Full-size Bronco owner makes the most of the removable top while playing in the mud.
This week’s “Muddy Monday” video comes to us from the Car Warz YouTube channel and it features a fifth generation Ford Bronco romping in the slop at the Bentley Lake Road Mud Bog in Michigan. This generation of the full-size sport utility vehicle is best known for O.J. Simpson’s televised run from the police, but thanks to its truck-based platform, it is also a pretty solid mud machine. Those capabilities are amplified by the aftermarket and the result of a big build of the final big Bronco is on display in the video above.
The Last Big Bronco
The truck in action above is from the final generation of Bronco prior to the upcoming version, but more importantly, it was the final generation based on the Ford F-150. The new SUV set to hit dealers in the next year or so will is expected to utilize a body-on-frame chassis design, but with the new Bronco being built alongside the new mid-sized Ranger, the new SUV will also be a mid-sized model.
In other words, it appears as though the fifth generation of the Bronco will be the last big body based on the F-150, at least well into the foreseeable future. However, there are still plenty of these large SUVs in action and in the video above, one of them is flexing its muscles in the mud.
There are no details on this Bronco, but it clearly has significant chassis and suspension improvements, making room for the huge tires. It also has a rear-mounted cooling system and with the top being removed, we can see that the “interior” of the SUV is really just a radiator, a couple cooling fans and a couple lightweight front seats.
It is a purpose-built mud machine and it is good at what it does.
Mudding Action
In the course of the two-minute video, this monstrous Ford Bronco storms from one side of the pit to the other over and over again. Each time, the driver takes a different line through the mud, looking for holes that he has not yet conquered, and each time, the big SUV makes short work of the challenge.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
