Anyone with experience with '88ish Bronco II's?

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 23, 2007

I might be trading my beater '95 GMC Suckoma for a decently clean '88 Bronco II. It's got a lot of miles but drives really smooth all considering. The body has the typical fender/bottom door rust but it's 4wd and a 5 speed (i should probably make note that my Suckoma is more or less a good running wadded up chunk of metal that's been wrecked several times but yet runs like a top).

So anyways, are there any huge demons about the Bronco IIs? Any reason i should stay away from it?

BK_CAULEY · Feb 23, 2007

shifter

yea the stock 5 speed shifter is a P.O.S i had one when i was 16 and the shifter could spin around in circles and because of its shape when you go to up-shift it would spin around and you will slam your knuckles into the dash. pretty anoying. and i have seen other trucks do it as well like rangers of the same year so i guess it was a tranny default for those years but other than that it was tough as hell. 16yr old + bronco II - any experience driving = trashed vehhicle.

mustangjoe87 · Feb 23, 2007

what motor, I had the 2.9 V6 and it was a piece of crap

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 23, 2007

Ok guys....we're not comparing the Bronco to the Mustang here...lol

Does the thing run decent? Is the 4wd capable?

mattmcdan · Feb 23, 2007

I agree the 2.9 was a big POS along with the rotten 5 speeds they used behind them.

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 23, 2007

mattmcdan said:
I agree the 2.9 was a big POS along with the rotten 5 speeds they used behind them.

That's fantastic....i just got a 2.9/5 speed

Here goes nothin

iwashmycar · Feb 23, 2007

just see what happens. i want a beater bronco II

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 23, 2007

Well my thoughts on it is, i drove it and it ran like a bat out of hell, and it's got a little over 100k miles on it, so if it were a total piece of crap i don't think it would've made it that far. Plus a lot of the parts are Ranger swap parts so it'll be easy to fix.

kck6894 · Feb 23, 2007

Make sure you don't let it get anywhere close to hot! They have REALLY BAD head problems on all the 2.8/2.9/4.0L's. I'm not sure why but the tend to crack down through the spark plug holes. The 5spds in them are definitely junk! They had bad problems with the read drive shafts too. Other than that they’re not a bad rig!

StangerT · Feb 23, 2007

Not to about the obvious, but I had a good buddy of mine get killed in one driving on the freeway, guess a car changed lanes without looking so apparently he swerved lost control and it flipped multiple times... They are really unstable with that short wheel base, so don't do any crazy stunts with it...

carbed87 · Feb 23, 2007

B-dueces are awsome, they're arguably the cheapest 4wd vehicle on the market right now. a BUNCH (like 5) of my friends used to have em, all with the 2.9 and i think 3 with the 5spd (i may be wrong though) and between the 5 of them there really wasn't all that many reliability issues. sure they sucked gas and occasionally ran rough, but my buddies thrashed them and they just kept asking for more.

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 23, 2007

Well thanks for the input....i really don't plan on keeping it for a long long time though. The thing was that i've got this truck that's beat to hell and back and even though it ran like a champ, i got tired of driving a wrecked and beat up truck. So, i'll probably put this on the local for sale forums and see what i can sell it or trade it for and drive it in the meantime.

ryan218 · Feb 23, 2007

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
That's fantastic....i just got a 2.9/5 speed

Here goes nothin

My dad had one...88 Brocno II and it was bright orange lol.... 2.9 V6 5 speed....
4WD...it was a good for...daily driving, towing stuff...and beating the **** out of......i really liked that truck....if i can get the scanner to work ill upload a picture.....

292,xxx miles later and a blown to pieces rear end ..he traded it in on the ranger....

mustangjoe87 · Feb 23, 2007

mustangjoe87 said:
what motor, I had the 2.9 V6 and it was a piece of crap

Im not being completely fair, the previous owner blew a head gasket and it never ran correctly for me.

Mustang78 · Feb 23, 2007

i've owned 2, and delt with a few more, my brother cracked the ring gear doing a burnout from gravel to pavement..my dad broke the front halfshaft(they're weak), the guages are known for being..cheap. The junk stock fuel pump runs off a designated cam lobe, and my cam lobe wore off...after lenghening(welding) the pump rod, it helped but not enough, after breking down multiple times and walking 8 miles through the snow, i put an electric fuel pump in and never had a problem..(its a common problem), otherwise they're hard to lift and get stuck easily, some(maybe all?) some with a limited slip rear end, so that's a bonus, they're too high geared(especially if you put bigger tires on, like 33's or 35's) so the clutches are known for burning up with normal abuse..good luck i'll never buy one again

~Mark~

85_SS_302_Coupe · Feb 24, 2007

Mustang78 said:
i've owned 2, and delt with a few more, my brother cracked the ring gear doing a burnout from gravel to pavement..my dad broke the front halfshaft(they're weak), the guages are known for being..cheap. The junk stock fuel pump runs off a designated cam lobe, and my cam lobe wore off...after lenghening(welding) the pump rod, it helped but not enough, after breking down multiple times and walking 8 miles through the snow, i put an electric fuel pump in and never had a problem..(its a common problem), otherwise they're hard to lift and get stuck easily, some(maybe all?) some with a limited slip rear end, so that's a bonus, they're too high geared(especially if you put bigger tires on, like 33's or 35's) so the clutches are known for burning up with normal abuse..good luck i'll never buy one again

~Mark~

Dang! lol

Ok so aside from offroading/lifting and all that, do they drive down the road sufficiently? LOL

dastang2 · Feb 24, 2007

i had an 84 with a 2.8 and automatic 4x4. it ran great but was too sluggish in the acceleration department. but in 4x4 it was awsome even with my bad shocks and street tires. my dad had a 2.9 in a ranger and it went for well over 200,000 until it was wrecked.

RsStanG1987 · Feb 24, 2007

My friend had one with 89k miles and the rear locked up and we hit a pole. The girl in the front almost died and my friend eric was in the hospital for 2 days. i walked away without a scratch. His was and auto. It was a nice lil beater though.

dastang2 · Feb 24, 2007

wonder if the rear end leaked all the fluid out

Mustang78 · Feb 24, 2007

probably...and they suck at high speeds, any jerk of the wheel at 60 is scary...they're unstable at speed, so be careful and dont teach your sister how to drive one on the highway..especially if it's her first time driving a stick and there's a steep cliff down to the water next to ya..lol(scary *****)

~Mark~

Anyone with experience with '88ish Bronco II's?

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