Bronco - No Top, No Roll Bar in a Rollover

[Tiko433]

my good friend was driving his bronco one night when a half dozen deer ran out in front of him. He swerved, and being the great road cars that they are, the bronco and he rolled several times. After staggering out he noticed that he was missing a finger.
He said the finger was not what about killed him. He is a taxidermist and between the 6 point elk antlers, handyman, toolbox, and shot gun, the junk in his truck about beat him to death. He has another nice scar on his back where the 12 guage cored him.
Lessons learned:
1 - only grab the roll bar with as many fingers as you are willing to leave on the side of the road.
2 - don't swerve for uninsured deer....hit them!

! Ouch!!!

 

[chuck]

Cages like #7 look cool and this one is very functional but are an aggravation on a daily basics until you look at pictures like 1, 4, 5, and 6 then I think "what aggravation?"

 

[half cab]

When my Bronco came out in '76 there still wasn't hardly any 4-lane hi ways in this area. Rollovers were generally low speed. More people were killed in CJ7-5's then I care to remember. Around here anyways.

Now there is super slab everywhere around here. People go in 45 minutes what use to take an hour n a half.

 

[mpboxer]

You have all brought up great points. I plan to never take my daughters on the freeway in my no roll bar and no top Bronco. Mainly an ice cream and grocery getter, but I did plan to take it to work occasionally by myself (freeway involved). About a 40 mile round trip. Definitely just cruise at 55/60 in the slow lane. Doesn't really matter how safe I am though, we all know there are crazies on the road.

So is it safe to say from the pictures, collective experience on here, and simple logic people who own Broncos without a roll bar don't really travel on the freeway? Seems like an awful lot of Broncos would not go on the freeway then. Or are we just willing to take that "Risk" knowing something catastrophic may happen.

 

[Rustytruck]

To me the worry some issue is if it goes over you natural instinct would be to duck down but if the Bronco is full of people there is no place to duck down to. The scary part is the front windshield folds into the drivers and passengers seat.

When I bought my Bronco 40 years ago, the first week I had it I put an inside the top roll bar. After a few years I took the top on and off. But then started taking the Bronco off road mostly with the top off. When off road got more serious I added the front cage kit as I feared the windshield in event of roll over. Most of the trails we were running there was a daily risk of rollover if fate had your number. Then my Girlfriend started bringing grand kids along and I added the family cage addition even though I pretty much no longer run really aggressive trails. Definitely not with the kids in tow. Taking a risk with my head is one thing but taking risk with others heads are a whole different issue. Its no different in any part of life. people who take more risks have more fun than those who think safety first. Its the human spirit to take risks and feel free. Its also your problem when plans don't pan out the way we wish it would.

 

[blubuckaroo]

We bought ours new and carried our three small sons in it for years. Heck, we even brought two of them home in the Bronco when they were born.
Later those boys all got to use the Bronco like it was their own.
Sure there were safety concerns, but everyone survived.
Now we have grandkids. I removed the back seat and gave it away. They won't be riding in the Bronco.
Sometimes good sense happens later in life.

 

[sprdv1]

M
1 - Only grab the roll bar with as many fingers as you are willing to leave on the side of the road.

Great point too on where you grab, I ALWAYS think of that when wheeling and just Pray I remember when it happens Cause it's going to happen at some point

 

[doghows72]

A few of those pictures inspired me to put a cage in my half cab. I really didn't want one but I think I'd rather be alive than worry about a little inconvenience.
And it fit beautifully under the half cab top. As a bonus I also have shoulder belts +++

 

[Ranchtruck]

I know features like roll bars, shoulder belts, airbags, etc. increase ones safety in a roll over accident, no doubt about that. But why didn't ford include roll bars in every bronco? Weren't they a dealer installed option? Engineers had to consider a 4x4 rolling over.

