an ABSOLUTE BEAST of a vehicle, has been turned so soft.
I disagree. The Bronco isn't full-size. A 4-door Bronco isn't much bigger than a 1990's Explorer.

I've driven a new Ranger and the new Bronco. The Ranger rides like a truck, and the Bronco has a ride similar to an Expedition. It was built to be an offroad vehicle, not a truck. I think most consumers will be more interested in it's ride and offroad capability than its towing capacity.
 

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I disagree. The Bronco isn't full-size. A 4-door Bronco isn't much bigger than a 1990's Explorer.

I've driven a new Ranger and the new Bronco. The Ranger rides like a truck, and the Bronco has a ride similar to an Expedition. It was built to be an offroad vehicle, not a truck. I think most consumers will be more interested in it's ride and offroad capability than its towing capacity.
And most off road trailers aren’t that big or heavy. The last thing an off roader wants to do is attach an anchor to their rig that will get them stuck in no time flat.
 

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Shorter wheelbase, weaker trans, bigger tires, softer “off-road” suspension... should I keep going?
Shorter wheelbase is kind of a meh, a 4dr is within two inches (on the longer side) of my '85 which was rated to tow a thousand pounds more with a third the power and the glorious A4LD.

I would think a "payload package" of some sort with a different suspension would have interest. It is seriously easy to overload a Jeep and a Bronco won't be any better, you can't get the roof rails or even paint protection film from the factory on a Sasquatch Bronco because of GVWR concerns.

The Defender is rated to tow more than a Ranger, same for payload... with either 90" or 110" wheelbase.

Have the rock crawling suspension for those that do that and a firmer more trucklike suspension for those that want that. But for right now they are struggling to make what they do offer...

I do not see the merit of the 10R60, I don't know why they didn't just run the same trans as the Ranger. Even if not towing it will see abuse rock crawling.

We did drop the tow package on ours, I can snag a receiver for $100 down the road for a bike rack/recovery point. I doubt it will be hard to put a 4 pin on it if I need to haul the lawn mower to town but with two trucks in the fleet and ready to go I doubt I will need to fuss over it.
 

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Shorter wheelbase is kind of a meh, a 4dr is within two inches (on the longer side) of my '85 which was rated to tow a thousand pounds more with a third the power and the glorious A4LD.

I would think a "payload package" of some sort with a different suspension would have interest. It is seriously easy to overload a Jeep and a Bronco won't be any better, you can't get the roof rails or even paint protection film from the factory on a Sasquatch Bronco because of GVWR concerns.

The Defender is rated to tow more than a Ranger, same for payload... with either 90" or 110" wheelbase.

Have the rock crawling suspension for those that do that and a firmer more trucklike suspension for those that want that. But for right now they are struggling to make what they do offer...

I do not see the merit of the 10R60, I don't know why they didn't just run the same trans as the Ranger. Even if not towing it will see abuse rock crawling.

We did drop the tow package on ours, I can snag a receiver for $100 down the road for a bike rack/recovery point. I doubt it will be hard to put a 4 pin on it if I need to haul the lawn mower to town but with two trucks in the fleet and ready to go I doubt I will need to fuss over it.
The platforms are the same they're sharing the same engines, yeah you'd think they'd share the same transmissions too, instead of having so many different engine/transmission combinations they should sit down and do their homework and given they are electronic there's no excuse why they couldn't use the same transmission for different vehicles and tasks, by simply reprogramming it. They went soft on the transmission in the Bronco knowing full well people are gonna beat the crap out of them and overload them so they're back into the A4LD era of let's built the biggest pile of junk transmission to not handle anything so that people are stuck with enormous repair bills not covered under warranty.

People are buying cars based on a model name rather than their true usability in the real world. 99% of the buyers for these will be soccer mom, grocery getter, commuter people who have no intentions of driving them anywhere but the highway and parking lot at the mall. So trying to build a smaller size "Bronco" to be on the same capacity as the 80's and 90's Bronco isn't going to work. Its smaller than the full size Broncos were, so the wheelbase isn't going to do you any towing favors regardless how many electronic safety nannies you have, towing a big trailer behind a short, narrow wheelbased vehicle isn't going to work well. They could offer possibly a higher towing package in the base model, but unfortunately people don't buy base model cars they buy then all decked out which significantly decreases the payload capacity. The 2 door Bronco would most likely retain a much lower towing capacity overall than the 4 door model would, but I think they decided to just cut it down the middle and leave it at I think 3500lbs. Its not so much a suspension issue as it is a vehicle size issue...and the last thing they want to do is have another Firestone/Explorer rollover fiasco due to people overloading and improperly driving them. Even now you can't rent a UHAUL trailer and tow it behind an Explorer. With size in mind, the Bronco isn't a tow vehicle its a weekend play toy for those who are oblivious to the upcoming economical mess from people once again buying outside of their income.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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The platforms are the same they're sharing the same engines, yeah you'd think they'd share the same transmissions too, instead of having so many different engine/transmission combinations they should sit down and do their homework and given they are electronic there's no excuse why they couldn't use the same transmission for different vehicles and tasks, by simply reprogramming it. They went soft on the transmission in the Bronco knowing full well people are gonna beat the crap out of them and overload them so they're back into the A4LD era of let's built the biggest pile of junk transmission to not handle anything so that people are stuck with enormous repair bills not covered under warranty.

