The Bronco II is a surprising performer. I'm sure if you have a Bronco to call your own you've realized this. The automatic transmission in the B2 is horrible. It's sticky, shifts far too early, and has many of the reliability problems from Ford auto's from, well, ever. Only recently have the big three actually tried using well made auto's in their cars. Actually, only recently have the big three actually tried making well made CARS.

      Equipped with the Manual tranny, the B2 is a serious hauler. It's got some cajones. Not big cajones, small ones, but they ARE there. With 140 horsepower coupled with 170 Ft/lbs of torque, it's certainly no slouch. With all junk out of my B2 I got 0-60 times of under 10 seconds. And with a new Intake of a Ractive air filter with a Weapon R pipe, I think I shaved like a full half second off my 0-60. (Maybe that's just me dreaming. :)

      The B2 came in four models. The Sport, XL, XLT, and Eddie Bauer. There were no real differences between them. Since options could be added to any model to equal whatever models were above it. The XLT and Eddie Bauer got the on-the-fly transfer case standard, and a few leather goodies thrown here and there inside the cab. Unfortunately, no amount of leather can hide the overall poor build quality of the B2.

      The B2 changed very little over the course of it's 7 year life-span. It went through one body style change and 2 changes in engine power. Nothing major really happened to it. I believe this is because they didn't ever have the chance. The big change happened when they used a full sized Ranger chassis and renamed it the Explorer, in a disgusting attempt to escape the rollover controversy. The recent change to a lower wider Explorer for safety reasons was even denied by Jacques Nasser. And that is why he just got fired. :-) I swear, Ford having a scandal seems to be a once a decade thing! Explorers in the 90's B2's in the 80's. The Pinto in the 70's. The list goes on.

      The B2 is an average weight vehicle. At a hair under 3400 pounds, it could have used some lightening or a bit more power. Either way. Loaded with some luggage and 4 150 lb people that brings it's weight to over 2 tons. Hence going up hill is a pain and going downhill is scary as hell cause the stock brakes aren't that good. The wheel base could used being a couple inches longer too, but that's moot, we're here to discuss what we can do on this wonderful blank slate.

      The stock axles are pretty beefy. And unless you do some SERIOUS off-roading I can not imagine you needing to swap them out. If you plan on rock crawling, a new front axle setup is a must though. You'll want to get rid of the IFS and put in a live axle design. And you'll also want locking differentials. Like I said before, the brakes are not that good. An easy swap is to replace the rear drum brakes for disc. This is something I whole-heartedly recommend. You're 60-0 distance will drop by, I'd guess, 15 feet easy.

      The interior is nice enough. The rear seats fold down to effectively double your cargo space. The dash is effective if not somewhat barbaric in design. And driver and passenger room is above average. Rear passenger room is laughable. If you have large friends either they get the front or you strap 'em to the roof. The turning radius is also really good. You can pull a U-ie in some very tight quarters.

      I love the engine. It might be unreliable for a lot of people, but for me it's been solid as a brick. The power is also copious, as long as the vehicle is empty. The only thing I do not like about the engine is how loud it gets when it gets some mileage on it and how much fuel it drinks. With that power rating and considering how small the engine is it should get over 20 mpg in both city and highway environments. As ti stands a Mustang GT gets similar gas mileage and cranks out a LOT more power. And a 400 HP Corvette Z06 gets BETTER gas mileage. If you're a real car fanatic. Take out the 6 and put in the V8 this bad boy always deserved, and instead put this rather nutty V6 into like a Honda Civic and really blow some friends away.

Exterior:

Length: 161.8 in.
Width: 68 in.
Height: 70.4 in.
Weight: 3385 lbs.
Wheel Base: 94 in.
Interior:

Front Head Room: 39.5 in.
Front Hip Room: 52.7 in.
Front Shoulder Room: 54.6 in.
Rear Head Room: 38.9 in.
Rear Shoulder Room: 55.9 in.
Rear Hip Room: 42.3 in.
Front Leg Room: 43.9 in.
Rear Leg Room: 35 in.
Luggage Capacity: 23.8 cu. ft.
Maximum Cargo Capacity: 57 cu. ft.
Maximum Seating: 4
Performance Data

Styles and bluebook value.

Performance:

Base Number of Cylinders: 6
Base Engine Size: 2.9 liters
Base Engine Type: V6
Horsepower: 140hp @ 4600 rpm
Torque: 170ft-lbs. @ 2600 rpm
Drive Type: 4WD
Turning Circle: 33.1 ft.

Fuel Data
Fuel Tank Capacity: 23 gal.

EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway)

Manual: 17 mpg / 22 mpg

Automatic: 16 mpg / 21 mpg

Range in Miles: (City/Highway)

Manual: 391 mi. / 506 mi.

Automatic: 368 mi. / 483 mi.

Eddie Bauer Styles
2 Dr Eddie Bauer Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,642
2 Dr Eddie Bauer 4WD Utility Invoice, Specs... $4,018

Sport Styles
2 Dr Sport Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,320
2 Dr Sport 4WD Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,550

XL Styles
2 Dr XL Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,084
2 Dr XL 4WD Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,407

XLT Styles
2 Dr XLT Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,269
2 Dr XLT 4WD Utility Invoice, Specs... $3,550