1987 Ford Bronco II Reviews - Page 2 of 4

The tie rod ends went out, but were really easy to change.

I am a really hardcore 4 wheeler. I blew the engine; I just got done putting an engine in from a pick and pull that had 60,000 miles on it, and I have also rebuilt the tranny.

Other than that, that is it.

I have put on a rough country 3 inch suspension lift, and it rides like a dream on the road, and performs better than ever off-road. Do not go off-road with the stock suspension; it will not last. If you're interested in the suspension lift, go to jcwhitney.com and find it. It's only 300.00. It's the best investment I've put into the Bronco.

I also have 31 inch mud tires, which is also very helpful. I get 11 MPG, which isn't too bad with the tires I have on it.

I love my Bronco, and who thought a Bronco 2 couldn't go off-road. I go to the course, and people make fun of it until it embarrasses their cars.

My valve cover gaskets were bad when I bought it.

Motor is really powerful for a 2.9 V6.

Handles great on and offroad.

Transmission shifts smooth, and has a short throw.

Has a lot of low-end torque.

Great all around car, great power, great off road and in the snow, and very cheap to get a hold of.

Transmission rebuilt at 129,000 km (the day after I bought it!).

Engine replaced at 190,000 - thrust bearing on crankshaft was shot.

Rear drive shaft replaced.

Front u-joints replaced.

This thing will go anywhere. The short wheel base and high clearance make it ideal off road. It never ceased to amaze me. I got it stuck once - I took it down a snowmobile trail in the winter, and when I tried to turn around I got one wheel off the groomed trail into three feet of powder. Three minutes with a come-along, and I was back in business.

I've put a lot of miles on it and I'm sorry to see it go, but the current transmission and engine are both getting weak. The engine has 290,000 km on it so it owes me nothing (the first one went at 190,000 and I replaced it with a used one). The transmission, on the other hand, is a weak point. It was rebuilt at 129,000 kn, and replaced with a used one at 300,000 km. I'd recommend the manual gearbox.

The transfer case is the pushbutton type and has performed flawlessly. The hubs are the automatic hubs and have never been a problem.

One thing to watch for in this vehicle is rust inside the rear door, beside the tail lights. The rear wheels throw stuff up there, and cause it to rust out at that spot, and when it does, the floor sags in the cargo area, and the walls actually sag with it. It's a little hard to describe, but the result is that the back door gets misaligned and becomes a problem to open and close.

The rear drive shaft is also a weak point, and can be expensive to replace. They used CV joints not u-joints because of the steep angle, and they are integral to the drive shaft. This means when they go, you have to replace the whole thing. Even used ones go for over $100, and a new one is worth more than the truck.

I don't want to leave the wrong impression with all this talk about its weak points. When you drive it as much as I did, you learn those weaknesses. The strength is it's unbelievable off road abilities. We literally used this thing to pull 20' pine trees out of the ground this summer, and drove it down miles of trails that had only been traveled by ATVs. The week I bought it I took it up a hill in a gravel pit so steep I couldn't see anything out the windshield, but sky. It was a great little toy, and I'm going to miss it.