Big Bend Snow Fail

Willow

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Okay, I live in Northern Minnesota and we have cold and snow, but not too much snow. It was a beautiful day and thought I would take a pic of my Big Bend in the front yard as well as for a capability test. I dug it out.

First of all, the Continental tires are good on packed snow as well as some 2-3" stuff I ran on some service roads. But for a little fun, I am not confident, I will not do this again until upgraded. It has been really cold so the snow is a bit sugary but my 2002 Dakota would walk through it. We are looking at a foot maybe. I basically got high centered on packed sugar. If I had a Bad Lands I am sure it would not have had a problem with this amount of snow. This Big Bend is going to get a lift and most importantly, proper tires. Proper tires are huge up here to have any fun/capability, the Wildpeak and KO2 is something to follow.

As we are getting towards winter's end, I am not going to do this immediately and do some research. I know there are a couple aftermarkets that offer lift/level kits but Ford is also supposed to release a kit as well. Just going to wait for more options.

I am not disappointed but finding its limitations. The attached pics will show some plowed banks around my driveway but the BB is not in it, for the most part. I still got my pics in the front yard though.

Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Snow Fail IMG-0397


Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Snow Fail IMG-0398


Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Snow Fail IMG-0400


Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Snow Fail IMG-0401


Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Snow Fail IMG-0402
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DanielFE

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I think you are absolutely correct that the tires are the key to success in those weather circumstances.

I have been navigating some of the worst road conditions I have ever experienced here in Texas this past week. I grew up in Maine and moved to Texas at age 27, having spent my early years navigating snow covered roads for many months each winter. The roads here in Texas are not designed for sustained low temperatures, with crazy high overpasses built hundreds of feet above ground, and water main breaks spewing hundreds of gallons every few blocks as the temps were well below freezing for an entire week (0-10 degrees overnight). Combine that with the native Texans' love of rear wheel drive pick-ups and flashy sports cars. As you might imagine the result was total chaos.

My First Edition with the optional Falken Wildpeak tires has been cruising through the madness, leaving me more than pleasantly surprised, and thankful for the unexpected extra traction. I never would have added these tires to the build sheet but call me impressed.

By the way, that Kodiak brown with the matching body colored roof is gorgeous.

Daniel.
 
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Willow

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I think you are absolutely correct that the tires are the key to success in those weather circumstances.

I have been navigating some of the worst road conditions I have ever experienced here in Texas this past week. I grew up in Maine and moved to Texas at age 27, having spent my early years navigating snow covered roads for many months each winter. The roads here in Texas are not designed for sustained low temperatures, with crazy high overpasses built hundreds of feet above ground, and water main breaks spewing hundreds of gallons every few blocks as the temps were well below freezing for an entire week (0-10 degrees overnight). Combine that with the native Texans' love of rear wheel drive pick-ups and flashy sports cars. As you might imagine the result was total chaos.

My First Edition with the optional Falken Wildpeak tires has been cruising through the madness, leaving me more than pleasantly surprised, and thankful for the unexpected extra traction. I never would have added these tires to the build sheet but call me impressed.

By the way, that Kodiak brown with the matching body colored roof is gorgeous.

Daniel.
I have been watching what is going on down there. Electrical grid, below temps, etc. Hopefully it gets better sooner than later. Good thing you have the FE, it might have been destiny.
 
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Willow

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I also have to add that those pics you saw above, I could not get out of that little bit of snow. I was stuck and made ruts that I will have to plant grass seed to fix. What ever, not a problem. The last pic is what you see when I finally used its power/tires on its own to get out. That is, umm, unexceptable.

I have a two place snowmobile trailer that this unit is supposed to tow (under 2000 lbs) and am not confident. Hope Ford is reading this somehow.
 
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tRex

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Packed snow up to the floor pan, I'm not surprised at all. And those tires....street at best. Not going to get Badlands performance (higher lift, off-road suspension, bigger, A/T tires) without upgrades. Even so, the Bronco Sport, Badlands included, is not a Wrangler Rubicon -- it's a decent trail vehicle that's also easy-going down the road, with all of the practicality, comfort and amenities too. And it doesn't cost a lot to get a lot, and drive a lot, in my opinion. Mods (tires and lift, maybe something under the hood) will be part of all the fun, too!
 


