It is a great help to have a freestyle motocross star set everything up.
Before we get to the second sentence, we want you to know that we do not recommend anyone jump their Ford Bronco or any other vehicle not intended for flight. This is the gray area. We’ve seen off-road vehicles fly on numerous occasions. Ford released an official photo showing its new Bronco-Raptor with all four wheels lifted off the ground. This video does not feature a Raptor and is clearly unofficial.
This video actually comes from YouTube’s The Story Till now. It features a 2021 Ford Bronco Badlands. Although it’s a powerful off-roader, it lacks the Bronco Raptor’s upgrades. It does however have something that elevates the jump attempt above YouTube trollery. We are not referring to dirt ramps.
Bruce Cook, a freestyle motocross star, orchestrates the jump. You may recognize Cook’s name from his attempt at a double front flip with a dirtbike on a Nitro Circus event several years back. He was paralysed from the waist down after the crash, but he got up and became the first paraplegic ever to do a motorcycle backflip. Cook is an expert on jumping and survival.
The 12-minute video provides ample lead-up to the main event. The ramps are inspected. The weather is assessed. Cook performs a handbrake turn on a dead Volkswagen Golf because that’s what you do when you drive a Golf. Cook supervises the jump when the conditions permit it. Cook drives the Bronco using a universal hand control that controls the brake and gas pedals.
He makes it seem dangerously simple. The run-up is smooth and there’s not much drama. The SUV flies just 43 feet from start to finish. It lands very smoothly on the front wheels, then the back. It’s far more impressive than its appearance, considering that the ramps extend over 10 feet. This one is a winner in a world full of poorly-conceived car stunts that are done recklessly to get video clicks.
We strongly advise against doing this at home. This is unless you are a professional who has seen firsthand the devastating consequences of a bad jump.