The best offroad truck I ever owned was a reg cab 4cyl Ranger, it was light and super maneuverable and would go just about anywhere an atv would go, my reg cab long box F150 was a giant pig in comparison and I quickly lost interest in offroading it. Only downside of the ranger was lack of power, would have loved to put a turbo 2.3L in it but then I also owned a Honda XR500R at the same time so my perspective on "offroading" is a bit different than someone that is a truck only kind of guy.

 

Good to know!!

 

The big Broncos are good - lots of options to upgrade everything to whatever level of off-roading you care to do. Nice turning radius compared to a F150, far better departure and break-over angles, but still pretty wide. Rangers are a great size for wheeling and can be had cheap. My favorite Ford for going off road was my Bronco II; similar in size to the first gen Bronco. Super short wheelbase, small overhangs, narrow. The original Explorer Sport felt huge in comparison and was much worse off road.
As much of a Ford truck freak as I am, I drive a Land Rover Discovery as our foul weather/off road rig. They are dirt cheap to buy and amazing for a stock 4x4 - great articulation, huge travel, easy to work on and able to be modified to tackle anything.
Just get something you won't mind scratching and denting, run proper tires, and bring recovery gear.

 

Years to avoid on FSBs are generally narrowed down to 1980, due to the lightening holes bored in the frame, and 1990 for some sort of lack of reliability and ease to work on. I really doubt any bronco is BAD, these are just the least best of you will.

Nice Broncos are getting more expensive though, so I encourage you not to pick a cream puff to go bounce off trees.

 

Others have given good advice on this. So I'll just add that prior to about '86 it would have a carb (actual break point varied based on options). Going new enough to get fuel injection is probably a good idea.

 

Not a bad perspective. Although my son has an '01 Cherokee and I find F-series trucks a lot easier to work on (not sure where the Explorer would fit in there)

Those were conversions (not built by Ford). Centurion is the brand that seems most common (maybe the only one?). The "4 door Bronco" could be based on an F-350, or an F-150 and it's getting pretty heavy for an F-150. And most people seem to say that the Centurion conversions had some quality problems leading to rust issues (is that where the "red-breasted" comes from? ). It's BIG for fourwheeling, but for a family vehicle it's what Ford should have made a long time before they finally came out with the Excursion.

 

As you can imagine, that comment was made partly as a joke, but also to make the man aware of them. In truth, it's no bigger than a standard cab long bed pickup (how's that compare to an extended cab short bed, the same I think?) I'm located in the upper Rockies and take this truck all over the place (much of the trails are above timberline), but I'm not wallowing in mud holes or things like that. All depends on how it's going to be used, as we've all said. I wish I had been aware of these trucks sooner than I was. It would have allowed me to skip the two trucks I had before it.

 

SuperCab short box is actually slightly longer than a regular cab long box. And yes, full-size trucks can be taken on trails in Colorado. I spent a week there once with a regular cab long box and had a lot of fun (although some of the switchbacks were a different kind of fun). And then a friend of mine went out with a crew cab long box dually! He had fun too, but he did have to back away and find another option quite a few times.

 

Well call me impulsive but I sure as heck own that '93 Bronco XLT. It's raised 4 inches already. From what, I don't know.

No one has taken the back cap off but I love the idea of it. Probably plenty of posts about that on here. Thanks for the advice!

 

Nice! Congrats man. But pictures or it didn't happen haha

 

My 96 F350 4x4 Std cab LB C6 w/Gear Vendor O/D and 460 cid does it for me. Good luck!