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Willow

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Packed snow up to the floor pan, I'm not surprised at all. And those tires....street at best. Not going to get Badlands performance (higher lift, off-road suspension, bigger, A/T tires) without upgrades. Even so, the Bronco Sport, Badlands included, is not a Wrangler Rubicon -- it's a decent trail vehicle that's also easy-going down the road, with all of the practicality, comfort and amenities too. And it doesn't cost a lot to get a lot, and drive a lot, in my opinion. Mods (tires and lift, maybe something under the hood) will be part of all the fun, too!
Tires are the first thing to get replaced but will probably wait until the fall. The Continentals got to go. The Falken Wildpeak AT3W looks interesting. I would like to do the lift/level kit but will wait and see what comes to market over the summer. I would like a kit that I do not have to grind something down.
 

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I would like a kit that I do not have to grind something down.
Agreed. You have to do that with the RC lift and I'm not a fan of that, no matter how good it looks. 4Wheel Parts has one too but I'm not sure if it requires cutting or grinding anything. I've heard Ford may be coming out with one as well but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that.
 

Wyo

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No doubt tires make a huge difference as would some of the BL tech but I'm curious what tire pressure you had and did sand mode make difference vs slippery.
 

tRex

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On-road, a properly inflated, narrower, snow-rated tire has many advantages in snow and ice. Off-road is where you air down and wider, AT or MT tires shine in those elements. Wide, aggressive tires (except specifically for snow and ice) aren't really the best thing for on-road traction. Hard, rigid tires get cut or punctured off-road, have much less grip (a smaller contact patch), and sink rather than float on loose terrain (sand, snow). Tires like the Wild Peaks even have extra "tread" blocks on the sidewalls for extra off-road/aired-down traction.
 
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Willow

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No doubt tires make a huge difference as would some of the BL tech but I'm curious what tire pressure you had and did sand mode make difference vs slippery.
The tires were 39-40 when I picked it up. I did set them to 33 when I got home. I tried all modes, the owners manual does say to use Sand mode when in deep snow. It is weird how all the wheels and RPM/braking behave differently when in these modes.
 
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tRex

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The tires were 39-40 when I picked it up. I did set them to 33 when I got home. I tried all modes, the owners manual does say to use Sand mode when in deep snow. It is weird how all the wheels and RPM/braking behave differently when in these modes.
I understand throttle, steering, braking, 4WD lock, rear "diff" lock, stability controls, etc. are all affected by the different G.O.A.T. modes. Some of these are indicated in the dash and the button indicators around the G.O.A.T. modes wheel as you activate the different modes. This is all logical to me. There are some options to change things or override these manually using the controls.
 

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Well that's a standard all-season tire fail right there, nothing to do with the BS itself.
All-season tires get hard below 6C and harder the colder you get. Once you get well below freezing and you might as well be driving with frozen hockey pucks for tires.

Some A/T tires, All Weather or a winter specific tire (all 3 have the mountain snowflake on them) will correct this problem as they are designed to not get hard in the cold and cut through snow and stick better to ice.

I haven't got winter rated tires for the Sport yet, as we aren't commuting and our escape has all-weather tires for the bad stuff. I took the Bronco sport out in the snow last week thinking how bad it could it be and discovered, yep, need winter tires lol. Here in the pacific northwest, we get the heavy wet snow, All-weathers do just fine but been conteplating geting A/T tires instead. The feedback of the Falken Wildpeaks has been pretty good and will explore that option as we also got some good forrestry roads I might wanna go for a spin on :)
 
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Willow

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Well that's a standard all-season tire fail right there, nothing to do with the BS itself.
I should have said that in my initial post. I knew the tires were not up to par for this part of the country. So far I feel good about my BB. Still trying to get used to some of the shift points. Hopefully it is learning. Would I buy it again? I would. I initially wanted a different color, but bought from the lot as I needed a vehicle without wait. I have researched the shit out of this unit and was going to buy it anyways... just not sure what model and options. My other ride was giving me grrrr! But I am kindred to my Kodiak Brown and glad I bought it. No regrets!
 

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You can get high centered with perfect tires and much more clearance...It depends on the snow. Some circumstances, driving a low vehicle (or with a low front air dam plowing the snow) will get further than a high vehicle with a nice smooth, skid plated undercarriage...

High centering in snow is not necessarily the fault of the vehicle or tires. Going to a model with knobbier tires and 1" more lift doesn't make that much of a difference.
 
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Willow

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You can get high centered with perfect tires and much more clearance...It depends on the snow. Some circumstances, driving a low vehicle (or with a low front air dam plowing the snow) will get further than a high vehicle with a nice smooth, skid plated undercarriage...

High centering in snow is not necessarily the fault of the vehicle or tires. Going to a model with knobbier tires and 1" more lift doesn't make that much of a difference.
The type of tire makes a huge difference. Tread and compound for a winter tire is a big difference from an all season.
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