Getting rid of my Gladiator for a Bronco

[GWolgamott]

Well this is probably my last post on the forum. I built a Gladiator Rubicon two years ago just to my specifications from the dealership and I’ve had nothing but problems with the Jeep. In two years time frame I’ve had two door seals that needed replaced (water leaking), numerous corrosion issues on hood/tailgate/hinges/doors, and now the latest issue an oil leak by the intake manifold. Don’t get me wrong I love Jeeps but it’s ridiculous that I’ve had so many issues with the Jeep only being two years old and only 27K miles. It’s time to move on and try another OEM. Hopefully Jeep gets their act together because they just lost a customer due to their poor quality.

Screw a bronco be a man... Buy a (Edit:Ranger)Raptor.

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[Puch]

Well this is probably my last post on the forum. I built a Gladiator Rubicon two years ago just to my specifications from the dealership and I’ve had nothing but problems with the Jeep. In two years time frame I’ve had two door seals that needed replaced (water leaking), numerous corrosion issues on hood/tailgate/hinges/doors, and now the latest issue an oil leak by the intake manifold. Don’t get me wrong I love Jeeps but it’s ridiculous that I’ve had so many issues with the Jeep only being two years old and only 27K miles. It’s time to move on and try another OEM. Hopefully Jeep gets their act together because they just lost a customer due to their poor quality.

I have no opinion on Ford quality, but I can’t say I blame you. The Bronco is a nice looking vehicle. Good luck, hope it works well for you.

Edit: Don’t let the Jeep diehards get to you. The Jeep isn’t stellar in QC either. You can search through this forum and add up a page or two of reported problems. Considering this is just a small amount of jeep owners, I’m pretty sure the problems are much more common. Jeep dealers just report “no problem found” as their go to diagnostics so the actual amount of reported issues is probably very inaccurate.
I’ll probably get some hate for my opinion. Haha.
Once again, good luck and enjoy the Bronco.

 

[MaximusTX]

Screw a bronco be a man... Buy a Raptor.

The Ranger Raptor

 

[Lunentucker]

Can't blame you wanting to make the change based on your experiences.
The only real issue I see that keeps coming up on the Bronco is the weak tie rods, and fixes are out there for that. The stock ones are probably fine unless you are doing some more serious off-roading.
I'm still trying to decide on what's next.
I love my Mojave, but keeping a Jeep longer term frightens me a little. LOL
Knock on wood, mine has been flawless since about the 2000 mile mark, when they fixed the single cylinder misfire.
Waiting on my 25k oil report now.

 

[bleda2002]

The Ranger Raptor

If only they hadnt been based on the global ranger and instead actually looked good. The tech is amazing, and the capability is pretty damn good, but the bubbly global ranger reminds me of a dodge neon in that its just kind of soft and meh.

 

[GWolgamott]

The Ranger Raptor

Got bug of looking at off-road trucks due to when they first released that ranger raptor for non-us markets. Was going to look at them when I came across the gladiator. If I didn't have a gladiator I'd have that.

 

[MaximusTX]

Got bug of looking at off-road trucks due to when they first released that ranger raptor for non-us markets. Was going to look at them when I came across the gladiator. If I didn't have a gladiator I'd have that.

Yeah, it looks like a nice truck and I would be tempted to get it if I didn't already have a built Gladiator. My local shop is actually building one right now. They just got and will have the entire build on youtube. They showcase theirs's at the end of the video along with their plans for it. It should be an interesting build.

 

[GWolgamott]

If only they hadnt been based on the global ranger and instead actually looked good. The tech is amazing, and the capability is pretty damn good, but the bubbly global ranger reminds me of a dodge neon in that its just kind of soft and meh.

Exactly... I kind of like the rugged look of the gladiator and the top comes off... Were the driving factors when I got the Gladiator and I had good luck with Jeep in the past. But if I was going to buy a ford it'd be this over over the bronco. That while talking about looks... why does the Bronco front end remind me of the cartoon-ish FJ Cruiser front end.

