I'm Sorry I Have to Vent and Ford You Won't Like This...

[whiskeydriver]

Waited 13 months to get my Wildtrak and will say overall it is a fun vehicle HOWEVER the following issues have really ticked me off!

There are some Major flaws that just don't make any sense if there is no fix. I'm interested in hearing from those that have expressed these problems on the forum, if any of you have had these items fixed or remedied in any way?

Fit and Finish of body panels - my tailgate is not aligned as it should be as well as other panels. I took it to my dealer and was told by the Service Manager that Ford allows for a certain level of off alignment on the body/tailgate and therefore....SORRY CASE CLOSED

My Brake peddle makes a clunking noice when you lift it back up from depressing. I have seen many other Bronco Owners complain about the same thing. Again, told by the Service Manager that this is "normal" to Bronco and other Ford Vehicles. I also own a 2022 Lincoln Aviator and yes its a different vehicle but its still a Ford product and does not make this noise. How on earth can you sell a vehicle that makes this noise and that is considered "normal"? I have never owned a vehicle in my entire life that has any sound with the brake peddle....SORRY CASE CLOSED

B&O Sound System - we all know it's not good which is a major disappointment for a premium sound system. I used to think B&O was a top brand not anymore but it gets better. I have a vibrating noise in the back subwoofer almost sounds like a blown speaker when the base hits. I was told that this is an issue with Bronco owners and Ford is looking into a "fix" for this and I should turn the base down until they figure out how to stop the vibrating. This really burns me and why would Ford not immediately get this solved why bother buying the premium system save your money and put it towards your own system....SORRY CASE CLOSED

Back Vents - for the life of me I don't understand why Ford would not have vents for the second row. There is a trickle of air flow from the vent under the passenger seat and no vent under the drivers. Why not at least have that vent pump heat/cold to help the back row? Again, I was told this is just to get a little air flow nothing more and nothing can be done about increasing the flow....SORRY CASE CLOSED

I would love to hear if any of you have these issues and hoping most if not all can be fixed? Come on @Ford there is no way this can be!

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[kodiakisland]

Picture of the tailgate?

 

[whiskeydriver]

Picture of the tailgate?

Will send you pics tomorrow morning pouring rain here

 

[Jon_chimpo]

I second. It’s a really cool, and fun vehicle. It’s a good daily, and really fun weekend fun haver. I have the vent issue. When foot is selected, 95% of the air flow goes to the vents in the A pillars. And had the brake pedal issue, it needed to be greased. That was only after the 3rd time bringing it in, and it got progressively worse.

Missing AC seats in at the time, top of the line trim level.
No light in the glove box
Weak interior lighting
No ambient lighting in the rear (how the front foot well is lit.)
Half analog, half digital dash.
Missing console vents/HVAC for rear passengers.
Low tow rating. Could have easily upped by 1000lbs.
B&O stereo…
To top it off, ford dealer service is cut-rate at best.

Overall, I wouldn’t buy an expensive bronco again. I would have bought a Basequatch. For 35k it’s a bad ass rig. For 65k it’s lack-luster.

I’ll ride it out, because overall it’s a blast, and the kids love it. This is my first brand new vehicle, and my first Ford product. I highly doubt my next vehicle will be a Ford.

Edit:

Just “built” a basesquatch on ford website, wow, 47k now… nuts.

 

[BigHoof]

From Ford on the brake pedal issue:

SSM 51227

2021-2023 Bronco - 2.7/3.0L Engine - Brake Pedal Noise

Some 2021-2023 Bronco vehicles equipped with a 2.7L or 3.0L EcoBoost engine may exhibit noises coming from the brake pedal while applying and/or releasing the brake pedal or while the vehicle is off without brake pedal application. A single click and/or clunk may be heard during brake pedal application and again on brake pedal release and is considered normal. Clicking may also be heard while the vehicle is off, and without the brake pedal being applied. The clicking heard with the vehicle off is due to the EBB going through the normal shut-down process. The amount of noise will vary between EBB modules and replacement of the EBB module is not expected to reduce the noises.

 

[whiskeydriver]

I second. It’s a really cool, and fun vehicle. It’s a good daily, and really fun weekend fun haver. I have the vent issue. When foot is selected, 95% of the air flow goes to the vents in the A pillars. And had the brake pedal issue, it needed to be greased. That was only after the 3rd time bringing it in, and it got progressively worse.

