Getting rid of my Gladiator for a Bronco

[arosen1997]

Good luck my guy, I have a buddy I deployed with who's a Ford tech at a dealership these days. I was talking to him about a bronco for the wife and according to him they have a bad habit of genading after 36000 miles.

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[Arisdocjk]

My wife and I have a bronco and a JLU (I’m in delicate negotiations on a JT at the moment, super excited!)

Comfort/driving: The bronco drives nice, like an suv. My Jl is built for off-road so now it’s no comparison, but when it was stock it drove almost as nice as the bronco and I put a bunch of miles on it in stock form. The solid front was almost invisible.

On the highway the bronco is loud as hell and it leaks at odd times and places. It seems like water gets into the roll cage and when braking and turning that water finds a way out, usually when you’re dressed nicely for dinner. The jeep is much better in the noise and watertight department.

Interior: No contest. The bronco is as cheesy as it gets with miles and miles of plastic. It feels like a cheap rental car. The seats however are more comfortable on long trips.

The instrumention is horribly laid out, drives me insane. This is something Jeep did very well.

Love the tailgate strut configuration. It blows Jeeps whatever the hell thing they use out of the water.

No cup holders in the rear seat area. WTF ford, you ever hear of children?

Nice and easy to take the top off the Bronco but man does it rattle and wiggle around without the hardtop on and no center sport bar like Jeep has. It’s not good.

Pride of ownership: No contest here as well. I have never, not once, given our bronco the “look back” when it’s parked. The Jeep? After 6 years I’m still like a 5 year old with a new Hot Wheels car. I still make excuses to drive the Jeep as often as I can while I try to avoid the Bronco like it will give me a rash.

Overall: Jeep wins hands down. Don’t get me wrong I’m no FCA fan boy. I’ve battled my fair share of issues and have wanted to murder an engineer once or twice but I have never enjoyed a product in 52 years as much as I have enjoyed the Jeep.

My $0.02 being a current owner of both. Good luck.

I 100% agree, well stated. No comparison between the interior, also agree with the looking back when parked. My Mojave gets me every time.

 

[biodiesel]

I always tell people to stop reading Consumer Reports and buy what you love. If you love a vehicle, then you're more likely to deal with the issues and not allow those issues to affect the ownership experience. If you don't love the vehicle, then it's easy to get frustrated and eventually hate the ownership experience.

The Gladiator was an easy decision for me. For one, I loved the concept of a Jeep truck, but I also loved the diesel powertrain. Is it perfect? No, but I have enjoyed the ownership experience and plan to keep the truck for 20+ years.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

You’re going the wrong direction if you’re upset with Jeep quality. Get a Toyota. I agree that FCA/Chrysler/Stalantis has quality issues. Chrysler/Dodge historically always has. Jeep always has, although the JL is on another planet of quality compared to the TJs and YJs. Those only did well because they were dead simple and ran ancient, proven parts. I’ve been impressed with the Gladiator’s quality so far. I have no idea how you have corrosion issues on aluminum parts. I haven’t had any paint issues if that what you mean. All my Jeeps have been good in that area. It’s always been Japanese cars that can’t seem to keep paint on them and like to get body cancer.

I come from a “Ford Family” going back to the 1960s (original Thunderbird, Broncos, Crown Vics, LTDs, police cruisers, Taurus’s, Mustangs, Escapes (Kuga), etc. ) Oddly, never an F150. Ford today has the same exact issue since Henry ran it. You can take an 2024 Escape off the lot and compare it to a 1980s Country Squire in 2 ways. Ford engineering is f’ing goofy. It’s slapdash. That slapdash klugy engineering is all over the Bronco, from the way the top (either one) works, to the location of the alternator, which is positioned like a water scoop on the bottom of the engine. There’s video of Bronco’s driving through water crossings and dying. I looked at a Bronco at an auto show, crawled under it, and was like “hell no” after about 5 minutes. Having had owned a late model Ford I was shocked how cheap the interior is. Personally, Ford puts effort into the F150 and Mustang like the way Porsche treats the 911. Everything else is a crapshoot.

Secondly, Fords are inconsistent from one example to the next. Going back decades, Ford will stick random parts on vehicles to keep the assembly line moving. I’ve seen this on each and every Ford I or my family has owned. You’d think with Mercury gone, they’d have less crap in the parts bin to choose from. Now they just pull from multiple contractors. So a number of Bronco owners have reported mismatched wheels, mismatched interior bits, mechanical parts, etc. No one else other than maybe small British manufacturers like TVR, Italians like Alpha Romeo and hilariously Tesla do this goofy shit. Although in Tesla’s case, their cars are literally just made from other companies parts bins.