 

[wchevron]

Good luck with the Bronco. Only been in one twice. Thought the interior was nice. Wouldn't really say one interior was better than the other. Only thing I didn't like was when the soft top was down, you can't see out of the rearview mirror. Top sticks up too high.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Wife loves her Bronco Sport Badlands.

Same here. I daily'ed it for about 6 months recovering from knee surgery and for what it is the BS isn't bad. We got a Heritage Limited so it's the Badlands with all the options for the most part and the yellowstone/white roof. She absolutely loves driving it.

We seriously considered the full size but at the time they still hadn't hit the lots in droves, and the heritage full size 4-door was vaporware. Wound up test driving a full size Big Bend vs the Sport and decided although it would be fun to take the top off, if she didn't have the commute through DC Beltway traffic daily (40 miles each way), we'd have gone that direction.

@OP: Our ownership has not been without annoying gremlins, mostly electronic/electrical. Sync's UX IMO sucks compared to U-Connect and every comfort feature runs through it- so half our one touch open functions on the doors don't work for example, seat memory doesn't always work, etc. Ford's transmissions can be problematic. Ours is already shifting rough at 16K miles.

Lastly, dig into what Ford has omitted on the current MY Bronco that may have been standard before. They're notorious for that on both the sport and full size. Little bits of trim like insulation, finish pieces, and a stupid pencil holder that totaled well over $500 to replace if I bought it from the parts counter. Ford also just sent us a recall notice for the stop/start system.

 

[Erievon]

Minor stuff, all under warranty. Good Luck, my neighbors Bronco Badlands has had more recalls and issues then I have with a JL and 2 JTs combined.

 

[MPMB]

Hopefully you have better luck with Ford.

 

[bleda2002]

Good luck, Ford is basically at the bottom of the domestic quality metrics and recalls so it's probably just as much a luck of the draw

 

[chorky]

The few bronco's I have seen look pretty cheesy to me. The interior photos I've seen have a weird ergonomic layout. But to be fair I have not seen one in person close up.

but keeping a Jeep longer term frightens me a little. LOL

I think this applies to all new vehicles, not just Jeep. My '06 TJ has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. And I just fired up the '06 LJ for a little drive today for the first time in over a month and everything was flawless. I recall hearing about the 2019 and up Ram cummins having major engineering flaws that was causing them to burn up the #6 cylinder and grenade the whole engine by the time they hit 120K miles, of course out of warranty by then. My dad got rid of his. He had the head unit go out which forced him to physically disconnect the batteries every time he parked for more than a few hours as there was supposedly no way to disconnect the radio, it was warrantied and a 2K repair. We all have heard about Ford and the lightning recalls. The Cyber Truck now is having issues. It's not just a Jeep thing. It's a 'modern vehicle' thing where corners are cut in favor of electronics and cost savings that causes the issue I think. Jeep has had issues for sure but everyone is. That's my .02. If only people/companies put passion and quality work ethic into what they do again, all this modern stuff would be fantastic.

Reminds me of the other thread with the windshield glass popping out of someone's Gladiator and someone posted the vide of the two gals not even paying attention to what they are doing. That's the problem. Society wise, people don't care. Ask yourself, do you care about every intricate detail of every job you do? If no, then you are part of the collective problem. We all in some way are to blame. It's like the crap job I got from the dealer where the tech put the bolts for the transfer case crossmember in backwards. That's just flat out laziness. And it is literally everywhere in the entire world - constantly everybody, including myself, are finding ways to make things easier so we have to do less work but that ends up in having less quality/robust things. From houses to cars to medical care. Like how I found out just a few weeks ago the surgeon left metal in my skull when it was all supposed to be removed. So...it's not just Jeep. Have you seen the poor quality of modern house construction lately? It's down right pathetic considering how expensive it is.

 

[ecidiego]

Wife loves her Bronco Sport Badlands.

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