Full sized Broncos

Nothing replaced them. Well, one might have the opinion that the Expedition or Explorer replaced the Bronco, but I do not share that view.

I'm not sure what the last year was for the Bronco, but my thoughts are that

1995 was it. The reason is that in the '96 model year, all vehicles offered for sale in the USA were required to be OBD II compliant -- it makes absolutely no sense that Ford would make the Bronco OBD II compliant, then drop the model from the line up. Ford knew for years that OBD II compliance was required, so they would have EITHER made the changes to bring the model into compliance, or they would have dropped the model entirely. I believe the latter is the case with the Bronco.

Check the VIN, 10th digit, for the model year on that Eddie Bauer. I wonder if it is really a '96. I think it's a '95. I had a '95 Eddie Bauer Bronco, and loved it. I also had a '95 XLT Bronco that I actually liked better than my Eddie Bauer. The XLT was in better condition, and I discovered that I liked the cloth better than the leather.

The '96 was the last of the real Bronco. It was replaced by the Expedition. All Broncos were 4x4's. The Expeditions are available in 4x2 or 4x4. If you are serious about getting it off road, the Bronco is more capable. The biggest problems(?) I am aware of on the Broncos is the failure of the front hub locks if they are seldom used and the need to lube the front slip joint on the rear drive shaft occasionally. You may also find the radius arm (strut bars) bushing bad. The cure for that is urathane replacements which is not a bad job for someone with average mechanical skills, air impact wrench and a couple of good jack stands. You will find the Bronco very similar to the F150 in most aspects including durability. If you are looking for that type of vehicle, it sounds like you may have found a decent deal.

Lugnut

Did Ford _really_ build an OBD II car for one year? That's just stupid on so many levels.

There were also '96 year model F150's. The ,97 F150ms were introduced on 1-1-1996. Ford continued to sell the 96 F series and Bronco until the normal model change period. I had a '96 F150, my brother still has his '96 Bronco with ove 300k miles on it with the original 5.8L engine and E4OD trans. It has routinely been used on and off road with few problems. It has had full synthetic fluids from the first change. It's most obvious problem now is a lack of paint on most of the upper surfaces. Other than that, it makes the

60 miles each way commute to work six days a week.

Lugnut

Thanks for the info. The one I was looking at is most likely a scam artist trying to "sell" someone else's car! But I'm still looking. What I take from the replies here is that a unit showing miles in the mid-100Ks is not something I should shy away from? As for the year issue, I see many of them listed as '96s. (?). I'll be back with more questions and advice as I continue to look. Maybe I should toss this out there. What I'll be using it for is a daily "commute" of probably 10 miles per day, round trip. A weekend grocery getter, and several times per year up to the mountains for hunting, fishing, camping in 4X4 territory. IOW, it won't get many miles on it for most of the year, but it is imperative that it be reliable when out and about in the woods. Thanks for all your great advice.

Hell, I've got a '61 F100 I use for a 40 mile round trip commute most days. A '90's Bronco would seem downright civilized to me.

If the '97 F150 was launched in January '97, that was not the normal model change period. New models are generally introduced in October. The '97 F150 intro -- if it was normal -- should have happened in October of '96.

I can't imagine the logic in a single year of production with the OBD II controls.

What is the 10th digit of the VIN? My '94 is R, so a '96 would have to be T.

IIRC correctly all of the F Series with the 5.0L used an "N" engine designation in the VIN - could be wrong on that.

The '97 launch was not normal. The trucks were actually in production to build inventory in October which required stopping production of the prior models. Since it was going to take a while to ramp up production of a completely new vehicle like the '97 F series. Ford actually wanted to intro them earlier but, Federal regs do not allow a vehicle to be designate a particular year model over more than one January 1. That is why the official release on that date. I had been looking forward to trading for one of the new models but, changed my mind quickly as soon as I had an opportunity to see and drive one. I bought a '96 F150 instead. I only kept it for a few months before health problems indicated I should sell it and keep my old '93 which I still have and has turned out to be one of the best and most satisfying vehicles I have ever owned. It is much like an old comfy pair of sneakers and just does it's job.

Also, I don't think the OBD2 for the '96 was that much of a burdon for Ford since they had to develop it for the 5.0L Explorer/Mountaineer anyway. The Explorer did not get the change over to the 4.6L V8 for a couple of years later and it was selling quite well at the time.

Lugnut

The 10th digit signifies the Model Year, which is not the production year much of the time.

