‘Ford Trucks’ Member Isn’t Afraid to Get Classic Bronco Dirty
Loads of first-gen Broncos are getting turned into trailer queens — but not this one.
Project creep. It starts with one simple job, and before you know it, your truck is in pieces, and the goalpost for being “done” has moved far into the horizon. The phenomenon is as big a part of wrenching as skinned knuckles, spilled fluids, and sprints to the parts store. Fortunately, as this thread from member 77&79F250 proves, it’s not inevitable.
Given what we’ve seen happening with prices over the past few years, it’d be understandable if this 1971 Bronco was being painstaking restored, so it could be flipped for a small fortune. That’s not the story here though. When 77&79F250 picked up the rugged rig back in 2010, he described it as a “mess,” so his plans were admirably straightforward: “Make it reliable and continue to wheel it.” Well, after a decade in his care, we’re happy to report that dyed-in-the-wool Ford man’s goal has been achieved — and them some.
Now, we obviously love seeing projects go from rusty hulks to squeaky-clean dream machines, but we’re glad that didn’t happen here. This Bronco has continued to be used as the engineers in Dearborn intended, and better still, 77&79F250 has done an amazing job chronicling his adventures with it!
While the rough-and-ready state of the rig provides plenty of proof it’s no stranger to tough trails, there are some great action shots from the Pitbull Powersports in Bolivar, Missouri to back up the battle scars. Just check out how close the driver is that giant rock in the middle shot above.
Even for experienced off-roaders, that would be a white-knuckle moment, but it looks like the Bronco takes it all in stride.
Honestly, this is exactly the kind of stuff that makes us wonder if the next-generation Bronco will be able to hang at the local trail. Until after the debut, we won’t know for sure whether it’ll be a legitimate competitor to the venerable Jeep Wrangler, and truth be told, that’s a tough segment. Developing a vehicle that can be a proper beast off road, not be a complete handful on the road, and also be affordable isn’t an easy task.
That said, given the engineering talent at the Blue Oval, we remain optimistic it’ll have some good tricks up its sleeve.
Just as you’d expect, 77&79F250 has wrenched on the Bronco plenty over the years. He’s made some great mods too, including installing a proper cage to ensure the occupants would be safe in a roll over.
But it wouldn’t be a thread about an off-road road rig without some documentation of trail-side fixes — like when his track bar bracket got torn in half during an outing at Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch last year. The description of why the fix doesn’t look better is pure gold.
After we got it up to a gravel parking lot….no real tools (for that kind of work anyway), no shop, no grinder, no shade, no cold beer with in reach. The stick welder was crap, the generator running the welder was crap-ier. I can come up with at least 10 more excuses.
1. My back hurt.
2. Sun was in my eyes.
3. Got some welding splatter down my shirt.
4. Caught myself on fire…twice.
5. Caught the Bronco on fire…. once.
6. My help was drunk.
7. I learned to weld on U-tube.
8. I used the welding adage ” if it sticks, it ships”.
9. I skipped “welding day” in HS shop.
10. To be honest… I never went to HS. I was home schooled by a drunk welder. lol JKBonus wine… the welding helmet might as well had the lens spray painted black.
We put it back in place and welded it on the back side and outside. I wanted to at least brace that part on the outside, so we scrounged up 2 pieces of odd sized angle iron and over layed them (one on each side) as a strengthener. It held the rest of the weekend.
In a thread full of gems, that list is among our favorites, and whether it looked pretty or not, the repair kept the Bronco on the trail! It also presents compelling evidence that you can work on a truck without a few cold ones, which we didn’t think was possible. Maybe that’s why Harbor Freight doesn’t sell beer?
While Pit Bull and SMORR look like a blast, some of the latest additions to the thread document the off-road “confidence course” 77&79F250 is building, because he got tired of traveling to exercise the Bronco. From the sound of it, the principle that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure is clearly at play, as a lot of the obstacles have been scored for free.
With cement chunks, piles of pipe, old tractor tires, and stacked railroad ties to navigate, the set up is a five-acre pocket of off-road goodness just waiting to be tackled.
Late last month, member chrlsful helpfully volunteered he has a backhoe, and that the course could benefit from a mud bog. For the record, we completely agree with him, and given how 77&79F250 has hooked up with folks from the forum in the past, we wouldn’t be surprised it we soon see some major landscaping projects underway at the property.
Obviously, there’s loads going on here already, but bringing in the heavy equipment would definitely take things to another level. So keep your fingers crossed they start turning some earth soon.
Now, given the lack of doors and general protection from the elements, you might think this Bronco was more of a fair-weather friend. But you’d be wrong! After all, if you bundle up, you don’t need doors, and a winter wonderland makes for some great shots. Just check out this perfect picture of it driving through a snowy creek. It looks like something a Ford family would send out as Christmas card.
Since this thread has “only” been going for ten years, it’s wild to think the burly Blue Oval had a whole other life before 77&79F250 added it to his fleet of Fords. Because from the look of the initial pics, it was already a legend when he got it. So we can’t help but think that long after the current Bronco craziness has come and gone, this excellent example will still be plowing through muddy trails and over rock piles. We can’t wait to see where it goes next!
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