BS Badlands Does Black Bear Pass!

[CrashBend]

Finally got a small block of time free and made the 13 hour drive from my home in SoCal to Telluride, CO to do Black Bear Pass. Heard so much about this trail I wanted to see how my Badlands would hold up.

Happy to say all the way through with only a minor snag of the felt liner under the drivers side floorboards. The "Steps" were definitely the biggest challenge with two obstacles that required a good line to clear because of drop offs of at least 24" on the harder lines. At one point just prior to the steps we dropped down a short chute that passed 32 degrees nose down but rolled out gently so no stuffing the nose in the dirt.

The Bronco was the perfect truck for the switchbacks and they were not at all intimidating and really very easy given the short wheelbase and tight turning radius of the Bronco Sport. Several of them didn't even require a 3 point turn.

My Badlands has a 2" lift and 245/70/R17 Falken Wildpeak tires along with an aluminum front skid plate that has saved my nose several times over. Overall ground clearance went from a stock 8 3/4" up to 11 1/4".

I would hesitate to try this trail with a stock Badlands without the lift since I used all the clearance I had (and then some). Several times had one or both rear tires well up in the air. Bronco handled it fine and never felt ready to go over. All the Jeep guys were taking pictures!

Definitely an amazing trail and can't wait to talk some of my fellow Bronco owners into doing it so I can go back. Oh yeah, took Ophir Pass back over the mountain to return to the starting point. A really nice trail and completely able to be done by a stock Bronco Sport of any trim.

Probably a bit too much for my Outer Banks. Well done.

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[uncle.thai]

Very nice!! I've seen videos of that trail, it does not look easy.

You've convinced me to go with your leveling kit and tire size. I literally just placed an order for the leveling kit.

I just have a couple of questions,
Do you have a full size spare? Does it fit inside the underpart of the trunk?
And, do you have adaptive cruise control? If so, does the lifted height affect it?

Thanks in advance! Let's use our Bronco Sports to the fullest

 

[timhutch]

Very nice!! I've seen videos of that trail, it does not look easy.

You've convinced me to go with your leveling kit and tire size. I literally just placed an order for the leveling kit.

I just have a couple of questions,
Do you have a full size spare? Does it fit inside the underpart of the trunk?
And, do you have adaptive cruise control? If so, does the lifted height affect it?

Thanks in advance! Let's use our Bronco Sports to the fullest

Hi, I have the stock full size that came with the BS. Was told that would work fine for a temp spare by my dealers custom shop. I do have ACC and it works great, no problems. Going on 6 months with the lift, skid plate and tires upgrade and I couldn’t be happier. I definitely recommend getting a front skid though as mine has saved my front pieces several times. If you find yourself in SoCal send me a msg and we’ll go hit some trails!

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