ADV Fiberglass - Bronco Hardtop Teaser - Part 1

[Theowlhoothoot]

The "Bronco Tax"...

More like wait a year when everything hits Amazon and they will sure as hell charge more accurate prices. Huge first to market fees. Just look at what a mesh canopy cost for a broncos vs a jeep.

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[BAUS67]

I'm not even gonna go there.

What??? Check the IG post below, they OWN a Bronco. They are not designing solely by a CAD program. They know their product and have first hand knowledge of what is involved. In others words they can see what they are getting into and are still making a product.


https://www.instagram.com/advfiberglass/reel/CRnBHMtniEb/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[Bronc-O]

What??? Check the IG post below, they OWN a Bronco. They are not designing solely by a CAD program. They know their product and have first hand knowledge of what is involved. In others words they can see what they are getting into and are still making a product.


https://www.instagram.com/advfiberglass/reel/CRnBHMtniEb/?utm_medium=copy_link

I'll bet Webasto thought they knew their product and look what happened. Maybe, these guys will have better luck. We'll see.

 

[iamchewby]

I'll bet Webasto thought they knew their product and look what happened. Maybe, these guys will have better luck. We'll see.

In their defense, and from what I understand, all the pre-production Webasto hardtops were handmade and so they thought they had a good top but the design didn't translate into being machine made.

I could be wrong though, that's information that I vaguely remember reading on this forum months ago

 

[Bronc-O]

In their defense, and from what I understand, all the pre-production Webasto hardtops were handmade and so they thought they had a good top but the design didn't translate into being machine made.

I could be wrong though, that's information that I vaguely remember reading on this forum months ago

That's the point I'm trying to make. Webasto has been doing this stuff for decades and are struggling. Some think a vendor that's been doing this for a few years will do it better. We should wait for the product and then decide if they were successful.

 

[iamchewby]

That's the point I'm trying to make. Webasto has been doing this stuff for decades and are struggling. Some think a vendor that's been doing this for a few years will do it better. We should wait for the product and then decide if they were successful.

Correct. My point, and I realize now that I was unclear, is that if ADV keeps it handmade (I have no idea what their manufacturing processes are) they may have the ability to make a product on par with the pre-production Webasto tops that didn't have any issues. But those tops were produced in Germany... by Germans... who aren't known for their attention to detail or anything...

 

[BAUS67]

That's the point I'm trying to make. Webasto has been doing this stuff for decades and are struggling. Some think a vendor that's been doing this for a few years will do it better. We should wait for the product and then decide if they were successful.

I have not said they were successful. They seem confident so I am saying just that. We will find out soon enough. By the way if you notice one of their mottos is "hand laid fiberglass" so their product is not machine made so to speak.

 

[GreenMtnBronco]

By the way if you notice one of their mottos is "hand laid fiberglass" so their product is not machine made so to speak.

I am assuming this is similar to a boat building process. the mold is the outside of the built item, first they lay in gelcoat, then fiberglass cloth and resins, and layers of possibly balsa or another wood for stiffening, more glass and resins, vacum bag it and cure. pop it out of the mold and off it goes.. that is pretty much a by hand process

 

[PonyStable]

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.

If this is true, this is very bad news and I may have an as yet unshipped 2022 bronco with soft top for sale

 

[Frankie945]

I’ll be really surprised if this doesn’t cost as much as used car. Probably be nice though.

 

[zombie]

I’ll be really surprised if this doesn’t cost as much as used car. Probably be nice though.

I've bought used cars for less than $500, and I've seen them on BaT for almost $2 million so that's not saying much.

 

[Frankie945]

I've bought used cars for less than $500, and I've seen them on BaT for almost $2 million so that's not saying much.

Lol I guess what I wanted to say was this top is probably going to be very expensive.

 

[redone17]

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.

That would suck. I’d be surprised if that was the case though. Since we all know that 2024 is full revision to the platform.

 

[CTwaterfowler]

I really hope they offer a 1 piece, rather than the multiple sections.
My soft top will never be down or taken off until they do so to put on the hardtop.
I love my bronco, but I had to go with the soft top to get it in October. considering I was 15th out of over 300 orders and had to wait, I was lucky. I dislike the MIC2.0, I have seen them and am not impressed. Maybe the MOD top is better, but I prefer a 1 piece. My 88 broncos top only came off once in 17 years and that was when I had the body restored.

 

[redone17]

I really hope they offer a 1 piece, rather than the multiple sections.
My soft top will never be down or taken off until they do so to put on the hardtop.
I love my bronco, but I had to go with the soft top to get it in October. considering I was 15th out of over 300 orders and had to wait, I was lucky. I dislike the MIC2.0, I have seen them and am not impressed. Maybe the MOD top is better, but I prefer a 1 piece. My 88 broncos top only came off once in 17 years and that was when I had the body restored.

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