The Bronco II is short, as is my story, but it sure lasted us for a good long time. Actually, it’s the story of several owners, me being the final one. Well, not “final” as in the way that more than a few of my cars have ended up. As far as I know, it may still be out there somewhere, still adding to its story.
The little Bronco was owned by our friend Jim, my friend Peter, and then by me. It was the first car I ever saw Peter “drive”, as he had stopped driving sometime in the eighties. That is, until he bought the Bronco from Jim.
Jim is a snowbird, spending his summers in Oregon and driving his RV, pulling a Bronco II, down to Arizona in the winter. The Bronco of this post had seen many years of this and many hunting trips in the desert. Jim was good with regular maintenance of his vehicles as well, so it was all one could ask for in a Bronco II. I am not sure what made Peter decide to start driving again. But I think the biggest factor in Peter’s purchase of Jim’s Bronco was that Jim was willing to take payments for it.
This particular Bronco II was a basic model, equipped with the ubiquitous Cologne V6, 5 speed Mazda transmission, and nothing else of any interest whatsoever. The only problems it had was a sagging seat back and a whining 5th gear (due to ball instead of roller bearings used in Mazda transmissions).
I drove Peter to Jim’s house to check out the Bronco. The first thing Jim said to Peter when he got in it to test drive it was “don’t stall it”. Which Peter did, repeatedly. I kept my chuckling reserved, but later on I learned just why he had stalled it over and over. After a very brief jaunt around the block Peter gave Jim some cash and asked me to follow him home as the Bronco had been sitting some time.
Following behind Peter in my car I got a good picture of just why he had stopped driving. His first act of entering the great public thoroughfare of a major road was to cut someone off. Act two was to turn into the turn lane too late, slam on the brakes, and come skidding – nearly sideways – to a halt inches behind some frightened family in a minivan. But he made it back without hitting anything. Upon exiting his new vehicle he exclaimed, “I think I need to brush up on my driving skills”.
We took many a hunting trip in that Bronco. Most of the time Peter had me drive. I soon discovered why he had stalled it for myself. The torque curve of the Cologne V6 was unsuitable for a truck, and the tall first gear didn’t help matters any. Here is a video of the Bronco showing off it’s weakness.
And a little more fun in the mud
But the Bronco II has a few strengths of it’s own. For one, it’s the size of a flat fender Jeep but it can actually accommodate four people in relative comfort. And the turning circle is one of the smallest I have ever seen. As well, it can travel down the highway at speed for one’s daily commute, heat, AC and all! There really is no other 4×4 that is so small yet so accommodating. It is like the Tardis, bigger on the inside than the outside.
Peter eventually lost his license due to his driving challenged nature. In fact the last time I remember him ever driving was leaving his apartment, Bronco parallel parked between two cars. It went like this; “Peter, do you want me to drive”? “No, I’m fine”. “OK”… Bump – bump – bump. “You drive”!
After the loss of his driving privilege I bought the Bronco from him. It served me well for quite some time. But a few things always bugged me about it. The gas mileage was never any greater than nineteen mpg no matter what. I wished that Ford had offered the 2.3 liter four cylinder in it as they did with the Ranger. If they had of, I would be driving a Bronco II now. But strangely they never did. Peter owned it for quite some time and by the time I got it, it was getting a bit long in the tooth. And when I got rid of it, it was beginning to smoke and rattle. But bear in mind, it still had its original engine, no rebuilds, was on its third transmission, but everything else was original. That’s not bad for a car made in 1985!
The fellow who bought it from me paid me three hundred bucks for it. I think it was worth about that. I don’t know what he planned to do with it, but I really didn’t care. I was done with Bronco IIs and was looking to get into something that was better off road and better on road. But that’s another story.
Dad had an ’86 XLT automatic in that two tone brown that you saw a lot of back then. He was a duck hunter at the time and also loved the tiny turning radius. He is not the sentimental type like CCers are on cars, but if you bring it up he always says he liked the Bronco II.
Mom was driving it one day and swears that somehow she got it in a ditch, had it layed gently on its side (and had a dent to prove it) and it then righted itself, and she drove on home. The only way I can see this happening is if she was still moving and steered in such a way as to right the trucklet. I think the only thing damaged was a wheel which was bent, so we swapped the identical spare wheel down and made the bent one the spare. Dad was about to buy a whole new wheel until I suggested this, a fact I’ve never let him forget.