Missing AC seats in at the time top of the line trim level.
No light in the glove box
No ambient lighting in the rear (how the front foot well is lit.)
Half analog, half digital dash.
Missing console vents/HVAC for rear passengers.
Low tow rating. Could have easily upped by 1000lbs.
To top it off, ford dealer service is cut-rate at best.

Overall, I wouldn’t buy an expensive bronco again. I would have bought a Basequatch.

I’ll ride it out, because overall it’s a blast, and the kids love it. But I doubt my next vehicle will be a Ford.

I wasn't going to add more things but glad you did! I agree totally with you. It's my first Ford and for sure a fun vehicle but WOW major shortcomings and probably my last as well. I think the base is the way to go and just add whatever you want to it.

 

[whiskeydriver]

From Ford on the brake pedal issue:

SSM 51227

2021-2023 Bronco - 2.7/3.0L Engine - Brake Pedal Noise

Some 2021-2023 Bronco vehicles equipped with a 2.7L or 3.0L EcoBoost engine may exhibit noises coming from the brake pedal while applying and/or releasing the brake pedal or while the vehicle is off without brake pedal application. A single click and/or clunk may be heard during brake pedal application and again on brake pedal release and is considered normal. Clicking may also be heard while the vehicle is off, and without the brake pedal being applied. The clicking heard with the vehicle off is due to the EBB going through the normal shut-down process. The amount of noise will vary between EBB modules and replacement of the EBB module is not expected to reduce the noises.

Thank you but this is what I mean, what vehicle has brake noises and that is normal?? This to me is outrageous can't Ford figure out a brake peddle that doesn't make noises? I mean ever other vehicle doesn't do it and its not like the brake are so amazing so what am I missing here??

 

[Kevin W]

Overall, I wouldn’t buy an expensive bronco again. I would have bought a Basequatch. For 35k it’s a bad ass rig. For 65k it’s lack-luster.
Edit:
Just “built” a basesquatch on ford website, wow, 47k now… nuts.

This ^^^^^ !!!!!!!!!

 

[Lcubed]

so, is the service manager actually representing FOMOCO's official position or that particular dealer's Standard Operating Procedure?

 

[Tex]

So, the tailgate is more than likely an easy fix, based on the pics I saw of it in your wrap thread (I wonder if they took your tailgate off to do the wrap and didn't get the alignment quite right?). Fully close and latch the tailgate, then loosen the four hinge bolts, just enough that you can muscle it around into alignment. Once you get it in the right position, tighten the bolts down and you're all set. When I switched from tailgate mounted tire carrier to bumper mounted carrier, the tailgate was so out of alignment that the striker was hitting outside of the guide because it no longer had the weight of a tire to pull it down into alignment. Don't take your spare off to do this as it'll hang way low when you bolt the spare back on. I was able to do mine without any help, but having a friend to tighten the bolts for you might be handy.

Brake pedal, not much you can do about that. It's programmed into how the newer electric brakes function, they basically push the pedal back to its stop when they reset after you release them, and they can reset with enough force to make that clunking sound. It's not just Ford, it's an industry wide thing. Mine does it too in certain circumstances, but so does my mom's Buick, my dad's Corvette, my friend's Tundra, and some bland Mazda that I rented a few months back. Some people notice it, some people don't, and some vehicles have more "positive reset" than others, presumably because it's designed into them for a functional reason I won't pretend to assume. I don't have any solution for you other than to maybe release the pedal a little more gently, it seems to not reset with as much force in those situations. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it really is well within normal designed operation.

The subwoofer rattle is definitely an oversight by Ford (or B&O), I was never able to crank it above maybe 10 or 12 before it got so annoying I lowered it again. Sounded like a blown speaker from my high school days because I couldn't afford to replace it LOL. It's primarily caused by the fasteners they use to hold the enclosure to the body. It's basically a nut plate that expands into a square hole in the sheetmetal, and if it's not super tight, it can vibrate in that hole just a tiny bit when the sub is cranked. Over time, this metal on metal rubbing will start wearing more clearance in the nut plate, and that's when you really hear the rattling. My fix was pretty simple, just get some kilmat off amazon and stick it over the body panel and everywhere the enclosure mounts to. It's fine to go directly over that square hole, as you can just push the nut plate directly through it and tighten it back up. The kilmat will cushion the nut plate/sheetmetal contact and the rattle will be gone. It was a poor engineering choice by Ford, but the fix won't cost you much beyond the time to take the side panel off. You'll get to know your Bronco better from the inside out too, which is kind of nice in its own way. I went ahead and stuck kilmat to some other areas that looked like they might cause some rattling while I had the panel off. After the fix, I was able to add the bass back into the EQ and crank it way up, makes a world of difference in how the system sounds.

