Big Bend’s little bends?

[Bill S.]

Yeah, struggling for a clever thread title.

Anyone put their BS on an articulation ramp? I’m curious about chassis flex/rigidity. I watched a YouTube vid recently from an Aussie channel doing off-road reviews. They took all the current small crossovers on their test course. One of the tests was when the vehicle was to open the drivers door when in full articulation with one wheel off the ground. Some of the crossovers had enough flex to impede door opening or closing. Has anyone done or seen something similar in the BS ecosystem?

The vid included the Ford Escape.

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[Mark S.]

There's a caution in there for 1.5L-equipped Bronco Sports that use an air-cooled power transfer unit. If you put a lot of stress on its clutches in challenging conditions it will overheat quite readily. These cars aren't really meant for difficult off-road conditions. They're great for snow, and will get you through a small mud patch or occasional difficult obstacle, but I wouldn't plan on long off-road drives with multiple obstacles.

 

[Bill S.]

There's a caution in there for 1.5L-equipped Bronco Sports that use an air-cooled power transfer unit. If you put a lot of stress on its clutches in challenging conditions it will overheat quite readily. These cars aren't really meant for difficult off-road conditions. They're great for snow, and will get you through a small mud patch or occasional difficult obstacle, but I wouldn't plan on long off-road drives with multiple obstacles.

That’s fine, but I’m asking about unibody flex. I’m not taking it to Moab. Just curious about the unibody engineering.

 

[Mark S.]

That’s fine, but I’m asking about unibody flex. I’m not taking it to Moab. Just curious about the unibody engineering.

I haven't read anything about frame rigidity specific to the Bronco Sport. Given that the Bronco Sport and Escape share the same C2 chassis platform, I think it's safe to assume the Bronco Sport will perform as well as the Escape did in this video.

 

[Bill S.]

I put the BS on opposing ramps to see how it flexed.

There was no noticeable impingement of the doors, no visible body twist when looking at the pin stripes (coincidentally convenient level gauge).

Pic 1 - flat on the ground, 2 - on ramps, pax side, 3 - on ramps, 4 - on ramps, note rear wheel is 4 inches or so in the air.

 

[Alfa 2407]

Yeah, struggling for a clever thread title.

Anyone put their BS on an articulation ramp? I’m curious about chassis flex/rigidity. I watched a YouTube vid recently from an Aussie channel doing off-road reviews. They took all the current small crossovers on their test course. One of the tests was when the vehicle was to open the drivers door when in full articulation with one wheel off the ground. Some of the crossovers had enough flex to impede door opening or closing. Has anyone done or seen something similar in the BS ecosystem?

The vid included the Ford Escape.

I have a 22 big bend, I hit the trails on one occasion I opened and closed the tailgate and the door open alarm remained on saying the tailgate was open, had to get on level ground and open and reclose it to get it to turn off, so as of right now I can tell you for absolute certainty, the 2022 big bend has this problem with its tailgate, though I have not encountered any issues with the other doors, this may not be the same with the optional sunroof, be aware at the time of this happening my rear left wheel was completely off the ground

 

[Bill S.]

I didn't think to try the tailgate! Fail! Thanks for the update. Not terribly surprising the rear liftgate would have more flex than the doors when you consider the geometry.

 

[RushMan]

I put the BS on opposing ramps to see how it flexed.

There was no noticeable impingement of the doors, no visible body twist when looking at the pin stripes (coincidentally convenient level gauge).

Pic 1 - flat on the ground, 2 - on ramps, pax side, 3 - on ramps, 4 - on ramps, note rear wheel is 4 inches or so in the air.

Source for your dual stripes? TIA

 

[Bill S.]

Source for your dual stripes? TIA

The pinstripes are OEM on the Heritage Edition.

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