Sorry, I clicked Send too early.

Any change to the production line is costly, that's why I can't see building the '96 F150 or Bronco for just a few months. I just don't see that as having happened. I don't have a '96, and you claim that you did and your brother does, but I just don't see the production changes to support the project for a couple of months.

You also said that the '97 F150 was being build as early as October of '95, that makes production of the '96 F150 and Bronco very suspicious. I did several AutoTrader searches for a '96 F150 or Bronco, and couldn't find any. Because of the requirement to convert production to the OBD II spec, and the fact that '97 brought a whole new truck, I have trouble with Ford building the '96s. I have no proof that it didn't happen, but from all I know about the auto industry, it would be folly to build a truck line for a single year. Seems very odd to me that there is a '96 F150 or Bronco. There is a '96 F250 and above, but those models lasted for several years.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:58:05 -0700, Jeff Strickland rearranged some electrons to say:

snipped-for-privacy@n19g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

Since that vintage of Bronco was based on the pickup platform, which wasn't discontinued, and was OBDII compliant, your explanation doesn't really make sense.

Check Edmunds/AutoTrader for selling price on 1996 F150 or Bronco for the asking prices. Both the '96 and '97's were sold side by side from Jan 2 1996 thru the normal end of the '96 model run. This allowed Ford to ramp up production on the '97 while maintaining their sales volume for the year. With both trucks, they had a tremendous advantage over GM during that period. Yes, the '97 were in production in

1995. The legal model designation is just that. That is why they are prohibited for selling the same model designation over more than Jan 1. Therefore, they could sell the '97 trucks for almost 2 years to beef up sales numbers.

Lugnut

Ford will let you download an Owner's Guide for a 1996 Bronco. See:

(or ) And the manual even mentions the OBD II Ssytem.

This morning there were 6 1996 Ford Brooncos for sale on EBAY. Here are the VINs:

1FMEU15N7TLB20106 1FMEU15N6TLA52137 1FMEU15H5TLB58363 1FMEU15H1TLA28063 1FMEU15H6TLB20494 1FMEU15H0TLB72705

I fed the VIN of the last one into the Ford VIN decoder and got the following results:

VIN: 1FMEU15H0TLB72705

World Manufacturer Identifier - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Positions VIN Code:1FM Assembly Country:UNITED STATES Make:Ford Body Style:Sport Utility Vehicle Restraint System Type (Passenger Cars) or Brake Type and GVWR Class (Trucks and Vans) - 4th Position VIN Code:E Brake System:STANDARD GVWR Class: GVWR Range:6,001 - 10,000 Pounds Line,Series Body Type - 5th, 6th, 7th Positions VIN Code:U15 Vehicle Line:Bronco Series:U100 Vehicle Type:Truck Engine Type - 8th Position VIN Code:H Engine:5.8 L Cylinders:8 Fuel:Gasoline Model Year - 10th Position VIN Code:T Model Year:1996 Assembly Plant - 11th Position VIN Code:L Assembly Plant:MICHIGAN TRUCKS, MICHIGAN Production Sequence Number - 12th - 17th VIN Code:B72705 Prod Sequence NumberB72705 Additional Information Wheel Axles Wheelbase210.0

Ford built trucks at multiple plants back in 1996. The Norfolk Truck Plant (now closed) was the first ones to switch over to the 1997 style trucks. My farm is south of Norfolk and a number of locals worked at the palt back then. Ford let the workers drive homw the pre-production (or start models) for a few weeks. I saw one before they actually went on sale and had no idea what it was. Wikipedia has a good article on the F150

) and confirms the claim that the 1oth generation (the 1997 model) started production in 1995. The following quote is from wikipedia: "Ford took the aero styling further for 1997 with a rounded nose on the new F-series. Since it was the F-150's first major redesign since 1980, the redesigned truck went on a nation-wide 87-stop tour to Ford plants and the external part suppliers in October, 1995 prior to its release.[7] To build anticipation for the redesigned truck, the 1997 model was released in January 1996 with the first ad campaigns airing during Super Bowl XXX. Because of the radical styling, Ford predicted that traditional truck buyers wouldn't receive the radical and car-like 1997 too well, so it continued to produce and sell the previous 1996 model alongside the redesigned 1997 model for a few months."

As the article says, Ford built 1996 Model F150s (and the associated Broncos) for months after introducing the 1997 Models.

Ed