That's one way to break it in

[Hedge36]

The new-to-me Badlands had about 2,000 miles on it when I loaded up all of our SAR gear and tools - and the two Springers - and headed for the Tampa Bay area last week.

The bulk of the gear got thrown on top in one of those Reese cargo bags so the dogs would have more room and I'd have a spot to sack out along the way.

As mentioned in other threads, the BS is especially sensitive to aero issues. Between the roof lump and running 80+ through a good part of Montana and such, the rolling average for fuel consumption was sitting just at 21.4 mpg. Not stellar, but I wasn't complaining.

Of course, on arrival I was looking at about 5100 miles and a quick first service at the local Ford dealer, who was surprisingly available. As far as I can tell, that was just an oil change and tire rotation. Easy peasy.

Work done, during the loadout the Reese cargo bag tore wide open - not the fault of the bag, I just got greedy and pulled too hard to try to get the zipper closed. A donated cargo rack and a quick stop at Cabela's solved that problem:

This setup was just the ticket, and that bag holds a TON of stuff (even though the rack is only rated for a quarter ton, but hey...). I was happy to have the room, as my wife had driven down from Baltimore on a truncated business trip to join me, so we added about 75lbs of gear and maybe a little bit more in passenger weight to the load for the drive back.

Moving the gear to the aft end of the rig bumped average mileage up to about 26.2 or so, depending on speed. The only downside to that much weight on that kind of arm is that the stock suspension got a little iffy, with a pretty good push in turns going downhill. Just had to back the speed down a few knots and get some early braking in to get it settled.

The final numbers upon return to the Olympic Peninsula:

I figure she's broken in now, with not so much as a hiccup along the way. Maybe now I'll stop referring to the BS as "The FJ."

Oh, and with the regard to the Reese cargo bag - not my favorite. You can't fasten the bag down until it's loaded and closed, so if it's sitting on the shelf-liner pad on the bare roof, you end up chasing it around a lot. Never mind that you basically need a step ladder available to get it loaded and get that load balanced out if you like to have both hands available... and that's before you run into the mileage hit. Of course, opinions vary on this sort of thing.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

The new-to-me Badlands had about 2,000 miles on it when I loaded up all of our SAR gear and tools - and the two Springers - and headed for the Tampa Bay area last week.

The bulk of the gear got thrown on top in one of those Reese cargo bags so the dogs would have more room and I'd have a spot to sack out along the way.

As mentioned in other threads, the BS is especially sensitive to aero issues. Between the roof lump and running 80+ through a good part of Montana and such, the rolling average for fuel consumption was sitting just at 21.4 mpg. Not stellar, but I wasn't complaining.

Of course, on arrival I was looking at about 5100 miles and a quick first service at the local Ford dealer, who was surprisingly available. As far as I can tell, that was just an oil change and tire rotation. Easy peasy.

Work done, during the loadout the Reese cargo bag tore wide open - not the fault of the bag, I just got greedy and pulled too hard to try to get the zipper closed. A donated cargo rack and a quick stop at Cabela's solved that problem:

This setup was just the ticket, and that bag holds a TON of stuff (even though the rack is only rated for a quarter ton, but hey...). I was happy to have the room, as my wife had driven down from Baltimore on a truncated business trip to join me, so we added about 75lbs of gear and maybe a little bit more in passenger weight to the load for the drive back.

Moving the gear to the aft end of the rig bumped average mileage up to about 26.2 or so, depending on speed. The only downside to that much weight on that kind of arm is that the stock suspension got a little iffy, with a pretty good push in turns going downhill. Just had to back the speed down a few knots and get some early braking in to get it settled.

The final numbers upon return to the Olympic Peninsula:

I figure she's broken in now, with not so much as a hiccup along the way. Maybe now I'll stop referring to the BS as "The FJ."

Oh, and with the regard to the Reese cargo bag - not my favorite. You can't fasten the bag down until it's loaded and closed, so if it's sitting on the shelf-liner pad on the bare roof, you end up chasing it around a lot. Never mind that you basically need a step ladder available to get it loaded and get that load balanced out if you like to have both hands available... and that's before you run into the mileage hit. Of course, opinions vary on this sort of thing.

Can't think of a better way to get introduced to your Bronco! Love to see your pets are enjoying the new ride too!

 

[wireman]

The new-to-me Badlands had about 2,000 miles on it when I loaded up all of our SAR gear and tools - and the two Springers - and headed for the Tampa Bay area last week.

The bulk of the gear got thrown on top in one of those Reese cargo bags so the dogs would have more room and I'd have a spot to sack out along the way.

As mentioned in other threads, the BS is especially sensitive to aero issues. Between the roof lump and running 80+ through a good part of Montana and such, the rolling average for fuel consumption was sitting just at 21.4 mpg. Not stellar, but I wasn't complaining.

Of course, on arrival I was looking at about 5100 miles and a quick first service at the local Ford dealer, who was surprisingly available. As far as I can tell, that was just an oil change and tire rotation. Easy peasy.

Work done, during the loadout the Reese cargo bag tore wide open - not the fault of the bag, I just got greedy and pulled too hard to try to get the zipper closed. A donated cargo rack and a quick stop at Cabela's solved that problem:

This setup was just the ticket, and that bag holds a TON of stuff (even though the rack is only rated for a quarter ton, but hey...). I was happy to have the room, as my wife had driven down from Baltimore on a truncated business trip to join me, so we added about 75lbs of gear and maybe a little bit more in passenger weight to the load for the drive back.

Moving the gear to the aft end of the rig bumped average mileage up to about 26.2 or so, depending on speed. The only downside to that much weight on that kind of arm is that the stock suspension got a little iffy, with a pretty good push in turns going downhill. Just had to back the speed down a few knots and get some early braking in to get it settled.

The final numbers upon return to the Olympic Peninsula:

I figure she's broken in now, with not so much as a hiccup along the way. Maybe now I'll stop referring to the BS as "The FJ."

Oh, and with the regard to the Reese cargo bag - not my favorite. You can't fasten the bag down until it's loaded and closed, so if it's sitting on the shelf-liner pad on the bare roof, you end up chasing it around a lot. Never mind that you basically need a step ladder available to get it loaded and get that load balanced out if you like to have both hands available... and that's before you run into the mileage hit. Of course, opinions vary on this sort of thing.

With all that weight hanging off the back you are lightening up weight on the front suspension so steering will feel light, and handling will change for sure.

With the Bronco's short length and wheelbase, it's even more pronounced.

 

[NMhunter]

I found the same thing. Roof box really knocked down my gas mileage. I switched to an ATV cargo carrier in back and it hardly affects the mileage, and doesn't drag in the back on rough roads. I like carrying gas cans and propane tanks outside of the car.

 

[MJE]

I’ve found the mileage is highly dependent on speed as well. Calm day keeping it to 75 & I can hit 30mpg on the highway (dash indicated at least). But. 80+ in Montana with a bit of wind & 22 was all I could do. So economy car or full-size truck. About what I suppose I should expect with the boxy shape.

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