Any consensus on which tailgate reinforcement has performed best?

[SavvyG]

Accessories are beginning to hit the site! https://turnoffroad.com/collections/bronco-tire-carriers

Finally!!! Awesome! Guess I know what I want for my birthday now. Any chance a traction board mount is coming? Is a rotopax your only fuel option or will there be a jerry can mount option? Thanks again for the awesome product you make! I would post a picture but my Bronco is never clean

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[GroovyGeek]

If you are doing this mostly for looks it is hard to beat the Mabett one, but just like IAG it is cast aluminum. Another consideration is that the Mabett design tolerances seem to be too tight and require very careful alignment. I could not get it to align on my BD. Was getting it mostly for looks.

That guy sure does think highly of himself. Asking as much for the hinges as most are asking for the entire brace, tire mount, and new hinges.

These cost 30-50% more than the raptor style hinges which he riffs off. But yes, his stuff is always priced at a high premium.

 

[Turn Offroad]

Finally!!! Awesome! Guess I know what I want for my birthday now. Any chance a traction board mount is coming? Is a rotopax your only fuel option or will there be a jerry can mount option? Thanks again for the awesome product you make! I would post a picture but my Bronco is never clean

We should have the Jerry can mount in around 45-60 days and we are offering a molle panel with threaded holes in it that will accommodate traction boards really well! Same timeline on both products.

 

[SavvyG]

We should have the Jerry can mount in around 45-60 days and we are offering a molle panel with threaded holes in it that will accommodate traction boards really well! Same timeline on both products.

That is great news! Would I be able to use the molle panel in conjunction with the rotopax or jerry can mount? I would love to able to run both traction boards and fuel storage together.

 

[talbot]

That is great news! Would I be able to use the molle panel in conjunction with the rotopax or jerry can mount? I would love to able to run both traction boards and fuel storage together.

same here
jerry mount or rotopax + traction boards would be ideal for me
looking forward to seeing these from TOR

 

[derichio02]

@Turn Offroad Do you all do installs at your facility? I’m in socal and always looking for a place to drive my bronco.

 

[Turn Offroad]

@Turn Offroad Do you all do installs at your facility? I’m in socal and always looking for a place to drive my bronco.

We’re currently only booking installs on hard tops to help customers save on the freight shipping.

We do have a small showroom at our Riverside location but we’d refer you to one of our preferred installers in your area for the installation.

 

[Glade Runner]

@Turn Offroad

Can the tailgate reinforcement be installed with a slide-out tailgate gate in place, or does the slide-out tailgate need to be removed then re-installed after the reinforcement and tire carrier are installed?

 

[MannyG20]

That guy sure does think highly of himself. Asking as much for the hinges as most are asking for the entire brace, tire mount, and new hinges.

I don’t understand the entire dynamics of tailgate reinforcement- what is more important: reinforcing the hinges, beefing up the tire carrier, both? I will say these hinges seem to be the beefiest out there. Does that make them worth $529? Maybe, if hinges are the most important component.
concerning price - it would not surprise me at all if the profit margins from Broncbuster falls in line with the other vendors - except Mabett which I assume to be higher.

 

[Fordified1]

That guy sure does think highly of himself. Asking as much for the hinges as most are asking for the entire brace, tire mount, and new hinges.

Yes BB stuff is expensive. Probably because they CNC small batches locally vs farming out large batches to reduce cost. Wouldn't hurt to try to get a discount from him on anything he sells. IDK. I'm close friends with one of his vendors... curious to see what kind of discount I can get. But on what? IDK. lol. SO many other options out there.

Here's a BB discount code. https://loox.io/z/C_7kl1zjv

 

[Turn Offroad]

@Turn Offroad

Can the tailgate reinforcement be installed with a slide-out tailgate gate in place, or does the slide-out tailgate need to be removed then re-installed after the reinforcement and tire carrier are installed?

You shouldn't need to remove the slide out tailgate. The only reason you'd need to is to get to the wiring behind the passenger side plastic panel but its flexible enough you should just be able to access the wiring no problem.

 

[Brian_B]

I don’t understand the entire dynamics of tailgate reinforcement- what is more important: reinforcing the hinges, beefing up the tire carrier, both? I will say these hinges seem to be the beefiest out there. Does that make them worth $529? Maybe, if hinges are the most important component.

Ok, full disclosure, I just installed a Turn unit on my Bronco recently - so take this for what it's worth.