Can't really comment about the rear seat HVAC though, I'm running a 2dr. My passengers never complained about it uncomfortable back there but I can see how a 4dr would be problematic. I'm not seeing an easy way to pipe air to the rear without taking the interior completely apart and building some ducting from scratch. A potential avenue to explore though...Katzkin makes a standalone kit to add heated and chilled air to just about any seat using peltier devices, you might see if they could do something about the rear to give passengers a little relief. It's not an option for a 2dr because of the seat design, but it looks doable with the 4dr seats. It would require recovering the seats with a perforated leather to let the air through, and it wouldn't be a cheap conversion. However, cooled seats make a world of difference in the summer and I'm able to be comfortable without much AC. The wife likes it warm enough in the expedition to make me sweat on road trips, so I let her set the temp on the AC, I use the seat cooler, and we're both set. The nice thing about the peltiers is if you reverse polarity to them with a simple switch, the air blowing into the seat will be heated instead of cooled, so it pulls double duty without any extra hardware.

Hope that addresses some of those problems you have, they might need some TLC that Ford skimped on, but they're good vehicles all the same.

 

[Area51BS]

I have zero body panel issues. Quite amazed actually since everything is removable. Don’t have the brake pedal issue. Wouldn’t want the B&O. Most OEM systems are trash speakers regardless of claimed level or name badge. Go aftermarket. Agree with rear venting on a vehicle 45k plus. But remember there are many things making this vehicle the price it is. A cheaper car may have some features we would consider standard. But those vehicles don’t have 4X4 features, removable tops and big tires. All adding cost. Some things I believe Ford finds as acceptable based on the purpose of the vehicle. Some might be addressed down the road. There are a few fixes for things available from the aftermarket and some that mechanically inclined people will address themselves. That applies to many vehicles. Overall I’m pleased.
Now if you want to be pissed like myself. Spent another 4K on outside home AC unit because sulphur in the air from irrigation system water eats away the solder used in the system to join the copper tubing. My third one since 2012. There goes Bronco parts for awhile.

 

[MFP2241]

Just “built” a basesquatch on ford website, wow, 47k now… nuts.

Have they gone up that much? My '21 BaseSquatch (with Aux Switchs) was $37,400.

 

[Mud Dawg]

My Brake peddle makes a clunking noice when you lift it back up from depressing. I have seen many other Bronco Owners complain about the same thing. Again, told by the Service Manager that this is "normal" to Bronco and other Ford Vehicles. I also own a 2022 Lincoln Aviator and yes its a different vehicle but its still a Ford product and does not make this noise. How on earth can you sell a vehicle that makes this noise and that is considered "normal"? I have never owned a vehicle in my entire life that has any sound with the brake peddle....SORRY CASE CLOSED

I have the brake clunk as well. Exactly like you describe. It’s like they forgot to design in the ”soft return.” I’ve also never owned a vehicle that does this. Totally weird…

 

[whiskeydriver]

so, is the service manager actually representing FOMOCO's official position or that particular dealer's Standard Operating Procedure?

From what he told me it is a Ford Motor position and they could not do anything about anything.

 

[whiskeydriver]

I have zero body panel issues. Quite amazed actually since everything is removable. Don’t have the brake pedal issue. Wouldn’t want the B&O. Most OEM systems are trash speakers regardless of claimed level or name badge. Go aftermarket. Agree with rear venting on a vehicle 45k plus. But remember there are many things making this vehicle the price it is. A cheaper car may have some features we would consider standard. But those vehicles don’t have 4X4 features, removable tops and big tires. All adding cost. Some things I believe Ford finds as acceptable based on the purpose of the vehicle. Some might be addressed down the road. There are a few fixes for things available from the aftermarket and some that mechanically inclined people will address themselves. That applies to many vehicles. Overall I’m pleased.
Now if you want to be pissed like myself. Spent another 4K on outside home AC unit because sulphur in the air from irrigation system water eats away the solder used in the system to join the copper tubing. My third one since 2012. There goes Bronco parts for awhile.

Thanks and sorry about the AC unit that really sucks! Your lucky you don't have the brake peddle issue it will drive you crazy once you hear it every time you let up on the brake and I can't turn up the sound to drown out the clunking bc it vibrates!! You can't make this stuff up lol!!!!

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