Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Bronco II

I just inherited (literally) an '87 Bronco II. It's in pretty good shape for 147K. It needs some work, but it's very drivable. It has the 6cyl and a 5-spd. It also has 8 virtually new tires, 4 highway and 4 studded. I think the studded ones will fit my van where my wife needs them a lot more than the Bronco does.

I need to replace the right wing window where someone broke in and the spare tire rack needs repair. The body has never been dinged and the paint is pretty good.

It's located about 600 miles from here so I need to make a trip to get it.

Now I need to decide what to do to it.

I don't think you need to do much at all to it .

We've had 2 of them around the farm here , and I found them to be pretty tuff little critters , and will go places a big pickup wouldn't think of .

My daughter drove one all thru college and it had 285000 miles (and rolling) when she sold it .

I had one of those things years ago - until my family got too big for it.

Excellent fuel economy, and it would turn on a dime. A little tippy at speed, but very handy on a tight, twisty, rutted road. Pretty simple and easy to maintain. Mine had the V-6, 5-speed, manual locking hubs and a factory limited slip in the rear diff. Was surprisingly capable out in the hills, and very comfortable. I liked it... Just a little small for my needs eventually.

Regards, Guy

I almost bought one with a 302 in it. Glad I didn't and wish I did at the same time.

Tough little machines.

My big problem will be keeping my wife out of it so I can drive it. She likes rigs like that and she's darn good with a stick shift.

I've had two of 'em. With the light weight and short wheel base, they hard to beat on snow and sand.

My parents had one when I was kid. 87 or 88. 2.9l v-6/ 5-speed manual.

It had injector problmes that got fixed and it ran great until my step-mom smashed it.

They were decent little rigs that were basically shortened Ford Rangers with SUV bodies. 1990 was the last year for them, as 1991 brought the larger Explorer as a replacement.

Fun and games. I've been trying to figure out a way to get it home without spending more than it's worth. I just found out that even though it's a manual, you have to drop the rear drive shaft to tow it. The Ford svc mgr says that it's a lube problem in the transfer case. He has one in the shop right now with the t-case housing split in 2 pieces from the owner towing it.

My wife will be flying over there in a few weeks so she might get to drive it home alone.

I "inherited" one last year (also, literally). We put a replacement motor in it -- the 6 cyl. are subject to low oil pressure problems.

That said, it's going to be my go-to bird hunting rig. It IS quite nimble and handy out there. FWIW, Dutch.

Depends on which 6 you have in it. There were 2 of em. a 2.8l and a 2.9l. The 2.8's were the ones that guys had trouble with. 2.9 was a pretty decent motor. At least the 2 I had, and the 1 my pa had in his Bronco II were good. Mine were in Rangers.

I can't remember exactly but I always thought I had heard the 2.8 also had head issues.

The '84 and 85 models had the 2.8. They dropped it for the 2.9 in '86. Mine's an 87.

Yep, 2.8. I never could figure out why they made 2 that were so close.

Well, I got it home yesterday. We drove it from Portland (about 550 miles). It ran great. I'll gas it up later today to see how the mileage is. I took a better look at the odo and I see that it's the old 5 digit one, not the newer 6 digit. So, I'd misread it. It has 215K, not the 148K that I'd said earlier. My brother had said that it used oil but when I got home, the oil level hadn't changed.

The rear end has a bad vibration above 60. It might have lost a wheel weight, but it has bad shocks so that's more likely the cause.

The drivers seat needs some work. It sags pretty bad and is hard on the back for long trips.

I love those big rear side windows for visibility.

I need to work over the spare tire rack. My brother never used it because of theft problems. He's been keeping the spare inside for years. The latch is badly worn and has a broken weld. I think it's all easily fixed, though.

I don't know if the a/c works. It's too cold for it to kick in. The compressor turns but that doesn't say much. It sure has a good heater, though.

I need to add a receiver hitch. The bumper hitch doesn't look strong enough to pull my sub-1000 lb fishing boat. Plus, it's never been wired for trailer lights. Plus, the parking brake is real weak. If I parked it on a boat ramp, I think I'd be fishing the whole car out of the water.

The biggest problem is of my own making. I seriously errored by letting my wife drive it part way home. Now I'm going to play hell getting my turn to drive it.

The inline 6 cylinder was the best engine ford ever had in theyr vehicles, and with a 5 speed manual behind your set. Just replace all the fluids, filters and your read to go. It will easily serve you more than twice the 147k that is on it. For those who say the 300 I6 engines are gas hogs for being six cylinders, those don't understand they were designed to be a super reliable long lasting work horse, something an inline 6 can do better than a v8. 50 cubes per cylinder gives it alot bigger jugs than a 350 v8 so thats where the gas issue comes from. But In short, you've got yourself a damn good truck!!!!

I gassed it up this morning. 15.3 gal for 350 miles. That's about 23 mpg freeway. Not too bad for an offroader.

we used to get 24 mpg highway with the Bronco IIs we had one was the 5 speed , one was an auto.

This one's got over 200K on it. It's earned a little lower mpg.