Rawah652

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Just got back from an amazing week with my new Bronco Sport Badlands. Started off with the Off-Roadeo event in Moab, UT driving some very beautiful trails. Got rained on in Arches National Park, so had to skip Tower Arch Road. Moved onto getting snowed on in Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park, then camped overnight in Dead Horse Point State Park. VERY windy and a bit snowy. Then the big event of the week- taking on Elephant Hill trail in the Needles District of Canyonlands, and camping in Devils Kitchen campground. LOTS of warnings about this trail- definitely believe them! NOT for the faint of heart, and definitely not something a totally stock Baby Bronco can take on.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most 20221027_233950000_iOS



Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Trailhead overlook



Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Elephant Hill_thats the trail



The mods that mattered for me were:
- 1.25" lift from HRG
- Front bash plate from HRG- used this a bit. (Never hit the hitch though on the departure angles)
- 245/65R17 Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme tires (stock rims). I only aired down to 28 psi before the run to preserve clearance, didn't need to air it down further out on the trail.

Had a blast going through the trail. Hit the protection a few times- the fuel tank 'armor' is the vehicle low point, on mine sitting just over 10.5 inches. Luckily the Badlands has a bit of armor under that s****y piece of felt when I slipped off a rock twice- once going down Elephant Hill (not pictured) and once on the Silver Stairs (pictured).

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver stairs
Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver Stairs_view North
Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver Stairs_view South


Wish I had a spotter or someone with me for the trip to get some truly awesome video of the sport going through some of the technical obstacles on the trail, of which there were a LOT. It seemingly never ended! But the camera system on the vehicle is amazing, and the time I invested in learning tire placement and the feel of the vehicle was well worth it!

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Devils Pocket

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Devils Pocket from the driver seat


No body damage whatsoever, though a good spotter would have saved a couple of the scuff marks on the armor and the felt soundproofing. I did some zip-tie 'surgery' to the felt when I got back, so the tear won't get any worse as I drive and wait for someone to make an armor mod for that area as well.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Zip Tie surgery


Truly hard to believe the capabilities of this vehicle. While I had to pick my lines carefully, I didn't have any serious issues with this trail. Even started to enjoy the little three-, two- and (very occasionally) one-wheel-yeet maneuver this vehicle seems to like to do. Definitely has a personality!

Also- a quick side note. The ease of cleanup in this car is outstanding. My driver area was absolutely COVERED in mud and sand. But a quick powerwash to the floor-mat, vacuum of the sand and a wipe-down and it still looks new. Total clean-up time was about 5 minutes (plus the wait time for the mat to dry out). Easiest clean I've ever done after an outing.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most After cleanu
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Escape2Bronco

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Nice! Thanks for posting. Your sutures look pretty clean. Hopefully the wound will heal and there won’t be a scar! :cool:
 
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Rawah652

Rawah652

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Yessir! Seriously, Moab is a huge playground! I'm going back my next chance.

I took some damage too, on the front fascia and under coating stuff
Nice!!

Yeah, that bash plate in the front really came in handy. Spent $200 to avoid having to replace a $650 front plastic bumper. Would have really f***d it up had I not had it- especially going down obstacles. Not sure why Ford choose to leave such an obvious place unprotected.

What trail were the pics taken from?
 

22-VelBlue

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Nice!!

Yeah, that bash plate in the front really came in handy. Spent $200 to avoid having to replace a $650 front plastic bumper. Would have really f***d it up had I not had it- especially going down obstacles. Not sure why Ford choose to leave such an obvious place unprotected.

What trail were the pics taken from?
Fins and Things was trail I was on
 


AndyMac204

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well done, great pics!
people talk smack, until they see how truly capable these lil rigs are. tires are a must; armor would be next. i can't wait to hit trails again out west next spring.
thanks for posting!
 

Nw_adventure

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Just got back from an amazing week with my new Bronco Sport Badlands. Started off with the Off-Roadeo event in Moab, UT driving some very beautiful trails. Got rained on in Arches National Park, so had to skip Tower Arch Road. Moved onto getting snowed on in Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park, then camped overnight in Dead Horse Point State Park. VERY windy and a bit snowy. Then the big event of the week- taking on Elephant Hill trail in the Needles District of Canyonlands, and camping in Devils Kitchen campground. LOTS of warnings about this trail- definitely believe them! NOT for the faint of heart, and definitely not something a totally stock Baby Bronco can take on.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most 20221027_233950000_iOS



Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Trailhead overlook



Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Elephant Hill_thats the trail



The mods that mattered for me were:
- 1.25" lift from HRG
- Front bash plate from HRG- used this a bit. (Never hit the hitch though on the departure angles)
- 245/65R17 Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme tires (stock rims). I only aired down to 28 psi before the run to preserve clearance, didn't need to air it down further out on the trail.

