ADV Fiberglass - Bronco Hardtop Teaser - Part 1

[Efthreeoh]

I've not read the entire thread, just a few pages. If I were to build such a top, I'd add retractable hooks* in the rear section that can be flipped up to aid in removal via ropes/straps using a winch/pulley-hoist. I'd also make the rear tailgate glass panel detachable along with the side rear glass being pop-out for ventilation and removable altogether.

* or matching trail sights

My 2 cents

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[Efthreeoh]

First time I wiped mine down so I could see out it was all scratched up...not much has changed in soft top window technology apparently.

After my living with a soft top on my YJ for 12 years, I decided my Bronco will have a hard top just for that reason, plastic windows eventually deteriorate; it's just a fact of convertible-top life.

 

[Efthreeoh]

This thread has "Stay Pumped" vibes all over it.

I'm not trying to be all negative here but some of you need to face the reality of the hardtop situation. You can't compare this to Jeep (I get the irony). Jeep has been around for decades. Their top manufacturer has had a LOT of time to work out the kinks.
The Bronco is an new design, which is bound to have issues, but they are still a well established company with a ton of money and experts to back them. If they are having constraints, what makes you think a smaller company can meet the demand?
Yall think the quality and price will match what Ford and Jeep can produce? I hope I'm wrong but to expect that or better isn't really a smart bet.
They say you can only pick two...speed, quality or low cost but during these times, you're lucky if you get one.

My guess, again I hope I'm wrong, is that it will cost about $7-8k for good quality. And $4-5k for a top with issues.
*fingers crossed* I'm wrong

I think you are being realistic.

Looking at ADV Fiberglass website, their car-body products are basically fenders and hoods. Building a hard top for the Bronco in any facsimile to the MIC/Modular top that Ford and its major automotive industry suppliers can produce is a very tall order IMO. Being somewhat familiar with plastics manufacturing, the retail price of a product is tied to its volume of production and complexity of manufacture. Quality of production parts are tied to the level of manufacturing equipment used to manufacture parts and the automation used to speed production of the parts. ADV's pricing for any of the body parts I reviewed on their website are just north of $1,000, which indicates most of their products are low-rate, hand-laid fiberglass constructed parts. Nothing wrong with that; but building a modular multi-paneled top that is relatively light weight, durable, and meets fitment tolerances that avoid water and wind infiltration is not as easy as engineering a replacement fiberglass fender or hood. I'm in no way indicating ADV is not up to the task since I have no insight to their engineering capabilities or their level of capitalization, just being realistic at the task being undertaken.

While B6G members like to piss all over Webasto and Ford regarding the MIC top, the problems Ford/Webasto had (have) with it are just indications of how difficult it is to design and manufacture such a complex plastic product at a reasonable cost. Webasto is no rookie when it comes to manufacture of automotive parts. The initial MIC top results obviously proved to be a challenge, which probably could have been mitigated by more time (starting earlier) and not compounded by a global pandemic right at the start of full-rate production.

Your consideration of a top from ADV Fiberglass being in the $7K range is probably accurate.

 

[Efthreeoh]

Majority of aftermarket jeep tops are a very simple design. Our bronco top is much more complex.

I'm interested in this purely from an execution perspective. Can you hint as to the construction design of the top? Is your weight target(s) in line with Ford's MIC top design(s)?

Good luck with it!

 

[ADV Fiberglass]

I'm interested in this purely from an execution perspective. Can you hint as to the construction design of the top? Is your weight target(s) in line with Ford's MIC top design(s)?

Good luck with it!

Yes, we are doing our best to make a top that is comparable in weight.

 

[Thurmy7]

Hi Bronco6g!

We are going to make this short and sweet. We will be releasing snippets of hardtop information throughout the upcoming weeks.

We have been working very hard behind the scenes to produce a hardtop that will help solve the issues from the OEM Bronco hardtop. To start off, we want to start a discussion from our teaser threads. We will be answering questions specific to the pictures in this post. If the question is not specific to this post then it will be answered in the upcoming posts throughout the next couple weeks.


Can you spot the differences between our top and the factory hardtop from these screenshots?

Are you as excited as we are? We feel like its Christmas all over again!


Subscribe to our newsletter list for Bronco Hardtop information. All newsletter subscribers will be the first to know about new details. Please make sure to let the page fully load, it will show three boxes of information to fill out to be added to the newsletter list. We will NOT blow up your inbox.

Subscribe Link: https://www.advfiberglass.com/pages/bronco-hardtop-sign-up


Stay tuned for the next release of information on 1/10/22.

Thank you,
ADV Fiberglass

I don't really care what the differences are or how well it works or what it looks like... I just want a hard-top.

 

[Bronc-O]

I don't really care what the differences are or how well it works or what it looks like... I just want a hard-top.

If that's the case, Ford "had" one of those. I'm anxious to see who gets to market first.

 

[GreenMtnBronco]

I think you are being realistic.

