Bronco Vs. Scout

[JerseyJim]

Hello All,
Sorry for the provocative title.
I'm looking for a V8 powered all open lifted 4X4 & have narrowed it down to a Scout or a Bronco.
I like the SSII which has no doors - does the Bronco have a similar option where I can take off the doors & buy some kind of door insets?
Any other comments, however biased they may be , are greatly appreciated.
Anyone have any leads on a nice high powered, lifted, no-doors all open Bronco for sale?
Regards,
Jersey Jim

 

[broncnaz]

Were all baised here all broncos can easily have the top and doors removed. Check out the classified section people are always selling just what your looking for.

 

[SaddleUp]

Scout II's are decent off road vehicles but they do have some pitfalls. The biggest one is that they are pretty heavy. The next one is that they are big compared to an early bronco. The Broncos also have a better front suspension. Have you ever looked at the wiring in one? Anyone that has knows that the first question will be: Which green wire? They use green wires for everything which makes diagnosing wiring problems a big headache. Can they be set up to work well? Yes. In stock form though an early bronco will have the advantage. I'm speaking from experience since I've owned 3 different Scouts and 2 Early Broncos. Given a choice I would always take the Bronco. As far as the doors being removed you will see more early broncos with inserts and soft tops simply because there is better aftermarket support. They also had some from the factory that were like this (Roadster Model) but most of the ones you see now were added. (An original Roadster is rare) One other point is that while the value of the Scouts has risen over the last few years the Early Bronco still has better resale value. (That could go either way though for someone looking at one since the Scout will probably require less initial investment) Here is a picture of mine with inserts and canvas half doors on it. (The doors are on small pins and lift right off)

 

[GoFastCrackPipe]

I think SaddleUp would be a good person to ask. He had a Scout at one time and now drives a Bronco...

Are you out there Rick?

 

[GoFastCrackPipe]

Whoops... beat me to it. %)

 

[mxpaz]

Get a scout. :-* %)

 

[ken75ranger]

Get a scout. :-* %)

I was thinking the same thing! LOL

 

[Skuzzlebutt]

Scouts are O.K., just not as cool as Broncos ;D
Scouts have a longer wheelbase, which adds stability but decreases turning radius. Scouts have leaf springs in the front, which don't ride as nice as the coil springs Broncos use. Ford parts are easier to find than International parts. I have had a couple friends (not close friends) who drove Scouts, and they were dorks. I'm not saying all Scout drivers are dorks, but the first thing that goes thru my mind when I see a Scout is "DORK"! But that's just my own unreasonable prejudice. Most Scout owners are probably almost as cool as most Bronco owners. Scouts could be had with a diesel inline 6, which many Bronco owners would love to have. Unfortunately, it was a Nissan diesel they used, which is even harder to find parts for than a gas powered IH.
Most importantly, you won't find a Binder site as cool as ClassicBroncos.com. There are useful Binder sites, but they just don't compare well against here.

 

[SeaBiscuit68]

A good friend of mine has two Scouts which he tends to and uses quite often. When I first acquired my Bronco, I drove by to show him and he called me an extremely not very nice name.

 

[cams 76]

my friend had a scout and i think the broncos are way better looking and his seemed like it had a lot of rust compared to the broncos

 

[bmc69]

I had a '74 Scout II with the T-18 grany 4sp and it was a great truck. I have a '79 SII w/ a warmed up 304 and auto tranny now...in addition to my 7 EBs.. ;D

As far as rust..LMAO..Scouts are just as bad as EBS in that department..no better, no worse..just different places.

Yes, the Scout is a little heavier and a little bigger and wider but I have found that to be as much a blessing as a curse..the longer wheelbase does better on certain types of obstacles...that's why you see a lot of lengthened whellbase EBs running ful-width axles out and about.

 

[Bart]

I too have two friends with a Scouts. They both just got them back from some theafing scum in Colorado who charges them about 4K to do spring overs and a few other things. They did that in order to keep up with my lowly little bronco ;D They're biggest problem is the tank motor 345 that weights about as much as my whole bronco ;D Ever try to adapt a 13 letter manure spreader (INTERNATIONAL) to an overdrive trans?
If you want a stock (pretty much light duty off road), little aftermarket support get a Scout. My buddy says everyone looks at his scout and goes "OOOOOOOOOOOO" because it's pretty. They say "AAAAAAAAAAAAAW" because mine is dragging his "OOOOOOOOOOOO" back home which it has done many times (even while he was letting the clutch out trying to restart it) %) Given the choice of a free Scout and paying for a Bronco I'd go for the Bronk every time.

 

[Dawg_enD]

Keep in mind that there are actually 2 Scouts out there. The Scout II is what (I think) most here are talking about. They are bigger than a classic Bronco. The Scout (Scout I perhaps?) was about the same size.

It's a tough call, really. I had an International pickup, parts were a pain in the arse. You always have to bring the part with you, since any one of 3 (or more) different alternators etc went in your year of vehicle. Broncos don't really have that problem, stock they are all Ford.


HOWEVER!!! My dad owned a Scout (the little one) when Iwas a kid, it was a 68 I think. It had a STOCK 392 in it. !!!! That's an awful lot of displacement if you can find one with that motor.


I'd pick almost solely based on size. If you want the larger rig, go with the Scout II. If you want the smaller one, I'd go with the Bronco over the Scout.