It’s not that Fords are “Parts Bin Cars”, although the Bronco absolutely is a “Parts Bin Special,” rushed out the door to jump onto the pandemic and post pandemic surging off roading and “overlanding” trend. It’s that once Fords start getting built they will play loose with what parts substitutions they can make. They’ve always done this.

The net effect, having worked on every domestic and most Japanese makes, Fords are awful to work on and awful to diagnose when there’s a problem whether it’s a knowledgeable consumer or dealer techs. Their quality is also wildly inconsistent.

Other, than maybe a Mustang as a GT car (I’d rather own a pure sports car) I wouldn’t own another Ford. My old man switched to Chevrolet and has been a Toyota guy since the 80s even while he still owned Fords.

 

[Dejay]

I have the launch edition JT and love it as much as the day I bought it! With that said, I also have a 22 Bronco Badlands Sasquatch 2 door. I have little complaints with the Bronco. It’s a lot of fun, love taking the top off and I get just as many compliments as I do with the JT when driving it. The twin turbo V6 is sweet for power and I do get about 18.9 MPG combined mileage vs the 13 MPG in the JT with the same driving habits. Like all vehicle’s, you will have some great ones and you may get some bad ones as well. If your hardcore off road, Jeep all the way. If you’re doing dirt roads, beach driving that requires a 4x4 either one of my rides cuts through it like a hot knife cutting butter. The Bronco is wider and does have more leg room over the Gladiator; I’m 6’4” and I seem a little more comfortable in the Bronco.

 

[BourbonRunner]

I actually bought my Gladiator because needing a new 5.4L motor for my '09 F150 every 70k miles seemed a little unreasonable. Hope your Bronco treats you better than that.

Didn't you know a Ford motor is a wear item like wipers and tires?

@Wolf Island Diver

100% spot on.

And-- The fact that you mentioned TVR in a post about build quality tells me you're my people. Although I'm fairly certain the Bronco won't try to kill the driver like a TVR would.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Didn't you know a Ford motor is a wear item like wipers and tires?

@Wolf Island Diver

100% spot on.

And-- The fact that you mentioned TVR in a post about build quality tells me you're my people. Although I'm fairly certain the Bronco won't try to kill the driver like a TVR would.

Engine as a wear item sounds like BMW. Having your own car try to murder you is actually one of TVRs endearing charms, but not something I want when bringing home a pack of Costco toilet paper in my SUV.

Not really interested in buying the Bronco, but agreeing with people that it’s handsome and curious about Fords effort, I watched a bunch of videos on it once the hype started to cool down and folks could be more objective. From LiteBrite’s driving through wind and seeing 4 inch gaps between the billowing top and the roll bar, to people constantly breaking tie rods, to the plastic! oil pan, to people killing their truck from the aforementioned alternator placement, to the electronic 4x4 system flaking out, I’m a solid Hell No on the Bronco. I absolutely would not trust its reliability off road. And all these choices tells me Ford was really cynical in their effort and not at all trying seriously to compete with the Jeeps, Land Cruisers, or Patrols of the world. Regular Car Reviews would call it a simulacrum of off road toughness.

 

[JTGuy]

You want a Bronco, Geta 1st gen and keep it forever. I had a 70 and never had a CEL. lol. A good clean 1st gen Bronco will never loose value.

 

[HighNoon]

As far as the corrosion issue I had what looked like corrosion around the hood. It turned out to be moisture in the paint and was repainted under warranty. Dealer said they had a lot of this issue. If you drive salted roads corrosion can happen to any make. If I was going to trade I would wait for the 25 models because I saw a YouTube saying Jeep has made some changes including an inline 6. I can’t say for sure if that’s true. I have the diesel with the recall done and it’s been great so I am not trading because prices are crazy. I have had Fords and don’t care for the models without a straight front axle. I also feel Ford is more of an electronic nightmare.

 

[Banned]

As stupid wide as those Broncos are, the front control arms should be two feet long with 20" of travel.

 

[djthumper]

I will let my friend Tyler over at Broncbuster know you are coming to spend money. You will want his parts to survive off-road in the Bronco. He was out here testing some of those parts during COVID and we replaced a few of them on the trail.

 

[wally1955]

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.

Broncos have had a bunch of recalls I’d wait.

 

[Gvsukids]

So a number of Bronco owners have reported mismatched wheels, mismatched interior bits,

Like rear seats.

The twin turbo

It's also fun in the 4-cylinder.

If you drive salted roads corrosion can happen to any make.

Haven't had that. But then we also wash often in the winter.

 

[RHINO79]

Wait for the Bronco truck next year!

 

[Free2roam]

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