Looking at ADV Fiberglass website, their car-body products are basically fenders and hoods. Building a hard top for the Bronco in any facsimile to the MIC/Modular top that Ford and its major automotive industry suppliers can produce is a very tall order IMO. Being somewhat familiar with plastics manufacturing, the retail price of a product is tied to its volume of production and complexity of manufacture. Quality of production parts are tied to the level of manufacturing equipment used to manufacture parts and the automation used to speed production of the parts. ADV's pricing for any of the body parts I reviewed on their website are just north of $1,000, which indicates most of their products are low-rate, hand-laid fiberglass constructed parts. Nothing wrong with that; but building a modular multi-paneled top that is relatively light weight, durable, and meets fitment tolerances that avoid water and wind infiltration is not as easy as engineering a replacement fiberglass fender or hood. I'm in no way indicating ADV is not up to the task since I have no insight to their engineering capabilities or their level of capitalization, just being realistic at the task being undertaken.

While B6G members like to piss all over Webasto and Ford regarding the MIC top, the problems Ford/Webasto had (have) with it are just indications of how difficult it is to design and manufacture such a complex plastic product at a reasonable cost. Webasto is no rookie when it comes to manufacture of automotive parts. The initial MIC top results obviously proved to be a challenge, which probably could have been mitigated by more time (starting earlier) and not compounded by a global pandemic right at the start of full-rate production.

Your consideration of a top from ADV Fiberglass being in the $7K range is probably accurate.

I guess you missed the part that they've been building tops for other sellers? At least that's what I read earlier in this thread

 

[BroncoBoy22]

I guess you missed the part that they've been building tops for other sellers? At least that's what I read earlier in this thread

Yup! They build a lot of private label stuff

bottom line is there is no option from Ford, and won’t be for quite a while (2 years+) for anyone who wants a painted top from the factory

 

[Seventyfouronthefloor]

Definitely a rain channel. Like the one the original Bronco hard top has.

Rain channel and rattling/squeaking when you hit bumps or it’s not a real Bronco (hardtop)

 

[Seventyfouronthefloor]

Yup! They build a lot of private label stuff

bottom line is there is no option from Ford, and won’t be for quite a while (2 years+) for anyone who wants a painted top from the factory

I’ve also heard from someone who works internally at for Ford that the future Mod top won’t be backwards compatible to previous (‘21, ‘22) model years, something about how it clamps to the windshield frame will be different altogether.

This was apparently a major why reason no production MOD tops were ever produced and the ones seen in pictures were mostly mock-ups or CGI renders. The MIC tops could take the wind shear but the fiberglass on the MOD tops was getting stress fractures where the clamps attached to the fiberglass in testing.

Carbon fiber tops were a possible remedy but apparently the ‘23 model year will have a different windshield frame top edge to accommodate the MOD tops with different style clamps... because it’s the top of the windshield frame, there’s no space for an aftermarket widget that will marry the ‘23 mod top to the ‘21 or ‘22 Bronco windshield frame.

 

[Bronc-O]

I’ve also heard from someone who works internally at for Ford that the future Mod top won’t be backwards compatible to previous (‘21, ‘22) model years, something about how it clamps to the windshield frame will be different altogether.

This was apparently a major why reason no production MOD tops were ever produced and the ones seen in pictures were mostly mock-ups or CGI renders. The MIC tops could take the wind shear but the fiberglass on the MOD tops was getting stress fractures where the clamps attached to the fiberglass in testing.

Carbon fiber tops were a possible remedy but apparently the ‘23 model year will have a different windshield frame top edge to accommodate the MOD tops with different style clamps... because it’s the top of the windshield frame, there’s no space for an aftermarket widget that will marry the ‘23 mod top to the ‘21 or ‘22 Bronco windshield frame.

So, that makes me wonder what year(s) the ADV top will fit? Also, will it have the same issues on 21-22?

 

[BAUS67]

I’ve also heard from someone who works internally at for Ford that the future Mod top won’t be backwards compatible to previous (‘21, ‘22) model years, something about how it clamps to the windshield frame will be different altogether.

This was apparently a major why reason no production MOD tops were ever produced and the ones seen in pictures were mostly mock-ups or CGI renders. The MIC tops could take the wind shear but the fiberglass on the MOD tops was getting stress fractures where the clamps attached to the fiberglass in testing.

Carbon fiber tops were a possible remedy but apparently the ‘23 model year will have a different windshield frame top edge to accommodate the MOD tops with different style clamps... because it’s the top of the windshield frame, there’s no space for an aftermarket widget that will marry the ‘23 mod top to the ‘21 or ‘22 Bronco windshield frame.

Interesting ...................

 

[BAUS67]

So, that makes me wonder what year(s) the ADV top will fit?

"21 and '22 for sure. If they didn't think it would work, they wouldn't be making one.

 

[Bronc-O]

"21 and '22 for sure. If they didn't think it would work, they wouldn't be making one.

I'm not even gonna go there.

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