No they didn't have to consider safety. It was an era of personal risk. It wasn't Fords fault you died in a wreck, it was your fault for wrecking. Cars were made to look cool, and perform to their price point. That was it. Lots of them were deathtraps in a wreck, Bronco's included. All the safety equipment in modern vehicles is there because government mandated it and lawyers forced it. Safety doesn't sell cars because everyone is in denial of the chance that a wreck would happen to them. It just is the way of things.

Don't expect any vehicle from the mid 70's and before to "protect" you, it really wasn't in the design specs.

As far as how you'd fare rolling in a stock Bronco? You'd be screwed. There's no tucking down, as it flips your body gets flung outwards. If the lap belt holds you in, maybe the ground will fold you down into the seats, but maybe you get draped over the door and your spine crushed. It's all up to chance. And that's the risk you take driving any antique car.

 

[Tiko433]

A few of those pictures inspired me to put a cage in my half cab. I really didn't want one but I think I'd rather be alive than worry about a little inconvenience.
And it fit beautifully under the half cab top. As a bonus I also have shoulder belts +++

Good jog on the cage Looks nice

 

[73AnneBoleyn]

This thread is...man, I don't even have words. As I'm planning my fall projects, a family cage was high on my list. This thread has confirmed the need. I know so many of our great vendors sell excellent cages, and I'm leaning towards BC Broncos, and I hope others are reading this thread and evaluating the safety of their rigs and how they drive them. Great thread!

 

[sprdv1]

A few of those pictures inspired me to put a cage in my half cab. I really didn't want one but I think I'd rather be alive than worry about a little inconvenience.
And it fit beautifully under the half cab top. As a bonus I also have shoulder belts +++

Good plan brother...

 

[1strodeo]

Where is that 5th pic from?

That pic is from I believe Washington state, late 70's early 80's, pic and story written is from a firefighter that responded to the crash, young lady driving it miraculously survived, good story if you can find it

 

[mpboxer]

That pic is from I believe Washington state, late 70's early 80's, pic and story written is from a firefighter that responded to the crash, young lady driving it miraculously survived, good story if you can find it

Google is AMAZING!

https://slvsteve.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/that-1990-bronco-crash-on-hwy-9/

A couple more pics from the article added. Thanks for the reference 1strodeo!

 

[half cab]

Google is AMAZING!

https://slvsteve.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/that-1990-bronco-crash-on-hwy-9/

A couple more pics from the article added. Thanks for the reference 1strodeo!

Man that first hand account of the accident victims rescue makes you cringe

 

[markw]

That accident happened near where I grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I learned to drive on Hwy 17. Pretty amazing I survived the experience. At least one head on accident a week. Called Blood Alley until concrete dividers were put in place the whole length of the road from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz. I would not want to drive an EB on that road.

 

[thorgan]

I was in a rollover in a '72 Scout while on my way to go camping. I had all my camping gear, bicycle, tool box, BBQ, cooler, etc inside. The Scout was bone stock with no roll bar. Matter of fact, I had just reinstalled the hard top the week before after running around all summer topless. It was on a dirt road with tall sagebrush on each side. There was a side road that intersected the main road I was on. I never saw the Opel GT that was out playing rally car on that side road because his car was lower than the height of the sagebrush. All I remember was a loud "BANG" and I was flying through the air A-Team style. I rolled 1.5 times and came to rest on the roof. I released my lap belt (yep, no shoulder restraints) and fell on my head because there was so much dust that I couldn't tell which way was up. I crawled out the crunched down opening that was the driver's window and saw a wheel rolling down the road. I looked back and saw the section of wheel that bolts to the hub still fastened to the axle. The impact had literally ripped the wheel apart. The front axle hit the frame so hard that the axle housing was broken and there was a big dent in the frame where the axle hit it.

The guy had stuffed the front of his Opel under my right front tire of the Scout and over I went. His car was smashed with a clear tire track up his hood. Luckily no one was hurt other than his pride and a small scrape on my elbow.

I realized how lucky I was and added a family cage to my Bronco shortly after. Now I'm in the middle of installing a Protofab family cage to replace the very questionable welds I performed on the old cage.

This is real!