7spd Stick for Bronco?

[4x4junkie]

practical or not, I'm sure there's a way to integrate a front output and do away with most of the transfer case.

Seems Subaru did essentially that decades ago (and Fiat (Jeep) more recently on the current Cherokee). Yet you rarely see them anywhere off road other than perhaps on graded to very lightly-rutted trails... These types of systems are rather light-duty, and while they do lend themselves nicely for foul-weather driving (even more so than part-time systems do), they just don't have the gearing nor the beef to handle more-technical trails of an outdoor enthusiast nature.

Simply put, the 2-speed case is a requirement for any 4x4 vehicle that hopes to have off road cred. A 'granny' gear (or two) on top of that would only further that cred (and could even eliminate the need for some of us to have to put additional gear multiplication units into our rigs because the OEM configuration wasn't geared deep enough on it's own).

It pleases me to see an article like this, although given the trends I've seen over the last decade or so, i'd be stupid to hold my breath before actually seeing them available on dealer lots.