I have a low miledge one that is really solid..5.0 automatic XL so not alot of electrical do dads and a manual 4WD vs. electric. Could this make a god BOV to improve upon or do I sell it and build somthing else?. I have a family of four and my children are 11 and 13. it is lasck in the storage / cargo area but I thought to add a trailer maybe a smaller military one as many Jeep dirvers do..any input would be appreciated

I think that would be a great BOV. I am looking at a 96 for the same reason. I used one years ago and they are goats in the mountains. while some hate fords, all the ones I've had worked great with hardly any issues.

I assume this is a full size?  I wonder if a 5.0 Liter will pull that, four people, and a trailer very well.

However, DieTryin's Surban(??) is an excellent example of how one of these short wheel base, big SUV's can be set up.

I would wonder if a rook rack and a hitch cargo shelf might not be the way to go instead of a traler.



If this were GD, the answer to your question is "Bronco worked as a BOV for OJ"

I'm not into the idea of a BOV that is not a daily driver.  So I guess I'll ask; would you be willing to load your family into the Bronco and drive to Florida, then to California, then home.  In snow, torrential rain, and 120 degree heat?

I had one and really liked it a lot.  I got my cheap thinking I would fix it up.  Constant oil leak and rear window issues finally pushed me to sell it.  It was very good in deep snow here in MN.  I never took it in the mud.  It was a pain to unload supplies with the rear window stuck in the up position.

I have an 85 full size Bronco that I love.... Mine has a carb'd 300  I-6 and a manual np435 4sp w/granny gear,
very easy to work on and lots of parts around if necessary. I think it is a great all around vehicle and mine gets 17mpg and has a 32 gallon gas tank.
A GREAT bov..
Son

I think the Bronco would be great except I don't have much faith in the E40D trans, which is what I think yours has. I've had some poor luck with the E40D and they seem to reliably die somewhere around 100K.

...I'd love a Bronco as a BOV, except I'd go for one with the straight six and a stick.

TJ has a lot of statements in many threads that boil down to, "prepare for the most likely problem first and work your way down the list from there."



When people start talking bov they can be thinking about many different things.



My jeep has 4x4 but I don't plan to go mudding and rock crawling to bug out.  I plan to simply get to a safe place as easily as I can and to make the vehicle last I plan to be easy on it as I can manage to be.



Some people have little econo cars they plan to bug out in.  And since that econo car gets decent mileage they don't have to haul 50 gallons of extra fuel around.



There are a lot of fullsize blazers and fullsize broncos for sale around here, well a lot of stuff for sale period.  I want a 2nd vehicle in case my main vehicle needs to go in the shop or gets in a wreck or something.



Even though the fullsize blazers and broncos are big they have a short wheelbase and you need to keep that in mind when towing.  If you stick within the limits of the vehicle it is no biggy and it sounds like you are talking about a smaller trailer anyway but I figured I would mention this anyway because I have seen a big trailer on a fullsize blazer and it was scary to watch go down the road.  Dude made it but I would not have done it.



My biggest concern with any of these types of vehicles is the tailgate and windown in the tailgate.  I had a fullsize jeep grandwagoneer when younger and while I never had issues with the window in the tailgate it was something I heard a lot about from others.  



If thinking about a roof rack do a lot of reading on how people put them on these vehicles.  Since the cap is removable and fiberglass, I think they are fiberglass but I don't know for sure, you have to be careful about just sticking a rack up there and bolting it down.  It is easy to create leaks and cracks in your cap.



As much as I would like a stickshift version of one of these they are not that common and in reality I trust a properly rebuilt automatic.  Have the automatic redone for towing and add in a larger cooler and you will be good to go for the most part.  I still prefer a stickshift but I don't know that I want to get into swapping transmissions while I rent a place to live.



The nice thing with these vehicles is all the parts from the pickups transfer over easily so if you want to upgrade the transmission or axles or change things on the engine or interior you can do so easily.  Adding in more fuel tanks is sometimes possable as well.



If the bronco has one big tank in the back you might look for a shortbed ford with 2 saddle tanks and see if you think you could install them on the bronco.  You add a lot of fuel capacity and keep it hidden and under the truck instead of hauling a lot of fuel cans and taking up valuable cargo space inside or in the trailer.



Die tryin has a blazer and it is well though out with strength being added to weak areas but it is not so overbuilt for strength that everything has had to be improved.  As much as I like the idea of slinging some one ton axles under these vehicles they are a half ton frame and those axles add a lot of weight to the equation when you need to worry about fuel mileage.



If geared right the 5.0 liter would not bother me.  



I am not one who is interested in big lifts and what not.  I tend to like slightly larger tires but when I just put tires on my jeep I put on the exact same size it came with from the factory.  The jeep works well with that size and since it is an 07 I did not feel like messing with trying to get the speedometer corrected.



Anyway, figure out what you might need to do to bug out and figure out if the bronco can do it.



I drive my stuff to work and haul a quad and trailer around an awful lot.  I do very mild 4x4 stuff compared to what you see on the net.



Since I am single and have a grand cherokee and a utility trailer a bronco would work for me as well if I trusted it.



And the comments someone made about where you would be willing to drive it comes into play now.



Do you trust it to get you to where you need to go and can it haul the fuel to do it?



My jeep gets 24mpg empty around here and with the trailer and a heavy foot I still get 18mpg or so.  And I do mean heavy foot.  I just like how the jeep pulls loaded for some reason.  It entertains me to know a 3.0 liter engine can tow so well.



Anyway, I have a stock 22gallon tank and I have more than a couple military surplus fuel cans around for a bit of extra fuel beyond the stock tank.