Dad and/or the trucklet also almost killed us on an icy bridge one night. Dad is NOT a daredevil driver, and as I recall he was NOT driving too fast for the conditions, but that thing got away from him anyway and we almost died, but it was a short bridge is all that saved us, and thank god he wasn’t crooked when he got to the other side with no ice.
The truck was traded on a loaded-up F150 when the 2.9 sludged, probably due to a cracked head. They apparently all did that (except Freeman’s!) and it is said that one aftermarket head manufacturer made a fortune with improved heads for this engine. I do like the idea of this little engine with its narrow bank angle. Very compact.
A buddy of mine had the 1985 Eddie Bauer version of this, but his was the 4×4 version so it had the Mitsubishi sourced 5spd.
The trucks and the Bronco had it the same with the transmission, the 4WD’s had the Mitsu gearbox, the 2WD versions had the Mazda sourced gearbox, I know as my 1992 Ranger is 2WD and has the Mazda sourced gearbox (with the 4.0L Cologne pushrod V6).
if you went to the dealer to get shifter parts for your Bronco II or Ranger, they will ask you if it’s 2WD or 4WD as that then told them what gearbox you had, at least up through the 1990’s anyway and even the repair manuals state this as well.
In 2009, I had to replace a bunch of the shifter parts when mine suddenly went all wonky and 4th and 5th gears were waaay to the right and Reverse was even worse but I was still able to shift it though and that’s what the dealer asked when I called about parts.
These are very solid and honest little vehicles that last and last and last and stay mostly reliable during its lifetime and sadly, Ford isn’t replacing it in the US with an updated model.
Ah, thanks for the info. They both have ball bearings though, I don’t know why. You are right, I have owned two now and both have been extremely reliable.
Probably both were 4sp’s with an extra gear added, and the 5th gear intended for relatively light loads.
We had one of these, a brand new ’84 Eddie Bauer, for six months: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/05/curbside-classic-fords-rollover-happy-bucking-bronco-1984-bronco-ii/
When I first got into it, I was pretty shocked at how tippy it felt. But I got used to it after a while, and we made some good memories in it. But the ’85 Cherokee that replaced it felt so much more stable compared to the Bronco II.
It doesn’t surprise me that one of these called your driveway home for at least a little while. It was more true to the original concept of the S/U than the S-10 Blazer or Cherokee with it’s short, short wheel base. I had a 2.9 powered Ranger 4×4 and the fuel injection certainly helped it’s low end torque compared to the carb equipped 2.8. It still really needed steeper gears for off-roading even with stock or close to stock sized tires.
There are a few lifted ones running around here with 33″ or 35″ tires and I’ve heard at least one sporting a V8 exhaust note to be better able to turn those large tires.
One thing to note even the 2wd versions had a “transfer case” and used the 4wd trans. The “transfer case” just had a shaft in it and it allowed Ford to use the same rear driveshaft. Makes no sense to me why it wouldn’t have been cheaper to make a different driveshaft instead of purchasing and fitting a dummy transfer case.
Yes they do, very useful size and shape.
I have owned the FI ones as well. Better power, but the gearing was still wrong.
These things were awful – tippy, rough and unstable at speed. The Cherokee and S-Blazer/Jimmy were better in every measureable way. There’s a reason the 4-door version got a new name.
Not every way, just the one’s that count for on road driving. Th Exploder is based on it but is very different. Like a Toyota T100
S-Blazers/Jimmys were FAR worse in every way! I used to have to work on them at the car lot I moonlighted at
The fuel mileage for the small, 2-door CUV was about the same as the larger, much more practical 4-door versions, and the only real use for a short-wheelbase 4×4 was off-road, someplace they rarely went. The only one that has managed to survive, time and again, has been the classic (yet rough and archaic, even with the incremental improvements) 2-door Jeep Wrangler.
Still, it’s a shame the market for the small, civilized 2-door CUV (like the Bronco II) died.
There are a lot more Bronco IIs on the road around here than same era Wranglers. The Wrangler is a pig on gas, has a poor turning circle, is to big for it’s purpose, and low on amenities. Not that I think the BII is anything great mind you.
