Custom Bronco Half Cab

[JaxGtc]

I would think the option might be to construct a floor to ceiling fiberglass bulkhead that attaches behind the B pillar, and then a corresponding roof cap. Leaving the current roll bar in tact. A bolt on solution would be preferred to a lot of custom metal work.

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[drew707]

What am I missing here? Everything is welded together. How is a sawzall not come into play here? You're dealer with boron steel, HSLA steel and bake hardened steel in the horizontal bar, rear down tube and cross reinforcements. No bolting here, it's going to be cut and weld and there is no procedure to weld on boron without screwing it up.

Yes doubling down on this. It is definitely not going to be a project for the feint of heart. That bar is mighty strong. I mean sideways into a telephone pole and it doesn’t budge strong. Changing it will be a pain in the ass for sure. Having seen them doing repairs during development it’s not easy peasy and nowhere close to bolt-on. I hope BDS and their fab shop has good pointers but don’t be too surprised if it’s anything like every other SEMA build and built for appearances not for real function

 

[Cat]

Very interested to see what you come up with. Looks like drilling out some hard spot welds will be needed. I just drilled into my B pillar and found that to be pretty hard steel.

I have my airbag covers off right now if you want any pics.

I drilled into my A Pillar and it was hard steel, too. Took me over an hr with a carbide bit.

 

[MileHighWT]

Did you even watch 10 seconds of the build videos BDS put out on the half cab SEMA truck?

The roll bar does not 'bolt on'. It's welded to the rest of the frame. BDS made theirs happen after many hours with a grinder.

 

[Broncolli]

I agree to make it in2 parts - a bulkhead and a separate roof top that will attach to the bulk head and go around the rollbars, even if it has to be a soft material type of connection to mold around the rollbar.

 

[skhubbard93]

I have serious concerns about this. The roll bar is not merely for protection and airbag containment/positioning. It is an integral part of the vehicle's bending and torsional strength. There's a reason that Ford is in some cases not allowing damaged-in-shipment Broncos with damage to the roll bars to be delivered.

Here's a story of what can happen when you start to mess with a vehicle's structural integrity.

Once upon a time, Dinan came out with multiple tuning upgrades for the Z8. One or two were just airflow, but a third involved cutting away a bit of the aluminum box frame that makes up the transmission tunnel. That tunnel also happened to be a critical part of the (convertible) vehicle's strength and rigidity, so when one of those vehicles went in for an annual inspection, the dealership promptly declared it "totaled" (not sure if that ever got back to DMV or not). Yeah. $130k vehicles in 2000-year dollars. There were accusations and lawsuits and all kinds of bad will all around. Owners were livid. BMW was resolute. Dinan was persona non grata.​

​

Most importantly to the situation, it was not possible to undo/repair the changes made without massive expense (more than the cars were worth) because it all involved structural aluminum panels that had been carefully analyzed in computer simulations and crash tests, and it would have required a complete reanalysis to determine whether any welded solution would be adequate. So BMW would not even consider declaring the modified vehicles fit-for-service, and voided the warranties. Dinan fought with BMW, and at one point declared that they would provide equivalent warranties, which were... not well-received to say the least.​

​

All this is just to urge you to be careful about what you don't know if you're messing around with your Bronco's structure.

 

[BRBUSTER72]

I like where you're going. Will be following with interest.



For what it's worth, my '71 doesn't have side curtain air bags

@BigMeatsBronco have you taken a close look at what BDS did to achieve their half cab?

So your '70 has side air bags?

 

[Silver-Bolt]

I have serious concerns about this. The roll bar is not merely for protection and airbag containment/positioning. It is an integral part of the vehicle's bending and torsional strength. There's a reason that Ford is in some cases not allowing damaged-in-shipment Broncos with damage to the roll bars to be delivered.

Here's a story of what can happen when you start to mess with a vehicle's structural integrity.

Once upon a time, Dinan came out with multiple tuning upgrades for the Z8. One or two were just airflow, but a third involved cutting away a bit of the aluminum box frame that makes up the transmission tunnel. That tunnel also happened to be a critical part of the (convertible) vehicle's strength and rigidity, so when one of those vehicles went in for an annual inspection, the dealership promptly declared it "totaled" (not sure if that ever got back to DMV or not). Yeah. $130k vehicles in 2000-year dollars. There were accusations and lawsuits and all kinds of bad will all around. Owners were livid. BMW was resolute. Dinan was persona non grata.​

​

Most importantly to the situation, it was not possible to undo/repair the changes made without massive expense (more than the cars were worth) because it all involved structural aluminum panels that had been carefully analyzed in computer simulations and crash tests, and it would have required a complete reanalysis to determine whether any welded solution would be adequate. So BMW would not even consider declaring the modified vehicles fit-for-service, and voided the warranties. Dinan fought with BMW, and at one point declared that they would provide equivalent warranties, which were... not well-received to say the least.​

​

All this is just to urge you to be careful about what you don't know if you're messing around with your Bronco's structure.