I can get to where I want to go even if I start figuring on cutting my mileage in half for whatever reason it might get cut in half.



I don't get really upset about people who think a new vehicle can't be a bug out vehicle.  I don't care about people who think you have to have a newer vehicle for bugging out.



You have to decide for yourself if the vehicle fits your needs and if you think you can keep it working and running to get it where you need to go.

Our BOV is a factory stock 2000 Ford Expedition.  It is also our daily driver so if there anything that goes wrong with it we know it and we get it fixed so we can get to work much less evacuate.  We will always have at least one 4x4 capable of getting us and our gear out of town.  As for the 5.0 engine, that has plenty of power so long as you don't try to pull a 5000 pound or heavier trailer.  When you start pulling heavy trailers the 5.0 will need to run at high RPMs to keep it going but it certainly can get the job done.

I have a 94 Eddie Bauer, w/ 5.8L engine, 156 k/mi.  Bought in 2003 w/112 k/mi.

My obsevations thus far.

-Rear window motor and regulator-dying, rear window dash switch- dead (have to tear dash apart to replace $25 switch).

-Rear main seal had to be replaced around 2005/6- No more oil leaks.

-Something under the hood is drinking my coolant.  Always in top off mode.

-Fuel pump is an in-the-tank model. Had to be replaced last year.  Major car surgery that I did not want to tackle myself.

-It "wanders" a bit a freeway speed.  Les Chwab and Ford say the ball joints are OK.  Something in the steering/susp is loose or just plain worn out.

-Back when I was single and not as reliant on the vehicle and could afford gas and potential reparis, I used to throw up some mud and run some sissy level trails.  It always did fine.  Only stuck twice.  Once on a very large boulder (high centered) and once in 2+ ft of snow.  Both on account of my stupidity.  I run 31" BFG All Terrains.  Stock height, No lift.

-Rear seat is a pain to get in/out of for passengers.  Kids don't mind, but adults usually get tired of it.  Don't even bother with a baby's car seat.  Not an issue for me, since I always drove.  Once back there though it is quite roomy.

-Never towed much, can't offer an opinion.

-Tops come off, but on late models 94-96, the rear seat belts are connected to the roof and the third brake light is mounted and wired into the top.  Just factors to be dealt with.  (Also hear rumors about remounting roof and having wind/rain leaks).  

-My trans (E4OD i think) had a recall part.  Sensor that tells what gear it is in malfunctioned and keep putting the trans into neutral at random moments/speeds.  PITA, but once it was fixed, it was never a problem again.  

I don't have a use for a "bug out vehicle" but, I have a 96 Bronco as a daily driver in northern michigan.  Mine's never on a real freeway, there aren't any, but regularily on 55mph blacktop, 2-tracks, mud, sand, and  a lot of snow.....a little snow here is 12" overnight.......I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything else.  The parts are easy to come by, relatively cheap, and simple to diagnose.....most factory bum parts are available as improved aftermarket parts, and parts trucks are available cheap (F-150's) 302(5.0) parts and info are easy to come by from the truck and mustang crowds.

It has it's flaws, but everything does.....if you like a Bronco, go with it, and learn to improve it as you repair it.  Mine's up for a fuel pump, water pump, shocks, springs, and some lunchbox lockers over the winter and sooner or later a tailgate rebuild.

I don't feel too awful bad about puttin money into it since I only paid $23 for it anyhow.  Some may feel differently.

On the random steering issue I recomend you find a city and then take your bronco to a spring shop.  I worked in a spring shop, just a shop that mostly works on large over the road trucks, and I did a few hundred fords in a couple years I was there probably.



When we redid some of the bushings on the arms it was quicker to air chisel the rivets holding the bracket at the back and get the bushings off that way instead of taking the thing apart the way it was made to be dismantled.



I rather like the fords but the bushings always need replaced it seems like.



A good 4x4 shop would be a place to maybe take it as well.



A lot of today's repair shops are used to little new stuff and the big old fullsize fords are an ancient technology and some of the people won't even have the size tools needed to work on it.



You can also play around with unlocking the steering wheel but not having the engine running and just lightly moving the steering wheel.  If the rag joint has a lot of play in it then I would replace it, rag joint is just where the steering shaft connects up to another part of the steering shaft and they do wear out.  Aftermarket fix is more common for dodges but it is something to check.



At the spring shop we handled a lot of the fullsize half ton up to one ton truck problems local shops could not or would not fix and deal with.



You can read up on how to replace stuff yourself but sometimes mechanics have oddball shortcuts, like an air chisel for rivets and replacing them with bolts, that you might not think about or know about.

I dig my bronco quite a bit (92 xlt, 351ci). Its definitely a solid truck and has served me well on many camping/hunting trips over the past year (haven't had it too long). This'll be the first winter she will see, so i should have a pretty good idea if its a keeper or not after blizzard season (its the winters that separate the real from the fake around here). I drive it on average 3-4 days a week and she's never left me stranded ... but that's not to say i haven't had my issues. A very common problem with them is idle and low rpm issues. There's a half dozen sensors that can go bad which create similar symptoms and can be a b*tch to track down, killing idle, gas mileage, drive-ability etc (overall wont break the bank, just something to look for and consider). And of course the aforementioned rear window, rear tailgate issues ... a pain to fix, and terribly expensive to track down an OEM tailgate/glass in good condition. Thats about all i have to complain about with it.

Overall, I've had my issues, but that's to be expected with a 20 year old truck. I smile every time i drive it, and love the fact that I have it, so overall i think its been a pretty good buy. I'll know for sure this winter ...