Ford missed a bunch of opportunities when Iacocca fired Knudsen. Imagine if that Boss Bronco had a Boss 429 in it. I should hop over to FSB, see what they're saying about it.
Agree with Ribald about the weight. Even that iron 351W is almost too heavy. Ford and their stupid internal politics - - Yet another fine example of what could have been.
I've seen my share of 4X's with big, heavy engines, and I agree, if not fully supported, they can snap the front axle or break springs. But those are usually mall crawlers, anyway. Just out of curiosity, what's the difference in weight between a stock iron 429 and a Boss 429?
It's not the weight, it is the distribution. You can put a heavier engine in, but you need to move it backwards, and that wouldn't work too well with that Bronco.
There are early Broncos with 385's installed, and they don't appear to have mods to either the body, the frame or to where the engine is set in the frame.
Just because people do things is not evidence that something is a good idea. A lot of people never take their 4X off road, so how it handles going over rocks or down steep slopes doesn't matter.
Look at Land Rover (up until early 2000's at least) for examples of making a good 4x4 in terms of design and weight balance/distribution. Weight is the enemy in off roading same as racing. It's worse yet when it's over the nose and/or high up.
Good point about the Rover's suspension and balance. Top notch engineering. It is a crying shame they can't build an engine that doesn't have a porus sand cast aluminum block you can keep oil inside of or the cylinder sleves from sliding down then hitting the crankshaft weights. Their rendition of the Buick aluminum V-8 is horrific. That beautiful 93 Discovery collecting dust out in my shed is a giant paperweight until it receives an engine transplant that can travel more than fifteen miles on a full pan of oil. All fourteen of them in my area are suffering the same malady and Rover seems helpless to find a cure. Hard to try that nice suspension when your steed won't run.
Drop the thermostat temp and the sleeves will quit falling. Is the oil leaking from the block, or is it running a steel oil pan?
I read that ford is tooling up at the wayne Mi.plant for production of new bronco and ranger.2020 for bronco,2019 for ranger roll out.