Not really. Remember, the Bronco is a body on frame construction. The chassis/frame provides the strength and overall rigidity. The roll bar does provide structure to the body shell. The body to frame mount is cushioned by rubber body mounts to isolate the body from the frame.

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

I have serious concerns about this. The roll bar is not merely for protection and airbag containment/positioning. It is an integral part of the vehicle's bending and torsional strength. There's a reason that Ford is in some cases not allowing damaged-in-shipment Broncos with damage to the roll bars to be delivered.

Here's a story of what can happen when you start to mess with a vehicle's structural integrity.

Once upon a time, Dinan came out with multiple tuning upgrades for the Z8. One or two were just airflow, but a third involved cutting away a bit of the aluminum box frame that makes up the transmission tunnel. That tunnel also happened to be a critical part of the (convertible) vehicle's strength and rigidity, so when one of those vehicles went in for an annual inspection, the dealership promptly declared it "totaled" (not sure if that ever got back to DMV or not). Yeah. $130k vehicles in 2000-year dollars. There were accusations and lawsuits and all kinds of bad will all around. Owners were livid. BMW was resolute. Dinan was persona non grata.​

​

Most importantly to the situation, it was not possible to undo/repair the changes made without massive expense (more than the cars were worth) because it all involved structural aluminum panels that had been carefully analyzed in computer simulations and crash tests, and it would have required a complete reanalysis to determine whether any welded solution would be adequate. So BMW would not even consider declaring the modified vehicles fit-for-service, and voided the warranties. Dinan fought with BMW, and at one point declared that they would provide equivalent warranties, which were... not well-received to say the least.​

​

All this is just to urge you to be careful about what you don't know if you're messing around with your Bronco's structure.

I think this is a little more applicable to a unibody constructed vehicle

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

Did you even watch 10 seconds of the build videos BDS put out on the half cab SEMA truck?

The roll bar does not 'bolt on'. It's welded to the rest of the frame. BDS made theirs happen after many hours with a grinder.

Yes this video was helpful, but I was hoping for a bolt on solution...oh well here comes the Sawzall!

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

Chop chop

 

[drew707]

Not really. Remember, the Bronco is a body on frame construction. The chassis/frame provides the strength and overall rigidity. The roll bar does provide structure to the body shell. The body to frame mount is cushioned by rubber body mounts to isolate the body from the frame.

The body itself is designed specifically to be suitable for a crash test. Hence why they use boron steel in all the pillars roll bar. Including the windshield and rear cross bar support. Yes the body is isolated from the frame but it’s built to be able to take impacts completely by itself and are made to be structurally sound. There are plenty of tests done against just bodies themselves to prove out they will perform as expected in the event of a crash (Door and roof crushing, pole impacts, etc)

It’s legally impossible to get any repairs to those areas certified as meeting the standards set by the original build. Hence why any repairs to structural components create a salvage title for the vehicle.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

The body itself is designed specifically to be suitable for a crash test. Hence why they use boron steel in all the pillars roll bar. Including the windshield and rear cross bar support. Yes the body is isolated from the frame but it’s built to be able to take impacts completely by itself and are made to be structurally sound. There are plenty of tests done against just bodies themselves to prove out they will perform as expected in the event of a crash (Door and roof crushing, pole impacts, etc)

It’s legally impossible to get any repairs to those areas certified as meeting the standards set by the original build. Hence why any repairs to structural components create a salvage title for the vehicle.

If it is "legally" impossible to repair, how/why is Ford selling replacement parts for the cage?

 

[drew707]

If it is "legally" impossible to repair, how/why is Ford selling replacement parts for the cage?

Because you can still repair totaled vehicles and give them a salvage and rebuilt title as I said. However Ford no longer can cover you in the event of an accident that would otherwise have held them liable, even if the part that failed causing the lawsuit was unrelated to the original repair. Legally Ford holds no liability once a structural safety component has been modified, it is game over for any coverage. If that wasn’t clearly obvious from the start.

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

The body itself is designed specifically to be suitable for a crash test. Hence why they use boron steel in all the pillars roll bar. Including the windshield and rear cross bar support. Yes the body is isolated from the frame but it’s built to be able to take impacts completely by itself and are made to be structurally sound. There are plenty of tests done against just bodies themselves to prove out they will perform as expected in the event of a crash (Door and roof crushing, pole impacts, etc)

It’s legally impossible to get any repairs to those areas certified as meeting the standards set by the original build. Hence why any repairs to structural components create a salvage title for the vehicle.

Thanks. That is good information. I don't know that I'll ever need mine to be certified in any fashion. I do intend on creating an internal roll cage (on mine) at some point so that should alleviate some of the concerns for structural strength.

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