Had a blast going through the trail. Hit the protection a few times- the fuel tank 'armor' is the vehicle low point, on mine sitting just over 10.5 inches. Luckily the Badlands has a bit of armor under that s****y piece of felt when I slipped off a rock twice- once going down Elephant Hill (not pictured) and once on the Silver Stairs (pictured).

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver stairs
Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver Stairs_view North
Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Silver Stairs_view South


Wish I had a spotter or someone with me for the trip to get some truly awesome video of the sport going through some of the technical obstacles on the trail, of which there were a LOT. It seemingly never ended! But the camera system on the vehicle is amazing, and the time I invested in learning tire placement and the feel of the vehicle was well worth it!

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Devils Pocket

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Devils Pocket from the driver seat


No body damage whatsoever, though a good spotter would have saved a couple of the scuff marks on the armor and the felt soundproofing. I did some zip-tie 'surgery' to the felt when I got back, so the tear won't get any worse as I drive and wait for someone to make an armor mod for that area as well.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most Zip Tie surgery


Truly hard to believe the capabilities of this vehicle. While I had to pick my lines carefully, I didn't have any serious issues with this trail. Even started to enjoy the little three-, two- and (very occasionally) one-wheel-yeet maneuver this vehicle seems to like to do. Definitely has a personality!

Also- a quick side note. The ease of cleanup in this car is outstanding. My driver area was absolutely COVERED in mud and sand. But a quick powerwash to the floor-mat, vacuum of the sand and a wipe-down and it still looks new. Total clean-up time was about 5 minutes (plus the wait time for the mat to dry out). Easiest clean I've ever done after an outing.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most After cleanu
Legit trip/report- Nice job keeping the shiny side/up- Zip Ties are a man's best friend -)
 

xlite

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Raff. Is that skid plate actually for the BS? It looks great.
 

NEFKANO

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Awesome post... Did you install the HRG lift yourself...or have a shop you can recommend here in town (El Paso, Tx) ? Cost of install....

Part of me hesitates to modify the suspension a the risk of warranty issues...but want those 245/s on my next set of tires...
 


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Rawah652

Rawah652

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Awesome post... Did you install the HRG lift yourself...or have a shop you can recommend here in town (El Paso, Tx) ? Cost of install....

Part of me hesitates to modify the suspension a the risk of warranty issues...but want those 245/s on my next set of tires...
You can probably get the 245's on there without the lift kit, maybe tight in some areas, but pretty sure there's some folks on here that have done it.

I installed the lift kit myself, there doesn't seem to be many shops in town that can/will do good work. Don't get me started on getting an alignment afterwards, no one in town seems to have the actual specs, and I couldn't find anyone to get it completely in alignment. After the lift was installed, the toe was significantly out of alignment (can't be sure it was actually *in* alignment from the factory)- felt very squirrelly driving the potholes of El Paso- they were able to get that in spec for me. However, the camber is slightly off right now both front and back (despite the lift coming with eccentric bolts in the front, they "couldn't adjust it"). Not too worried about riding with it in the short term as it is very close, and as long as I can get it in before I put thousands and thousands of miles in, it'll be okay. New tires are looking just fine after the road trip to Moab and back, and some adventures in between. I'm planning on just scheduling some time at the auto skills center and taking care of that myself as well.
 
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Rawah652

Rawah652

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Have solution...

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most WhatsApp Image 2022-10-28 at 19.11.00
Prototype looks good! However, I'm concerned about the apparent lack of attachment points on the manufactured plate. For those who haven't actually removed the cover themselves yet, all of the attachments points are pretty weak screws. Using the OEM mounts, you would have to use all of them to avoid breaking them off if you hit it with something.

Ford Bronco Sport Off-roading on Elephant Hill Trail in Canyonlands, UT -- trip report & mods that mattered most IMG_5932


I know it isn't the greatest picture, but the 3 yellow circles are some of the mounting screws for the felt- you can see they are panel screws at best, not meant to take a beating. For reference, I outlined the OEM fuel tank armor in red- you can see it definitely took a few scraps and did it's job. I'm still flabbergasted that rest of the wiring and fuel lines are insanely unprotected on a vehicle trim that is marketed as having "full undercarriage protection."
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