People are buying cars based on a model name rather than their true usability in the real world. 99% of the buyers for these will be soccer mom, grocery getter, commuter people who have no intentions of driving them anywhere but the highway and parking lot at the mall. So trying to build a smaller size "Bronco" to be on the same capacity as the 80's and 90's Bronco isn't going to work. Its smaller than the full size Broncos were, so the wheelbase isn't going to do you any towing favors regardless how many electronic safety nannies you have, towing a big trailer behind a short, narrow wheelbased vehicle isn't going to work well. They could offer possibly a higher towing package in the base model, but unfortunately people don't buy base model cars they buy then all decked out which significantly decreases the payload capacity. The 2 door Bronco would most likely retain a much lower towing capacity overall than the 4 door model would, but I think they decided to just cut it down the middle and leave it at I think 3500lbs. Its not so much a suspension issue as it is a vehicle size issue...and the last thing they want to do is have another Firestone/Explorer rollover fiasco due to people overloading and improperly driving them. Even now you can't rent a UHAUL trailer and tow it behind an Explorer. With size in mind, the Bronco isn't a tow vehicle its a weekend play toy for those who are oblivious to the upcoming economical mess from people once again buying outside of their income.
Well you see the Explorer has a longitudinal powertrain like the old days now, and it also has the 2.3/2.7 as options. My guess is Ford is planning that with a similar carcass weight and probably usage the trans would see similar stress... so they used the same 10R60 they use in the Explorer. And I think they do hold up well in the Explorer. Leaps and bounds ahead of the A4LD.

Just me being me I would much rather have had the 10R80 if it was an option.

And ours is going to be a soccer mom, grocery getter commuter rig most of the time too lol.

u-haul will let you tow with 2011+ Explorers... or any year Mazda Navajo, Mercury Mountaineer and Lincoln Aviator which are the same car as an Explorer but with different grilles and stickers.
 

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Well you see the Explorer has a longitudinal powertrain like the old days now, and it also has the 2.3/2.7 as options. My guess is Ford is planning that with a similar carcass weight and probably usage the trans would see similar stress... so they used the same 10R60 they use in the Explorer. And I think they do hold up well in the Explorer. Leaps and bounds ahead of the A4LD.

Just me being me I would much rather have had the 10R80 if it was an option.

And ours is going to be a soccer mom, grocery getter commuter rig most of the time too lol.

u-haul will let you tow with 2011+ Explorers... or any year Mazda Navajo, Mercury Mountaineer and Lincoln Aviator which are the same car as an Explorer but with different grilles and stickers.
Hmm so a trip to pick a part and I can swap a Mountaineer emblem out and go in to UHAUL with my Explorer LOL.

I thought about ordering a 2 door base model Bronco, but even at that the price is totally ridiculous for no more than what it really is, just as bad as the price gouging they do with the Jeep Wranglers.

I thought I saw a while back somewhere about Ford possibly offering a 2 door Ranger with a longer bed, hopefully they do something like that, I wouldn't mind a newer long bed Ranger...although I love my 87 long bed Ranger with the 5 speed and 2.9L V6, I get mid to high 20's for fuel economy on the highway with it all the time. When I got rid of my 2008 Toyota Tundra because I wasn't using it as a truck I honestly didn't think I'd get a truck again....then after getting the 87 Ranger almost 2 years ago, its been used as a weekend DIY project truck hauling dirt, gravel, sand, etc. So really not sure what I'd use one of the new Broncos for, my 88 Bronco 2 I usually drive to work all the time and these new turbo charged engines I've heard that's not good for them, so I'd have to find something older without turbos in my case, I only work 4 miles from home LOL....time for a scooter or a battery powered bicycle I think, at least for the summer time.
 

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I don't see too many trucks pulling trailers while off roading. But I do see F350's and GMC Duramax pulling jeeps and explorers, down to the "Bog Ins" and mud runs, on trailers. Meaning that they aren't meant for pulling trailer's but are meant to be pulled on trailers, to some mud, and that's where they "shine" . Same reason a regular F150 can tow more than a raptor. The raptor ain't built for that. Your better off with the ranger fx4 if you want the best of both worlds.
 

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I don't see too many trucks pulling trailers while off roading. But I do see F350's and GMC Duramax pulling jeeps and explorers, down to the "Bog Ins" and mud runs, on trailers. Meaning that they aren't meant for pulling trailer's but are meant to be pulled on trailers, to some mud, and that's where they "shine" . Same reason a regular F150 can tow more than a raptor. The raptor ain't built for that. Your better off with the ranger fx4 if you want the best of both worlds.
All depends on what you want to do...
 

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“We’re building Broncos... just not your Bronco yet.”
And they have been building them for three months so yeah, thanks for the newsflash.

Although they are supposed to kick the line up to full capacity on Monday... until they run out of parts again.

 

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