This 2021 Ford Bronco has been used and abused and everything in between. It went to rough off-roading with its frame cracked, and now, it is finally getting fixed. Hopefully, the owner knows what he is doing and his Bronco won't end up in some scrap yard in a couple of years from now.
Many of those buying a Ford Bronco will go to the grocery store or shopping mall in it. But then there are those who long after off-roading one day after their previous adventure ended. And Mitch is one of them. He hasn't exactly been kind to his Ford Bronco since 2021 when he bought it. He has actually put it through torture on the roughest terrain out there. And now, his Bronco seems to have had enough of it. The frame is cracked and needs urgent fixing. Well, if four months is urgent enough.
The owner, though, seems overly optimistic. Mitch says he will be doing “a little maintenance” on his Ford Bronco. However, by “maintenance,” he actually refers to fixing a frame that has been abused off-road for almost three years. This is not even the first time it has happened. The first time, it was back in August 2023.
The less-than-three-year-old Ford Bronco Badlands is lightyears away from the model that rolled off the production line of the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne in 2021. It now rides on 37-inch Toyo tires and features a Baja lift kit, upper and lower trailing arms, and the Icon three-stage suspension.
The owner admits that the main culprit is himself. After years of serious abuse on rough terrain, the sheet metal that the frame just can't take it anymore. It can't hold up. It's got serious cracks just about everywhere.
Mitch discovered them on both sides of the frame, one day before he left for an adventure along the Rubicon trail, the 22-mile route, part road and part 4x4 trail in Sierra Nevada, located west of Lake Tahoe.
Photo: Wild Horses Off-Road | YouTube
There wasn't enough time to fix them, but he would not have missed all that fun for the world. So he took his Bronco to more fun abuse. The poor thing went squeaking, and creaking, and screeching, protesting against every wheel spin.
But that was September. Four months later, the Bronco was finally in the shop, getting fixed. He begins by removing the fuel tank to get access to the frame and to all the damage sustained by his vehicle.
He finally understands why his Bronco made all those noises along the Rubicon trail. And he's not happy about it. “The more I look, the worse it gets,” he says, rubbing his head in disbelief. The worst part of it is on the passenger's side.
He will obviously need to cut and weld and grind all over again for some damage limitation. But you know what they say: once it's broken, it will never be the same. Furthermore, the fix looks like an improvisation, with the reinforcement on the frame. But he is the one to find out how it holds in a few months’ time. For the moment, he seems to be happy with what he's done on the Bronco.
When everything is buttoned up back again, the Bronco immediately fires up. It probably won't take long before it will get a new series of abuse.
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