The hinges on the stock Bronco are pretty beefy - they are solid steel and very stout. The raptor ones moreso. So I don't think the hinge itself is necessarily a weak point, but I'm not a mechanical engineer so I can just say that's my hunch there.

The problem is: stock - the spare tire hangs on the carrier, bolted to the tailgate. The tailgate hangs on the hinges, the hinges are bolted to the frame. The tailgate gets turned into a giant lever, with a lot of weight on it. It's just a very lightweight aluminum panel. It is rated for 133lbs on the carrier - so if it's just a tire, you are probably ok. But a lot of jostlying around off road, wanting to mount anything else back there, bigger tires, hanging things on the inside of the tailgate, etc... all that puts additional weight on that tailgate, which is a giant lever arm and pulling down on those hinges.

A "Standard" re-enforcement just cross-braces the two hinge points. Kinda like cross-bracing a fence or gate:

That helps the tailgate carry that weight without shifting around or deforming. This would be like the Rough Country reinforcement plate, or the IAG tailgate re-enforcement. The weight continues to be carried by the tailgate, it still uses the same factory hinges, it just helps to brace and redistribute that weight.

There are some that upgrade the hinges, like the Mabett solution. It's a brace with different hinges, but it still requires the tailgate to carry all the weight. Or if you just upgrade to Raptor hinges.

Then, there are solutions that remove all the weight from the tailgate. The Turn carrier bolts to the frame with a new hinge, and the Turn carrier holds all the weight of the spare tire and tail gate - the tailgate just bolts to the new frame and looks pretty. Similar to the Smittybilt and APG rear-bumper / carriers, which moves the spare tire mount to the rear bumper. These pull all the weight off the tailgate entirely.

Do you need it? That is a question that can't be answered universally. Just there are these options out there.

 

[Hemisfear]

https://www.expeditiononestore.com/...-Single-Swing-Tire-Carrier-System_p_2262.html

This is definitely the way I’m going once I can ju$tify it since I have the plastic rear bumper, the design is very simple and similar to factory and it’s ultimately the best option to carry the weight. The company currently has a long lead time, a third brake light mount is in development and backup spotlight holes are currently standard which I don’t want.

That was my thought too until I started looking at weight...I had to re-think my plans!

 

[Glade Runner]

You shouldn't need to remove the slide out tailgate. The only reason you'd need to is to get to the wiring behind the passenger side plastic panel but its flexible enough you should just be able to access the wiring no problem.

Thankyou.

 

[SavvyG]

Ok, full disclosure, I just installed a Turn unit on my Bronco recently - so take this for what it's worth.

The hinges on the stock Bronco are pretty beefy - they are solid steel and very stout. The raptor ones moreso. So I don't think the hinge itself is necessarily a weak point, but I'm not a mechanical engineer so I can just say that's my hunch there.

The problem is: stock - the spare tire hangs on the carrier, bolted to the tailgate. The tailgate hangs on the hinges, the hinges are bolted to the frame. The tailgate gets turned into a giant lever, with a lot of weight on it. It's just a very lightweight aluminum panel. It is rated for 133lbs on the carrier - so if it's just a tire, you are probably ok. But a lot of jostlying around off road, wanting to mount anything else back there, bigger tires, hanging things on the inside of the tailgate, etc... all that puts additional weight on that tailgate, which is a giant lever arm and pulling down on those hinges.

A "Standard" re-enforcement just cross-braces the two hinge points. Kinda like cross-bracing a fence or gate:

That helps the tailgate carry that weight without shifting around or deforming. This would be like the Rough Country reinforcement plate, or the IAG tailgate re-enforcement. The weight continues to be carried by the tailgate, it still uses the same factory hinges, it just helps to brace and redistribute that weight.

There are some that upgrade the hinges, like the Mabett solution. It's a brace with different hinges, but it still requires the tailgate to carry all the weight. Or if you just upgrade to Raptor hinges.

Then, there are solutions that remove all the weight from the tailgate. The Turn carrier bolts to the frame with a new hinge, and the Turn carrier holds all the weight of the spare tire and tail gate - the tailgate just bolts to the new frame and looks pretty. Similar to the Smittybilt and APG rear-bumper / carriers, which moves the spare tire mount to the rear bumper. These pull all the weight off the tailgate entirely.

Do you need it? That is a question that can't be answered universally. Just there are these options out there.

Very well said! A great explanation for the different options. I went with TOR because I have a heavy wheel and tire and wanted to eventually mount accessories without having to worry.

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