 

[BFPD630]

I loved my Scout II like my own offspring- it was tougher than nails and never let me down. Parts were tough, but a place in the Denver / C. Springs area called Git 'em up Scout had a good offering of parts. However when I had the means to replace the old girl (sold it when I went to college) I went with a Bronco cause I wanted to build a 4x4 right- and the Bronco community is much more accessible and supportive of my project... Scouts will always have a place in my heart...

 

[73stallion]

the ONLY good thing i can say about the scout is that everything is tucked up inside the frame, nothing hangs down.

 

[SaddleUp]

Keep in mind that there are actually 2 Scouts out there. The Scout II is what (I think) most here are talking about. They are bigger than a classic Bronco. The Scout (Scout I perhaps?) was about the same size.

Scout 80 and Scout 800 are the smaller ones. Not sure what each designation is though. Trying to fit a V8 in one can be a challenge if it originally had a 4 Cylinder. We did it on one but it took a good bit of time with the sawzall to rework the firewall so it would go in there.

 

[roundhouse]

I saw an awsome Scout 2 halfcab or maybe it was a Terra, in North GA last weekend, didnt look at the price in the window,

WHen I was looking for a truck I looked at FJ-40 Land Cruisers, and Scout 2's and Early BRoncos,

The Scouts were less $$$, and I found a couple of nice one, like a 1980 with PS, disc brakes and A/C for $3000.

but the thing I ran into over and over, was when I asked the 2 big questions,
"How long have you owned it?"
and
"Why are you selling it?"

I couldnt find a Scout owner that had owned it longer than about 3 or 4 months,
I took this as a bad omen.

I love the way an Orange and Black SS-II looks, its the meanest looking rig ever.

But Broncos are about 1000 lbs lighter and ride much softer.

If you are looking for a daily driver, go ahead and get a 76 or 77 that already have disc brakes and power steering, adding these later will cost over $1000 for the parts alone.

The stock height of the Scouts is a little low for any trail riding, I went with a buddy of mine who has a Scout,(for sale BTW in SC) and while my Bronc is lifted 3 in, I walked over every obstcale, his unlifted truck got hung up on everything
spring hangers, gas tank, transfer case, you name it,
but I will say that everything under the Scouts must be like armor plate, cause it didnt hurt anything.


But geeze, as cheap as the late model trucks are at auctions, it kinda hard to sink a bundle into an old truck
Gotta admit I'm tempted by a crew cab 4WD Hemi for $14K
http://www.americanauto.com/view/auto/page/dispdetail.php?refnum=03F277

 

[mlogan24]

HOWEVER!!! My dad owned a Scout (the little one) when Iwas a kid, it was a 68 I think. It had a STOCK 392 in it. !!!! That's an awful lot of displacement if you can find one with that motor.

There is a smaller Scout. It was called the 80 and 800A and 800B. We actually own a 1971 Scout 800B, which was the last year for the smaller Scout body and the first year for the larger Scout II body. As a correction to the above quote, the 392 was never available in the Scout 80/800 or the Scout II. The largest engine in the 80/800 series was a 304 (which ours had) and the Scout II had the 345. The 392, although part of the 304/345 engine series, was only available in heavy duty IH trucks. (It is cool to note, though, that the Scout II came with the AMC 232/258 inline-6 and a Nissan Diesel, the SD-33)

As far as the Scout vs. a Bronco, owning both hopefully I can offer some good info. The Scout 80/800 is almost exactly the same dimensions as the early Bronco (I guess, to be correct it's the other way around as the Scout was built before the Bronco, and the Bronco was made as a heads-up competitor). It does offer a solid V8 and cool old school utility vehicle styling ;D

That said, the same things that Ford did to make the Bronco competitive are the reasons it's still a better option today (again, I'm comparing the Scout 80/800, but the same reasons are true for the Scout II). The Bronco is a much better handling ride with its coil spring/radius arm front axle (as compared to spring under leafs). Also, while the 304/345/392's are solid engines (they run for ever!). They are extremely heavy, slow revving, and quite frankly there are more options for the Windsor engine (peformance parts, EFI, tranny options, etc.) and they are cheaper to build. Plus, while the Scout has really grown on me, I still think the early Bronco is the best looking old 4x4 ever!

I guess it really comes down to what you like. We happen to like both bodies-so we have one of each ;D Now, I must admit that the Scout 800 is not going to stay stock-EFI 383/700R4/NP241, hydroboost brakes, power steering (using a 79 Bronco 4x4 box no less!), and once I go full width, I'm swapping my D30 and BB 9" under the Scout-almost spot on width!

Good info on what came in Scouts-Binder Bulletin Scout FAQ

 

[trailpsycho]

I dont think I have ever seen a Scout that wasnt one foot in the grave with cancer. Broncos, IMO, were made of better steel. Lots of them still on the road that havent been restored that are still in fair to good condition. Even when I lived in the south, where salting the roads was not an issue, Scouts were falling apart or part feline from all the kitty hair. Good luck with your choice.

 

[hucktruck]

I don't know if this is a good indication or not but my local up pull it yard has a few Scouts in it but never a Bronco. I know one of those Scouts is the 80 or 800 because it is the smaller version. There's some good parts left on them too. I've only seen one Bronco in a scrap yard in all my time of junking around here and that one was wrecked. It didn't have much on it after I was done with it either!