I always liked the Bronco II’s simple, rugged nature, but the first time I drove one ( a customer’s ) it’s tippy, unstable handling scared the crap out of me.
They had one model of these that had removable rear side windows… gave it a real “Jeep” feel. In Forida, I always wanted that one. My uncle had one in Rhode Island as his second company car, his winter car to go with his Porsche 911 Cabriolet. He was the “cool” uncle, I wanted to be just like him.
Yes, but never seen one, would love to own one. With a transplanted 2.3 of course.
A Mazda diesel from a Ranger would be possible too at least in theory.
If one could find one!
Lol, awesome videos, looked like loads of fun was had by all! And I’m in awe at the resilience of the Bronco’s starter motor! The second clip had me wondering just how high its air intake was though…! And adding to the weekend’s discussion on straight-6 vs V6, I’m a straight-6 fan, but watching the clips of the Bronco reminded that Cologne V6s sound very nice with a large exhaust. I agree re the 4wd-unsuitable torque curve though.
We have a few ex-USA Bronco IIs down here, I see a black one most days en route to work. The design never quite did it for me though, as they look like they’re going to tip over at the slightest provocation. But good point re being the same size as the Jeep yet seating four folks comfortably. Another interesting story too, thank you!
Thanks, I think they seem tippy if you are used to cars. I am used to tall Jeep like vehicles so to me it seemed OK.
The driver in the vid was not the worlds most experienced off road driver ; )
I owned a 1988 Bronco II for a while. It always felt quite tippy. Ours was almost flipped by a wind gust out here. Would not own another at least here. My Lada Nivas which are similar in size and function never felt like they were going to topple over. Our Bronco II had the 2.9L V6 that over heated and knocked like crazy. I suspect it had started to crack the heads like most of them seem to do.
We only had the full-size Bronco in Australia, it is interesting to compare the Bronco II to the swb Nissan Patrol (MQ) and Toyota Landcruiser Bundera (LJ/BJ70), both close to the same length on an inch or three shorter wheelbase, 66.5″ width unless you had wide wheels and flares (then approx 70″ width), and height of 74-75″. Weight is 3267lb for the Bundera or 3700lb for the Patrol petrol (add 400lb for the diesel). The Toyota had a 2.4 petrol engine, the diesels are ultra rare, the Nissan had the 2.8 6cyl petrol or 3.3 diesel and was a much more heavy-duty vehicle than the swb Toyota as indicated by the GVM of 6111 vs 4689lb and GCM of 11444lb. The Bundera used Hilux axles & driveline – possibly other components too but had the same basic body as the larger 70-series Landcruisers.
I don’t recall any particular rollover issues, this was still pre-SUV boom here in Australia and they were not often owned by the “casual SUV owner”. I knew a guy who had a Patrol diesel, it was slow but extremely strong & capable as indicated by the above weights, also 7778lb tow rating.
I have an older S-10 with the 2.8L. I would not have had any trouble making it up that berm, so either it was the lack of experience or not as much power from that bigger motor as one would assume. The 2.8 is pretty weak. It is sufficient for getting around, but not a burly mud machine.
Great story Michael. I think these were really nice looking, though I never rode in one or knew anybody who had one. The Bronco II reminds me more of the original ’66-’77 version than the ‘regular’ Bronco of the same year. Very similar proportions, short wheelbase, etc.
My brother-in-law had an old Bronco II that I drove a few times. It was a 2wd with the five speed, and it had the sloppiest steering and handling I’ve ever come across.
i just bought an ’85 xlt with 95k miles on it never rebuilt and its original tranny is still in it… coincidence is i paid $300 for it just like in this story lol
Sometimes I just worry about people that don’t think things through. The B2 is a great example of a 4×4 built to do what you would expect of a small 4×4. Had jeeps but this is better, A/C, 5spd. v6 (2.9) adequate hp, not a hot rod, but will accelerate to speed more that adequately. It cannot be driven like a car. IT ISN”T. But drive like a 4×4 and will surpass your expectations. Great in snow, even in 2wd. Relax and get 27+ MPG on hwy. Never got less than 19 iwth 4×4 and snow tires. Enjoy !!
to you. all.
what is the better tire size for the 1985 4 x4 6 cyl bronco II?
thanks for the answer
Fermin